winch wire rope guide free sample

Wire rope is shipped in cut lengths, either in coils or on reels. Great care should be taken when the rope is removed from the shipping package since it can be permanently damaged by improper unreeling or uncoiling. Looping the rope over the head of the reel or pulling the rope off a coil while it is lying on the ground, will create loops in the line. Pulling on a loop will, at the very least, produce an imbalance in the rope and may result in open or closed kinks (Fig. 18). Once a rope is kinked, the damage is not repairable. The kink must be cut out or the rope is unfit for service.

Figure 18.Improper handling can create open (a) or, closed kinks b). The open kink will open the rope lay: the closed kink will close it. Starting loop (c): Do not allow the rope to form a loop. If. however, a loop does form and is removed at the stage show. a kink can be avoided. Kink (d): In this case. the looped rope was put under tension, the kink was formed. the rope is permanently damaged.

There are three methods to perform this step correctly:The reel is mounted on a shaft supported by two jacks or a roller payoff (Fig.19). Since the reel is free to rotate, the rope is pulled from the reel by a workman holding the rope end, and walking away from the reel as it unwinds. A braking device should be employed so that the rope is kept taut and the reel is restrained from over-running the rope. This is necessary particularly with powered de-reeling equipment.

Another method involves mounting the reel on an unreeling stand (Fig. 20). It is then unwound in the same manner as described above (1). In this case, however, greater care must be exercised to keep the rope under tension sufficient to prevent the accumulation of slack. Slack can allow the rope to drop below the lower reel head and be damaged or loose wraps on the reel to fall

In another accepted method, the end of the rope is held while the reel itself is rolled along the ground. With this procedure, the rope will payoff properly however, the end being held will travel in the direction the reel is being rolled. As the difference between the diameter of the reel head and the diameter of the wound rope increases, the speed of travel will increase.

Figure 19. The wire rope reel is mounted on a shaft supported by jacks. This permits the reel to rotate freely. and the rope can be unwound either manually or by a powered mechanism.

When re-reeling wire rope from a horizontally supported reel to a drum it is preferable for the rope to travel from the top of the reel to the top of the drum; or, from the bottom of the reel to the bottom of the drum (Fig. 21). Re-reeling in this manner will avoid putting a reverse bend into the rope during installation. If a rope is installed so that a reverse bend is induced, it may cause the rope to become "twisty" and, consequently, harder to handle. When unwinding wire rope from a coil, there are two suggested methods for carrying out this procedure in a proper manner:

1) One method involves placing the coil on a vertical unreeling stand. The stand consists of a base with a fixed vertical shaft. On this shaft there is a "swift," consisting of a plate with inclined pins positioned so that the coil may be placed over them. The whole swift and coil then rotate as the rope is pulled off. This method is particularly effective when the rope is to be wound on a drum.

2) The most common as well as the easiest uncoiling method is merely to hold one end of the rope while rolling the coil along the ground like a hoop (Fig. 22). Figures 23 and 24 show unreeling and uncoiling methods that are most likely to cause kinks. Such improper procedures must be avoided in order to prevent the occurrence of loops. These loops, when pulled taut, will inevitably result in kinks. No matter how a kink develops, it will damage strands and wires, and the kinked section must be cut out. Proper and careful handling will keep the wire rope free from kinks.

Drums are the means y which power is transmitted to the rope and then to the object to be moved. For the wire rope to pick up this power efficiently and to transmit it properly to the working end, the installation must be carefully controlled. If the drum is grooved, the winding conditions should be closely supervised to assure adherence to the following recommended procedures:

I) The end of the rope must be secured to the drum by such means as will give the end termination at least as much strength as is specified by the equipment manufacturer.

2) Adequate tension must be maintained on the rope while it is being wound so that the winding proceeds under continuous tension. Back tension applied to the rope during installation" should be from 2 to 5% of the minimum breaking force of the rope being installed.

