Belleville springs VS Belleville washers

Belleville springs and Belleville washers are both conical spring washers, usually made of spring steel, designed for axial loading. Compared with coil springs or wave springs, both can provide higher force in a relatively compact area.

Although the terms "Belleville spring" and "belleville washer" are often used interchangeably, the two products have some differences in technology, design, and application.

Belleville washers are mainly used for heavy-duty applications where bolts are fastened together, and the load is considered static. Disc springs can withstand static loads continuously or intermittently, and can also dynamically withstand continuous load cycles. Unlike Belleville washers, disc springs are specifically designed to provide repeatable force, that is, the stroke relationship, and have a long and predictable fatigue life in dynamic or cyclic applications.

Disc springs are commonly found in a variety of applications, including pressure controls and regulators, vehicle braking systems, valves, shock absorbers, clutches, friction components, and connections where heat/weight cycling occurs. Disc springs can be used as a single piece, or they can be stacked together to form different configurations to achieve the ideal forced deformation performance.