Glossary

Spring-temper materials are metals that have been processed to have high elastic strength, meaning they can bend, flex, or deflect under load and then return close to their original shape without taking a permanent set. They are used when a part needs to act like a spring rather than simply hold a rigid shape.

“Temper” refers to the material’s final condition after mechanical working and/or heat treatment. In spring-temper material, the metal has usually been strengthened by cold working, heat treatment, or a combination of both. This increases the material’s yield strength, which is the stress level where permanent deformation begins. The higher the yield strength, the farther the material can be flexed within its elastic range before it bends permanently.

In practical terms, a spring-temper strip, wire, or sheet is not necessarily a separate alloy; it is often a familiar alloy supplied in a harder, more elastic condition. For example, stainless steel, carbon steel, phosphor bronze, beryllium copper, brass, and certain nickel alloys can all be supplied in spring-temper forms. Stainless spring wire, blue-tempered spring steel, and half-hard or full-hard spring strip are common examples.

The key behavior of a spring-temper material is controlled springback. When the material is bent or deflected, internal stresses build up. If the stress stays below the yield point, the material returns to its original shape when the force is removed. If the stress exceeds the yield point, the material takes a permanent bend, loses some spring force, or may eventually crack from overloading or fatigue.

Spring-temper materials are commonly used in clips, clamps, retaining rings, spring washers, lock washers, snap rings, electrical contacts, battery contacts, flat springs, wire forms, hose clamps, panel fasteners, and formed hardware. In fastener-adjacent applications, they are important wherever the part needs to maintain tension, grip, preload, or contact pressure over repeated use.

There is a tradeoff. As metal is made harder and stronger for spring action, it usually becomes less ductile and more difficult to form. A soft annealed material may bend easily but not spring back strongly. A spring-temper material may provide excellent elastic recovery, but it can crack if bent too sharply or formed with the wrong tooling radius. That is why bend radius, grain direction, forming method, and heat treatment condition matter so much.