steel wire rope manufacturing process manufacturer

Wire rope manufacturers produce their products in order to provide a high load capacity, versatile alternative to weaker ropes like manila rope or hemp rope. Wire rope products are used for a wide variety of motion transmission applications, among them: lifting, baling, tie down, hoisting, hauling, towing, mooring, anchoring, rigging, cargo control, guidance and counterbalance. They can also be used as railing, fencing and guardrailing.

Wire rope is a must-have for many heavy duty industrial applications. From mining to forestry to marine and beyond, there’s wire rope for almost every job. Some of the many industries in which wire rope is popular include: construction, agriculture, marine, industrial manufacturing, fitness, sports and recreation (plastic coated cables for outdoor playground equipment and sports equipment), electronics, theater (black powder coated cables for stage rigging), mining, gas and oil, transportation, security, healthcare and consumer goods.

Wire rope as we know it was invented just under 200 years ago, between 1831 and 1834. At that time, the goal was to create a rope strong enough to support work in the mines of the Harz Mountains. Invented by Wilhelm Albert, a German mining engineer, this wire rope consisted on four three-stranded wires. It was much stronger than older rope varieties, such as manila rope, hemp rope and metal chain rope.

While studying at Freiburg School of Mines, a man named L.D.B. Gordon visited the mines in the Harz Mountains, where he met Albert. After he left, Gordon wrote to his friend Robert Stirling Newall, urging him to create a machine for manufacturing wire ropes. Newall, of Dundee, Scotland, did just that, designing a wire rope machine that made wire ropes with four strands, consisting of four wires each. After Gordon returned to Dundee, he and Newall, along with Charles Liddell, formed R.S. Newall and Company. In 1840, Newall received a patent for “certain improvements in wire rope and the machinery for making such rope.”

In 1841, an American manufacturer named John A. Roebling began producing wire rope for suspension bridges. Soon after, another set of Americans, Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, started incorporating wire rope into coal mining and railroad projects, forming Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N Co.). In 1848, wire rope from their wire rope factory in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania provided the lift cables needed to complete the Ashley Planes Project. This project sought to improve the performance and appearance of the freight railroad that ran through Ashley, Pennsylvania, by adding lift cables. This increased tourism and increased the railroad’s coal capacity. Before, cars took almost four hours to return; after, they took less than 20 minutes.

Wire rope likewise changed the landscape (again) in Germany, in 1874, when an engineering firm called Adolf Bleichert & Co. used wire rope to build Bi-cable aerial tramways. These allowed them to mine the Ruhr Valley. Several years later, they also used wire rope to build tramways for the German Imperial Army and the Wehrmacht. These tramways were wildly successful, opening up roads in Germany and all over Europe and the USA.

Since the 1800s, manufacturers and engineers have found ways to improve wire rope, through stronger materials and material treatments, such as galvanization, and different rope configurations. Today, wire rope makes possible many heavy industrial processes. It has become a necessity of the modern world.

Strands are made by tightly twisting or braiding individual wire together. One strand could have anywhere between two and several dozen wire filaments depending on the necessary strength, flexibility, and weight capacity.

One of the most dynamic elements of wire cables is the inner core. The strands are wrapped around the core, and it can be made of different metals, fibers, or even impregnated fiber materials. For heavy applications, cores are often made of a different strand of wire called an independent wire rope core (IWRC). An IWRC has a considerable amount of flexibility and it is still very strong. In fact, at least 7.5% of the strength increase in a wire rope can be attributed to an IWRC.

While they sometimes use other metals, like aluminum, nickel, copper, titanium, and even bronze for some applications, manufacturers primarily produce wire rope from steel. This is because steel is very strong and stretchable. Among the most common types they use are: galvanized wire, bright wire, stainless steel and cold drawn steel.

Of the wire rope steels, cold drawn carbon steel wire is most popular, although stainless steel wire rope is sometimes employed as well. Stainless steel rope is most popular for its anti-corrosive properties. Bright wire rope, a type of ungalvanized steel wire rope, is also popular. For added strength and durability, galvanized steel wire rope/galvanized steel cables are a very popular choice. Galvanized aircraft cable, for example, is always a must in aerospace.