4) It is preferable to have at least three dead wraps remaining on the drum when the rope is unwound during normal operation. Two dead wraps are a mandatory requirement in many codes and standards. If the wire rope is carelessly wound and, as a result, jumps the grooves, it will be crushed and cut where it crosses from one groove to the other. Another, almost unavoidable problem is created at the drum flange; as the rope climbs to a second layer there is further crushing and the wires receive excessive abrasion.

drum grooves relative to the actual rope diameter. Wire rope is normally manufactured to a plus tolerance. (See Table 3.) The oversize tolerance of the rope must be taken into account or the rope will be damaged by poor spooling caused

inches. Yet, by Federal standards, a 1/4-inch rope may have a diameter as large as .265 inches. If a rope of this size were to be operated on a drum with a .250 inch pitch, crowding would occur and the rope would be forced out of the groove.

Installation of a wire rope on a plain (smooth) face drum requires a great deal of care. The starting position should be at the correct drum flange so that each wrap of the rope will wind tightly against the preceding wrap (Fig. 32). Here too, close supervision should be maintained during installation. This will help make certain that:

2 ) Appropriate tension on the rope is maintained as it is wound on the drum. Back tension applied to the rope during installation should be from 2 to 5% of the minimum breaking force of the rope being installed.

4) It is preferable to have at least three dead wraps remaining on the drum when the rope is unwound during normal operation. Two dead wraps are a mandatory requirement in many codes and standards. Loose and uneven winding on a plain (smooth) faced drum can and usually does create excessive wear, crushing and distortion of the rope. The results of such abuse are shorter service life and a reduction in the rope"s effective strength. Also, for an operation that is sensitive in terms of moving and spotting a load, the operator will encounter control difficulties as the rope will pile up, pull into the pile and fall from the pile to the drum surface. The ensuing shock can break or otherwise damage the rope.

Figure 32. By holding the right or left hand with index finger extended, palm up or palm down, the proper procedure for applying left-and right-lay rope on a smooth drum can be easily determined.

The proper direction of winding the first layer on a smooth drum can be determined by standing behind the drum and looking along the path the rope travels, and then following one of the procedures illustrated in Figure 32. The diagrams show: the correct relationship that should be maintained between the direction of lay of the rope (right or left), the direction of rotation of the drum (overwind or underwind) and winding from left to right or right to left. Order Wire Rope & Cable

Many installations are designed with requirements for winding more than one layer of wire rope on a drum. Winding multiple layers presents some further problems.The first layer should wind in a smooth, tight helix which, if the drum is grooved,

is already established. The grooves allow the operator to work off the face of the drum, and permit the minimum number of dead wraps. A smooth drum present" an additional problem, initially, as the wire rope must be wound in such a manner that the first layer will be smooth and uniform and will provide a firm foundation for the layers of rope that will be wound over it. The first layer of rope on the smooth drum should be wound with tension (2 to 5% of the minimum breaking force of the rope) sufficient to assure a close helix - each wrap being wound as close as possible to the preceding wrap. The first layer then acts as a groove which will guide the successive layers. Unlike wire ropes operating on grooved drums, the first layer should not be unwound from a smooth-faced drum with multiple layers. After the rope has wound completely across the face of the drum (either smooth or grooved), it is forced up to a second layer at the flange. The rope then winds back across the drum in the opposite direction, lying in the valleys between the wraps of the rope on the first layer. Advancing across the drum on the second layer, the rope, following the "grooves" formed by the rope on the first layer, actually winds back one wrap in each revolution of the drum. The rope must then cross one or two rope "grooves" (depending upon the type of grooving - single or double cross-over) in order to advance across the drum for each turn. The point at which this occurs is known as the cross-over. Cross-over is unavoidable on the second, and all succeeding layers. Figure 33 illustrates the winding of a rope on the second layer from left to right, and from right to left-the direction is shown by the arrows.

At these cross-over points, the rope is subjected to severe abrasion and crushing as it is pushed over the "grooves" and rides across the crown of the first rope layer. The scrubbing of the rope, as this is happening, can easily be heard.

