Official Answer
Answer
The radial wall $b$ of a wave spring behaves similarly to the width of a rectangular beam in bending. The stiffness is linearly proportional to $b$, while the stress is inversely proportional to $b$. Specifically, the load $P$ is calculated as $P = (k imes f)$ where $k$ incorporates $b$ in the numerator. If an engineer increases $b$ to achieve a higher load, the spring becomes more rigid and less susceptible to buckling. However, a wider radial wall also increases the risk of interference with the housing or shaft as the spring expands radially during compression. This expansion $\Delta OD$ must be accounted for using the approximation $\Delta OD = 0.02 imes ext{Deflection} imes N$ to avoid 'binding' within a bore.