When choosing or designing a custom wire rope for your application, suppliers consider factors such as: the environment in which the rope will function, required rust resistance, required flexibility, temperature resistance, required breaking strength and wire rope diameter. To accommodate your needs, manufacturers can do special things like: make your rope rotation resistant, color code your rope, or add a corrosion resistant coating. For instance, sometimes they specially treat and coat a cable with plastic or some other compound for added protection. This is particularly important to prevent fraying if the wire rope is often in motion on a pulley.

Manufacturers and distributors identify the differences in wire cable by listing the number of strands and the amount of wires per strand so that anyone that orders understand the strength of the cable. Sometimes they are also categorized by their length or pitch. Common examples of this include: 6 x 19, 6 x 25, 19 x 7, 7 x 19, 7 x 7, 6 x 26 and 6 x 36.

More complex wire rope identification codes connote information like core type, weight limit and more. Any additional hardware like connectors, fasteners, pulleys and fittings are usually listed in the same area to show varying strengths and degrees of fray prevention.

Cable wire rope is a heavy-duty wire rope. To give it its high strength, manufacturers construct it using several individual filaments that are twisted in strands and helically wrapped around the core. A very common example of cable wire rope is steel cable.

Spiral rope is made up an assemblage of wires with round or curved strands. The assemblage features at least one outer layer cord pointed in the opposite direction of the wire. The big advantage of spiral ropes is the fact that they block moisture, water and pollutants from entering the interior of the rope.

Similarly, stranded rope steel wire is made up of an assemblage of spirally wound strands. Unlike spiral rope, though, its wire patterns have crisscrossing layers. These layers create an exceptionally strong rope. Stranded rope may have one of three core material types: wire rope, wire strand or fiber.

Wire rope chain, like all chains, is made up of a series of links. Because it is not solid, wire rope chain is quite flexible. At the same time, it is prone to mechanical failure.

Wire rope slings are made from improved plow wire steel, a strong steel wire that offers superior return loop slings and better security. The plow wire steel also shields rope at its connection points, which extends its working life. Wire rope slings, in general, provide their applications with increased safety, capacity and performance. Wire rope sling is a rope category that encompasses a wide range of sub-products, such as permaloc rope sling, permaloc bridle slings and endless slings. These and other wire rope slings may be accompanied by a wide variety of sling terminations, such as thimbles, chokers and hooks.

Wire rope offers its user many advantages. First, design of even distribution of weight among strands makes it ideal for lifting extremely heavy loads. Second, wire rope is extremely durable and, when matched properly to the application, can withstand great stress and elements like corrosion and abrasion. In addition, it is very versatile. Its many iterations and the ways in which the rope can treated means that users can get rope custom fit for virtually any application.

Depending on the type of wire rope with which you are working and your application, you may want to invest in different accessories. Among these accessories are: wire rope clips, steel carabiners, fittings, fasteners and connections.

To ensure that your wire rope quality remains high, you must regularly inspect them for wear and degradation. The right wire rope should be selected for a particular use. Watch out for performance-impacting damage like: rust, fraying and kinks. To make sure that they stay in tip-top shape, you should also clean and lubricate them as needed. Check for this need as a part of your regular inspection.

Rope care is about more than inspection. It’s also about making an effort to use and store them properly every time you use them. For example, never exceed your rope’s rated load and breaking strength. Doing so will not only cause the weakening of your cable, but it may even cause immediate breakage. In addition, always store your wire rope cable in a dry and warm area, away from those elements that could cause premature rusting or other damage. Finally, always carefully wind your wire rope when you’re done with it, so as to avoid kinks. If you follow all these tips and treat your wire rope assemblies well, they will reward you with a long and productive service life.

Always make sure that you purchase wire rope that matches your industry and regional standards. Some of the most widely referenced standards organizations for wire rope include: ISO, ASTM International and OSHA. Talk over your specifications and application with your wire rope supplier to figure out what’s best for you.

If you’re in the market for a wire rope or a wire rope assembly, the best way to know you’re getting something that will both perform well and be safe if by working with a vetted professional. Find one among the list we’ve provided on this page. Check out their profiles to get an idea of the services and products they offer. Pick out three or four to whom you’d like to speak, and reach out. Talk to them about your specifications, standard requirements and budget. Ask about lead times and delivery options. Once you’ve spoken with all of them, compare and contrast their answers. You’ll know you’ve found the one when you talk to a wire rope company that is willing to go above and beyond for your satisfaction.

Shandong Xingying Environmental Energy Technology Co. LTD is a professional company specializing in the production of wire ropes. The company is located in Hebei Anping which is close to a big northern Chinese port - Tianjin Port. So it enjoys the strategic location and convenient transportation.

