wire rope break test factory

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.

The term “Proof Test” designates a quality control test applied to the product for the sole purpose of detecting defects in material or manufacture. The Proof Test Load (usually twice the Working Load Limit) is the load which the product withstood without deformation when new and under laboratory test conditions. A constantly increasing force is applied in direct line to the product at a uniform rate of speed on a standard pull testing machine. The Proof Test Load does not mean the Working Load Limit should ever be exceeded.

Do not use breaking strength as a criterion for service or design purposes. Refer to the Working Load Limit instead. Breaking Strength is the average force at which the product, in the condition it would leave the factory, has been found by representative testing to break, when a constantly increasing force is applied in direct line to the product at a uniform rate of speed on a standard pull testing machine. Proof testing to twice the Working Load Limit does not apply to hand-spliced slings. Remember: Breaking Strengths, when published, were obtained under controlled laboratory conditions. Listing of the Breaking Strength does not mean the Working Load Limit should ever be exceeded.

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.

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?

The condition of a rope can not be assessed at first sight. A professional state analysis provides clarity as to whether the relevant rope can still be safely used. On the basis of the results obtained, it is possible to make statements about the durability of the rope.

DMT has more than 100 years of experience in rope testing. Our services start with the production monitoring at the manufacturer, go through the determination of the characteristic values during stress tests in our house right up to the non-destructive testing of the ropes in their installed state on site.

By means of magneto-inductive cable testing (MI), a testing method developed and long-time used by DMT, also the internal condition of steel ropes can be tested for damage. In contrast to the purely visual inspection, also wire breaks within the ropes can be found.

In addition to ropes, we also check end anchorages and other safety-relevant components, such as flaps, bolts or even rock bolts, which can be tested non-destructively with our test methods as well as directly on site.

The lifetime of wire rope is crucial in industry manufacturing, mining, and so on. The damage can be detected by using appropriate nondestructive testing techniques or destructive tests by cutting the part. For broken wires classification problems, this work is aimed at improving the recognition accuracy. Facing the defects at the exterior of the rope, a novel method for recognition of broken wires is firstly developed based on magnetic and infrared information fusion. A denoising method, which is adopted for magnetic signal, is proposed for eliminating baseline signal and wave strand. An image segmentation method is employed for parting the defects of infrared images. Characteristic vectors are extracted from magnetic images and infrared images, then kernel extreme learning machine network is applied to implement recognition of broken wires. Experimental results show that the denoising method and image segmentation are effective and the information fusion can improve the classification accuracy, which can provide useful information for estimating the residual lifetime of wire rope.

Wire ropes play an important role in many fields such as cranes, oil drilling rigs, elevators, and mine hoist. The safety of wire ropes is closely related to people’s life and resources loss as well as the normal operation of industry. Because of the complex structure of wire ropes and the diversity of application environment, it is difficult to evaluate the health of wire ropes in service [1, 2]. Thus, it is necessary to effectively and accurately perform the quantitative nondestructive testing (NDT) of wire rope by adopting proper methods.

At present, the NDT methods of wire rope include electromagnetic [3, 4], X-ray [5], acoustic [6–9], and optical [10] method [1]. X-ray apparatus has radioactive contamination; acoustic method detects wire rope by striking, which is simple but one-sided; CCD camera optical testing method can directly show the real defects through imaging, but it is susceptible to oil pollution; because of high sensitivity, high speed, and low cost, electromagnetic NDT method is widely used [11–14]. However, no single nondestructive testing technique can identify all kinds of defects. Infrared nondestructive testing does not contain dangerous radiation and has characteristic of noncontact; thus, it has widely applied in solving real problems in numerous areas [15].In addition, its popular application areas contain building sector [16, 17], aeronautics and astronautics [18], chemical industry [19], food [20], cultural heritage [21], and so on. Munoz et al. [22, 23] determined heat source dissipation from infrared thermographic measurements based on the heat diffusion equation provided by thermodynamics principles and identified damage evolution in carbon fibre reinforced composites combing acoustic emission and infrared thermography.

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) detection of wire rope mainly includes the forward calculation model of MFL detection, pretreatment of MFL signal, and inversion of defect [24]. For example, Yan et al. [25] employed a three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) to analyze MFL signals. This method provided theoretical guidance for detection signal analysis and hardware design. Based on the magnetic dipole model, Yang [2] created the leakage magnetic field analysis models of single wire fracture, surface broken wire, and internal broken wire of wire rope, which provided the theoretical basis for the quantitative analysis of wire rope. Zhao and Zhang [11, 12] made FEM on the distribution of magnetic flux leakage of typical broken wire defects in steel cables, and obtained the relationship between MFL and detection distance, damage size, and internal broken wire. In [13, 14], a magnetic dipole model was established to design the prototype, which provided a theoretical basis for the quantification of defects. Through the FEM model of wire rope and the FEM simulation under different broken wires, DU et al. [26] studied the influence of different broken wires on the safety coefficient of wire rope.

