Materials & Shear load safety factors

Welcome back to Smalley Talk. This week, applications engineer Justin Lawrence fields some questions about retaining rings. Specifically, the materials we use and the details of shear load safety factors.

I would like to know if you can provide spirolox retaining rings made in titanium or other similar materials. We are currently using stainless steel retaining rings fitted in a titanium housing, and have seen evidence of galvanic corrosion between the two metals.

We can manufacture spirolox retaining rings out of titanium, and have designed and supplied them for space flight applications, it is not the easiest material to work with so we would need to discuss in detail the full requirements. We also have several other materials that may solve the problem such as Hastelloy, Elgiloy and several different Inconel options, all of which are supplied across many different industries. Contact a TFC Technical Sales Engineer today to discuss your specific needs and the best material to meet them.

Is the actual shear load really three times the advertised value? For example, in your catalogue the XWH-62 states ring shear at 2500lb, so that means I can expect a failure at a load of around 7500 lbs?
That is correct. The values we list for ring shear have a safety factor of 3, so you can expect the actual ring shear to occur at 3 times the listed value. However, our experience shows that the failure of a retaining ring is rarely due to ring shear. More often it is the groove deforming, which allows the ring to work its way out of the groove. Groove depth, width, and the housing/shaft material all play a part in how well a retaining ring performs.

You can contact a TFC Technical Sales Engineer today to discuss your axial loading needs and determine the best retaining ring for you.

That™s all for now, next time we will look at more Smalley application and design questions. Ask your own question here!