The majority of steel wires used for making wire ropes are usually manufactured from non-alloy carbon steel having a carbon content of between 0.4 and 0.95%. Since rope wires have a very high strength, they are able to offer support to large tensile forces. They can also run over sheaves even if the diameters are relatively small.

Cross lay strands has several layers, with the wires crossing each other. The parallel lay strands are prevalently used. Here, the lay length of practically all the wire layers have equal measurements. The wires of any two layers that are superimposed are also parallel. This makes for the linear contact.

However, two inner layer wires support the outer layer wire. Throughout the entire length of the strand, these wires are neighbors. Parallel lay strands are manufactured in a single operation. They have a greater endurance than cross lay strands. Parallel lay strands having two wire layers feature the construction Filler, Seale or Warrington.

The strands of spiral ropes are round.  They feature an assembly of wire layers, laid helically through a center. At least a single wire layer is laid in the direction opposite to the outer layer. The dimension of spiral ropes can be non-rotating. They have a negligible rope torque under tension.

The open spiral rope is made up of round wires only. The center of the full-locked coil rope and half-locked coil rope is made of round wires, while the locked coil ropes come with at least a single outer layers of profile wires.

The major advantage is that they are constructed in such a way that dirt and water penetration is prevented to a large extent. Hence, protecting them from losing their lubrication. That’s not all, with the proper dimension, the ends of a broken outer wire will be unable to leave the rope.

Stranded ropes are a combination of several strands laid around a core in one or more layers in a helical shape. The core can be a fiber core, wire strand core, or independent wire rope core (IWRC). The fiber core features a synthetic material or natural fibers like Sysal.

Even though synthetic fibers are stronger and more uniform, they are unable to absorb many lubricants. Nonetheless, natural fibers are able to absorb about 15% of their weight in lubricant. This helps in protecting the inner wires against corrosion. Fiber cores are very elastic and flexible. The only problem is that they can easily get crushed.

Wire strand core consists an extra wire strand. It is basically used for suspension. The independent wire rope core (IWRC) is very durable regardless of the type of environments it is used in.

The majority of stranded ropes possess only a single one strand layer on top of the core. It is denoted with symbol Z when the strands in the rope are laid in the right direction, while symbol S represents left direction. Regular lay denotes that individual wires were wrapped around centers in a single direction, with the strands wrapped around the core in opposite direction.

Wire ropes featuring multiple strands are less resistant to rotation. They possess more than one strand layers, laid helically around the center. The outer strands are laid in an opposite direction to the underlying strands layers. Ropes having more than two strand layers can be non-rotating as well, while those with two strand layers are usually low-rotating.

Since they are used for carrying tensile forces, they are usually loaded by fluctuating and static tensile stresses. Wire ropes that are used for suspension are often referred to as cables.

They are used as rails for the cabin rollers or various other loads in cable cranes and aerial ropeways. Dissimilar to running ropes, the curvature of the rollers are not taken on by track ropes. When track ropes are used, the radius and the tensile force increases, as the stresses decrease.

They are used to bind together various kinds of goods. Wire rope slings are stressed by the tensile forces initially by bending stresses. They are bent over the blunt edges of the goods.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steel that is designed for applications, which require greater safety features with no increase in diameter size and the highest resistance to abrasive wear. This steel is fifteen percent stronger than Improved Plow Steel, and the tensile strength of this grade ranges from 280,000 to 340,000 psi.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From transportation to recreation, our wire rope can be made and processed into different chain products. Our products include: brake cable, computer security cable, hanging wire and so on. All of them can be customized with high quality. Please don"t hesitate to contact us - the wire rope processing supplier.

ISO 9001 & AS 9120 certified 8(m)WOSB certified custom manufacturer of corrossion resistant galvanized aircraft stainless steel metal safety cable and wire braid materials include braided cords with wire center for aeronautical, aerospace, halyard, helicopter lead line, sailboat, rigging, hoisting, automotive applications and more. Wire rope products are available in 1x7 strand through 6x36 strand for aircraft cable, non rotating and non flexible applications. Custom coatings and finishes available for aerospace, automotive, safety applications. Also offers custom braids in specialty colors, finishes, and materials such as aramid, ceramic, Dyneema®, fiberglass, Kevlar®, linen, Nomex®, plasma, Spectra®, tarred, marlin, Technora™, Twaron®, and Vectran™. Galvanized aircraft wire ropes and cables available in 302/304, 305, and 316 stainless steel and zinc-coated carbon steel materials. Offers non-flexible types in 1 x 7 and 1 x 19 strand models. Suitable for aeronautical, logging, hoisting, aircraft control, and winching applications.

