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 Advanced Spring Design
Software Features
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 SMI Teams Up With UTS to Create Advanced Spring Design Software
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Advanced Spring Design
Software offers the best of both worlds
Advanced Spring Design (ASD) software combines engineering expertise with customized calculations
to help you design quality springs.

There are times when "newer" means "better." Advanced Spring Design (ASD) combines the best elements of Spring Designer 2.1 (SD2.1) and Graphical Spring Design Software 5.0 (GSDS5).

SD2.1 gave users the capability to backsolve problems by calculating values from any variety of inputs. On the other hand, GSDS5 brought a systematic approach to spring design. Users were required to input specific values to achieve a design. Both methods have their fans. With ASD, however, users have the option of using either method, or both, in the creation of a spring design.

Advanced Spring Design does exactly what its name implies - it advances spring design. It is a Windows-compatible program (Windows NT/2000/XP) that combines the popular features of both the previous SMI design programs.

ASD6 covers a total of 27 spring types or loading options and includes compression springs, extension springs, spiral forms, torsion springs, washers, beams, and torsion bars.

With ASD, users can create and modify spring designs on a desktop or notebook computer without having to worry about the dreaded security key "dongle."

A Flash presentation demonstrating the features of ASD is available at the top of this page. Click "View ASD Demo." At the conclusion of the demo, you will have the option to request a free trial of the actual software.

ASD is a joint project in which SMI and UTS combined their considerable knowledge and expertise. UTS developed the popular TK Solver software, a simultaneous equation solver that forms the core of the ASD program. SMI, of course, has been authoring spring design software since the 1980s.

One way in which UTS and SMI are advancing spring design with this new software is by saving springmakers time and reducing the margin for human error. The user can choose to operate in one of three modes - Quick Start, Power User or Custom Power User.

In Quick Start, the user selects a spring case and enters values for standard input variables. To design a spring, all the user has to do is fill in the blanks - selecting the desired material, load tolerance and deflection, for example. Some inputs may be chosen from pull-down menus. Once the blanks are filled, the designer can crank out specs for a new spring simply by clicking the "Solve" button.

Not only does ASD have the dexterity to solve marathon equations in moments, but it also has the unique ability to backsolve. This is a feature of the Power User and Custom Power User modes, which allow the user to enter any combination of variables and attempt a solution. Power User gives the designer the freedom to work in any direction to optimize the design, just as was possible in SD2.1.

ASD has been built in a completely graphical environment with convenient and automatic unit conversion as well as easy access to dynamic plots and reports. There are a number of pre-formatted plots and standard reports available, plus you have the flexibility to create custom reports.

ASD also includes a materials database that can be added to by users, a profile system for saving and incorporating frequently used input data sets, and exportable DXF drawings, which can be e-mailed to customers.
SMI+UTS Advanced Spring Design
vs.
SD2.1 and GSDS5 Features
Spring Types
SD2.1
GSDS5
ASD
Compression
x
x
x
Compression - conical

x
x
Extension
x
x
x
Extension - pitched or close wound
x

x
Extension - conical

x
x
Torsion
x
x
x
Double torsion

x
x
Torsion bars

x
x
Spiral forms

x
x
Washers

x
x
Beams - simple/cantilever/round/rectangular

x
x
Beams - circular simple/circular cantilever


x

Feature
SD2.1
GSDS5
ASD
Variety of plots

x
x
Tolerances - default or user defined

x
x
U.S./Metric units

x
x




Security key requirement
Yes
Yes
No




Design flexibility
Backsolving/goal seeking
Yes
No
Yes




Spring drawing - On screen

x
x
Spring drawing - CAD format (DXF)


x
Reports - customizable with spring
manufacturer's identification
x
x
x
Reports - customizable - user can choose what is shown


x
Reports - comparing different designs


x
Graphical user interface - user customizable


x
User profiles for commonly used input data - user customizable


x
Export of data to other software systems
No
No
Yes




Three design modes: Power User, Custom Power User (backsolving for expert spring designers) and Quick Start (step-by-step for less frequent designers)
No
No
Yes




Ability to organize designs by projects and to cross reference


x
Desktop use
x
x
x

SD2.1 = Spring Designer 2.1 (DOS)
GSDS5 = Graphical Spring Design Software 5.0 (Windows)
ASD = Advanced Spring Design software (Windows)

Table 1: Advanced Spring Design vs. Spring Designer and GSDS5 features. Note: The calculations for some characteristics were improved in the new software to more accurately represent real conditions encountered by spring designers. Examples: The designer can choose one of four buckling criteria for compression springs that is closest to his application. The conical spring rate calculation accurately represents the spring rate, provided the amount of active material remains constant. Stresses are calculated at three critical points for Belleville washers to help the designer to evaluate load-carrying ability and fatigue life.

Order ASD (SMI members click here)

Figure 1: Advanced Spring Design software case-selection menu.

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SMI+UTS Spring Design Software

The Spring Manufacturers Institute (SMI) and Universal Technical Systems Inc. (UTS) have teamed up to create spring design software that serves both the occasional user and the seasoned professional.

The software moves spring design onto a new level from versions previously developed by SMI, and is jointly marketed by SMI and UTS.

"UTS brings with it a software industry expertise that allows us to stay on top of the almost daily changes that occur in the computing world," says Dan Sebastian, SMI secretary-treasurer and former Technical Committee chair, and president of MW Industries, Logansport, IN. "In the past, every time Windows was modified, it affected our software in some way. Keeping pace with those changes was more difficult all the time."
Technical experts from SMI and UTS have developed a new spring design software product that benefits both expert and occasional spring designers. Pictured (clockwise, from top left) are: Dick Carter, American Coil Spring Co., Dan Sebastian, MW Industries, Loren Godfrey, Colonial/Han-Dee Spring, and Todd Piefer, UTS.

"It's a unique partnership," says UTS president S.M. "Jack" Marathe. "SMI provides expertise in spring design and a user base, while UTS offers 18 years of experience in building software products and supporting them through generations of technology changes."

The new UTS-developed spring design software combines the best features of the DOS-based Spring Designer 2.1 and Windows-based GSDS5 versions, both developed and marketed by SMI. A focus group of SMI members helped set the agenda for developing the new software, Marathe says. "Back-solving, or the ability to solve multiple equations simultaneously, topped the wish list. And users wanted to get away from a hardware key security system."

Two springmakers from UTS's hometown of Rockford, IL - John Mink and Ned Garst - brought UTS and SMI together. Through these two long-time users of UTS's TK Solver and other UTS products, we learned of UTS's engineering software capabilities.

TK Solver, the software industry's original back-solver, is the calculation engine for the ASD software product. The software operates as a stand-alone Windows application on a single-user computer or on a network, or through a browser on the Web or in an intranet.

The software was written with guidance from the SMI Technical Committee and follows the spring design conventions of the SMI Encyclopedia of Spring Design. It models several types of springs, is graphically oriented and provides load-deflection graphs and scale drawings in real time as the design is developed.

Drawings can also be saved in the CAD-friendly DXF file format. An extensive help system provides design guidance and diagnostic information. The software incorporates a database for spring materials and completed designs.

"By incorporating TK Solver into the spring design software, and offering several different ways to purchase and use the product, we can offer fantastic flexibility that will benefit both the heavy, more expert designer and those who design springs less frequently," Sebastian says.

Click here for more information on ASD.

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