Helical grooving does not employ a built in cross-over and does not work as well for multiple layers spooling as a counterbalanced drum because it does not have the cross-over and does not consistently put the rope in the proper position at the

Counterbalance grooving with two cross-overs is made so that each wrap of rope winds parallel to the drum flange for a distance less than half the circumference around the drum, then follows a short cross-over to complete half the drum circumference. The cross-over is at an angle with the drum flange and displaces the rope laterally by half the pitch of grooving.

The grooving for this type of winding is similar to the parallel grooving except that half the drum circumference is laterally displaced from the other half by half the pitch of grooving, and between these two halves the grooves make short cross-overs to guide the rope properly. The two cross-over areas are on opposite sides of the drum, or 1800 apart.

Since the lateral displacement of each cross-over is one half the pitch of grooving, or one half the displacement of the cross-overs encountered with other types of winding, "throw" of the rope is reduced, decreasing the whipping action. However, if the interval between these displacements happens to match the rope"s vibration cycle, whipping can still become severe because this action is cumulative.

With counterbalance winding, the change of layers can be controlled better than with other systems and is preferred when a rope must wind in many layers on the drum.

It’s finally time to replace that worn out old steel winch cable? Or maybe your wanting to replace your current winch rope with one of ours? How do you choose the correct size winch rope?  What size diameter and length will fit on my winch? Many people assume that when they are purchasing a new winch rope for their winch,  they can get the largest and longest size they can find.  This is absolutely not true and can cause major damage to your winch.  If you want to know the details of this issue continue to read on, or you can go straight to our

Winch rope comes in many different size diameters and lengths to fit many different brands and sizes of winches. Let’s look at why it’s important to determine the correct size winch rope in both diameter and length. I will use a common 9,000lb winch for example. From the manufacturer, let’s say this winch originally comes with 100 feet  of 5/16″ diameter steel cable.  While you can simply use the exact same diameter and length in synthetic winch rope, it is common practice to increase the diameter size of the winch rope to gain an increase in breaking strength and working load capacity.  5/16″ steel cable is rated at 9,800lbs which is just above the maximum pull strength of the winch. 5/16″ synthetic winch rope is around 12,000lbs breaking strength. But, the most common size used on winches ranging from 8k to 12k is 3/8″ diameter for the reasons mentioned above.  Our 3/8″ synthetic winch rope has a breaking strength of 20,000lbs!

What about the correct size winch rope length? The “Rule of Thumb” we go by is for every size up in diameter over the original size winch cable or rope, you reduce the length by 15 feet. This allows you to run the larger, stronger size diameter rope while still maintaining the pulling power of the winch. Each layer of rope added on the winch drum reduces your winch’s pulling power.  Remember, the first layer of rope on the winch drum is where the winch can achieve its maximum pulling strength. The correct length also keeps from overloading one side of the winch drum during angled pulls. Very rarely do we get lucky enough to have consistent straight pulls. If you overload one side of the winch drum during an angled pull due to too much length of rope, the rope could come in contact with the winch’s tie-bars which can damage your rope and destroy the winch. So what do you do if you need more length from your winch rope? Check out our winch rope extensions!

Replacing that worn out old steel winch cable, or replacing your current winch rope with a replacement synthetic winch rope? Learn how to choose the correct size winch rope such as what size diameter and length winch rope will fit on your winch.

Wire rope forms an important part of many machines and structures. It is comprised of continuous wire strands wound around a central core. There are many kinds of wire rope designed for different applications. Most of them are steel wires made into strands wound with each other. The core can be made of steel, rope or even plastics.

Wire ropes (cables) are identified by several parameters including size, grade of steel used, whether or not it is preformed, by its lay, the number of strands and the number of wires in each strand.

A typical strand and wire designation is 6x19. This denotes a rope made up of six strands with 19 wires in each strand. Different strand sizes and arrangements allow for varying degrees of rope flexibility and resistance to crushing and abrasion. Small wires are better suited to being bent sharply over small sheaves (pulleys). Large outer wires are preferred when the cable will be rubbed or dragged through abrasives.

