I am thinking of making a leaf spring from stainless steel, but I am wondering what kind of stainless steel I should use. I’m planning to manufacture a leaf spring in combination with a jig, so I think maybe I can use SUS303, which has good workability.
Thank you for your inquiry, Manga.
For stainless leaf springs, austenitic stainless steel SUS304-CSP is generally used.
These austenitic stainless steel strips for producing springs are low-temperature annealed after spring shaping.
The suitable temperature for this low-temperature annealing process is 325 ℃ ~ 375 ℃.
Please note that if the material is treated at a temperature of 400 ° C or higher, the surface may oxidize and stain-like discoloration may occur, resulting in poor corrosion resistance!
Is it all right to think of SUS304-CSP as a cold rolled sheet of SUS304?
The leaf spring I made this time is partially cut from a SUS block with a wire cutter to make both ends ( as the leaf spring and a jig and are integrated).
Therefore, it is not possible to use a plate material from the beginning.
I attach a simple drawing for your reference (dimensions are approximations).
Hello Manga!
As you said, SUS304-CSP is a cold-rolled thin plate of SUS304.
I think that it would be difficult to use as an integrated type, so why not attach the spring part later?
Thank you for your inquiry, Spring Newbie!
Generally, the flat spiral springs sold on the market are constant force flat spiral springs. Some products are even patented.
They are suitable to maintain the required load and proper elasticity in minimal space.
It is possible to manufacture a similar mechanism with wire rods, but designing within the allowable stress becomes important.
We will give it a try and conduct production verification!
We will contact you by email later!
I intend to use 0.1t SUS304-csp to make a leaf spring.
I think low-temperature annealing is necessary, but are there any other things to note regarding temperature, time, etc. ?
Thank you for your inquiry, Mac!
For SUS304-CSP, we recommend low-temperature annealing after molding. Regarding temperature and time, it is necessary to adjust according to the size of the processing furnace and the spring, but since the plate thickness is 0.1 mm, I think that a short time processing at around 330 ° C is good, but it is better for this to be decided in consideration of the ability of the furnace.
Also, it is necessary to be careful about scratches and wrinkles during processing.
Thank you! !
