Heat Treating... Putting the 'Spring' in Springs

摘要

Without springs, modern civilization would not exist. How and who discovered the first spring will never be known, but what we do know is that a spring, which is a piece of steel with memory, when flexed returns to its original shape. More formally, a spring is an object that stores potential energy by straining the bonds between the atoms of an elastic material. Hooke's law of elasticity states that the extension of an elastic rod (its distended length minus its relaxed length) is linearly proportional to its tension, the force used to stretch it. Similarly, the contraction (negative extension) is proportional to the compression (negative tension).