We develop and manufacture strands and ropes, in the fine rope range with diameters from 0.09 to 8.0 mm, for the most diverse technical requirements, with individual specifications. This results in different requirements for the material, the rope structure and the diameter range. In our rope factory, ropes can be manufactured in different lay directions. Our standard material stainless steel 1.4401 is predominantly used for a wide variety of constructions. Depending on the requirements, we also supply ropes in special materials or process them by, for example, hammering, purifying or PU coating. We produce our ropes with fiber or steel core. We also offer conducting wire ropes of the e-rope brand. The thinnest wire processed in our rope factory for use in microtechnology has a diameter of 0.015 mm. This corresponds to 1/4 the diameter of a human hair. These wire ropes are used, for example, in medical devices. Our ropes are durable quality products and thus contribute to the sustainability of the products in which they are processed.

From transportation to recreation, our wire rope can be made and processed into different chain products. Our products include: brake cable, computer security cable, hanging wire and so on. All of them can be customized with high quality. Please don"t hesitate to contact us - the wire rope processing supplier.

We develop and manufacture strands and ropes, in the fine rope range with diameters from 0.09 to 8.0 mm, for the most diverse technical requirements, with individual specifications. This results in different requirements for the material, the rope structure and the diameter range. In our rope factory, ropes can be manufactured in different lay directions. Our standard material stainless steel 1.4401 is predominantly used for a wide variety of constructions. Depending on the requirements, we also supply ropes in special materials or process them by, for example, hammering, purifying or PU coating. We produce our ropes with fiber or steel core. We also offer conducting wire ropes of the e-rope brand. The thinnest wire processed in our rope factory for use in microtechnology has a diameter of 0.015 mm. This corresponds to 1/4 the diameter of a human hair. These wire ropes are used, for example, in medical devices. Our ropes are durable quality products and thus contribute to the sustainability of the products in which they are processed.

Continental Cable employs 65 people specializing in the manufacture of custom mechanical wire rope cable assemblies. Other product lines include stainless steel and galvanized aircraft cable, a complete line of cable related hardware and tools and plastic coated cable.

Ropes and wire strands are elements made by twisting together thinner cords or wires. They are manly used to carry and move loads or to tie things together and find application in several fields including construction, elevators, mining, energy supply, agriculture, logistics.

In the early days, steel wire ropes were made by hand on rope walks where a number of wires were laid out. Workmen equipped with a rotating device walked along the group of wires and twisted them into strands. The process was then repeated with a group of strands resulting in a rope. This technology had its roots in the manufacture of ropes made of plant materials such as hemp. The strand and rope-making process was gradually mechanized and is nowadays carried out in industrial rope making machines such as tubular stranding machines which consist of pay-off, rotor and bearing assembly, stranding section, haul-off, and take-up. Tubular stranding machines are also more and more used for the closing of ropes because of their greater effectiveness in comparison with cage type stranding machines.

In the first step, cold drawn steel wires are paid off from spools, which are fixed in the tubular part of the machine, and – as the result of the interaction of the longitudinal movement of the wires and the rotational movement of the tubular section – helically wound around a central wire. The result is called “strand”. In the following step called “roping up”, several strands are laid (“stranded”) in a similar way around a central element to become a rope. The central element can be made of steel or other materials such natural or synthetic fibers and is called "core". It supports the strands and helps to maintain their relative position under loading and bending stresses.

During the wire rope manufacturing process a lubricant is applied and penetrates to the core. The lubrication reduces friction when the individual wires and strands move over each other and protects against corrosion, inside and on the outside surface.

An important design criterion is the direction of lay, i.e. the direction in which the wires in the strand and the strands are wound around the core. There is a distinction between left hand (“S”) or right hand (“Z”) lay.

In parallel lay strands, the wires of two superimposed layers are parallel, resulting in linear contact. A wire of the outer layer is supported by two wires of the inner layer along the whole length of the strand. There are also cross lay strands where the wires of the different layers cross each other.

