wire rope break test brands

As a company that focuses on quality, testing is at the heart of everything we do. We are LEEA accredited and have state-of-the art testing equipment to ensure all components are tested to the highest industry standards.

Proof load testing is generally performed with the Working Load Limit (WLL). The assembly is subjected to this load and monitored over time. As standard, we perform proof load testing of two times WLL (up to 30 tons) for two minutes. But we can change this criteria to meet your requirements.

Chant Engineering manufactures a variety of test beds and options. Our standard pull test machines are available in a horizontal or vertical layout. We also offer mobile test beds, break test, pre-stretch and tugger winch testing machines.

Chant Proof Test Machines are rugged and proven to stand up to the test. Test beds are designed to take your products to their maximum limit for both non-destructive and destructive testing. Chant Testing Machines will proof test your products for load, torque and breaking points in your own test environment. Chant fully understands your product testing needs and has a full line of standard test beds. We can also engineer and manufacture any proof test machine you can dream through complete customization.

Did you know that Chant now offers leasing options for its test beds? You can now lease a proof test machine for as low as $2,000/month. We have 2, 3, 4, and 5 year lease options available. Start a new revenue stream for your rigging shop today! Give us a call for a quote and leasing terms. How can you afford not to?

In 2011, WCWR expanded its pull-testing capabilities by adding a brand new Chant Engineering test bed. This modular bed has the ability to be extended from its 180 foot length should a future need arise.

This Chant bed easily performs Proof Load testing, Destructive (Break) testing, Cycle testing, Pre-stretching, and long-term Fatigue testing at any specific load from 5000 to 500,000 pounds. Using Chant’s DataTest software, tailoring a test to meet your custom needs is a snap. After completion of any test, a certification with graphic representation of the load(s) is available for record keeping.

By adding this bed to the existing beds in Portland, Seattle, and Oakland, WCWR‘s flexibility and efficiency was significantly increased. WCWR is now uniquely positioned to handle most needs with testing capacity up to 1.2 million pounds.

The experienced WCWRteam loves a challenge. If you are in a bind, need a specific test, or have further questions about our test bed capabilities, please contact the pull-testing specialists at your local WCWR location.

Destruction test or Break test is performed to determine the ultimate / residual tensile strength of the rope. KTL Marine Services offer destruction tests on steel and synthetic wire ropes up to 1500 MT.

All the steel rope samples are terminated with sockets at both ends to achieve 100% termination efficiency such that no loss on actual breaking load is effected even due to any minor factors.

Our technicians are trained by various rope manufacturers and the synthetic ropes samples are prepared using manufacturer’s approved splicing method with soft eye or thimble eyes so as to attain the ultimate breaking strength in accordance with manufacturer’s procedure.

Ropes made from high modulus polyethylene (HMPE) have superior tension fatigue properties compared to ropes made from steel wire or other synthetic fibers (i.e. nylon, polyester, aramids, etc.), as shown in Table 1.

The testing summarized in this document is focused on HMPE-based ropes. The test included two samples of each rope type from three different manufactures, referred to here as AmSteel®-Blue and Saturn-12 (both Samson products), Product C, and Product D (from 2 different domestic manufacturers). All samples were 12-strand single braids, 3/8” (9 mm) nominal diameter, made from HMPE fiber (Samson AmSteel®-Blue and Saturn-12 are 100% Dyneema® HMPE fiber, Product C and D are 100% Spectra® HMPE fiber). Product D uses heat setting in post processing while Product C uses construction design characteristics that optimize break strength and keep stretch low. Samson’s two products use a balanced construction that strives to achieve high strength and low stretch while maximizing fatigue life and abrasion resistance.

The effects of heat setting on HMPE rope is well documented (see Samson Technical Bulletin: HMPE Rope—Effects of Post Production Processes). HMPE ropes characteristically show an initial increase in strength as they are worked for the first 40% of their expected tension fatigue lifetime. Heat setting pushes the rope along the expected strength curve to the maximum strength the fiber will be expected to achieve before it is placed in service. The strength gain comes at the price of a significantly reduced fatigue lifetime.

The rope’s construction design—twist levels and braid angles—also influences both strength, fatigue life and resistance to abrasion. (See Samson Technical Bulletin: HMPE Rope: Design vs. Performance). High strength can be achieved using a longer cycle length that results in a looser braid. Testing shows that it also results in lower tension fatigue resistance and lower abrasion resistance

Swageless wire-rope terminals have long been a favorite piece of rigging kit among all kinds of sailors. These terminals are inspectable, reusable, and can be assembled with simple hand tools. But for all of their acknowledged advantages, data is scarce about their mechanical efficiency. How much, if any, do they weaken the wire rope they are attached to?

To answer this question, Practical Sailor worked with well-known rigger Brion Toss of Port Townsend, Wash., to conduct destruction tests on Hi-Mod (Hayn), Sta-Lok, and Norseman terminals, the three major brands used on sailboats. These mechanical terminals were previously reviewed in the June 2015 issue. For this test, Toss also included poured-socket terminals, which are common in industrial use, but are rarely used on sailboats.

Before we get to the results of the tests, some background is needed. First, ultimate efficiency, though desirable, is not the most important consideration when selecting wire-rope terminals. Corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance, proper scan’tlings, proper tune, proper use, and quality of metallurgy and machining are all more likely to prevent rigging failures than ultimate strength will. This is because, given a reasonable safety factor, rigging afloat or ashore is very unlikely to be stressed anywhere near its breaking strength, but the world is always acting to corrode, fatigue, and otherwise break it.

On the other hand, all other things being equal, a strong terminal is obviously better than a weak one. For example, lets say you arent worried about losing a mere 10 percent or so of strength due to the terminal. After all, that wire, in a well-designed cruising rig, would rarely see loads much over 30 percent of its rated strength. So you should have no objection to using a hacksaw to cut through two of the wires 19 yarns, because that would merely result in a bit more than a 10-percent loss of strength. But of course, you would never do that. Strength matters, if only to provide a greater reserve against decay, miscalculations, shock loads, etc. Thats why 100-percent efficient terminals-those that spread rigging loads most efficiently and do not weaken wire rope-are the standard by which all others are judged.