Because actual MFL detection signals are polluted by many noise sources, it is necessary to preprocess the signals in order to reconstruct the defects. Zhang et al. [27, 28] utilized wavelet based on compressed sensing to denoise the strand wave, but it restored a lot of noise; then, they combined the Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) and Compressed Sensing Wavelet Filtering (CSWF) to reduce various background noises. Zheng and Zhang [29] exploited wavelet soft threshold to inhibit the noise; nevertheless, the denoising effect is poor. Then Zheng and Zhang [30] implemented Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) and a wavelet transformation to remove noise from the raw MFL signals, which can effectively eliminate noise. Hong et al. [31] proposed an adaptive wavelet threshold denoising method based on a new threshold function, which achieved good denoising effect on the MFL signal of wire rope. To realize the visualization of defects, Zhao [13] utilized an adaptive notch filtering algorithm for suppressing wave noise.

To visualize and quantify defects and realize quantitative detection of broken wires, researchers need to implement defect inversion. In order to perform defect inversion, numerous scholars have used various methods. Through adopting the wavelet super-resolution reconstruction technique, the resolution of defect grayscale was improved in [32]. Zhang and Tan [33] proposed a super-resolution (SR) reconstruction method based on Tikhonov regular multiframe, which can effectively remain image features of defects while the axial resolution was reduced and circumferential resolution was increased. In [28, 32], researchers implemented classification of defects by adopting back propagation (BP) neural networks. However, BP was easy to fall into local minimum, which can lead to problems such as network underfitting and insufficient generalization ability. Wan et al. [34] investigated the theory on optimal wavelet packet with the Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) to diagnose elevator faults, which was then validated by the experiment. Zheng and Zhang and Qin et al. [29, 35] took the Support Vector Machine (SVM) with a radial basis function classified to conduct the fault pattern recognition, whereas this method was not very effective.

The researchers [15, 36] investigated the failures of steel ropes and defect of ferromagnetic specimens by means of thermovision. In [15], since the measurements required extremely sensitive thermovision technology, the method can detect the tight of ropes at certain conditions. In [34], the researchers developed a new active thermography technique, which can detect the defect in ferromagnetic steel specimens. The fusion of infrared and other information is effective and widely used. Kee and Oh et al. [16] combined air-coupled impact-echo and infrared thermography. It can improve effectiveness of the individual test data. Data fusion of ground-penetrating radar and infrared thermography improved the accuracy of detecting defects [37]. The researchers [38] combined finite element analysis with experimental data from infrared thermography, which provided accurate means to assess quantitatively the size and position of thermal imperfections. According to these, it is demonstrated that data fusion is effective. In this paper, fused data based on infrared thermography and magnetic is utilized to detect the number of broken wires.

Electromagnetic NDT for wire rope is susceptible to hardware design and magnetic signal processing. In [13, 14], the location and number of sensors can affect the quality of acquisition signal. Insufficient quantity will lead to the serious loss of MFL signal, while dense placement of sensors can lead to serious signal interference, resulting in difficulty of noise reduction. Meanwhile, the small broken wire defect information may be drowned out by noise. However, thermal infrared is a visualization method, which can intuitively grasp the surface damage state of wire rope and be closer to the actual damage pattern than magnetic data. Meanwhile, it is without the shortcomings of magnetic detection method and it can make up for the loss of small defects in magnetic information. Thus, the combination of the two methods supply more information for the damage and can avoid the loss of defect information.

To improve classification accuracy of broken wires and provide a reference for evaluating the service life of wire rope, the combination of infrared information and magnetic information is put forward for the first time to perform quantitative identification of wire rope. To processing magnetic signal, an algorithm based on Wavelet Total Variation (WATV) is proposed to remove noise from the raw MFL signals. The noise from high-frequency magnetic leakage, baseline drift, and strand waves can be suppressed by the proposed algorithm. To separate defects from infrared images, an image processing method based on distance is presented. After extracting statistical texture, invariant moment characteristics, and color moment, a fusion method based on kernel extreme learning machine (KELM) of decision level fusion is proposed to combine magnetic and infrared information. Experiment results show that the information fusion based on magnetic and infrared can improve the recognition rate of broken wires.

In the next sections, the platform to get data, the processing for magnetic data, steps for extracting infrared information, and recognition for broken wires after information fusion will be introduced in turn. In this paper, major innovations are as follows: (1) the proposed denoising algorithm based on WATV can eliminate noise generated by channel imbalance, the structure of wire ropes, and so on; (2) an infrared image segmentation algorithm based on distance is presented; and (3) information fusion combined magnetic with infrared to perform classification is firstly adopted.

In this part, through processing and fusing magnetic signal and infrared image, the classification for six kinds of broken wires is implemented. In this experiment, the number of broken wires is one, two, three, four, five, and seven. Many wires are wound into a strand, then it is wounded into a wire rope. The damage of the wire rope is related to the geometry and winding mode of the wire rope [1, 2, 13]. As shown in Figure 1, the structure of the wire rope is with a diameter of 28 mm. The length of the wire ropes is 6.5 m. The specimens used are 185, where the number of training samples is 139 and testing number is 46. The number of broken wires is from 1 to 5 and 7 wires, where the number of every samples set of broken wires is 30, 30, 32, 34, 35, and 34. The width of samples contains 2 mm, 5 mm, and 1.5 cm. The depth of defects is 1 mm. The type of defect is shown in Figure 2.

