Official Answer
Answer
The radial wall $b$ is a critical factor in determining both the load capacity and the outer-diameter expansion of the spring during compression. For a nested wave spring, the load $P$ follows $P = \frac{E \cdot b \cdot t^3 imes N^4 imes f}{1.59 \cdot D_m^3} imes n_{nested}$. As the spring is compressed, the radial wall tends to expand due to the flattening of the waves. If the radial wall is too large relative to the mean diameter, the spring may bind in its housing or experience non-linear stress peaks at the inner diameter. Stress is calculated as $S = \frac{3 \pi \cdot P \cdot D_m}{4 \cdot b \cdot t^2 imes N^2}$, showing that stress decreases linearly as the radial wall $b$ increases for a constant load.