Which brings us to the next problem: 100 percent of what? Although the best wire-rope manufacturers might arrange for frequent destruction tests to determine actual wire strength, all they really need to do is to meet a standard-rated strength, published by various standards organizations, for a given material and construction. That way, designers and users have a reasonable idea of the minimum strength of the material they are using, and manufacturers don’t have to attach actual breaking strength figures to every batch of wire they make.

Because the rated strength is the result of calculations and not actual testing, there will nearly always be some discrepancy between a wires rated strength and its actual strength, and this discrepancy complicates measuring terminal efficiency. This discrepancy is a key consideration, and if we don’t take it into account, destruction tests will be misleading.

This can be more complicated than it may seem. Imagine you have a very good wire rope. It is a full 20-percent stronger than the official rated strength. Apply a very bad terminal to it, one that weakens the wire rope by about 20 percent. Put the wire on a testing machine and break it. If you were going only by the wires rated strength, you might think your terminal was 100 percent efficient, when in fact it had weakened the wire by an amount equivalent to sawing through almost four of its 19 yarns.

Now imagine that another terminal, attached to the same wire rope, only weakens the wire by 10 percent. Now a test will show that the wire rope has somehow achieved a strength of 108 percent (120 x 0.9). This is of course impossible, at least in this universe; a wire can’t be stronger than it is.

By the same token, you could put a 100-percent efficient terminal on wire rope that was so poorly made that its actual strength was a full 20-percent less than its rated strength, and to the uneducated person, the results of a break test would show clearly that the terminal weakened the wire rope, when in fact it had not.

To avoid these potentially misleading results in our tests, we simply disregarded the rated strength of the wire, and recorded the actual break loads achieved by each type of terminal. That way, we could determine the terminals relative efficiency. As you will see, this resulted in a fairly wide spectrum of results, with the best terminals approaching 100-percent efficiency. The worst terminals produced failure numbers that were much lower.

Since the actual strength of wire rope varies-not just from manufacturer to manufacturer, but from batch to batch-the wire itself can be a variable. Producing an optimally strong wire rope involves obsessive attention to variables like metallurgy, extrusion, yarn twist, relative yarn tension, etc. Therefore we used a wire with a long history of high quality, as verified by repeated independent testing, and we arranged to have all of our wires taken from the same spool. We did this for each diameter of wire that we tested.

It is relatively easy to determine the tensile strength of wire rope, but a little trickier for testers to be sure that their reading of the terminals efficiency is fair. This is because, entirely apart from their design and the quality of their manufacture, these terminals have to be fitted on the wire ends by human beings, who may or may not be following the instructions. Mechanical terminals like the ones we tested are frequently applied by non-professionals, who might lack sufficient judgment on what constitutes a good assembly.

To be fair, some professionals also make assembly mistakes, and make the same ones over and over again. No one is immune to error. For our tests, we double-checked the manufacturers instructions every step of the way, as well as the dimensions of all the parts, to make sure they were the right parts. We suggest that you do likewise when you are assembling your own terminals; results can vary dramatically, depending on the quality of your work. The accompanying sidebar on assembling mechanical terminals offers some tips and advice for first-timers and pros alike.

The three mechanical terminal brands we tested were Hayn Hi-Mod, Sta-Lok, and Norseman. The Norseman terminal has been around the longest and is found on sailboats all over the world; however, Norseman recently ceased manufacture. (Not to give anything away, but this might have been a good thing.)

The poured sockets we tested came from Port Townsend Foundry in Port Townsend, Wash. Unlike the mechanical terminals, which are made of type 316 stainless steel, the Foundry sockets are made of aluminum bronze.

We broke all of our test sample terminals and sockets at Oberts Marine Supply, an industrial yard in south Seattle. Oberts hydraulic testing machine has a break test capacity of 200,000 pounds, so our samples, the strongest of which were rated at 22,000 pounds, were not a strain for it. The machine is regularly calibrated and certified.

With each sample, testers increased tension slowly to a minimal tension-about 1,000 pounds-then checked to see that all connections were sound and lying fair. Then we increased the strain to a working load-3,000 pounds for most samples-and paused again. Testers then increased the load at a steady rate until the rigging failed.

We worked with a very small sample size, with at most four breaks for a given brand and wire size, but results among samples varied by less than 6 percent for each brand of terminal, and most differences were less than 3 percent. We were able to reuse all of the mechanical terminals and sockets, with no loss of ultimate efficiency.

The poured sockets, in both 5/16-inch and quarter-inch, were the most efficient, scoring averaged breaking loads of 12,890 pounds and 8,220 pounds, respectively. This was not a surprise, as poured sockets are recognized throughout the rigging industry as being highly efficient. Further evidence that we were getting toward 100-percent efficiency came from the fact that our socket breaks tended to break in the clear, or well outside the terminal. All of the other samples broke at the ends of their terminals, or even inside them.

A break at the terminal indicates that the terminal has created a stress riser, a weak spot where the wire will break prematurely. A break in the clear means that the terminal is so efficient at transmitting loads that the wire, in a sense, doesn’t know the terminal is there, so the break will come at a higher load. As a rule of thumb, an optimal break will happen at least one full turn of the wire yarns from their terminal; our best break was almost six turns from the poured socket terminal. So it is reasonable to say that the sockets were, for all practical purposes, 100-percent efficient.

Each terminal broke at a lower load than the sockets. We therefore recorded the socket numbers as 100 percent of wire strength, and listed all other results relative to the sockets breaking loads.