Depending on the final use, the properties of strands and ropes can be influenced by stretching and compacting. Basing on the design, a wire rope can be made torsion-free. In this case, it is non-rotating under the influence of a free hanging load.

Wire ropes have been widely used in the lifting, luffing, and trolley traction mechanisms of container cranes (hereinafter referred to as quay cranes). It is the main flexible component in the use of container quay cranes. It has the advantages of large carrying capacity, good flexibility, smooth transmission, impact resistance, no noise during high-speed movement, safety and reliability. With the development of container quay crane manufacturing technology, the current development direction of quay cranes is large-scale, high-speed, and high-efficiency. The reach of the quay crane is getting longer and longer, and the lifting load is getting larger and larger. In the long-distance transmission of wire rope, It also showed deficiencies such as sagging caused by its own weight, and large bounce at the moment of starting. How to choose and use the appropriate wire rope has become a problem that the quay crane management workers must study.

A steel wire rope is a rope made of multiple steel wires twisted according to certain rules. It is composed of a rope-making steel wire, a rope core, and rope grease. The main components of steel wire rope are: twisting method, contact state, number and shape of rope strands, rope core material, etc.

There are currently three types of single-twist steel wire ropes, double-twist steel wire ropes, and three-twist steel wire ropes. Among them, single-twist and double-twist steel wire ropes are common.

1.1.1 Single-twist steel wire rope: A rope made of several steel wires at one time, which is characterized by high rigidity of the rope and poor winding performance.

1.1.2 Double-twisted steel wire rope: Double-twisted steel wire rope can also be composed of two structural forms: co-twisting (sequential winding) and alternating twisting (interleaving). The same direction twisted steel wire rope has good flexibility, low abrasion and long service life, but it is easy to loosen and twist and knot. Generally, it is only used in the situation where there is a rigid guide rail or the rope end will not rotate freely. The twisting direction of the strands in the alternating twisted steel wire rope is opposite to that of the rope, and it is not easy to twist loosely, but the rope is slightly more rigid and has a shorter service life. Most of the container quay cranes use alternately twisted steel wire ropes.

There are three types of contact states between adjacent layers of steel wires in the steel wire rope strand: point contact, line contact, and surface contact.

1.2.1 Point contact: The lay lengths of the steel wires in each layer of the strand are different, and they cross each other. The steel wires at each intersection point are in point contact, so the contact stress is high, and there is a secondary bending stress. The linearity of the point contact rope is better, but the resistance to bending fatigue is poor, and the service life is short. It has been gradually replaced by the line contact rope.

1.2.2 Line contact: Each layer of steel wire in the strand is twisted in parallel over the entire length, and the outer layer of steel wire is located in the groove formed between the inner layer of steel wires, and is in line contact with it. The contact stress is low, the bending fatigue resistance is good, the structure is relatively compact, the utilization factor of the metal section is high, and the service life is on average 1-2 times higher than that of the point contact rope. Commonly used on quayside cranes are 6xwS (31), 6XWS (36) and so on.

1.2.3 Surface contact: The shape of the steel wire in the strand is formed by a special extrusion or drawing method, and they are in surface contact with each other. Its advantages are: it is not prone to wire breakage, corrosion resistance and wear resistance are good, and it can withstand large lateral forces, but its flexibility is poor. It is not suitable for installation in places with reverse winding or small pulleys.

There are 6 strands, 8 strands, 9 strands, etc. of wire rope strands commonly used in quay cranes, among which 6 strands are the most common. The more the number of outer strands, the better the contact between the steel wire rope and the pulley and drum rope groove, and the longer the service life. The metal filling rate of the 8-strand rope is lower, and its breaking force is about 10% lower than that of the 6-strand rope with the same diameter, but its wear resistance and life are better than that of the 6-strand rope. Currently, many users use it in the quay crane lifting system. Strand rope structure.

1.4.2 Steel wire rope core (1wRC): Steel wire rope or rope strand is used as the rope core. This type of steel wire rope has high strength, can withstand higher pressure and higher working temperature, has poor oil storage performance, and has poor flexibility and elasticity.

In recent years, foreign countries have designed and produced a new type of plastic-filled steel wire rope, which is made by twisting the steel core part with special plastic and then twisting the outer strands of steel wire. This kind of wire rope can knead the advantages of fiber core and steel core wire rope, reducing internal friction, at the same time, the structure is more stable, the internal lubrication and anti-corrosion performance is significantly improved, and the metal surface area is not reduced while maintaining the interception load.

