How many cycles will a compression spring last?
It is not possible to give a satisfactorily unambiguous answer to this question. There is no general standard statement or formula that can give a precise answer.
Any calculation of a spring's service life will always be theoretical. But in reality there is often a huge difference between theory and practice.
There are a great many factors that have an impact on a spring's service life, to a greater or lesser degree.
- Environment
- Temperatures
- Use of travel, as a percentage
- Wire type – fracture stress
- Initial tension (mounted)
- Whether or not the spring has been shot peened
- Skewed torsion
- Compression speed
- Vibrations
- Whether or not the spring operates with an even load
- Whether or not the spring operates axially without deflection
- Effect of impacts
- Whether or not there is any wear against other objects
- Surface treatment
- Hot-wound or cold-wound spring
- Mounting methods
- Etc...
Due to the variables listed above, we are not able to provide any guarantee with regard to service life. We can offer an estimate, but the precise service life can only be determined by the customer performing their own test. The importance of the spring's function is always the decisive factor for the scope of any test of the spring.