The Hayn Hi-Mod and Sta-Lok terminals were neck-and-neck in the 5/16-inch size, with average results of approximately 12,300 pounds breaking load. This puts them at 95.4-percent efficiency.

The Norseman fittings averaged 10,770 pounds in the 5/16-inch size, giving them a paltry 83.5-percent efficiency. Even on extraordinarily strong wire, these terminals reduced wire strength to barely above rated strength.

This bears further consideration: If the wires ultimate strength had been a more typical 5 to 10 percent above rated strength, and if the vessels safety factor was based on the rated strength, as it should be, then that safety factor would have been significantly compromised.

Rig failures are far more often the result of fatigue, corrosion, etc., than of terminals mechanical inefficiency. But it makes sense to start with the most efficient terminals you can, to keep your rig as far as practicable from the possibility of failure. This test indicates that the most efficient fittings are poured sockets, followed closely by Hi-Mod and Sta-Lok terminals. Because the Hi-Mod was the easiest to work with, it got the Best Choice pick by a nose.

In today’s times, wires, ropes and cables are considered very important in the building and construction industry. They are also used for pulling, lifting and holding various things. Although the wires are strong enough to get their work done, they need to go through some safety procedure called wire rope testing.

Wire rope testing is a form of electromagnetic inspection using equipment designed specifically for steel braided wire rope. Steel rope is used in a variety of applications such as amusement parks, mine shafts, suspension bridges and overhead cranes.

The equipment utilizes two strong magnets in a clam shell type set up to clamp around the rope. These magnets create a constant magnetic field in the steel rope. Since the magnetic field is constant, the amount of flux necessary to saturate the rope is a function of the cross-sectional area of the rope.

If the section of the rope that passes through the machine contains defects such as broken wires, corrosion thinning or stretching, the magnetic flux will be affected. These changes are interpreted on an oscilloscope display.

With proper calibration and training the technician can determine the percentage of cross-sectional loss, broken wires, and overall loss of break strength.

Wire rope flaw detection:Wire rope flaw detection is a proven technology that can deliver up to 4m/s and accurate quantitative results. When used correctly, it can determine the life and condition of a wire rope that can withstand corrosion, abrasion, and fatigue.

The technology is designed for inspection of the round, flat and steel-rubber flat wire ropes in a wide range of applications such as mining, cranes and heavy lifting onshore and offshore, cableways, cable bridges, elevators, guy ropes of flare stacks and masts, overhead transmission lines.

How do you inspect wire ropes:Firstly, use the rag-and-tag visual method for inspecting any external damages. Grab the rope lightly and with a rag or cotton cloth, move the rag slowly along the wire. Broken wires will often "porcupine" (stick out) and these broken wires will snag on the rag. If the cloth catches, stop and visually assess the rope. It is also important to visually inspect the wire (without a rag). Some wire breaks will not porcupine.

Measure the diameter of the rope. Compare these diameter measurements with the original diameter of the rope. If the measurements are different, this change indicates external and/or internal damage to the rope.

Visually check for abrasions, corrosion, pitting, and lubrication inside the rope. You can try inserting a marlin spike beneath two strands and rotate it to lift strands and open the rope.

Safety is paramount when it comes to wire rope testing. Hence it is advisable to inspect wire ropes at regular intervals. Here are some of the times when you should inspect your wire ropes:When you are installing a wire rope for the first time.

A wire rope can get damaged due to a variety of reasons. Some of them are listed below:Fatigue from repeated bending even under normal operating conditions.

Corrosion from lack of lubrication and exposure to heat or moisture (e.g., wire rope shows signs of pitting). A fibre core rope will dry out and break at temperatures above 120°C (250°F).

We hope that this article will be helpful for everyone who is interested in NDT.Are you looking for a single platform that has all the information related to Non- destructive Testing? Your search ends here.One Stop NDThas everything related to Non-Destructive Testing in one place.

Get a range of wholesale wire rope break load test designed for different testing needs. For those involved in the field of digital electronics and who need to work with digital circuits and systems regularly, consider the wide range of logic analyzers that are available. Quality testing equipment will be able to help verify and debug your digital designs efficiently when required.

If you are looking for items like electric tester pens for personal or home use, pick from the range of voltage detector kits available. For those who do not require an entire kit, look into the individual product listings for the different types of pen voltage testers that are on sale instead.

For owners of electronic tools and equipment supply stores, there is also a large variety of testing equipment that you might want to consider purchasing. Products that are available include vector network analyzers, circuit breaker testers, megohmmeters and even tube testers. Get wire rope break load test from several popular and leading brands here.

If you happen to be in search of an affordable tool for troubleshooting purposes, consider equipment like the amp clamp meter for quick and effective checking. For those looking for more specialized products, like tools to test fiber optic cables, look into the selection of quality optical time-domain reflectometers, also known as the OTDR, which are used to test the integrity of fiber cables.

Horizon Cable Service has a fleet of 7 state-of-the-art computerized test beds calibrated to ASTM E4 Standards (+/- 1% accuracy) for all your mobile pull testing needs throughout the United States. Additionally, all load testing equipment is calibrated on an annual basis by a third party. Proof Tests and Pull Testing are utilized for product verification, break testing, and load testing to ensure compliance. We have the capabilities to test a single piece of equipment or an entire fleet depending on our customers’ requirements. Our highly trained and experienced staff follows all stringent industry procedures to ensure compliance. Horizon Cable Service offers a full range of load testing for products we fabricate and repair as well as those items from other manufacturers. Proof testing is performed at specific percentages above the rated capacity of the item as recommended by the manufacturer or customer specific requests. Our customers have the right to witness any of the proof testing upon request.

Upon completion of the test graph is stored electronically along with a copy that is given to the customer for their records. Horizon Cable takes this a step further by also providing all customers worldwide access to their certificates of pull testing 24/7 via our on line certification center. This complimentary service allows all registered users the ability to view, print, or email certifications at a moment’s notice.