There are three types of cores. An independent wire rope core (IWRC) is normally a 6x7 wire rope with a 1x7 wire strand core resulting in a 7x7 wire rope. IWRCs have a higher tensile and bending breaking strength than a fiber core rope and a high resistance to crushing and deformation.

A wire strand core (WSC) rope has a single wire strand as its core instead of a multistrand wire rope core. WSC ropes are high strength and are mostly used as static or standing ropes.

Wire ropes also have fiber cores. Fiber core ropes were traditionally made with sisal rope, but may also use plastic materials. The fiber core ropes have less strength than steel core ropes. Fiber core ropes are quite flexible and are used in many overhead crane applications.

The lay of a wire rope is the direction that the wire strands and the strands in the cable twist. There are four common lays: right lay, left lay, regular lay and lang lay. In a right lay rope the strands twist to the right as it winds away from the observer. A left lay twists to the left. A regular lay rope has the wires in the strands twisted in the opposite direction from the strands of the cable. In a lang lay rope, the twist of the strands and the wires in the strands are both twisted the same way. Lang lay ropes are said to have better fatigue resistance due to the flatter exposure of the wires.

Wire ropes are made mostly from high carbon steel for strength, versatility, resilience and availability and for cost consideration. Wire ropes can be uncoated or galvanized. Several grades of steel are used and are described in Table 1.

Steel cable wire is stiff and springy. In nonpreformed rope construction, broken or cut wires will straighten and stick out of the rope as a burr, posing a safety hazard. A preformed cable is made of wires that are shaped so that they lie naturally in their position in the strand, preventing the wires from protruding and potentially causing injury. Preformed wire ropes also have better fatigue resistance than nonpreformed ropes and are ideal for working over small sheaves and around sharp angles.

Lubricating wire ropes is a difficult proposition, regardless of the construction and composition. Ropes with fiber cores are somewhat easier to lubricate than those made exclusively from steel materials. For this reason, it is important to carefully consider the issue of field relubrication when selecting rope for an application.

There are two types of wire rope lubricants, penetrating and coating. Penetrating lubricants contain a petroleum solvent that carries the lubricant into the core of the wire rope then evaporates, leaving behind a heavy lubricating film to protect and lubricate each strand (Figure 2). Coating lubricants penetrate slightly, sealing the outside of the cable from moisture and reducing wear and fretting corrosion from contact with external bodies.

Both types of wire rope lubricants are used. But because most wire ropes fail from the inside, it is important to make sure that the center core receives sufficient lubricant. A combination approach in which a penetrating lubricant is used to saturate the core, followed with a coating to seal and protect the outer surface, is recommended. Wire rope lubricants can be petrolatum, asphaltic, grease, petroleum oils or vegetable oil-based (Figure 3).

Petrolatum compounds, with the proper additives, provide excellent corrosion and water resistance. In addition, petrolatum compounds are translucent, allowing the technician to perform visible inspection. Petrolatum lubricants can drip off at higher temperatures but maintain their consistency well under cold temperature conditions.

Various types of greases are used for wire rope lubrication. These are the coating types that penetrate partially but usually do not saturate the rope core. Common grease thickeners include sodium, lithium, lithium complex and aluminum complex soaps. Greases used for this application generally have a soft semifluid consistency. They coat and achieve partial penetration if applied with pressure lubricators.

Petroleum and vegetable oils penetrate best and are the easiest to apply because proper additive design of these penetrating types gives them excellent wear and corrosion resistance. The fluid property of oil type lubricants helps to wash the rope to remove abrasive external contaminants.

Wire ropes are lubricated during the manufacturing process. If the rope has a fiber core center, the fiber will be lubricated with a mineral oil or petrolatum type lubricant. The core will absorb the lubricant and function as a reservoir for prolonged lubrication while in service.