When there is no defect on wire rope and materials of the wire rope are uniform and identical, the magnetic flux through the cross-section of the wire rope should be equal in the axial direction. If there is a defect, the permeability at the defect becomes smaller, the magnetic field only passes through the air field and then returns to the inside of the wire rope; thus, magnetic leakage on surface is formed [12–14]. According to this principle, a magnetic flux leakage detection device is designed. Data collection contains magnetic signal acquisition and thermal infrared image acquisition. The specific devices and collecting procedures are as follows: the magnetic data acquisition device adopted contains Unsaturated Magnetic Excitation (UME) source, an array of 18 Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors, data acquisition unit, data storage, and control system [33].

As shown in Figure 4, data collection steps are as follows: After loading unsaturated magnetic field on wire rope, the weak MFL signal can be obtained through equal-space sampling. As the acquisition system moves along the axial direction of the wire rope, the photoelectric encoder produces the pulses. Then, the control system collects the defect information from 18 channels according to pulses. And the final magnetic data is stored in the SD card.

Because the rate of infrared radiation from defect location is different from that from nondefect location, the damage of wire rope can be detected. Infrared information acquisition system, as shown in Figure 5(a), includes heating unit and data collection. The heating unit is composed of the metal tube and tight wires. The metal tube is 40 mm in diameter and 20 cm in length. Wire is adopted to heat the metal tube. Infrared thermography is adopted to capture the images of defect information. The angle of camera should be adjusted according to the location of the defects to maintain the distance between the defect and the camera lens constant. The camera we adopted is thermal imager FLUKE TIX 660. The thermal resolution of the infrared camera is -20°C-1200°C. The distance between wire rope and camera is cm. The specific processes are as follows: after the wire is energized, the wire rope temperature rises by heating the metal tube. When the temperature of fault is maintained at about (°C), the defect images are taken by the infrared camera. Single images are acquired through the device shown in Figure 5(a). After installing the thermal infrared camera on the tripod, the defective part is heated, and the images of wire rope surface defect are obtained by panning the tripod. The focus of the image is formed by centering the defect and fixing the distance between the defect and the camera. The captured raw infrared picture is shown in Figure 5(b). (The defect is marked by a box.)

Infrared image acquisition: (a) schematic of infrared data acquisition device; (b) the raw infrared picture of defect; (c) thermal infrared image capture system; (d) testing platform for wire rope.

Using the system mentioned in Figure 4, raw UME signals can be obtained. As shown in Figure 6. Raw UME signals including incoherent baseline caused by channel imbalance, system noise, and strand wave noise produced by structure of wire rope should be filtered out to obtain pure defects information.

To eliminate the effect of uneven excitation on wire ropes and convert all the data with a uniform standard, normalization is necessary. Normalization is the basis of data visualization; hence, equation (18) is adopted to stretch the defects between 0–255.

Because circumferential data is acquired from 18 sensor channels, circumferential resolution is much lower than the axial one. The pixel count in circumferential is 18; however, the pixel count in axial is more than ten thousand. Three spline interpolations is employed to enhance the circumferential resolution, which increases the pixel count from 18 to 300. In addition, the procedure contributes to realize the visualization of defect images. The schematic of data after interpolations is shown in Figure 10. Then, we obtain gray image of leakage magnetic by converting the double data to unit 8. Figure 11 shows the grayscale image of a wire rope’s leakage magnetic field.

The image after texture filtering also exists strand wave, which makes trouble for feature extraction. The distances between strand waves are fixed according to the structure of wire rope, and the defects are located between strand waves. Therefore, an algorithm based on distance is proposed to part the damage. The algorithm can be described as follows:

(1)After binarization of image , locate the maximum and minimum values of the row and column with pixel value of 1 in the image, respectively. Then the image , as shown in Figure 13, is obtained: ( and are the maximum and minimum of line; and are the maximum and minimum of column).(2)For each line of image, find and :(3)Compute the distances for blocks whose pixel value is 1 by(4)For each line of the image , if the distance is between 10 and 70 and the block is larger than 12 (which can avoid the effect of oil pollution), maintain the line or set the line to zero. (The distance of two strands in wire rope is consist and strand wave shown in the image is also consist. Meanwhile, in order to reduce the effect of oil pollution on the segmentation defect, we choose the distance between 10 and 70 and the block larger than 12.)(5)Extract the defects of infrared images by finding the locations from that meet (4).

Image of broken wires (infrared image, magnetic image, and photo of the tested wire part from left to right): (a) one broken wire; (b) two broken wires; (c) three broken wires; (d) four broken wires; (e) five broken wires; (f) seven broken wires.

The defect images from UME and infrared have high dimension, which will reduce the speed of classification. Redundancy between features can also be disastrous for networks. Thus, it is necessary to employ proper features to implement recognition. Tan and Zhang [33] had proven that average contrast, third-order moment, conformance, and entropy were more sensitive than other texture features and odd order invariant moments were more sensitive than other moments. Thus, in this experiment, a part of statistical texture features and odd order invariant moments from the magnetic images and the color moments and areas from the infrared images are selected.

