The use of wave spring in suspensions of Race/Custom cars

[AbusingTheMoog]

I was reading an article in http://www.designworldonline.com/ at work today about wave springs. It seems to me that they could very quickly be used in a racing application or for any car where a low ride height, lower weight and similar stiffness would be necessary. http://www.smalley.com/index.asp is the company the article was about, and they have a custom spring ordering option. My question is: Has anyone ever used these springs in a racing/custom/track-day car? And if so what kind of performance was achieved?

-Matt

I also posted this in Kit Car section seeing as there is quite a few track-day racers on that section of the forum.

[PhillipM]

They're very difficult to make consistantly in large sizes and loadings, and there also tends to be a lot of stiction/heat buildup as the 'coils' rub each other slightly in anything other than an ideal scenario - and they tend to twist if there's a bit of muck in them or the rod diameter is too small, leading to inconsistant spring rates.

To be honest, it's normally the damper that runs out of travel before the spring anyway.
I have used them in a valve spring application before where coil bind was an issue for the valve lift required, but they were quite noisy and I was recommended to change them every 500 hours of use due to fatigue....

Edited by PhillipM on Thursday 22 July 13:30

[AbusingTheMoog]

Thanks for the reply.

[Nirav Prajapati]

PhillipM said:

They're very difficult to make consistently in large sizes and loading's, and there also tends to be a lot of stiction/heat buildup as the 'coils' rub each other slightly in anything other than an ideal scenario - and they tend to twist if there's a bit of muck in them or the rod diameter is too small, leading to inconsistent spring rates.

To be honest, it's normally the damper that runs out of travel before the spring anyway.
I have used them in a valve spring application before where coil bind was an issue for the valve lift required, but they were quite noisy and I was recommended to change them every 500 hours of use due to fatigue....

Hello sir, My Question is that, can you send me some research papers based on wave spring heat generation.?

[Big Al.]

I wouldn't hold your breath. thread died 9 years ago!