If the rope has a steel core, the lubricant (both oil and grease type) is pumped in a stream just ahead of the die that twists the wires into a strand. This allows complete coverage of all wires.

After the cable is put into service, relubrication is required due to loss of the original lubricant from loading, bending and stretching of the cable. The fiber core cables dry out over time due to heat from evaporation, and often absorb moisture. Field relubrication is necessary to minimize corrosion, protect and preserve the rope core and wires, and thus extend the service life of the wire rope.

If a cable is dirty or has accumulated layers of hardened lubricant or other contaminants, it must be cleaned with a wire brush and petroleum solvent, compressed air or steam cleaner before relubrication. The wire rope must then be dried and lubricated immediately to prevent rusting. Field lubricants can be applied by spray, brush, dip, drip or pressure boot. Lubricants are best applied at a drum or sheave where the rope strands have a tendency to separate slightly due to bending to facilitate maximum penetration to the core. If a pressure boot application is used, the lubricant is applied to the rope under slight tension in a straight condition. Excessive lubricant application should be avoided to prevent safety hazards.

Some key performance attributes to look for in a wire rope lubricant are wear resistance and corrosion prevention. Some useful performance benchmarks include high four-ball EP test values, such as a weld point (ASTM D2783) of above 350 kg and a load wear index of above 50. For corrosion protection, look for wire rope lubricants with salt spray (ASTM B117) resistance values above 60 hours and humidity cabinet (ASTM D1748) values of more than 60 days. Most manufacturers provide this type of data on product data sheets.

Cable life cycle and performance are influenced by several factors, including type of operation, care and environment. Cables can be damaged by worn sheaves, improper winding and splicing practices, and improper storage. High stress loading, shock loading, jerking heavy loads or rapid acceleration or deceleration (speed of the cable stopping and starting) will accelerate the wear rate.

Corrosion can cause shortened rope life due to metal loss, pitting and stress risers from pitting. If a machine is to be shut down for an extended period, the cables should be removed, cleaned, lubricated and properly stored. In service, corrosion and oxidation are caused by fumes, acids, salt brines, sulfur, gases, salt air, humidity and are accelerated by elevated temperatures. Proper and adequate lubricant application in the field can reduce corrosive attack of the cable.

Abrasive wear occurs on the inside and outside of wire ropes. Individual strands inside the rope move and rub against one another during normal operation, creating internal two-body abrasive wear. The outside of the cable accumulates dirt and contaminants from sheaves and drums. This causes three-body abrasive wear, which erodes the outer wires and strands. Abrasive wear usually reduces rope diameter and can result in core failure and internal wire breakage. Penetrating wire rope lubricants reduce abrasive wear inside the rope and also wash off the external surfaces to remove contaminants and dirt.

Many types of machines and structures use wire ropes, including draglines, cranes, elevators, shovels, drilling rigs, suspension bridges and cable-stayed towers. Each application has specific needs for the type and size of wire rope required. All wire ropes, regardless of the application, will perform at a higher level, last longer and provide greater user benefits when properly maintained.

Lubrication Engineers, Inc. has found through years of field experience, that longer wire rope life can be obtained through the use of penetrating lubricants, either alone or when used in conjunction with a coating lubricant. Practical experience at a South African mine suggests that life cycles may be doubled with this approach. At one mine site, the replacement rate for four 44-mm ropes was extended from an average 18.5 months to 43 months. At another mine, life cycles of four 43-mm x 2073 meter ropes were extended from an average 8 months to 12 months.

In another study involving 5-ton and 10-ton overhead cranes in the United States that used 3/8-inch and 5/8-inch diameter ropes, the average life of the ropes was doubled. The authors attribute this increased performance to the ability of the penetrating lubricant to displace water and contaminants while replacing them with oil, which reduces the wear and corrosion occurring throughout the rope. A good spray with penetrating wire rope lubricant effectively acts as an oil change for wire ropes.

