Theoretical and numerical analysis of stepped disk spring

Disk springs have been widely used in machine tools, aerospace vehicles, and automobiles. Pioneering work by Almen -Laszlo has inspired a deeper understanding of the nonlinear behavior over the last eight decades. There is a need for extending the analysis for stepped section disk springs. In this paper, we report the effect of the stepped section on the force-deflection and variable stiffness characteristics. A simplified method for predicting load deflection of the stepped disk spring has been developed incorporating the geometric non-linearity. Extending the work of Almen-Laszlo, Curti, and Rosa, we present a theoretical analysis that predicts the force deflection characteristic as function of the geometric parameter and the theoretical model is verified using finite element results.