The difference in quality between imported steel wire rope and domestic steel wire rope is mainly reflected in the manufacturing process of steel wire rope. Raw material processing, manufacturing technology, manufacturing equipment, design concepts, technical standards and many other technical aspects are far behind the world"s technologically advanced countries, resulting in the quality of domestic steel wire rope. Problems such as short life cycle and low technical quality have appeared. It is specifically manifested in the following aspects:

Wire rod is the main raw material for manufacturing steel wire rope, and its quality directly affects the quality of steel wire rope. Improving the quality and stability of the wire rod is the key to improving the quality and stability of the wire rope.

The quality of domestic wire rods and the quality of wire rods in developed countries in the world are mainly due to the fluctuations in the internal components of the wire rods, the segregation of components, the low purity, the existence of undesirable structures (low degree of sorbite), porosity in the center, shrinkage cavities, cracks, etc. Inclusions and so on. Surface defects of wire rod include surface cracks, surface irregularities, and diameter fluctuations. The fluctuation and uniformity of the carbon content in the wire rod and the presence of harmful components. These have caused the performance fluctuation of the domestic steel wire to be greater than the world advanced level, which is the main factor causing the unstable fluctuation of the fatigue performance of the domestic steel wire rope. At present, the quality of domestic Baosteel wire rod is relatively stable in China. If domestic wire rope is selected, it should be agreed with the manufacturer to use wire rod from a designated steel mill to prevent the quality of the wire rod from affecting the service life of the wire rope.

The fluctuation of the steel wire diameter has a certain impact on the structure of the steel wire rope. From the perspective of steel wire manufacturing technical standards, domestic standards have a wider range of fluctuations than those of advanced countries in the world.

The precision control of steel wire diameter in steel wire ropes in advanced countries in the world is very strict, generally between 0.01mm and 0.02mm. However, the precision control range of domestic steel wire diameter is relatively large, generally within ±0.03mm.Even if the steel wire fluctuates within the specified range of the standard, it may cause complicated force on the steel wire rope, damage the steel wire, and cause the wire rope to break early.

There is a big difference between the heat treatment process technology control of steel wire ropes in China and the international advanced level, which is also one of the reasons for the reduction of the service life of steel wire ropes.

The raw materials for the manufacture of steel wire ropes first undergo a heat treatment process. The heat treatment process applies a certain temperature heating to the raw materials used in the manufacture of steel wire ropes, and is quenched in the lead liquid medium to obtain a good metallographic structure-sorbite. The factors that affect the sorbite transformation during the heat treatment are mainly the furnace temperature of the heating furnace, the wire temperature of the steel wire, and the lead temperature of the lead pot. These temperature changes directly affect the Soxhlet content of the steel wire. Due to the high level of automatic control of steel wire heat treatment in foreign countries, the furnace temperature, wire temperature, and lead temperature are generally controlled within 5 degrees Celsius, while domestic heat treatment is generally at 10 degrees Celsius or higher. Fatigue and broken wires have a certain effect.

The foreign advanced level of wire production equipment generally uses advanced linear wire drawing machines. Its advantage is to reduce the torsion of the wire during the drawing process, and the cooling performance of this wire drawing machine is good, which has a greater effect on improving the performance of the wire. . Many domestic steel wire rope manufacturers use wire drawing machines for wire production equipment. During the drawing process, the steel wire has an axial torsion phenomenon. This axial torsion phenomenon has a greater impact on high-strength steel wires. In addition, the multi-thread drawing machine has many guide wheels and many twists of the steel wire, which loses the fatigue resistance of the rope-making steel wire.

There are various advanced wire rope structures abroad, and they are dominated by multi-wire contact, multi-strand (above six strands), pressed surface and plastic-coated wire rope. The optimized steel wire rope structure has a longer life span than ordinary steel wire ropes. For example, the life of the wire rope after pressing is about 1.5-2 times longer than that of the wire rope without pressing, and the life of the line contact wire rope is 1.5-2 times that of the point contact wire rope. In the structural design of foreign steel wire ropes, the gap value between the strands in the rope and the gap value between the steel wires in the strands and the steel wires are considered, so that the steel wire rope is under stress, between the strands and the strands of the wire rope, and between the steel wires and the steel wires. The contact stress between each other is the most reasonable to avoid the early wire breakage of the wire rope due to the concentration of contact stress between the steel wire and the steel wire.

