Springs Industry

8 COMMON USES FOR HARD-DRAWN WIREHard-drawn wire is so common and affordable that you might not realize that many objects you use every day are made from it. As a matter of fact, it is a part of almost every industry in the United States.  Essentially, it is steel that is drawn to the required diameter without any extra processing. It is used in low-stress applications and can be bent into whatever form, size, or strength is necessary. Here is a look at 8 common uses for hard-drawn wire.1.Shopping CartsIf you have ever pushed a shopping cart at your local grocery store, it was most likely made from hard-drawn steel or a combination of hard-drawn steel and plastic. The owner of Piggly Wiggly came up with the idea in 1937, and the American public has used them ever since.2.BasketsMany metal baskets are also made from hard-drawn steel, particularly the handheld ones offered in many retail and grocery stores. Like with shopping carts, because the steel is inexpensive, it is easy and not too costly to make them in large quantities.3.Car PartsSome parts of your car or vehicle may be made from hard-drawn steel, particularly springs used in the automotive industry. The price of the steel may even help keep the price of vehicles from climbing to unaffordable numbers.4.HooksWhether you hang them on your wall or use them to fish with, most hooks are made from hard-drawn steel. They must be strong enough so that they do not bend with something hangs or is caught on them.5.Sewing Needles and Safety PinsJust like hooks, most basic sewing needles, as well as straight pins and safety pins, are made from hard-drawn steel. Again, it allows them to be mass-produced, and this is why you can buy a pack for a couple of dollars.6.Hair AccessoriesIf you use any kind of metal hair accessories, like bobby pins or plastic clips with metal springs, they are most likely made from hard-drawn wire. Women have been using bobby pins to hold their hair in place since the late 19th century.7.Overhead Transmission WireNext time you drive down the street, take a look up at the telephone or electric transmission wires overhead. Yes, they are usually made from hard-drawn wire, as well.8.ShelvingMetal shelving is great for commercial and industrial use, but most stores do not want to pay much for study fixtures. That’s why they often choose shelving made from hard-drawn wire. Some other metal furniture is made from it, too. 

Understanding the Differences in Spring Wire MaterialsChoosing the right spring wire materials when developing a torsion, extension or compression spring will make all the difference between enjoying a cost-effective, successful project or an expensive, failed project. In addition, certain factors directly impact your choice of optimum material for spring projects, such as tensile strength, corrosion resistance, elastic deformation, electric conductivity and operating temperature/environment. Before selecting the right type of spring wire material, consider the environment impacting operation of the spring, the amount of deflection, frequency of cycles and the ratio of wire form or spring expense relative to the cost of the overall project. Custom spring manufacturers offer springs and custom wire forms composed of the one of several wire materials: Hard Drawn MBHigh carbon spring steels (cold drawn) are commonly utilized spring materials. Easily worked and inexpensive, Hard Drawn MB material is not meant for low or high temperatures, impact loading or shock. When deflection, accuracy or life is not too important, Hard Drawn MB is a good choice for a spring wire material. Stainless SteelA cold drawn, general purpose spring wire material, stainless steel is heat/corrosion resistant and magnetic in spring temper. Alloy steels with 10 percent or more chromium provide better corrosion resistance than alloy or plain steels. Springs commonly use precipitation and austenitic hardening. Music WireMusic wire (cold drawn) is a high carbon spring steel that has uniform, high tensile and the ability to withstand high stress under repetitive loading. Considered the toughest of spring materials, music wire also offers an excellent surface finish. High temperature spring wires are often found in foundries, heat treating, refractories and other processing operations exhibiting extremely hot internal temperatures. Brass Spring WireBrass is slightly more expensive than other spring wire materials but offers good water and corrosion resistance. Due to their sturdy flexibility, brass springs can store large amounts of mechanical and potential energy. Most brass spring wire material is a zinc and copper alloy consistently of around 50 percent copper. Phosphor BronzeIdeal for customized springs and wire form springs requiring medium electrical conductivity and dependable physical properties, Phosphor Bronze is a more cost-effective alternative to copper (Beryllium). This material is cold worked to achieve the desired temper. Oil TemperedDelivering durability, strength and malleability, oil-tempered spring material is great for springs requiring large wire diameters and the capability to support heavy-duty equipment. Oil-tempered material is also a good choice for torsion springs. Copper-Based AlloysBeryllium copper is one of the strongest copper-based alloys offering good corrosion resistance and electrical properties for many low temperature, marine and electrical spring applications. Custom spring manufacturers also design Beryllium copper springs for mold making, robotic welding, landing gears and oilfield tools applications.

