Specifying a Longitudinal Spring

Select Spring from the dropdown menu of the Structural tool in the Physics group of the Simulation tab, or by selecting the Spring tool in the Structural condition HUD.

Define the spring by selecting two faces or a face and a point. Click

or Alt-click to select your second location.

If your model contains Named Selections, you can click Advanced filters, select Link named selections, and choose one from the list.

Select a Longitudinal spring type. Longitudinal springs generate a force that displaces along the axis.

Enter a Stiffness value.

Enter the spring Length, defined as the distance between the center of the two selected faces or between the center of the selected face and a point.

Additionally, in the Refine stage, you can optionally select a Preload type.

Select Free length to define a preload as a displacement length, then enter a non-zero value for the displacement length. The actual length is calculated using the spring end points from the defined locations.
Select Load to define the preload as a force load, then enter a non-zero value for the load. A positive value creates tension and a negative value creates compression.

Click Accept to complete the setup.