When completing classification via magnetic features only, a part of statistical texture features and odd order invariant moments is adopted. If the magnetic and infrared information are combined to classify the broken wires, we added the color moments and area of infrared images as features.3.3.2. Fusion Based on KELM

Infrared data is closer to the actual damage pattern than magnetic data and provides more color information; however, different sizes of same broken wires may lead to low accuracy. Magnetic data with the same broken wires has similar visual image. Thus, the combination of the two methods can supply more information for the damage and improve the classification accuracy.

Through Table 1, it is demonstrated that as the number of test samples increases, the quality of the results gets better. When selecting model 2 to present the speed of classifiers, the result of fusion speed is as shown in Table 2. In Table 1, the fusion results of RBF and KELM are better than BP and KNN. Meanwhile, fusion speed of KELM shown in Table 2 is the best. Thus, through analyzing the result in Tables 1 and 2, it is obvious that KELM is reliable. The research for the performance of recognition algorithms and classification results will be presented in the next section.

In this part, the classification results are presented using different recognition algorithms. KELM has advantages of high running speed and good generalization, we adopted it to implement the recognition of 6 classes of broken wires. In this section, the defects by magnetic information, infrared data, and combination of the magnetic and infrared information are classified, respectively, which proves that the information fusion is more effective. For KELM, the penalty coefficient C and kernel parameter are adjusted from the set and . The KELM network is trained by a set of 139 randomly selected specimens, and the others are the testing samples.

For UME, the average of two error accuracy of 20 random train/test splits with different parameters are reported in Table 3. Different parameters will lead to different identification accuracy. When and , the recognition accuracy rate is the highest; however, the average training accuracy is only 82.3%. The average training accuracy reaches 96.7% and the recognition accuracy is 91.2% when and . Table 3 presents the average of two error recognition accuracy of 20 randomly generated train/test splits based on the fusion of magnetic and infrared. When the training accuracy is higher than 90%, the highest accuracy is 98.4%.

Figure 17 shows the absolute error distribution of one group testing result when and . The training accuracy of two methods are all higher than 90%. When the magnetic information only exists in the network, the maximum error is 5. When the infrared information only exists in the network, the maximum error is also 5. And the most errors are concentrated in one and two broken wires. However, when the fusion features contain in the network, the maximum error is 2, and the recognition accuracy is higher. It is obvious that there are fewer errors using the fused features than that adopting magnetic features only and infrared only. Therefore, these testing results demonstrate that the fusion of magnetic and infrared not only is feasible but also can improve the recognition accuracy of broken wires.

Several recognition algorithms are applied to the MFL data: BP neural network [28, 29, 32], RBF algorithm [27], and KNN algorithm [30]. The data for recognition is the same as that used in the KELM network. Tables 4–6 show the recognition results for each method when the limiting error is 2 wires.

From Tables 3–6, it is obvious that the fused data yielded much better classification results than magnetic data. In this paper, neural networks are considered reliable when the training accuracy is higher than 90%. (Note that KNN has no training process and the algorithm finds samples in the training set closest to the test sample based on a distance measurement [30, 45].) Therefore, the highest recognition rates are presented in Table 7. Table 7 presents the best results of four classifiers using only magnetic data, infrared data, and fused data. It is obvious that the result for fused data is higher than magnetic and infrared.

The research promotes recognition rate of broken wires and makes contributions to estimating the residual lifetime of wire rope. The two information can overcome the loss of small defects in magnetic signal noise reduction. The system we utilized have good performance facing the defects at the exterior of the rope. However, the thermal infrared acquisition system needs to be perfected to realize the image information acquisition of the whole wire rope. Furthermore, we have not been able to create defects inside of the wire rope. We will simulate the situation when the defect is inside the wire rope through analysis in future work. Meanwhile, efficient noise reduction algorithm is also one of the focuses of future research.

In rigging, we all know that the setup is only as strong as its weakest link. Any failure is a potentially dangerous situation that puts your entire operation in jeopardy. Every component must be relentlessly reliable. Synthetic rope is one such tool that bears heavy responsibility. While incredibly strong and durable, it often immediately supports a load; if it were to fail, the results would be catastrophic.

You will likely never seeused in a rig as they are weaker and less durable than their synthetic counterparts. With this in mind, let’s discuss the advantages of synthetic rope.

Synthetic rope is made from nylon, polyester, or polypropylene fibers. These ropes can be made using one or a combination of these synthetic fibers. Much like a natural rope, these fibers are drawn out into strands and then woven together. The end result is a durable, strong rope that can bear markedly more weight and tension than its natural counterpart.

Because of the materials used, synthetic rope is better able to withstand friction, making it more durable. It should be noted that how much you use the rope and its length of service will directly affect how long it lasts. Sporadic use could see it surviving for up to 10 years, whereas heavy use will require replacement every year or two. Synthetic rope is great for outdoor uses, as it is resistant to rot and mildew that can arise from exposure to moisture.