Spring steel is mainly used in the automotive, engine manufacturing and railway industries. At present, the problems of Chinese spring steel products are that there are excess middle and low-end products, and there are no high-end and special varieties. China spring steel has a big gap with foreign countries in terms of purity, fatigue resistance, surface quality and quality stability. It meets the requirements of spring steel performance for high-end passenger car suspension springs, valve springs, railways and special springs for heavy-duty trucks. China's high-end and deep-processed spring steel still relies on imports. The imported varieties are mainly spring steel for cars, spring round bars for railways, and spring steel wires for oil pump valves.Although reducing the oxygen and inclusion content in steel is a way to obtain pure steel, it is difficult to obtain zero-inclusion spring steel. For this reason, researchers have proposed oxide metallurgy technology, which is an effective fine grain. The method is the most effective way to achieve double the strength and toughness of steel materials. It utilizes finely dispersed high-melting non-metallic inclusions in steel, mainly oxides, sulfides, and nitrides, as the core of the nucleation of intragranular ferrite, thereby refining the grains. Systematic research on Ti and Zr oxide systems has been carried out at home and abroad, and it is considered that titanium-containing oxides are the most ideal. The oxidized material point of titanium in the austenite grains becomes an effective nucleation site for acicular ferrite, which promotes the formation of intragranular ferrite. However, due to the limitations of steel composition, the promotion of titanium oxide metallurgy has been limited. In recent years, research on rare earth elements has been carried out, and the effects of rare earth oxides on the properties of steels can be studied by utilizing the strong deoxidation and desulfurization ability of rare earth elements and the high melting point of the products.In the automotive industry, the requirements for the strength of the suspension spring are getting higher and higher, and the design stress is increased to 1100-1200 MPa. For this reason, Japan has developed a steel that adds alloys to improve strength and improve corrosion fatigue strength. China's spring steel can not meet the performance requirements of high-end passenger car suspension spring steel. Spring steel with suspension spring products of 1200MPa and above is all dependent on imports. However, in recent years, in order to avoid resource risks, reduce costs, and achieve a global supply of raw materials, it is strongly required to use standard steel (SAE9254) to maintain high strength, and strongly demand to improve the toughness of steel, so more and more shot peening is used. The treatment replaces the surface hardening heat treatment with high processing cost. Shot peening treatment exerts compressive residual stress on the surface, which can improve fatigue resistance and reduce the influence of surface defects. Therefore, it has been regarded as an indispensable technology for surface treatment in recent years. With the development of surface strengthening technology, the design stress of the suspension spring has reached 1200MPa. It is expected that the requirements for strength, toughness, corrosion resistance and durability of high-strength suspension spring steel will become higher and higher in the future. In the future, with the lightweight of automobiles, the development of high-strength, excellent anti-ballistic performance and anti-fatigue performance of spring steel for automotive suspension is an inevitable trend to improve China's high-end equipment parts and components and effectively replace imports.Among all spring products, valve springs are the most demanding material, especially high stress and profiled valve springs are almost demanding on materials. At present, the production of special spring steel for foreign valve springs is mainly concentrated in Japan, South Korea and Sweden. The production companies include Japan Suzuki, Sanxing, Sumitomo, Kobelco Steel, Korea KisWire, Sweden Garphyttan, etc., which almost monopolize all of China's profiled sections and heights. Stress valve spring steel market. Since 2000, with the development of new engines, the requirements for the engine's rotational speed, weight reduction, and compactness have become higher and higher. Therefore, Japan has adopted OT steel wires of 2100-2200 MPa. In this case, not only the alloy composition needs to be adjusted, but also the existing manufacturing process is improved, and low-temperature dispersion hardening becomes an indispensable process. However, the shape of the spring after the low-temperature dispersion hardening changes, and in order to improve the control precision of the shape and the size, the technique of controlling the shape change in the entire manufacturing process has begun to attract attention.In the future, in order to meet the development needs of localization of high-end spring basic components, high-performance spring steel products should be continuously developed. On the one hand, it is to develop in high strength, and it is required to simultaneously improve fatigue life and anti-relaxation performance under high stress; It is developed in a functional direction and is required to have corrosion resistance, non-magnetic properties, electrical conductivity, wear resistance, heat resistance, etc. depending on the application.

High Carbon Spring Steel Strips are mainy used for Roller shutter,Clockwork spring.

Stainless Steel Spring Wires are mainly used for Torsion springs,Taper spring, Circlip,Deformed spring,Battery spring

High Carbon Steel Spring Wires are mainly usded for the manufacture of mechanical springs for static duty and dynamic duty.

Alloy Steel Spring Wires are mainly used for Clutch Spring,Spiral Spring.

