What materials are used to manufacture SKL clips?
Dec 27, 2025| The SKL-type spring clips currently used in railway engineering are primarily made of high-strength spring steel.
Common Steel Grades
In actual production, the following specific grades of spring steel are commonly used, as they determine the strength, toughness, and fatigue life of the spring clip:
1. 60Si2MnA: A commonly used high-strength spring steel. Studies show that compared to 38Si7, using it to manufacture SKL14 spring clips increases the strength margin by 7.93%, the clamping force by 4.87%, and reduces residual deformation. This indicates superior overall performance, making it particularly suitable for lines with higher requirements.
2. 38Si7: Also a mature spring steel material, previously used to manufacture SKL14 spring clips for export. Its performance meets the requirements, but under the same harsh operating conditions (such as a 13mm displacement standard working condition), the stress margin may be relatively small. This means that a larger safety margin needs to be considered during design.
3. Other Materials: Historically, grades such as 60Si2CrA have also been used.
The material selection for SKL spring clips is not static but based on a trade-off of engineering requirements:
Core Requirements: The material must provide the high strength, high elastic limit, and excellent fatigue resistance required for the spring clip to maintain stable clamping force under long-term vibration and deformation.
Selection Basis: When choosing a specific grade, engineers comprehensively consider the axle load, speed, design life, and cost of the circuit. Higher performance materials (such as 60Si2MnA) can provide greater safety redundancy for demanding circuits such as heavy-duty and high-speed circuits.
Regarding how materials affect performance, there is a paper titled "Analysis of the Influence of Spring Clip Material on Fastener Performance Parameters," which specifically studies SKL14 spring clips. If you are interested, I can introduce you to the key conclusions regarding the comparison of different materials.
Hopefully, the above information answers your questions. If you can tell me the specific SKL spring clip model you are interested in (e.g., SKL1, SKL12, etc.) or application scenario (e.g., high-speed rail, subway, etc.), I can provide a more targeted analysis.