The high-speed internal combustion engine presents many problems arising from dynamic effects. Amongst these is the phenomenon known as “ surging ” in the helical springs used for the operation of the valves.

If a helical spring is held at both ends, any disturbance in the spring passes up and down as a wave, being reflected at each end in turn. This to and fro movement continues until it is damped out by friction and air resistance. With most springs the speed of propagation of the disturbance is considerable and only a confused flutter of the coils is apparent to an observer. A disturbance of this type is caused by any movement of the end of the spring. The more abrupt the movement of the end, the more pronounced will the disturbance be. An instance of the type of movement producing a pronounced surge is that due to impact between the tappet and the valve when the valve commences to open.