Spring washer design optimization with Ansys

The task is to use computational methods to design a spring washer for a multi-disc friction brake. For this purpose, a defined spring force should be generated by a wavy spring washer with a given spring deflection. The disc must not break under this load (i.e., the operational strength must be maintained). For the spring washer design, the number of shafts N as well as the shaft height H and the sheet thickness D can vary. The task is to find a combination of these design parameters that meets the required conditions.

This analysis method allows for a fast and cost-effective review of the entire design space, so that a large number of prototypes can be saved. Moreover, the customer receives more than just an individually optimized design variant through the display of results. With the computational model, it is possible to independently select from a group of suitable parameter combinations in order to determine the expected stress values.

For the design optimization, a fully parametric finite element model of the spring washer was created in Ansys. New variants are created by changing the parameters and do not have to be created manually individually. Ansys DesignXplorer can be used to quickly calculate a number of designs and generate response surfaces for the results. As can be seen in the illustrations, this allows the effects of the design parameters to be presented clearly and comprehensible design decisions to be made. In the present case, a desired spring force is specified. This means that a line with the desired force can be drawn in the spring force diagram. If this line is projected into the stress diagram, a design can be selected along the line, although the expected stress level is directly readable.