In these examples, the savings in wire rope replacement costs (downtime, labor and capital costs) were substantial and dwarfed the cost of the lubricants. Companies who have realized the importance of proper wire rope lubrication have gained a huge advantage over those who purchase the lowest priced lubricant, or no lubricant at all, while replacing ropes on a much more frequent basis.

In stricter senses, the term wire rope refers to a diameter larger than 9.5 mm (3⁄8 in), with smaller gauges designated cable or cords.wrought iron wires were used, but today steel is the main material used for wire ropes.

Historically, wire rope evolved from wrought iron chains, which had a record of mechanical failure. While flaws in chain links or solid steel bars can lead to catastrophic failure, flaws in the wires making up a steel cable are less critical as the other wires easily take up the load. While friction between the individual wires and strands causes wear over the life of the rope, it also helps to compensate for minor failures in the short run.

Wire ropes were developed starting with mining hoist applications in the 1830s. Wire ropes are used dynamically for lifting and hoisting in cranes and elevators, and for transmission of mechanical power. Wire rope is also used to transmit force in mechanisms, such as a Bowden cable or the control surfaces of an airplane connected to levers and pedals in the cockpit. Only aircraft cables have WSC (wire strand core). Also, aircraft cables are available in smaller diameters than wire rope. For example, aircraft cables are available in 1.2 mm (3⁄64 in) diameter while most wire ropes begin at a 6.4 mm (1⁄4 in) diameter.suspension bridges or as guy wires to support towers. An aerial tramway relies on wire rope to support and move cargo overhead.

Modern wire rope was invented by the German mining engineer Wilhelm Albert in the years between 1831 and 1834 for use in mining in the Harz Mountains in Clausthal, Lower Saxony, Germany.chains, such as had been used before.

Wilhelm Albert"s first ropes consisted of three strands consisting of four wires each. In 1840, Scotsman Robert Stirling Newall improved the process further.John A. Roebling, starting in 1841suspension bridge building. Roebling introduced a number of innovations in the design, materials and manufacture of wire rope. Ever with an ear to technology developments in mining and railroading, Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, principal ownersLehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N Co.) — as they had with the first blast furnaces in the Lehigh Valley — built a Wire Rope factory in Mauch Chunk,Pennsylvania in 1848, which provided lift cables for the Ashley Planes project, then the back track planes of the Summit Hill & Mauch Chunk Railroad, improving its attractiveness as a premier tourism destination, and vastly improving the throughput of the coal capacity since return of cars dropped from nearly four hours to less than 20 minutes. The decades were witness to a burgeoning increase in deep shaft mining in both Europe and North America as surface mineral deposits were exhausted and miners had to chase layers along inclined layers. The era was early in railroad development and steam engines lacked sufficient tractive effort to climb steep slopes, so incline plane railways were common. This pushed development of cable hoists rapidly in the United States as surface deposits in the Anthracite Coal Region north and south dove deeper every year, and even the rich deposits in the Panther Creek Valley required LC&N Co. to drive their first shafts into lower slopes beginning Lansford and its Schuylkill County twin-town Coaldale.

The German engineering firm of Adolf Bleichert & Co. was founded in 1874 and began to build bicable aerial tramways for mining in the Ruhr Valley. With important patents, and dozens of working systems in Europe, Bleichert dominated the global industry, later licensing its designs and manufacturing techniques to Trenton Iron Works, New Jersey, USA which built systems across America. Adolf Bleichert & Co. went on to build hundreds of aerial tramways around the world: from Alaska to Argentina, Australia and Spitsbergen. The Bleichert company also built hundreds of aerial tramways for both the Imperial German Army and the Wehrmacht.

In the last half of the 19th century, wire rope systems were used as a means of transmitting mechanical powercable cars. Wire rope systems cost one-tenth as much and had lower friction losses than line shafts. Because of these advantages, wire rope systems were used to transmit power for a distance of a few miles or kilometers.

Steel wires for wire ropes are normally made of non-alloy carbon steel with a carbon content of 0.4 to 0.95%. The very high strength of the rope wires enables wire ropes to support large tensile forces and to run over sheaves with relatively small diameters.