The structure of domestic steel wire ropes is relatively simple, mainly point-contact steel wire ropes, with less line contact, multiple strands, pressing surface and plastic coating. In the structural design, the gap value between the strands in the rope and the gap between the steel wires in the strands and the gap between the steel wires in the strands are not fully considered. The contact stress between the steel wire and the steel wire in the strand is unreasonable, resulting in the concentration of the contact stress between the steel wire and the steel wire, which leads to the early wire breakage of the wire rope. At present, the precise design of steel wire rope structure has attracted the attention of various domestic manufacturers, and the gap in the design of steel wire rope structure is gradually narrowing.

Foreign steel wire rope greases are researched by specialized institutions, and special greases are manufactured for different purposes and occasions. For example, a foreign company uses steel wire rope with many corrosive components, and the steel wire rope is generally used for about half a year. After the expert analyzes the use environment of the wire rope, select the grease suitable for the environment, and the service life of the wire rope can reach more than 4 years. However, a famous domestic steel wire rope manufacturer once provided steel wire ropes to users in the north. The steel wire ropes did not use low-temperature resistant lubricants, which led to the failure of the grease accumulation and abnormal breakage of the steel wire rope when encountered in severe cold weather. Domestic steel wire rope manufacturers do not carefully select the grease used for steel wire ropes, which is also one of the reasons for the unstable quality of domestic steel wire ropes.

At present, there are many types of wire ropes on the market. Choosing the right wire rope is very important for safe production, cost control, and improving the efficiency of quay crane equipment. Based on these considerations, the role of value engineering in management can be highlighted, and reasonable cost performance can be satisfied. Various needs in business management.

Based on the quay crane equipment of the company where the author works, the main form of failure of the hoisting wire rope in the past was broken wire and fold, the diameter of the wire rope was worn less than 4%, and the core rope was corroded and broken wire. In response to these circumstances, it was decided to use the 8-strand surface contact steel core steel wire rope with imported new triangular plastic filling and wear-resistant technology to achieve mechanical isolation between the main strand and the main strand, and the steel core and the outer strand to isolate, buffer, reduce wear, and reduce vibration. Anti-corrosion effect, but also improve the internal lubrication performance, prolong the service life, and reduce maintenance costs.

·Delivery size: the actual diameter of the steel wire rope is 29.6mm, the actual average diameter of the steel wire is 1.1mm; the main rope lay length is 165mm

Since the author’s company put this type of steel wire rope into use in 6 heavy-duty bridge cranes in June 2004, the volume of the operating box has basically been in the range of 263,000 to 286,000 TEU, and the diameter of the steel wire after wear is 27.0-27.6mm, and the internal and external lubrication conditions are good.

For container terminal companies with relatively idle quay crane operations, if the quay crane has a sufficient maintenance cycle to complete the replacement of the wire rope, the above-mentioned N and C effects can be ignored, and it is wise to choose domestic wire rope.

They say you should never visit the sausage factory, and that may be true, but the wilfully ignorant are not to be trusted, and steel wire rope is certainly a special type of sausage. It was a visit that put me through the emotional spectrum, from disinterested to bemused, to bewildered, and finally awed at the sheer scale of the operation. It’s a little bit like when you find out where babies come from: Horrifying and weird to begin with, but before long you find yourself utterly fascinated…

Flexible steel wire rope has been one of the mainstays of heavy industry for more than a hundred years. Whether you want to lash down scaff planks, carry out lifting and cranage, use draglines for surface mining, or even pull down a massive statue of Saddam Hussein, wire rope has thousands of applications.

The Wirerope Works factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania has a long history of producing this essential component of progress in the 20th century, and although cheaper imports from China and India continue to flood the market, the caretakers of the Bethlehem Wire Rope brand are still proud to produce a product of the highest quality on local labour and quality materials.

Based in Lycoming County in Pennsylvania, Wirerope Works (WRW) began its life as the Morrison Patent Wire Rope Company in 1886. The original mill was built upstream on the banks of the Susquehanna River to service the softwood logging industry, however regular flooding led to the relocation and inevitable expansion of the factory in the town of Williamsport.

The design and manufacture of steel wire rope was no longer in its infancy at that stage. The first practical use of steel rope in 1834 was credited to a German mining official named Wilhelm August Julius Albert, who worked at the Clausthal silver mines in Saxony.