We have multiple in-house test centers where we can test up to 1,430 ton. Heavier test loads are performed in collaboration with our external partners. In our horizontal test bench, we carry out pull tests and breaking tests. We test subjects such as steel wire rope, lifting chains, lifting beams etc. The special design of the bench enables us to do pull tests (angle tests) of subjects up to 500 ton and 7 meters wide.

Our test bench is equipped with precise sensors that will reveal any elongation. The test can be video filmed and delivered to you as documentation. All tests are performed in a controlled and safe environment.

Water Weights are specially designed bags that allow testing of very heavy loads such as cranes, bridges and flight decks. Water Weights typically weigh less than 2% of the achievable load, the remaining 98% is water. The technology is simple, safe and adaptable, which means you can deploy it practically anywhere – indoor and out, on- and offshore, at your home base or on the other side of the planet.

Ensuring that crane ropes and rigging products meet local, international and corporate standards is a vital activity for manufacturers and suppliers. Bernadette Ballantyne reports.

In January 2017, UK-based company Rope and Sling Specialists (RSS) achieved something that managing director Steve Hutin says will open up new markets for its offshore business.

Achieving the DNV GL international standards certification gives the assurance required by companies in the oil and gas sector that RSS wire rope slings comply with DNV 2.7-1 for offshore containers, as well as EN 12079-2 ‘Offshore containers and associated lifting sets part 2: Lifting sets – design, manufacture and marking’; EN 13414-1 for wire rope slings, and IMO/MSC Circular 860, the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee guidelines for the approval of offshore containers. DNV GL was formed out of the 2013 merger of testing, certification and consulting agencies Det Norske Veritas and Germanischer Lloyd. Organisations like DNV GL ensure that providers of lifting sets are audited at regular intervals to give end users assurances that sourced and manufactured equipment from suppliers complies with relevant standards and guidance.

Hutin explains that approval entailed taking the auditor through the manufacturing process. “Basically, we had to have the DNV auditor come to us. We had to manufacture a sling in front of him. Then you have to do a break test on the wire itself. We had to put it on a test bed and apply a force to snap the actual sling to make sure that it comes within the safety factors.”

RSS sources its wire rope from three main manufacturers, each of which is listed on the DNV GL certification. The Netherlands’ Hendrik Veder, and Usha Martin and Latch & Batchelor in the UK. “They give us breaking load certifications and mill certifications. The construction, the steel grades, the breaking loads, so we know everything before we break them,” says Hutin.

RSS wire-rope supplier Hendrik Veder has a three-pronged approach to ensuring quality from its own supply chain. The first is what managing director Harry MacLean describes as “taking a fair approach to selection”, involving visits by the quality assurance team and audits of the factory. “Second, we have them comply with standards and commercial obligations not just on quality but performance and time, and the third part is that we conduct cyclical performance visits on all suppliers.”

“Here in Rotterdam, we have a test bed up to 1,400t, and fully qualified test-bed engineers, so we can do braking tests and destruction tests on a cyclical basis,” says MacLean. The company also takes a transparent approach with its own customers, who can visit the factory to review quality procedure. “Guys are welcome to come and inspect our records at any time. The supply chain department is here at any time for any of our customers to inspect our records.”

The rush to stronger and harder materials to meet the demands for lighter but higher WLL lifting products can become a safety critical issue in the wrong hands. Yoke promises to solve this conundrum with Yoke steel, and its ability to manufacture a broad range of equipment and components including chain fittings, wire-rope fittings, lifting points, blocks and sheaves.

Steven Hong, president of Yoke Industrial Corporation, says, “Yoke is proud to promote industry and academia working side by side for the development of high-performance alloy steel, such as Yoke Steel. We have seen our steel progressing from industry-standard high-strength alloy steel (HSLA) to modified steels (M versions), modified extreme (MX versions) and, in the future, MXX materials. Yoke steel, as the name suggests, is unique to our company. The joint research we carry out on microstructure observations, mechanical properties, fracture analysis and thermal mechanical treatments helps the advancement of Yoke steel and the manufacturing process.”

Yoke has a dedicated team of technicians focusing on the properties of raw materials used in their products, heat treatment and hardness, ensuring the stride towards higher-grade materials and lighter-weight components does not create life-threatening risk. The company also works with external technical institutes to develop future material and heat treatment needs.

The control of the heat treatment process starts during the choice of the raw material to ensure the specific chemical elements are present. Cost cutting at this stage or during the heat-treatment process can prove catastrophic if the material microstructure does not meet the specific properties to develop ductility and impact values stated in the original engineering specification. This recipe is key to the features of the finished product and the capabilities of operating in challenging environments.

The company’s material assurance process starts with spectrographic analysis, along with visual and dimensional controls on the raw material to ensure the proper metallurgical content and quality aspects of Yoke steel.

Magnaflux crack detection is performed on all forged components after heat treatment to ensure zero defects. Charpi impact testing is then performed on batch samples to ensure impact values are achieved at low temperatures. Yoke aims for a minimum impact resistance of 42J at -40°C on many regular products. Proof load testing up to 2.5 times the WLL and dynamic fatigue testing at 1.5 times the WLL are used to verify product performance in the field. Ultimate breaking load testing is also preformed on batch samples to validate ductility and ensure design factors are maintained.

Another firm that takes a thorough approach to testing is Austria’s Teufelberger, which manufactures wire ropes sourced primarily from European suppliers. “The wires are our raw material and the wires have to meet EN 10264 – the minimum basic standard for roping wire – and our in-house specifications, which are above the EN standards,” explains Peter Baldinger, technical director for wire ropes at Teufelberger. He notes that as far as allowable range for carbon content, manganese and silicon are concerned, the company places stricter requirements on its steel than the EN standards.