In the mostly used parallel lay strands, the lay length of all the wire layers is equal and the wires of any two superimposed layers are parallel, resulting in linear contact. The wire of the outer layer is supported by two wires of the inner layer. These wires are neighbors along the whole length of the strand. Parallel lay strands are made in one operation. The endurance of wire ropes with this kind of strand is always much greater than of those (seldom used) with cross lay strands. Parallel lay strands with two wire layers have the construction Filler, Seale or Warrington.

In principle, spiral ropes are round strands as they have an assembly of layers of wires laid helically over a centre with at least one layer of wires being laid in the opposite direction to that of the outer layer. Spiral ropes can be dimensioned in such a way that they are non-rotating which means that under tension the rope torque is nearly zero. The open spiral rope consists only of round wires. The half-locked coil rope and the full-locked coil rope always have a centre made of round wires. The locked coil ropes have one or more outer layers of profile wires. They have the advantage that their construction prevents the penetration of dirt and water to a greater extent and it also protects them from loss of lubricant. In addition, they have one further very important advantage as the ends of a broken outer wire cannot leave the rope if it has the proper dimensions.

Stranded ropes are an assembly of several strands laid helically in one or more layers around a core. This core can be one of three types. The first is a fiber core, made up of synthetic material or natural fibers like sisal. Synthetic fibers are stronger and more uniform but cannot absorb much lubricant. Natural fibers can absorb up to 15% of their weight in lubricant and so protect the inner wires much better from corrosion than synthetic fibers do. Fiber cores are the most flexible and elastic, but have the downside of getting crushed easily. The second type, wire strand core, is made up of one additional strand of wire, and is typically used for suspension. The third type is independent wire rope core (IWRC), which is the most durable in all types of environments.ordinary lay rope if the lay direction of the wires in the outer strands is in the opposite direction to the lay of the outer strands themselves. If both the wires in the outer strands and the outer strands themselves have the same lay direction, the rope is called a lang lay rope (from Dutch langslag contrary to kruisslag,Regular lay means the individual wires were wrapped around the centers in one direction and the strands were wrapped around the core in the opposite direction.

Multi-strand ropes are all more or less resistant to rotation and have at least two layers of strands laid helically around a centre. The direction of the outer strands is opposite to that of the underlying strand layers. Ropes with three strand layers can be nearly non-rotating. Ropes with two strand layers are mostly only low-rotating.

Stationary ropes, stay ropes (spiral ropes, mostly full-locked) have to carry tensile forces and are therefore mainly loaded by static and fluctuating tensile stresses. Ropes used for suspension are often called cables.

Track ropes (full locked ropes) have to act as rails for the rollers of cabins or other loads in aerial ropeways and cable cranes. In contrast to running ropes, track ropes do not take on the curvature of the rollers. Under the roller force, a so-called free bending radius of the rope occurs. This radius increases (and the bending stresses decrease) with the tensile force and decreases with the roller force.

Wire rope slings (stranded ropes) are used to harness various kinds of goods. These slings are stressed by the tensile forces but first of all by bending stresses when bent over the more or less sharp edges of the goods.

Technical regulations apply to the design of rope drives for cranes, elevators, rope ways and mining installations. Factors that are considered in design include:

Donandt force (yielding tensile force for a given bending diameter ratio D/d) - strict limit. The nominal rope tensile force S must be smaller than the Donandt force SD1.

The wire ropes are stressed by fluctuating forces, by wear, by corrosion and in seldom cases by extreme forces. The rope life is finite and the safety is only ensured by inspection for the detection of wire breaks on a reference rope length, of cross-section loss, as well as other failures so that the wire rope can be replaced before a dangerous situation occurs. Installations should be designed to facilitate the inspection of the wire ropes.