Synthetic rope is useful for a host of additional purposes. Its resistance to moisture makes it ideal for use in marine applications, but it has various advantages outside of the rigging sphere. It serves as an excellent climbing rope due to its abrasion resistance – it can handle rough edges of the terrain without fail. This is also what makes it perfect for rigging in film and theater. Where creative problems often require creative solutions, crews know they can rely on these ropes to hold the scene together. Synthetic rope can also be used effectively in towing and hauling applications.

has been a leader in wire rope and rigging supplies in the Gulf Coast region since 1966. We provide quality supplies and reliable service to each one of our clients so they can meet the tough demands of the industry with confidence and excellence. We are happy to share our decades of experience to help you find the best solution for whatever undertaking you have in front of you. From synthetic rope and slings to wire rope and chains, we have a comprehensive product offering to completely outfit your rig.today to level up your operation.

Wire rope is arguably the most important asset that arigging equipment providercan supply. It forms the backbone of every operation, helping to execute every lift and move heavy loads with precision and security. Withoutwire rope, the rigging, overhead lifting and securement industries couldn’t meet demands.

For these reasons, it is absolutely crucial to make sure wire rope is properly maintained.Storing wire ropesafely and intentionally will help lengthen its working life and improve the safety of your daily operations. Keep reading to discover the key considerations and tips for storing wire rope.

The best method of storing wire rope is on a reel. This helps to maintain the shape and function of the rope over time by avoiding kinks and tangles, which can damage the integrity of the rope and reduce its safety and usefulness. Reels also help centralize wire rope into space-efficient units that can be transported and even stacked.

Once spooled onto a reel, it will be simple and easy to remove the desired length of wire rope when needed. Whether you are working with drilling rigs, cranes or winches, we recommend that you have your wire rope installed and removedby an  experienced professional.

Wire rope is a vital piece of equipment, and it should be stored as such. Water, salt, dust, steam, temperature extremes and chemical fumes canwreak havocon the structure and strength of wire rope. Therefore, store your wire rope supply in a cool, dry, covered, and well-ventilated place. An  indoor location is best, but if you must store wire rope outdoors, make sure it is covered with waterproof material.

Additionally, make sure no part of the rope is touching the ground, and that the base of the wire rope reel is elevated at least a few inches in case of flooding. Water immersion can cause the wire rope to corrode and its lubricant to wear off. . When in doubt, check with your rigging equipment provider about wire rope spooling to ensure it is done right.

Inspections of various pieces of rigging equipment are required by law on a regular basis – and wire rope is no exception. Work with your rigging equipment provider to have your wire rope inspected if it has been stored for an extended period of time. A full-scalerigging inspectioncan also help you determine where and how to store your wire rope on the front-end of a project. A qualified rigging equipment inspector will be able to address the quality and condition of all your rigging and lifting gear, furnishing detailed reports on their findings.

At Southwest Wire Rope, our team has been serving the needs of the rigging, overhead lifting and securement industries with unwavering excellence for 56 years. If you’re searching for a rigging equipment provider, wire rope spooling and storage help or a certified inspector, turn to the professionals at Southwest Wire Rope. Our experienced team can provide insights and recommendations for the type of wire rope, end fittings, hardware, and operational procedures that best suit your facilities and equipment. We look forward to answering your questions and forming a lasting partnership. For more information, browse ourservice offering.

While the past six decades have ushered in sweeping changes, some things have remained the same. For that entire time, Southwest Wire Rope has remained a stalwartrigging equipment providerwith a reputation for quality and service. We’ve been providing rigging inspections, testing, and the strongest wire rope on the market for years – and we have no intention of slowing down. Here’s how we continue to uphold and define industry standards.

To ensure that each facility and piece of operating equipment is up to code, rigging inspections are required by regulators. At Southwest Wire Rope, we employ a team ofcertified inspectorsthat can investigate every aspect of a rig, from the heavy machinery down to the shackles. With attention to detail cultivated by hundreds of years of combined rigging experience, our inspection team offers industry-leading guidance and professional recommendations. Reporting fromTESSALinkasset management software adds to our comprehensive service offering.

In addition to routine inspections, the Southwest Wire Rope team also performed destructive (break) testing of up to 1.7 million pounds from two separate locations. Need field spooling? We provide on-site installation and removal of wire and synthetic ropes on drilling rigs, cranes and winches. Through our steadfast commitment to raising the bar, we make sure our clients are meeting and exceeding all industry requirements.

At our core, we are rigging equipment providers, and we strive to strengthen our offerings and expertise on a daily basis. In 1983, we introduced our trademark proprietary brand of wire rope to the market, characterized by an iconic gold strand. Nearly 40 years later, “Gold Strand” wire rope is still recognized as the strongest and most reliable wire rope on the market.

Additionally, we have acomplete offeringof wire rope fittings, synthetic and round slings, chains, and other rigging hardware. We pride ourselves on being experts in the rigging equipment space, providing not only the tools to get the job done, but also the guidance to do it right.

