Capabilities

Features

Springs Expert is in development. This page separates what has been measured from what is only planned. Nothing here is released yet, and there is no add-in window: today a test harness drives SOLIDWORKS. What it does not do is on the limits page.

What exists today

Development code, run from a test harness rather than a window inside SOLIDWORKS.

Compression spring geometry

Closed and ground ends from three helix segments and a sweep. The end faces are cut flat at both ends and checked as planar faces.

Extension spring hooks

Full-loop and half-loop hooks that start tangent to the coil body. Passing in test runs, but the join between hook and body is sensitive and is still being hardened.

Torsion spring legs

Tangential, radial and axial legs. Legs that leave the coil at a real corner get a bend radius of at least twice the wire diameter.

Compression spring calculation

Spring rate, solid length and force, working deflection, corrected shear stress, natural frequency, mass and a buckling check. Material values are provisional and will be replaced before release.

Read-back from SOLIDWORKS

After a spring is built, the extents and volume of the solid are read from SOLIDWORKS and compared with the expected values, so a silent failure does not pass as a good part.

Impossible springs are rejected

A solid length longer than the free length, zero coils or an undefined spring index stops the job, with a reason, before anything is built.

Measured so far

Measured on the development code in SOLIDWORKS 2022. These are test results, not product guarantees.

Measurement	Result	Status
Compression springs, 12 cases, two full runs (wire 0.8–5 mm, mean diameter 4.5–35 mm, index 4–15)	12 of 12 built, both runs	Passed
Free length and outer diameter against calculation	Within ±0.01 mm	Passed
Ground end faces are flat, at both ends	24 of 24	Passed
Extension hooks and torsion legs, 12 cases (index 4–16)	12 of 12 at one lead-in setting, three runs	Being hardened
Build time per spring, slowest case	Tens of seconds	Too slow
Calculation test suite (no SOLIDWORKS needed)	123 of 123	Passed

Planned for the first release

Planned means not built yet. Plans can change, and nothing here is a promise of a date.

Add-in window. One window inside SOLIDWORKS for the inputs, the checks and the result.
Extension and torsion calculation. The same treatment compression springs already have, for the other two types.
Production drawing. A drawing of the spring with its data table, under your own title block.
Calculation report. A report that shows the inputs, the formulas used and the results, for your design file.

Not released yet

There is nothing to download or buy today.

See the status