On the Strength of a Disk Spring

Abstract

The differential equations which are concerned with the behavior of disk springs are solved numerically to examine the accuracy of the approximate solution using the principle of stationary potential energy. The solutions are obtained by modifying the iterative procedures which were proposed by H.B. Keller and E.L. Reiss. The approximate solution, which is essentially the same as the Wempner's approximate solution but more compact by diminishing one geometric parameter, is found to be valid in practice, and the design formula based on the approximate solution is presented. Experiments are carried out and compared with the theoretical results.