Our team has been serving the needs of the rigging, overhead lifting, and securement industries with an unwavering dedication to quality and excellence for over half a century. If you’re searching for a rigging equipment supplier, or need your system inspected by a certified inspector, turn to the professionals at Southwest Wire Rope. Our experienced team can provide insights and recommendations for the type of wire rope, end fittings, hardware, and operational procedures that best suit your facilities and equipment. We look forward to answering your questions and forming a lasting partnership. For more information, browse ourservice offering.

The commodity that “holds up” the rigging, lifting, and overhead securement industries is indisputably wire rope. Combining strength with flexibility, wire rope helps operations of all sizes move heavy loads where they need to go with safety and ease. Without enough properly tested and verified wire rope on hand, the output and productivity of the entire plant can grind to a standstill.

Because every project has different requirements, various types of wire rope are designed and fabricated to serve different purposes. With a variety of orientations, strengths, and load capacities, it’s important to know exactly which variety works best for your job. Here’s a breakdown of the major categories.

The “class” of wire rope refers to the number of wires that compose a strand, as well as how many strands surround the core. For example, 6×31 FC wire rope consists of 6 strands containing 31 wires each, which are wrapped around a fiber core.

General purpose wire rope– the variety most commonly used for daily rigging operations such as lifting, overhead securement, pulling, and establishing tension – most often contains six strands and an Independent Wire Rope Core (IWRC). Each of these strands can contain anywhere from 16 to 49 wires, with more wires increasing the flexibility of the rope.

General purpose wire rope can range in diameter from ¼ inch to 6 inches, with larger diameter  ropes having breaking strengths of hundreds or even thousands of tons. For a detailedwire rope strength chart, consult our cataloghere.

Most cranes and some overhead lifting and securement devices require specialized wire rope that prevents the load from rotating. This is often achieved by having layers of compacted strands, oriented in a tightly-knit pattern around a core and layed in alternating directions. For example, the Oliveira NR Maxipact PPI contains 18 outer strands, forming wire rope that can be effectively implemented in a non-rotating environment at temperatures from -50°C to +80°C.

Compacted varieties of crane wire rope provide increased fatigue resistance, strength, stability, and abrasion resistance. Often considered thestrongest wire ropeon the market, these types of wire rope are perfect for mining, industrial, construction, logging, and oilfield applications.

Other rotation resistant varieties come in 19×7 and 8×19 classes with an IWRC; for more detailed information, view thewire rope strength chartand select Wire Rope > Crane.

Finally, in addition to customized lengths and types of wire rope, a qualified rigging equipment provider can also supply pre-fabricatedwire rope slings. These slings are outfitted with eyes or sockets that affix the load to a lifting device. Wire rope slings come in dozens of orientations, sizes, and diameters, allowing for ultimate customization when outfitting your rigging operation. Check out the catalog or connect with a rigging equipment professional for guidance and to place your custom order

The professionals atSouthwestWire Rope have been serving the needs of the rigging, overhead lifting, and securement industries with an unwavering dedication to quality and excellence since 1966. If you are in the market for industry-leading lifting gear, or need your system inspected by a certified inspector, turn to the pros at Southwest Wire Rope. Our experienced team can provide insights and recommendations for the type of wire rope, end fittings, hardware, and operational procedures that best suit your facilities and equipment. We look forward to answering your questions and forming a lasting partnership. For more information, browse ourservice offeringand get in touch.

The lifting industry is not just about machine strength. Success in this business also requires precision, planning, endurance, poise, and training. In a highly competitive market that faces increasing pressures on a monthly basis, only the fittest lifting operations will continue to thrive in changing economic headwinds.

In addition to the competence and experience of your crew, your equipment is the largest differentiator between your lifting operation and the competition. Investing in material that is built to stand the test of time by aleading supplierwith an illustrious reputation will help ensure your machinery runs smoothly. In short, you need the best andstrongest assetsin order to thrive in the lifting business. Here are some of the most important components that will help you achieve that goal.

Cut to precision lengths in dozens of diameters, customizedwire ropecan help bring your operation to the next level. For more than 50 years, the team at Southwest has been helping the industry’s biggest players outfit their facilities with the best wire rope in the business. Our technicians can work alongside you to help determine the optimal thickness and orientation for your operation.

Not all chains are created equal. Every chain is tested to ensure it lives up to the Southwest legacy. Our team is familiar with every major type of chain configuration and linkage, so we can help you secure heavy loads and maximize your lifting potential while keeping your crew safe.

When it comes to lifting gear, every sling, strap, link, wire rope strand, and piece of hardware is vital to the overall success of the operation. Investing in customized below-the-hook products that are expertly fitted to your unique needs and capacity will help make your facility safer and your equipment more effective.

The professionals atSouthwesthave been serving the needs of the rigging and lifting industries with an unwavering dedication to quality and excellence for years. If you are in the market for industry-leading lifting gear, or need your system inspected by a certified inspector, turn to the pros at Southwest Wire Rope. We look forward to answering your questions and forming a lasting partnership. For more information, browse ourservice offeringand get in touch.

In the rigging and lifting industries, proof tests are regularly performed to ensure that the equipment to be used can withstand the load it was manufactured to handle. These tests are performed for several reasons – specification requirement, manufacturer’s recommendation, and customer request are the most common.