Alloy Steel Spring Strips are mainly used for Automatic clutch patch,Woodworking band saw.

Clutch Spring Suspension SpringSpiral SpringValve Spring

Leaf spring,Agricultural machinery springs

Spring steel is a low alloy, medium carbon steel with a very high yield strength. This allows objects made of spring steel to return to their original shape after significant bending or twisting.

9 Key Properties of Alloys in Steel Spring ManufacturingMaterial Selection in Spring Manufacturing MattersRecently, we wrote about raw material classifications in the steel spring manufacturing industry. These materials are chosen, largely, by their properties and how they will impact the end use. Or think of it inversely: the end use dictates what alloys to choose.Because steel spring design programs are plentiful and quite easy to use, most engineers know just what they want, and know how to plug the numbers into the computer program when designing steel springs. Many engineers, even though well-educated in metallurgy, are not quite so knowledgeable of each alloy’s suitability to a spring application. Choosing an alloy for steel spring use is not as automated a process as it is for raw metals. As a result, many alloy inquiries involve providing solutions for which alloy should be used for a particular spring purpose.9 Key Properties that Influence Application ChoiceWhen considering what (alloy) material to use, there are at least nine key properties that come into play.          1.Conductivity          2.Constant modulus          3.Corrosive resistance          4.Heat hardenability          5.Heating elements          6.High stress          7.Magnetism          8.Platability          9.TemperatureTo get a broader understanding, let’s discuss them in more details.1.ConductivityA spring often serves double duty. It not only acts as a spring, but also carries current. One such application is in the needle of an instrument. The reaction of the needle is both a function of the spring and of the amount of current running through the spring.2.Constant ModulusWith some alloys, the spring will weaken if the temperature is too high or too low. But if the spring is in a device that is subject to wide temperature swings, a material with what is known as a constant modulus, must be chosen. 3.Corrosive ResistanceMany springs are used in marine applications, or in even worse and very caustic atmospheres. In such cases, there are about seven different stainless steels that can be chosen. Some work in fresh water, but not salt water. Some work in salt water, but not more caustic environments.  In such cases, a class of spring steels known as high nickel alloys can be employed.4.Heat HardenabilitySome spring steels get their “hardness” from heat treating, while others get their hardness from being forced through a reduction die that compresses the steel. However, many of the alloys that get their hardness from reduction dies cannot be hardened by heat treating them. When making a spring or clip that has a very sharp bend on it, if you use pre-hardened steel, the steel will crack or break. In such an instance, you must use a steel that is in the “soft” or annealed condition, and then harden it after the spring or clip is formed.5.Heating ElementsSome steels are themselves used for heating elements. In this instance, the alloy must resist electricity so that the electricity being forced through it heats up the wire to a red hot condition.  The alloy must be able to resist this heating and cooling without either melting or deforming in any way.6.High StressWhen we were kids, we all made springs by twisting some copper wire around a pencil. But once we completed the spring, it was hard to get it off the pencil without deforming it! The spring’s ability to be deflected and then return to its original shape is governed by how much stress that particular alloy can handle. Sometimes a spring has to deflect a long way and then return to its original size. To be capable of this, the spring is said to be able to resist high stress.7.MagnetismSprings are commonly used in sensitive instrument environments. When used in these applications, the spring can have no magnetism. Since many spring-tempered wires get their temper by being forced through reduction dies, they often pick up magnetism. For example, in its natural state, 302 stainless is totally non-magnetic. As a matter of fact, many engineers question us about the authenticity of our stainless springs because of this magnetism. The truth of it is that the material begins non-magnetic, but when forced through the die, it picks up magnetism. If a spring is to be totally non-magnetic, it must be made from an alloy specifically designed to be both spring tempered and non-magnetic.8.PlatabilityWhen a spring is in a mildly corrosive environment such as an outside application, the spring has to be corrosive resistant, yet inexpensive. This calls for a spring that is electro-plated after formation. However, some materials are more porous than others, and when being electro-plated, hydrogen (the smallest atom), can get into the porous surface of the material and cause micro-cracks. These later become bigger cracks, and necessitates that a less porous material is chosen when plating.9.TemperatureSometimes a spring has to be made of an alloy that can withstand high temperatures. For example, the springs on an oven door have to be able to withstand the heat from the oven without “relaxing.” In fact, many ovens function to extremely high temperatures and require springs that can maintain their properties, and do so for an extended period of time.In spring manufacturing, we have the capacity to create virtually any shape and type of spring with a wide variety of spring steel, possessing many properties, for an array of uses. Contact one of our spring geeks today to find out which spring steel will work best for your next project.