Transverse vibrations of cylindrical helical springs

In this paper we have calculated the natural frequencies of the transverse vibrations of cylindrical helical springs, with respect to the variation in slenderness and relative compression. The calculation was made by considering the spring as a constant-section beam, and by applying Timoshenko theory to the latter. The theoretical section of this paper is an extension of Haringx's work on the same subject, not so much because it studies natural modes higher than the first (a problem which was treated by Haringx), but rather because its more general approach to the transverse vibrations phenomenon raises problems of results' interpretation that this Author did not face. The calculated values of natural frequencies and the corresponding deflection curves have been compared with experimentally determined values. In the course of experimentation Thickness-shear modes were visualized, which Timoshenko theory takes into account, but which, as far as beams are concerned, are not detectable.