As the wires – which, for cranes, range from 0.3 to 5.5mm – come in to the factory, each batch is tested to determine its tensile strength as well as its bending and torsional properties. The company also has a metallographic laboratory with machines that can cut, grind and polish the steel before it is examined with a range of microscopes and hardness-testing devices. Any that don’t meet the exacting requirements are returned to the supplier, which may be in Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, Spain and Slovakia.

“Once everything is tested and everything is OK, we start with the spooling process,” says Baldinger. “We perform an uncoiling process from the Z2 or Z3 coil (400 or 800kg) to our machine spools. There, we start measurement. All of our in-house machines have laser length measurement devices.”

According to Baldinger, this is a critical aspect of quality control, and something it claims to take a leading position in.By investing extensively in its measuring devices, the firm can ensure that the required parameters and settings are consistent over the many kilometres of wire production that it carries out, meaning that quality across the length of rope is consistent.

Back to the production process, the next step is to produce the strands, which are made up of a number of wires. In the most simple arrangement, an individual wire is surrounded by five or six more wires, but for crane ropes, the strands will be much larger, with the Warrington-Seale arrangement, for example, being common. In this rope, 26, 31, 36 or 41 wires are used to make a single strand. “We produce a number of strands depending on the rope construction required, and then these strands are moved to the closing machine and we create the steel core of the rope. The steel core has to be covered with polymer, and a lot of our constructions have polymer layers inside.”

The next step is to bring the steel core to the extrusion line and cover it with polymer. Meanwhile, outer strands are produced on other machines before the final closing operation is carried out, at which point the steel core is covered with the outer strands. “Once we have produced it, we have to test and analyse if everything is correct,” says Baldinger.

“The 300t machine is the largest operating in Austrian industry. Not only does it test tension, but it also allows us to measure torque properties,” Baldinger adds.

To test bending, the company has four bending machines that test the performance of the rope as it runs over the sheaves. The machines conduct 1,100 test days every year. Performance in this area is crucial in terms of safety, says Baldinger. ISO 4309, for example, describes discard criteria. Wire breaks should always happen in the outer wires because the inner layers cannot be inspected visually. “Therefore, Teufelberger develops and analyses each rope construction in bending properties, ensuring that the discard really can be done following the ISO,” says Baldinger.

Furthermore, in 2008, Teufelberger installed a crane-style testing device to analyse spooling behaviour, which not only helps quality assurance, but is also a vital research and development tool in the industry.

Director of global engineered fabrications Tim Klein says that the tests required are set out very clearly in ASME and OSHA standards. “I make sure that all of our fabrication shops have all of the right procedures to make sure that we are following the ASME standards. We are pretty strict about that.”

For example, it has to be marked with the rating-capacity tag to ensure that the user knows the diameter of allowable sling configurations and the rated capacity. Proof testing is therefore an important part of the process, with section 9-2.6 of the standard requiring that all new swaged sockets, poured sockets, turnback eyes and mechanical joint endless wire rope slings are proof tested, as well as all wire rope slings that employ previously used or welded fittings, or slings that have been repaired. “You have to proof-load to twice the rated capacity,” says Klein.

At the start of manufacturing, WireCo draws out its own wires to create the ropes. “We bring in 6,000lb rod lots into our drawing facility and run them through our cleaning house, which acid cleans the wire to remove any uncertainties, and then we put a coating on the wire to help us with the drawing process. Then it is ready for production,” says Klein.

“We are tracking the lots and we know what is in the system. Then it gets allocated for drawing into a specific wire that is going to go into a specific rope diameter. Of course, depending on that diameter, you select the right rod and tensile strength.”

The rods of course come with factory mill certificates, and the firm also does tensile testing, torsional testing to check ductility, and a bend test on some of the lots, but not all of them as the ropes are all tested at the end of fabrication.

Drawing the wire itself is an “art”, says Klein, “because, as we draw that wire down, it is going to increase the tensile strength, and if you draw it too far it can get extremely strong but also very brittle, so we want to be sure that we don’t overwork the steel.”

Once the wires are drawn out, their tensile and torsional characteristics are tested before the wires go into a stranding machine. They are then closed around the core. “At that point, the rope is in accordance with ASTM or ISO or EN standards, and we use tensile testing and modulus testing to ensure that those meet the applicable industry standards.”

Another important area of investment when it comes to quality control is maintaining the equipment. “We spend a tremendous amount of time and money ensuring that our machines are in top-notch working condition and that we don’t have mechanical issues, and once the ropes are produced, we cut a sample off the front and the end of the rope to ensure that we have consistent quality products in accordance with our standards as well as the industry standards,” says Klein.

Despite the different standards and material properties, there are many similarities between quality testing for synthetic rope and its traditional wire counterparts. “As a new technology, the burden of proof is much higher, and we want to ensure it is done properly. We are very excited about entering this market but it has to be done with safety in mind first,” says Michael Quinn, director of new business development at Samson Rope. The firm’s K-100 synthetic mobile-crane line has been specifically designed with high-performance fibres as a lightweight alternative to wire rope in cranes. Manufacturer Manitowoc has been the first company to embrace the technology, starting with its 65t Grove RT770E rough terrain in early 2014. “We provide a manufacturing certificate with every hoist rope that includes documentation on the batch, which is typical for other hoist ropes. It also includes break strength of the manufacturing lot,” he says.

Like other major manufacturers, the firm is ISO 9001-certified for its manufacturing processes, but from a product perspective, it works according to ISO 2307 ‘Fibre ropes: Determination of certain physical and mechanical properties’. “That standard specifically speaks to the test method used to validate that we meet our strength specifications,” says Quinn.

At the same time, other standards used in other industries also set out quality criteria that Samson adheres to. “For each industry we service, we work with the appropriate regulatory and advisory boards. For example, where we sell synthetic mooring ropes for LNG tankers, there is an industry body called OCIMF that sets guidelines for how synthetic rope is used in those applications,” says Quinn. “Our products are designed to be used in accordance with their guidance.”

