You know, a torsion bar in a carefully engineered cone shape could provide a "variable" lift assist, perhaps similar to that of a gas strut. Remember the old torsion bars for trunk lids in the 1960s-1980s? They provided fairly even lift that was long lasting. There's also the old coil spring they used to use for hoods. They lasted forever. Now the gas struts only last a comparatively short time.
My background is chemistry, not physics, but I imagine a torsion bar that is slightly narrower at one end could continue to provide some lift assist near the end of its twist, but as the shell is lowered, the thicker end begins to twist to provide further list assistance from the closed position.
Or, perhaps a hybrid system using a smaller gas strut to provide just a little extra lift at the beginning, but also uses the torsion bar for the majority of the lifting.
I suggest this because I can see gas struts needing periodic replacement, and be more expensive.
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