Energy supply requires effective and also efficient techniques in production, transport and final use. In last years so many energy storage systems have been developed. Major advances in the field of composite materials; show that it can be possible the energy storage by the elastic deformation of a torsion spiral spring.

 

An analytical model is generated to study the different variables affecting the length of the spring strip that can be free or blocked either in the housing or in the shaft. Design parameters are strip length, variation of curvature of the spiral, relation between curvature of shaft and housing and variation of bending stiffness along the spring strip length. There is also a particular design case with a clothoid strip and a linear variation in bending stiffness throughout the length of the strip that leads an analytical torqueshaft rotation curve. According to the application of the spiral spring, different torque - angle characteristic curves are required, so a design process has been developed.

 

Different torsion spiral springs have been constructed and tested to validate the models. They have been manufactured with fiberglass composite and epoxy matrix. Test benches have also been constructed to validate the model. Tests carried out validate the analytical model with considerable accuracy. This work also analyses the optimization of spiral spring weight. Different materials, resistive section shape and serial and parallel configurations are studied to improve it.

 

There is also a specific work about the electromechanical and electric integration of the torsional spring in a railway system. Simulations about energy flow and energy storage load and down load have been carry out.