Products > Springs
Custom & Stock Wave Disc Springs
Wave disc springs are very different in appearance from much more well-known helical coil wire springs. They are most similar in appearance to conical disc washers and function as a type of compression spring, resisting applied compressive forces that act along the central axis of the disc. However, wave disc springs are not strictly conical in shape. Instead, as their name suggests, the disc is shaped in a sinusoidal wave profile around the circumference. You can most clearly see these waves if you hold the spring on its side. These waves may flatten during spring compression, generating an opposing force as they provide elastic resistance to the compressive force.
As such, wave disc springs have a much smaller profile compared to helical coil compression springs. They are designed to fit around a screw or shaft and are often found in fastener attachments underneath the bolt or screw head to provide an axial preload force on the joint.
When load is static or the working range is small, and the allowable amount of axial space is limited, the use of a wave washer is an efficient method of obtaining the required loading. Loads obtainable from wave washers are usually in the range of a few pounds to hundreds of pounds. These springs are often used as cushion springs or cushion spacers between parts on shafts or to take up the expected amounts of variation in assembled parts.
Century Spring is your trusted supplier for rapid fulfillment of high-quality stock and custom wave disc springs engineered to precise load, deflection, and environmental specifications. Our springs are engineered for quality, performance, and reliability from premium materials and modern manufacturing technologies. All our wave disc springs are engineered for precision and reliability in the most demanding industrial applications.
Explore Our Wave Disc Spring Options
Century Spring is proud to offer a vast selection of stock wave disc springs in a wide range of sizes and thicknesses.
You can browse our extensive product catalogue by Outer Diameter (OD), Inner Diameter (ID), Height, and Number of Waves, to shop by the most critical design property for your application. The most common stock wave disc springs’ IDs range from approximately 0.025” to 5.762” while typical wave disc spring heights range from 0.015” to 0.575”. Stock wave disc springs are available with 2 to 4 waves per spring. You can download the spring CAD file to verify the precision fit of your wave disc spring within your application before making a purchase.
If you can’t find the wave disc spring geometry you need in our stock catalogue, we offer custom geometry, material, and surface finish options tailored to specific diameters, thicknesses, and load requirements.
Custom Wave Disc Springs
If you can’t find the metal spring you need in our extensive catalog, we offer custom wave disc spring design and manufacturing services. We partner with you at all stages of development—from initial concept to procurement—to develop products engineered for your application’s exact performance requirements.
Our team of spring design experts expedites the development of metal springs, delivering springs that meet specific size and tolerance specifications, as well as operating conditions, including target lifecycle and environmental requirements.
Century Spring combines state-of-the-art manufacturing tools with in-house design expertise to deliver custom solutions engineered to function reliably in assemblies and applications where performance and dimensional precision are driving requirements. Our cutting-edge computational equipment enables us to manufacture high-quality wave disc springs with precision geometries, tolerances, and load-displacement profiles. We can also provide recommendations for custom wave spring options to optimize for reliability in corrosive or high-temperature environments subjected to cyclic loads.
Our Custom Manufacturing Services also include extensive design for manufacturability (DFM) expertise and comprehensive prototyping capabilities, allowing for the quick refinement of design solutions. Our dedicated, high-speed machines can quickly scale concept production to large part volumes.
Wave Disc Spring Manufacturing Capabilities
Typical customization options for wave springs include Inner Diameter (ID), Outer Diameter (OD), Thickness, and Number of Waves. Additionally, we can design wave disc springs from scratch to meet specific force requirements, as may be needed for high-load applications with safety-critical joints.
Our typical custom wave disc spring Materials include spring steel, stainless steel, and non-steel options with excellent fatigue resistance, such as phosphor bronze and beryllium copper. In some instances, surface treatments, such as passivation and platings, can enhance the corrosion resistance of your wave disc spring.
We also offer numerous custom wave disc spring Heat Treatment options, including hardening and tempering, annealing, and standalone stress relief heat treatments, all optimized for your specific application.
Don’t waste another minute if you need a novel, high-performance metal spring solution - request a custom quotation today!
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Wave Disc Spring Information & Resources
Wave Disc Spring Applications
Due to their versatility, wave disc springs are employed in numerous machine designs across many industries and product categories. Wave disc springs can be stacked and combined to meet almost any desired force-deflection performance profile. They can generate large magnitudes of opposing forces for comparably small displacements, making them suitable for use in rotating machinery, bolted joints, and fluid connectors in automotive, aerospace, medical, and industrial applications.
In such mechanisms, they provide constant preload and safety-critical dampening and control for joints and mechanisms subjected to large loads and vibration frequencies. They are also commonly used in electrical connectors and joints because they provide the continuous contact pressure required for conductivity.
For more information on industry-specific spring applications, navigate to our dedicated industry pages:
How to Design or Specify a Wave Disc Spring
You should understand some essential disc spring characteristics before you’re ready to shop. In general, disc springs are cone-shaped discs that elastically deform to a shorter height when subjected to a load along the center axis of the disc.
