Episode 32: All Kinds of Spring Materials
Hello everyone. I previously mentioned that springs are made of all kinds of materials. For example, even air, which is all around us and costs nothing, is used for springs called air suspension in large buses, trucks, etc. (Postcards and Springs (Episode 28)) Now I’d like to introduce springs that are made from materials one it isn’t normally so familiar with.
First, there’s titanium alloy. What’s great about titanium alloy is that it’s light and resistant to corrosion. That’s why titanium is used for golf driver heads and wristwatches. However, its drawback is that it is extremely expensive compared to other metals for springs. It’s been used in the space industry, but, once alloy technology advances enough for titanium alloy to be inexpensive, it will probably be used more in products such as electric cars that need to reduce weight.
Then there’s fiber-reinforced plastic. Since ordinary plastic has low elasticity, high-elasticity glass fiber and carbon fiber are combined to make fiber reinforced plastic. When you hear “glass fiber” and “carbon fiber,” you must think of golf club shafts. The strong points of fiber-reinforced plastic are that it is resistant to corrosion, stable in size, and convenient in electrical characteristics (such as insulation and transmission). It’s also used in Kevlar fiber, which you might not be so familiar with. Kevlar fiber is an aramid fiber developed by the big American chemical product manufacturer DuPont. It uses high-strength polymer material—a polymer is a molecule with many atoms—to achieve high strength and elasticity. It’s supposed to be especially good in tensile strength. Next is ceramics. Ceramics have the image of being brittle and fragile. It’s true, but, on the other hand, ceramic manufacturing technology has made huge strides in recent years. Now they can make ceramics that don’t shatter. Now they’re using springs that take advantage of ceramics’ natural advantages such as heat resistance, insulation, and abrasion resistance. For instance, ceramic springs are used in gas turbine engines, chemical plants, and high-frequency equipment. Finally, there’s rubber. When you hear “rubber,” the first thing you must think of is elasticity. The main kinds of rubber are natural rubber and synthetic rubber. Both kinds of rubber are very easy to process and to install on things, but they’ve had the problem of degradation from UV rays and heat. However, this has been gradually being solved by adding various chemical elements. That’s all for now, but there are a lot of other materials too. I hear now environmental issues like global warming are spurring research on how to apply materials that exist in the natural world other than plants and minerals to springs.
So, what would you do with light to use it as a spring? Well, that’s all for today. Look forward to the next episode, #33! See you next time!
Written by Banekko (a child of spring)