As mentioned, we perform proof tests for a variety of reasons.One such test commonly performed in the business is aproof load test. A heavy-duty undertaking, a proof load test unveils the true strength of a piece of rigging or lifting gear. Here’s everything you need to know about this specific type of test, as well as how to keep your crew safe during one.

A proof load test is just what it sounds like: it proves whether a piece of rigging equipment can bear the load it is designed to. The test is administered in a controlled, measured fashion with a particular multiple of the maximum designed load (generally 1.1 to 1.5 times) and a specified length of time. After the test is completed, the operator will issue a certification confirming the workable load of the wire rope or other rigging component in question.

Whether the rig is overdue for a full inspection, the newly minted wire rope is being put to the test, or older equipment is being evaluated to determine if it is still fit for use, a proof load test is an immensely valuable tool. Every rigging component in the operation should be tested regularly, and a proof load test is one of the most complete and strenuous methods for doing so. Testing also helps keep the rigging equipment and the business as a whole within the boundaries of the OSHA, Department of Labor, and manufacturers’ codes that govern the industry.

The best way to keep your employees safe during a proof load test is to entrust the entire ordeal totrained professionals. Proof load tests are incredibly dangerous if not done with the proper equipment and control measures, as breakage can occur.

AtSouthwest Wire Rope, we provide proof load testing and destructive (break) testing of various lifting devices up to 1.7 million lbs. Proof load testing can be performed using specialized rigging and custom built test jigs that replicate the ultimate field installation of complex and highly engineered products. As you can imagine, this specially designed equipment is operated by industry veterans. By outsourcing the tests to an industry partner like Southwest, you can keep your crew out of harm’s way.

In reality, the advent of performing the test and verifying the strength of the equipment is also keeping your crew safe. Using wire rope or lifting gear until failure is a dangerous proposition and never recommended. Instead, get your equipment certified with a proof load test and gain the peace of mind your professionals deserve.

The professionals atSouthwesthave been serving the needs of the rigging and lifting industries with an unwavering dedication to quality and excellence for years. If you are in the market for leading rigging and lifting gear, need your system tested, or are simply looking for an expert opinion, turn to the pros at Southwest Wire Rope. We look forward to answering your questions and forming a lasting partnership. For more information, browse ourservice offeringand get in touch.

When it comes to lifting gear, one faulty sling, strap, link, wire rope strand, or other piece of hardware can put the entire operation in jeopardy. Investing in equipment that isand is backed by the quality and reputation of awill help ensure your machinery runs smoothly. Codes were developed in the first place to protect your crew from dangerous breakage, equipment wear, and malfunctions, so starting with the best materials is the most effective way to ensure you’re always in line with recent codes.

A destructive or “break” test measures the tensile strength of wire rope by using magnetic and hydraulic arms to pull opposite ends of the rope apart. The test continues until the wire strands begin to fail, and eventually, the wire rope gives out. This is an extremely loud and dangerous endeavor – a break test should never be conducted without the proper equipment and certifications. Work with an industry provider who can conduct a wire rope break test usingin a safe and controlled setting. The results of this test will be printed on a load testing certification, which will help you satisfy regulations.

When it comes to your health, you trust the expert opinions of medical professionals to give you a diagnostic update after performing the relevant tests. In the lifting industry, on-site inspection services serve the same purpose for determining the health and safety of your operations.

The professionals athave been serving the needs of the rigging and lifting industries with an unwavering dedication to quality and excellence for years. If you are in the market for leading rigging and lifting gear, need your system tested, or are simply looking for an expert opinion, turn to the pros at Southwest Wire Rope. We look forward to answering your questions and forming a lasting partnership. For more information, browse ourand get in touch.

We’ve all heard that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In the rigging business, one faulty sling, strap, link, or wire rope strand, or piece of rigging hardware can jeopardize your entire operation. Investing in equipment that iscrafted to lastand backed by the quality of aleading supplierwill help ensure your machinery runs smoothly and your crew is protected from breakage or equipment wear.

Instead of relying on theintuitionthat your rigging operation is safe, you can have peace of mind byprovingit. Working with a rigging services provider who can offer Proof Load Testing, Break Testing, andon-site inspectionswill keep your rigging operation certified to the industry standard. To schedule a test today, clickhere.

The professionals at Southwest have been serving the needs of the rigging and lifting industries with an unwavering dedication to quality and excellence for years. If you are in the market for leading rigging equipment, need your rigging system tested, or are simply looking for an expert opinion, turn to the pros at Southwest Wire Rope. We look forward to answering your questions and forming a lasting partnership. For more information, browse ourproductsandservicesorcontact a reptoday.

One of the most reliable ways to increase the strength of a rigging operation is by investing in high-quality wire rope. Formed from a steel core and wrapped with concentric wire strands, wire rope is an extremely versatile asset that can bear hundreds of thousands of pounds of load, yet remain flexible. For more than 50 years,Southwest Wire Ropehas been supplying some of the strongest and most recognizable wire rope products on the market.