Lifting installations for passenger transportation require that a combination of several methods should be used to prevent a car from plunging downwards. Elevators must have redundant bearing ropes and a safety gear. Ropeways and mine hoistings must be permanently supervised by a responsible manager and the rope must be inspected by a magnetic method capable of detecting inner wire breaks.

The end of a wire rope tends to fray readily, and cannot be easily connected to plant and equipment. There are different ways of securing the ends of wire ropes to prevent fraying. The common and useful type of end fitting for a wire rope is to turn the end back to form a loop. The loose end is then fixed back on the wire rope. Termination efficiencies vary from about 70% for a Flemish eye alone; to nearly 90% for a Flemish eye and splice; to 100% for potted ends and swagings.

When the wire rope is terminated with a loop, there is a risk that it will bend too tightly, especially when the loop is connected to a device that concentrates the load on a relatively small area. A thimble can be installed inside the loop to preserve the natural shape of the loop, and protect the cable from pinching and abrading on the inside of the loop. The use of thimbles in loops is industry best practice. The thimble prevents the load from coming into direct contact with the wires.

A wire rope clip, sometimes called a clamp, is used to fix the loose end of the loop back to the wire rope. It usually consists of a U-bolt, a forged saddle, and two nuts. The two layers of wire rope are placed in the U-bolt. The saddle is then fitted to the bolt over the ropes (the saddle includes two holes to fit to the U-bolt). The nuts secure the arrangement in place. Two or more clips are usually used to terminate a wire rope depending on the diameter. As many as eight may be needed for a 2 in (50.8 mm) diameter rope.

The mnemonic "never saddle a dead horse" means that when installing clips, the saddle portion of the assembly is placed on the load-bearing or "live" side, not on the non-load-bearing or "dead" side of the cable. This is to protect the live or stress-bearing end of the rope against crushing and abuse. The flat bearing seat and extended prongs of the body are designed to protect the rope and are always placed against the live end.

An eye splice may be used to terminate the loose end of a wire rope when forming a loop. The strands of the end of a wire rope are unwound a certain distance, then bent around so that the end of the unwrapped length forms an eye. The unwrapped strands are then plaited back into the wire rope, forming the loop, or an eye, called an eye splice.

A Flemish eye, or Dutch Splice, involves unwrapping three strands (the strands need to be next to each other, not alternates) of the wire and keeping them off to one side. The remaining strands are bent around, until the end of the wire meets the "V" where the unwrapping finished, to form the eye. The strands kept to one side are now re-wrapped by wrapping from the end of the wire back to the "V" of the eye. These strands are effectively rewrapped along the wire in the opposite direction to their original lay. When this type of rope splice is used specifically on wire rope, it is called a "Molly Hogan", and, by some, a "Dutch" eye instead of a "Flemish" eye.

Swaging is a method of wire rope termination that refers to the installation technique. The purpose of swaging wire rope fittings is to connect two wire rope ends together, or to otherwise terminate one end of wire rope to something else. A mechanical or hydraulic swager is used to compress and deform the fitting, creating a permanent connection. Threaded studs, ferrules, sockets, and sleeves are examples of different swaged terminations.

A wedge socket termination is useful when the fitting needs to be replaced frequently. For example, if the end of a wire rope is in a high-wear region, the rope may be periodically trimmed, requiring the termination hardware to be removed and reapplied. An example of this is on the ends of the drag ropes on a dragline. The end loop of the wire rope enters a tapered opening in the socket, wrapped around a separate component called the wedge. The arrangement is knocked in place, and load gradually eased onto the rope. As the load increases on the wire rope, the wedge become more secure, gripping the rope tighter.

Poured sockets are used to make a high strength, permanent termination; they are created by inserting the wire rope into the narrow end of a conical cavity which is oriented in-line with the intended direction of strain. The individual wires are splayed out inside the cone or "capel", and the cone is then filled with molten lead-antimony-tin (Pb80Sb15Sn5) solder or "white metal capping",zincpolyester resin compound.

Donald Sayenga. "Modern History of Wire Rope". History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy (atlantic-cable.com). Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.