SPRING 2022

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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
AMERICAN BELLEVILLE
8059 Crile Road, Concord, OH 44077
TEL 440-721-8350 LES RIGA 216-403-6058 PERRY BLOSSOM 440-343-4792 WEB www.AmericanBelleville.com
NOT ALL BELLEVILLE WASHERS OR
DISC SPRINGS ARE THE SAME
What Are Belleville Washers
And Disc Springs Used For?
To the untrained eye, Belleville
washers and Disc Springs may seem
to be simple products that can be
duplicated by nearly any manufacturer
or stamping company. But that couldn’t
be further from the truth. Simply put,
Belleville washers and Disc Springs
are engineered to support high loads,
relative to deflection compared to
ordinary lock washers or helical springs.
They reduce loosening in bolted joints
resulting from vibration, relaxation,
and differential thermal expansion and
contraction. They should be expected
to perform consistently for thousands to millions of
cycles when made and utilized properly.
What makes a Belleville washer unique is that it
is designed to meet locking requirements that other
types of washers cannot. Once pressure is applied
on a Belleville washer, it equally distributes the load
instead of concentrating it on one area. But how are they
different from one another?
Belleville Washers And Disc Springs:
Engineered Products vs. Commodities
Because of the critical requirements of Belleville
washers and Disc Springs, a high-quality product is
crucial in nearly all applications. That is a main reason
why our partners choose American Belleville as their
exclusive provider. While many manufacturers consider
these products a commodity, our team views them as
highly-engineered components. We carefully design and
manufacture them to do exactly what you need them
to do, and for as long as you need them to. Belleville
Washers and Disc Springs should not be viewed as
disposable, and if properly sourced and utilized, they
should be expected to be able to be re-used over and
over, each time as predictably as the last. It’s important
to ask yourself these questions, and perhaps more
importantly, the supplier that you choose:
¤ “Will this product meet the required load/
deflection characteristics?”
¤ “Does my application call for a part that is pre-set?”
¤ “Do my fatigue-life expectations warrant the use
of a shot-peened product?”
¤ “Have proper deburring techniques been utilized
in manufacturing the products I am buying in
order to mitigate over-stressing problems and
eliminate the risk of cracking or breaking?”
¤ “Will the Disc Spring stack I have designed
perform as needed in the environment that it will
be in?”
¤ “Have I selected the optimal material/finish
combination for the temperature and corrosion
resistance needed?”
BUSINESS FOCUS ARTICLE CONTINUED ON PAGE 174