Inspect pre-solved models in your browser in 2 seconds (up to 300k DOF) or solve 1.5M+ DOF assemblies 100% offline on Windows and macOS.
3D Solid Helical Spring Axial Compression to Full Coil Self-Contact
Large-displacement 3D solid nonlinear compression (NLGEOM + selfcontact=on) of a rectangular-section helical spring in a cylindrical guide sleeve until full coil-to-coil contact.
Heavy-duty rectangular-section die and actuator springs (ISO 10243) operating inside cylindrical guide sleeves frequently compress up to solid height where adjacent coils come into direct mechanical contact. This WebCAE 3D Solid case models a 2-turn helical spring with a 3.6 mm open inter-coil gap guided along its inner and outer cylindrical surfaces, capturing full coil-to-coil closure across 76 active 3D self-contact pairs.
1. Geometry & FEA Mesh
- •Geometry: mean coil radius R = 10.0 mm (D_in = 15.2 mm, D_out = 24.8 mm), rectangular section 4.8 × 3.2 mm, pitch = 6.8 mm, initial inter-coil gap = 3.6 mm.
- •Netgen 3D tetrahedral mesh: 332 nodes, 669 TET4 elements, 996 DOFs.
- •Material: spring steel 60S2A (E = 206 GPa, ν = 0.3, ρ = 7850 kg/m³).
2. Loads & Boundary Conditions
- •Lower end face (#5) fully fixed (ux = uy = uz = 0).
- •Inner (#1) and outer (#3) cylindrical helical surfaces guided radially/laterally (ux = uy = 0, uz free) to prevent lateral buckling.
- •Upper end face (#6) loaded with axial compressive force Fz = -42 kN.
3. Simulation Results & Findings
- ✓Axial compression reaches |u| = 7.169 mm across 7 converged load steps (17 Newton iterations, 0 cutbacks).
- ✓The 3.6 mm inter-coil clearance closes completely into full coil-to-coil self-contact across 76 active contact pairs (max penetration 0.074 mm).
Enables direct 3D solid simulation of coil clash, progressive spring stiffening, and self-contact overload protection.
14 days of full Pro access. The first charge occurs only after 14 days unless canceled beforehand.
- ✓14-Day Trial ($0 Today) (cancel anytime)
- ✓Up to 1.5M+ DOFs (direct sparse solver)
- ✓Native Windows & macOS Apps (100% offline)
- ✓Nonlinear Contact & Buckling (Kσ, MITC4, RBE2/RBE3)
Ask an Engineer About Your Model
Describe your part, load case, or CAD format — we reply within 2 business hours.
Want an instant answer on FEA theory or this model?
Click the AI chat button in the bottom-right corner to ask about boundary conditions, stress criteria, mesh convergence, or DSL scripting.
More Engineering Simulation Cases
2-Stage Industrial Parallel-Shaft Gearbox Cutaway (10 Bodies)
Tower CPU Cooler with 4 Copper Heatpipes on Motherboard Cutaway (9 Bodies)
Robotic Joint Strain Wave Gear (Harmonic Drive) Cutaway (8 Bodies)