To determine the true strength of wire rope, though, we need to put it to the test. Destructive or “break” testing can be dangerous, but is a useful measuring tool to gauge the strength of wire rope. Here’s everything you need to know about break testing.

Put simply, a destructive or break test measures the tensile strength of wire rope by using magnetic and hydraulic arms to pull opposite ends of the rope apart. The test continues until the wire strands begin to fail, and eventually, the wire rope gives out. This results in an extremely loud explosive noise and frayed metal remnants, which can be extremely dangerous. At the conclusion of the test, the true strength of the rope is evident based on the load reading at the point of breakage.

A break test should absolutely never be conducted without the proper equipment, certified staff, and safety protocols. If you are unsure whether you can perform a break test at your rigging site, then the answer is undoubtedly no. Only specialized machinery operated by trained professionals is fit to manage a destructive test, and attempting a DIY test is a recipe for a regulatory violation and a potential safety hazard.

The only way to know the true strength of a piece of wire rope is to perform a break test in a certifiedtesting facility. As wire rope specialists, the team at Southwest is trained in conducting safe, effective tests of all of our products. If you need your wire rope certified, are curious about the capacity of your rigging system, or are interested in stronger products, we can help. In addition to testing, Southwest is a leader in on-site rigging inspections, rental equipment, field spooling, and other services. Get in touch with a rigging professional today to learn how we can helpoutfityour rigging operation for maximum performance.

The professionals at Southwest have been serving the needs of the rigging and lifting industries with an unwavering dedication to quality and excellence for years. If you are in the market for leading rigging equipment, need your rigging system tested, or are simply looking for an expert opinion, turn to the pros at Southwest Wire Rope. We look forward to answering your questions and forming a lasting partnership. For more information, browse ourproductsandservicesorcontact a reptoday.

One such way that many operators attempt to increase output is by increasing the capacity of each load. More productive loads means jobs get completed faster and more efficiently, and the next project can begin. So, how can we increase the strength and speed of our operation through better lift capacity? Keep reading to hear some ideas from the veterans atSouthwest Wire Rope.

At Southwest Wire Rope, we’ve spent the past56 yearsbecoming experts in fabricating the highest quality rigging and lifting products on the market. From rope and chains, to synthetic web and round slings, along with all the hardware you’ll need, we can help you outfit your crane with the best equipment to ensure it’s running at maximum capacity. If you need guidance on which attachments work best for you, we’re here to help.

Working alongside a rigging expert who has both practical knowledge on the operation of cranes as well as industry expertise on the outfitting side of the business can pay dividends. Our team will help you create the best lifting solution for your business through our decades of experience backed with rigorous testing.Get in touchwith us today to get started.

The professionals at Southwest have been serving the needs of the rigging and lifting industries with an unwavering dedication to quality and excellence for years. If you are in the market for leading rigging equipment, need your rigging tested, or are simply looking for an expert opinion, we can help. We look forward to answering your questions and forming a lasting partnership. For more information, browse ourproductsandservicesorcontact a reptoday.

Aiming at the problem that the connecting bolt is easy to break under impact when the tension testing machine carries out the wire rope breaking test, a virtual prototype model of the wire rope tension testing machine is established based on ADAMS. The dynamic simulation analysis of wire rope breaking test is carried out, and the impact load of connecting bolt is obtained. The results show that the breaking test of large-size steel wire rope is very easy to cause the damage of connecting bolts, which provide important data support for the subsequent design of buffer device.

Chant Engineering: 850K Wire Rope Break Test Final in-house test machine prequalification break test at 850,000 lbs. 2.75 inch diameter wire rope with coned end terminations. #breaktest #prooftest #testingmachinery #chantengineering #wirerope

All-inclusive tour inside the Factory with presentation of the whole HMPE Rope Production Process, as well as the splicing procedure, and of course analyzed advanced technology methods used.

Hereupon, a fully controlled Rope Breaking Test was held, in the presence of the experienced Captains and Marine Departments Directors of TMS Dry Ltd. which confirmed the quality and reliability standards of the Katradis Company’s products, in action.

The 6x19 classification of wire ropes includes standard 6 strand, round strand ropes with 16 through 26 wires per strand. This is a good rope to withstand abrasion or crushing on the drum.

When you purchase Union’s 6x19 Class of wire ropes, you get more than just another rope. Manufactured in an ISO 9001:2008 certified factory and backed by the industry’s largest staff of professional engineers, we do more than meet published specifications.

Our quality begins with our raw material qualification process. All of our suppliers must meet rod standards that are more stringent than industry standards. We then track the rod coils though the manufacturing process for full traceability. And we don’t stop there; the tracking continues into the field as each schedule is tracked to the customer. In addition to tracking, throughout the manufacturing process we break test wires and tie that information to the coil and/or reel of rope. Through these actions, we know the characteristics of the rope from its infancy and know who purchased it when it was completed. This peace of mind is what you should expect from the leader.

6 x 26WS (Warrington Seale) - A standard 6 x 26WS design provides the best rope for a wide range of applications. In general, we recommend the use of a 6 x 26WS In any application where a 6 x 25FW is used.