Belleville Spring Washers

What’s the Difference Between a Belleville Washer vs. a Spring Washer?

In reality, Belleville spring washers are a subcategory of spring washer. The conical shape of a Belleville spring washer is how it applies spring force on a bolted fastener. Other spring washers, such as curved washers and three-wave washers, use different shapes and forms to achieve similar effects.

What About Belleville Washers vs. Tooth Lock Washers?

Tooth-lock washers are also used to prevent movement and vibration of the bolted fastener but do so by providing additional points of fastening. Tooth lock washers are used especially in applications with softer metals and other materials where a consistent spring force is not desired.

How Do You Calculate the Potential Energy of Belleville Spring Washers

Belleville spring washers are unique in that they can be stacked in series or in parallel which provides additional spring force under load. This is known as the Belleville washer’s spring rate. The force-deflection relationship is nonlinear and depends on a multitude of variables including material thickness, washer width and free height available. Depending on how many Belleville spring lock washers you use determines the amount of potential energy you can achieve.