In terms of the crane industry, Quinn points to ongoing development of standards for synthetic ropes such as ASME B30.30 and Europe’s FEM mobile crane manufacturers group, which is working on a guideline for these ropes on mobile cranes.

As the standards evolve, Samson carries out a raft of its own tests to assure users of the quality of its ropes, starting with initial batch testing of all the fibre that comes in as part of a sampling programme where information can then be traced back to each lot. Once it is braided into ropes, there is a whole battery of testing.

“We try to look at all of the different ways that rope can wear, fatigue and be damaged. We then characterise the performance of the rope in those areas, and then, of course, use that to improve our design,” he says.

“We also look at the applications to determine which wear mechanisms have the greatest impact. We perform testing related to spooling – how well does it spool on to the winch drum? We also do testing related to drum connection strength and fatigue.

This is to ensure that our rope can properly connect to the crane. We have done a fair amount of testing to determine the strength of that connection and how it fatigues over time to ensure that we are meeting the requirements.”

As well as fatigue testing, the firm carries out residual strength testing. “We have ropes that are out in the field on cranes used today, and we have a sampling programme to bring whole ropes or samples of those ropes. We are trying to collect a combination of number of lifts, engine hours, and the residual strength of that sample to build a data set depicting how that rope fatigues over its lifetime.

In February, Cranes Today reported online that a Manitowoc buyer, Sweden’s Lambertsson Kran, had ordered the first ever all terrain to be fitted with synthetic rope. After being impressed by the rope at an open house run by Helsingborg Samson dealer Scan unit, the company requested it be fitted on its new GMK4100L-1. Lambertsson regional manager Claes Jakobsson explained that by using the lighter synthetic rope, the company expected to be able to carry more counterweight, making the compact crane even more suitable for taxi crane work around Malmö.

Q: My understanding of the use of synthetic rope is that the sheaves used should be only steel. The crane pictured has Nylatron sheaves. The synthetic-rope industry sales agents [in the offshore industry] indicate that the heat caused by synthetic rope running on Nylatron sheaves will cause failure of the sheaves due to heat transfer.

I would like to get a response from the rope supplier, as the offshore industry is debating the use of this type of rope for use on platform cranes while the API Specification 2C eighth edition rewrite process is in progress.

A:Offshore cranes and mobile cranes are different applications. For mobile cranes, the use of nylon sheaves is acceptable with synthetic rope, as proved by multiple years of application use.

For offshore cranes, many cranes employ an active heave compensation (AHC) system. This system is designed to maintain position of a load under the waterline while the vessel is moving with the ocean waves/swells. The AHC system requires that the position of the rope on the sheaves be adjusted with every wave cycle (9–12 second cycles) while under load. Also, in order to maintain the same payload position, the same section of rope repeatedly passes through the bend zone, generating heat at the rope and sheave, which can damage both. Therefore, steel or aluminium sheaves, which act as heat sinks, are recommended for these types of systems.

Engineers continue to expand the size of loads supported by wire rope, from tension cables on bridges, to payloads lifted by cranes on construction sites, or for equipment used in the gas and oil industry.

The Chant Engineering Company in New Britain, Pa. is the largest of a handful of companies that design and build wire rope test beds for the world market.

"We provide testing equipment for wire ropes, slings and anything north or south of the hook," says Patrick Shire, vice-president of sales and marketing for Chant Engineering.

"We generally supply the equipment to rigging shops who supply the wire rope. Our most popular units are standalone horizontal models, generally about 40 feet long, that you can drop onto a shop floor. They’re built of steel and steel I-beams and powered by electrically driven hydraulic cylinders that apply a tensile force of up to 1.3-million  lbs. Each unit is operated by proprietary software to maintain accurate control and calibration."

Test beds are generally used for three purposes: non-destructive testing of the tensile strength of wire rope; break testing, to determine the load a wire rope can support before it fails; and pre-tensioning of wire rope used in construction, to ensure the cable doesn’t stretch following installation.

"If we’re testing a sling rated for a working load of 100,000 lbs., it has to be proof tested to two times the working load, with a typical design factor of five to one — 500,000 lbs.," says Shire.

Chant’s most powerful test bed to date is a horizontal unit built in Houston for Bishop Lifting Products Inc. The device measures 365 feet long and can exert a tensile strength of 3.3-million lbs. The diverse machine can also test the loads on spreader bars and crane blocks.

Designing a test bed for break testing requires personnel to be protected from the explosive force of the destruction of wire rope of massive diameter.

"When a large steel wire rope breaks, it sounds like an explosion and generates an electrical force as the wires shoot sparks," says Shire. "It’s pretty spectacular."

"We’re in talks to build a test bed that would eclipse the last record," says Shire. "If we take on that contract it will be the largest test bed ever built."

A wire rope is a type of cable that includes several wire strands laced together to form a single wire. Generally, both the terms “wire” and “rope” are used interchangeably with “wire rope”; however, according to the technical definition, to be labeled a wire rope, the cable must have a thickness of at least 9.52 mm. As a versatile, high load capacity alternative to natural fiber ropes such as hemp and manila, wire rope provides motion transmission through nearly all angles, tie down, counterbalance, guidance, control, or lift.

Modern wire rope was invented by Wilhelm Albert, a German mining engineer, between 1831 and 1834. He developed them in order for work in the mines in the Harz Mountains. This rope replaced weaker natural fiber ropes, like hemp rope and manila rope, and weaker metal ropes, like chain rope.

Albert’s rope was constructed of four three-stranded wires. In 1840, a Scot named Robert Stirling Newall improved upon this model. A year later in the United States, American manufacturer John A. Roebling started producing wire rope, aimed at his vision of suspension bridges. From there, other interested Americans, such as Erskine Hazard and Josiah White, used wire rope in railroad and coal mining applications. They also applied their wire rope techniques to provide lift ropes for something called the Ashley Planes project, which allowed for better transportation and increased tourism in the area.

