Analysis of elastic stiffness for the leaf type holddown spring assembly with uniformly tapered thickness considering the point of taper runout

In the case that the point of taper runout is outside the bent region of spring base, a formula to evaluate the elastic stiffness of the leaf type holddown spring (HDS) assembly with uniformly tapered thickness from t0 to t1 (t0>t1) has been analytically derived by applying the engineering beam theory and Casiliano's theorem based on strain energy. It has found that taper runouts for the 14x14 and 17x17 type KOFA HDS were up to 2.2 mm and effects on their elastic stiffnesses were about 3.70%, and that the elastic stiffness of the HDS was mainly caused by bending moment. And in addition, for the HDS designed/manufactured from Westinghouse, elastic stiffnesses from the derived formula were in good agreement with those from the Westinghouse's empirical formula. Therefore, the derived formula could be applicable to evaluating the elastic stiffness of any HDS with tapered thickness only with the informations of the geometric data and material properties of leaf springs regardness of the manufacturing companies. 11 tabs., 4 figs., 25 refs. (Author) .new