IST – The Institute of Spring Technology – https://ist.org.uk
EMPOWERING THE GLOBAL SPRING INDUSTRY
IST has produced a series of bite-sized educational videos to educate and inform as many people as possible.
We also offer more formal training, either as scheduled online classes, tailored in-house training, or pre-recorded e-learning: https://ist.org.uk/training/
As well as many other products and services aimed at anyone in the spring industry, or who needs to design or use springs:
Spring Calculator Professional, the world’s smartest spring design software: https://ist.org.uk/software/
Spring Testing in our unique, dedicated laboratories in Sheffield, UK: https://ist.org.uk/testing/
Spring Failure Investigation, to analyse the root cause of your spring problems and suggest solutions to prevent reoccurrence: https://ist.org.uk/failure-analysis/
Membership, to join our network of spring professionals: https://ist.org.uk/membership/
Many Springs have a requirement for cycle testing, to give assurance that they will last the required lifetime. Typically this will be something like "must survive 1 million cycles between L1 and L2". Usually this can be done in an accelerated manner, by considering the natural frequency of the spring. Typically we recommend at least six springs but even one will give you some level of confidence. At IST we undertake commercial fatigue testing of springs in our dedicated laboratory. We have testers that can run up to 3,000 RPM which means you can reach 10 million cycles in less than 3 days. Larger springs can also be cycle tested, but usually at lower speeds. There may also be a requirement to check the loads before and after the cycle testing to confirm the spring is fit for purpose.