Approximately twenty-five years later, back in Germany in 1874, the engineering firm Adolf Bleichert & Co. was founded. They used wire rope to build bicable aerial tramways for mining the Ruhr Valley. Years later they built tramways for both the Wehrmacht and the German Imperial Army. Their wire rope systems spread all across Europe, and then migrated to the USA, concentrating at Trenton Iron Works in New Jersey.

Over the years, engineers and manufacturers have created materials of all kinds to make wire rope stronger. Such materials include stainless steel, plow steel, bright wire, galvanized steel, wire rope steel, electric wire, and more. Today, wire rope is a staple in most heavy industrial processes. Wherever heavy duty lifting is required, wire rope is there to facilitate.

Wire rope is strong, durable, and versatile. Even the heaviest industrial loads may be lifted with a well-made wire rope because the weight is distributed evenly among constituent strands.

There are three basic elements of which wire ropes are composed: wire filaments, strands, and cores. Manufacturers make wire rope by taking the filaments, twisting or braiding them together into strands, and then helically winding them around a core. Because of this multiple strand configuration, wire rope is also often referred to as stranded wire.

The first component, the filaments, are cold drawn rods of metal materials of varying, but relatively small diameter. The second component, the strands, can individually consist of as few as two or as many as several dozen filaments. The last component, the core, is the central element around which strands are wrapped; wire rope cores maintain a considerable amount of flexibility, while increasing strength by at least 7.5% over the strength of fiber core wire ropes.

The helical winding of the strands around the core is known as the lay. Ropes may be right hand lay, twisting strands clockwise, or they may be left hand lay, twisting strands counter-clockwise. In an ordinary lay, the individual strands are twisted in the opposite direction of the lay of the entire rope of strands to increase tension and to prevent the rope from coming unwound. Though this is most common Lang"s lay has both the strands and the rope twisted in the same direction while alternate lays, as the name suggests alternate between ordinary and Lang style lays. While alternative rope designs are available, the helical core design is often favored, as it allows a wire cable to hold a lot of weight while remaining ductile.

There are many design aspects that wire rope manufacturers consider when they are creating custom wire rope assemblies. These include: strand gauge (varies based on application strength, flexibility, and wear resistance requirements), wire rope fittings (for connecting other cables), lay, splices, and special coatings. Specially treated steel cable and plastic coated cables, for instance, are common to many application specific variations of wire rope such as push pull cable assemblies used in transferring motion between two points.

Suppliers typically identify wire cable by listing both the number of strands and the amount of wires per strand respectively, though stranded cable may alternatively be measured by their lay and length or pitch. For example, a door-retaining lanyard wire rope is identified by its 7 x 7 construction, and wire rope used for guying purposes is identified by its 1 x 19 construction. The most common types are 6 x 19, 6 x 25, 19 x 7, 7 x 7, 7 x 19, 6 x 26, and 6 x 36.

An ungalvanized steel wire rope variety. This uncoated wire rope can also be designed to resist spinning or rotating while holding a load; this is known as rotation resistant bright wire rope.

Also called a coiled wire rope, a coiled cable is a rope made from bundles of small metal wires, which are then twisted into a coil. Wire rope and cable can come in a huge variety of forms, but coiled cables specifically provide the benefits of easy storage and tidiness. Unlike other wire ropes, coiled cables do not require a spool for storage. Because it has been coiled, the cable will automatically retract into its spring-like shape when it is not in use, making it incredibly easy to handle.

A type of high strength rope, made of several individual filaments. These filaments are twisted into strands and helically wrapped around a core. One of the most common types of wire rope cable is steel cable.

Wire rope made not as one solid piece, but as a piece made up of a series of metal links. Wire rope chain is flexible and strong, but it is more prone to mechanical failure than wire rope.

Push pull cables and controls are a particular type of control cable designed for the positive and precise transmission of mechanical motion within a given system. Unlike their counterpart pull-pull cables, these wire rope assemblies offer multidirectional control. Additionally, their flexibility allows for easy routing, making them popular in a number of industrial and commercial applications.

Iron and steel are the two most common materials used in producing wire ropes. A steel wire is normally made from non-alloy carbon steel that offers a very high strength and can support extreme stretchable forces. For even more strength and durability, manufacturers can make stainless steel wire rope or galvanized steel wire rope. The latter two are good for applications like rigging and hoisting.

Technically, spiral ropes are curved or round strands with an assemblage of wires. This gathering of wires has at least one cord situated in the opposite direction of the wire in the outer layer of the rope. The most important trait of this rope is that all the wires included are round. The biggest benefit of this category of rope is that it does not allow the entrance of pollutants, water, or moisture.

Contain an assemblage of strands placed spirally around a core. Stranded rope steel wire patterns have different layers that cross each other to form an even stronger cable or rope. Stranded ropes contain one of three types of core: a fiber core, a wire strand core, or a wire rope core.

Provide an added level of security to a manufacturing production application. Wire rope slings are made from improved plow steel wire ropes that, apart from offering added security, also provide superior return loop slings. Plow steel wire ropes improve the life of a mechanism by shielding the rope at its connection points. The key objective of wire rope slings is to enhance the safety of an application while increasing its capacity and performance. Rope slings are also available in various sling termination options, such as hook type, chokers, and thimbles.

The eye in this rope sling is made using the Flemish Splice method. Just like a typical sling, a Permaloc rope sling improves safety and provides reverse strength meaning that the uprightness of the eye does not depend on the sleeves of the metal or alloy. Additionally, permaloc rope slings offer an abrasion resistance feature that makes them long lasting.

These slings have all the features that most other slings offer. However, compared to their counterparts, Permaloc bridle slings provide better load control, wire rope resistant crushing, robust hooks and links that work for a longer duration, and help save on maintenance requirements.