Generally, a disc spring is defined by key geometric properties such as the Outer Diameter (D), which is the largest circumference of the disc. In contrast, the Inner Diameter (ID) is the diameter of the small hole in the center of the disc. This dimension is critical as it dictates the size of the bolt or fastener that can be used with the disc spring. It is also essential to choose a wave disc spring with an outer diameter that fits your available perimeter design space.
The disc spring Thickness (t) is the thickness of the metal used to form the disc spring. The last critical dimension is the Height (H), which is the vertical height of the disc spring measured from the top and bottom surfaces of the spring when it is unloaded, representing the height at which the disc deforms under compressive load. You should also evaluate the Number of Waves you need for your application. All other parameters being equal, more waves result in a stiffer wave disc spring in compression, generating a greater additional axial force per unit of deformation.
After evaluating the working load your wave disc must provide to your mechanism, you can shop by the Maximum Applied Load for wave disc springs, representing the load at which the wave disc spring height is fully compressed to zero.
If you are stacking wave disc springs in your application, the effective spring rate of a wave disc spring stack is a function of the stacking orientation. If all the wave disc springs are stacked such that their individual waves nest together, they are said to be stacked in parallel. In such a Parallel Stack configuration, the effective spring rate is simply the sum of all of the individual spring rates. The maximum deflection of the total stacks is effectively the same as the deflection of a single wave disc spring. Another stacking method is the Series Stacking method, which involves stacking wave disc springs so that each wave in the disc is offset (e.g., peak-to-valley configuration). This series stackup is typically used to increase the available deflection of the spring stack within a limited space. However, in such a configuration, the effective spring rate of the stack is lower than the smallest individual spring rate in the stack.
If you are stacking wave disc springs, you might consider using a series, parallel, or combination stacking to achieve your desired load and deflection profile for your application.
When taken together, these properties will help you determine the fit and function of your metal spring in your application.
FAQs About Wave Disc Springs
What is the difference between a Wave Disc Spring and a Belleville Washer?
It should be noted that wave disc springs and Belleville Washers are used to provide similar functionality, but the main distinction between the two lies in the geometry of each. Wave disc springs are flat discs with a circumferential wave profile, while Belleville washers are uniform, conical discs.
While both features are designed to flatten under and resist compressive forces, the conical shape of the Belleville washer provides a non-linear force response, as the compressive force required to compress increases as the washer flattens. In contrast, the wave disc spring requires a linear, constant force response for the complete compression profile. Your application will dictate which spring is best for your application.
Can wave disc springs be stacked for greater load capacity?
Yes, wave disc springs can be stacked to achieve one of the following functions: increasing load capacity or adjusting deflection characteristics. The stacking configuration (series or parallel) determines how the spring system behaves under load and displacement.
What materials are best for high-corrosion environments?
The best spring materials for high-corrosion environments, such as outdoor, industrial equipment, or marine applications, are listed in general order of cost and robustness, including Spring Steel and Stainless Steel.
Why Choose Century Spring
Our Commitment to Quality and Service
As the most trusted name in spring manufacturing, Century Spring is a quality-first, ISO 9001-certified supplier of springs and wire-formed products, specializing in both stock and custom springs. With an established industry presence and a proven track record, our large-scale production facility enables us to maintain a large inventory of high-quality springs and wire form products.
We offer rapid delivery on over 40,000+ stock springs, available to ship today. Our products are always made in the USA.
Our dedicated custom spring development and customer support teams understand how to navigate critical design criteria, including size, material, surface finish, and end type, to find the optimal spring solution for your application.
Our experienced product engineers, knowledgeable product quality team, and skilled manufacturing personnel consistently deliver the highest quality products to you faster than our domestic and international competitors.
Innovation and Customization in Spring Manufacturing
Century Spring combines state-of-the-art manufacturing tools with in-house design expertise to create custom spring solutions engineered to withstand any environment and meet the most stringent quality control standards. We also offer prototyping services for custom designs coupled with the capability to quickly scale to production quantities, minimizing total project development time.
Our cutting-edge computational equipment, simulation and testing techniques, including CNC compression self-monitoring and coiling machinery, enable us to deliver durable and reliable wire form products in a wide range of custom sizes and styles. We also have dedicated, high-speed machines that can quickly scale high-quality production to large part volumes.
Our team works alongside you to create, refine, and optimize spring designs to fit specific tolerance and performance design requirements.
Get In Touch
Contact Information
Contact us directly today, and let our experts resolve all your technical and sales questions. We can also guide you through both stock and custom micro and miniature spring design options for any spring application.
If you require immediate assistance, you can speak directly with our team on our dedicated customer service line at 800-237-5225.
Request a Quote and Consultation
You can always Request a Custom Quotation to partner with us in designing a custom spring solution if you can’t locate the spring you need within our extensive stock catalog.
We will follow up with a customized quotation and recommendations, and we will be happy to address any additional questions you may have.