Official Answer
Answer
There are three structural families, then a choice of ends.
- Single-turn — one ring carrying two to four waves, supplied with a gap, with an overlap, or as a plain closed circumference. Usable deflection is roughly 30–70 % of free height. Best for simple gap closing.
- Multi-turn crest-to-crest — a continuous coil in which the crest of each turn rests on the crest of the next. The turns act in series, so the spring rate falls as turns are added, and usable deflection widens to roughly 20–80 %. This is the workhorse geometry.
- Nested — turns stacked in phase so they act in parallel, multiplying load within the same installed height. Deflection returns to roughly 30–70 %.
Two further variants exist: the linear wave spring, supplied as a straight length and formed to circumference at assembly, and the interlaced wave spring, in which two coils are wound together to reach a rate neither achieves alone. Independently of family, ends are either plain — the wire simply stops, so the last crest bears on a point — or shim ends, which add a flat ground bearing surface so load transfers evenly. Below about 5 mm outside diameter, shim ends are worth specifying by default.