Manufacturers produce wire rope for many different reasons; from cranes to playground swings, wire ropes have something for everyone. Among the many applications of wire rope are hoisting, hauling, tie down, cargo control, baling, rigging, anchoring, mooring, and towing. They can also serve as fencing, guardrails, and cable railing, among other products.

Some of the industries that make use of wire rope include industrial manufacturing, construction, marine, gas and oil, mining, healthcare, consumer goods, and transportation. Others include the fitness industry, which uses plastic coated cable products in weight machines, the theater industry, which uses black powder coated cables for stage rigging, the recreation industry, which uses plastic coated cables for outdoor playground equipment, and the electronics industry, which uses miniature wire rope for many types of electronic equipment and communications devices.

Wire ropes are typically made from cold drawn steel wire, stainless steel wire, or galvanized wire. They may also be made from a wide variety of less popular metals, including aluminum, nickel alloy, bronze, copper, and titanium. However, nearly all wire ropes, including control cables, are made from strands of cold drawn carbon steel wires. Stainless steel rope and cables are subbed in for highly corrosive environments. Galvanized cables and galvanized wire rope are popular for their increased strength and durability; these qualities are important to specialized ropes like galvanized aircraft cable.

A core may be composed of metal, fiber or impregnated fiber materials depending on the intended application. Cores may also be another strand of wire called an independent wire rope core (IWRC).

Wire rope, depending on its application, is subject to many standard requirements. Among the most common of these are the standards detailed by OSHA, ASTM International, and ISO. Per your application and industry, you’ll likely have others you need to consider. To get a full list, talk to your service provider.

To determine the safety factor, which is a margin of security against risks, the first step involves knowing the type of load that the rope will be subjected to. The load must consider the shock loads and blowing wind effects. The safety factor is characterized in ratios; typical are 4:1 and 5:1. If a ratio is 5:1, then the tensile strength of a wire rope must be five times of the load it will be subjected to. In some applications, the ratios can go up to 10:1.

By weighing all these factors carefully, the wire rope that you will buy will be safe to use and last considerably. For the best advice and guidance, though, don’t go it alone! Find a great wire rope supplier that you can trust. You’ll know you’ve found the right supplier for you when you talk to one that can not only fulfill your requirements, but shows that they are excited to go the extra mile for you. For a company like this, browse the list near the top of the page.

As the cables play an integral role in the safety of many operations and structures, careful analysis of a wire rope and all of its capabilities and features is vital. Important qualities and physical specifications you must consider include wire rope diameter, breaking strength, resistance to corrosion, difficulty of flattening or crushing, bendability, and average lifespan.

Each of the aforementioned considerations should be compatible with the specific application for which the rope is intended as well as the environment in which such operations are undertaken. Temperature and corrosive environments often require specially coated wire ropes with increased durability.

When you use your industrial wire rope, the first thing to remember is to not exceed your rope’s rated load and breaking strength. If you do not stay within these parameters, you risk causing your rope to weaken or even break.

Rust, kinks, fraying and even carefully performed splicing will all have an impact on the performance of wire ropes. To maintain the integrity of your wire rope assembly, you need to inspect them regularly and clean and lubricate them as needed. In addition, you need to store them out of the wet and cold as much as possible. Also wrap them up properly, so they are not kinked.

A high-carbon steel having a tensile strength of approximately 260,000 psi that is roughly fifteen percent stronger than Plow Steel. Most commercial wires are made from IPS.

A low carbon steel wire of approximately 10,000 psi, which is pliable and capable of repeated stresses from bending around small sheaves. This grade is effective for tillers, guys and sash ropes.

The manner in which the wires are helically wound to form rope. Lay refers specifically to the direction of the helical path of the strands in a wire rope; for example, if the helix of the strands are like the threads of a right-hand screw, the lay is known as a right lay, or right-hand, but if the strands go to the left, it is a left lay, or left-hand.

A classification of wire rope according to its breaking strength. The rank of grades according to increasing breaking strengths is as follows: Iron, Traction, Mild Plow Steel, Plow Steel, Improved Steel, Extra Improved Steel.

Classification of strands according to breaking strength. The ranking of increasing breaking strengths is as follows: Common, Siemens Martin, High Strength and Extra-High Strength; a utility"s grade strand is available for certain requirements.

The act of fastening a termination to a wire rope through physical deformation of the termination about the rope via a hydraulic press or hammering. The strength is one hundred percent of the wire rope rating.

A grade of rope material that has a tensile strength range of 180,000 to 190,000 psi. Traction steel has great resistance to bending fatigue with a minimum of abrasive force on sheaves and drums, which contributes to its long use in elevators, from which the steel gets its name.

It is composed of wire strands that are braided together. Wire braid is similar to stranded wire. The difference between the two is the fact that stranded wire features strands that are bundled together, rather than braided.

Essential parts of cable assemblies, wire rope assemblies and wire rope slings that assist spliced or swaged rope ends in connecting to other cables and keeping cables and rope from unraveling.

A wire rope cable assembly is a metallic rope consisting of bundles of twisted, spiraled, or bonded wires. While the terms wire rope and cable are often used interchangeably, cables are typically designated as smaller diameter wire ropes, specifically wire ropes with a diameter less than 3/8 inch. Therefore, wire rope cable assemblies are typically utilized for lighter duty applications.

Or cable assemblies, are cables which are composed of many spiraled bundles of wire. These cables are used to support hanging objects, connect objects, pull or lift objects, secure items, and much more.

Wire rope wholesalers can sell an extensive range of wire rope and wire rope accessories at a very affordable rate as well as in bulk. Many of the additional wire rope equipment that wire rope wholesalers provide include: swivel eye pulleys, eye nuts, eye bolts, slip hooks, spring hooks, heavy duty clips, clevis hooks, turnbuckle hooks, anchor shackle pins, s hooks, rigging blocks, and much more. Wire rope fittings will generally improve the versatility of the wire and also prevent fraying.