Up until that point, all mining haulage was done with hemp fibre rope or chains. In the humid, damp conditions of an underground mine, moisture would cause the ropes to perish from rot, the gradual deterioration reducing their load bearing capacity, so they required frequent replacement.

Chains at that time were no better in terms of safety, as the Bessemer process for making steel was not invented until 1855. Iron chains lacked elasticity, but were also metallurgically inconsistent and therefore, unreliable. A single weak link could make a chain prone to catastrophic failure without warning, and there was no way of knowing which might be the weakest.

That first incarnation of modern steel wire rope was extremely effective for heavy haulage, and much more reliable than rope or chain. Albert Rope, as it came to be known, was a simple construction of three 3.5mm gauge wrought-iron wires, hand-wound into strands, with three or four of those strands wound into a single rope. However, Albert rope lacked the flexibility of rope or chain, meaning it couldn’t be drawn through a pulley sheave, and its use stopped in the 1850s.

But the idea for wire rope had already caught on in England, where thinner wires were woven around a fibre core, with six of those strands woven around a central fibre core, resulting in a more flexible product. This design, as well as a mechanical system for its construction (called a strander), was patented by Robert Newall, who brought the new technology to America, and the boom-time economy of the California Gold Rush.

However, it was in Pennsylvania where a German-born engineer and surveyor named John Roebling began to develop ropes which were entirely constructed of wire. Roebling used a 6/19 construction (6 strands; 19 wires per strand). A strand built of 19 wires of the same gauge resulted in a hexagonal profile, and desiring a round shape Roebling conceived of using three different gauges of wire to achieve that result. The effect of this was to reduce the space inside the rope, tightly packing the wires together, which gave the rope greater stability under load.

With massive demand for coal haulage in Pennsylvania, as well as cable car applications for public transportation, and most importantly civil engineering projects to service, Roebling set up a wire rope factory in 1849 in Trenton, New Jersey. But he wasn’t the first to invest in a factory like that: Other people had the same idea, and wire rope mills were starting to pop up around the United States. In only 14 years wire rope had gone from a hand-made experiment in a German silver mine, to a globally recognised tool of industry with high demand for scaled-up production.

If Roebling had any hubris about cashing in on this amazing new invention, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a little dampened when his arm and shoulder were horrifically mangled in an accident with one of his stranding machines. But it would seem that Roebling’s interest in wire rope was not strictly for profit, however, as he had for some time harboured a bit of an obsession with sketching suspension bridges. He was a big fan of the expansionist philosophy of Manifest Destiny, and had been very keen on establishing a utopian settlement called Germania (now the town of Saxonburg), where people like him trying to escape the brutal oppression of post-Prussian War Europe could be free to make sauerkraut and smoked pork products, unmolested by the authorities.

But Roebling recovered from his injuries, his factory continued to produce wire rope, and he designed and built a number of suspension bridges using his own product right up until he began design work for the Brooklyn Bridge. Unfortunately, Roebling managed to get his foot crushed by a ferry while standing on a dock trying to work out where the bridge should go. He died of tetanus 24 days later, but his son Washington went on to complete the Brooklyn Bridge project, while his son Charles would invent an 80 tonne wire rope machine.

By 1886, the year the Brooklyn Bridge was opened, a venture like setting up a wire rope factory in Pennsylvania was not at all a bad way to invest $100,000 (probably about $US3 million today), and that is precisely what three businessmen from Williamsport did.

Morrison Patent was changed to the Williamsport Wire Rope Company in 1888, manufacturing steel and galvanised wire rope “from one-eighth of an inch to two and one-half inches in diameter, and any length up to two miles in one continuous piece”, according to an 1892 history of Lycoming County.

The lumber boom in Lycoming peaked in 1891, and the neighbouring Indiana County saw a coal-mining boom start in 1900, so the industrial economy was perfect for the growth of the Williamsport rope mill. A new wire mill was built in 1916, and the current rope mill was built in 1928, which was pretty poor timing considering the Great Depression would start the next year.

By 2004, the Williamsport site had been bought and sold a number of times, changing company names like a serial divorcee, acquiring assets from other defunct companies such as Roebling Wire Rope (the company started by John Roebling in 1849) but always keeping the Bethlehem Wire Rope brand, which became synonymous with top quality steel cable, and is still proudly emblazoned on their rope spools to this day.

In 2002 Williamsport Wirerope Works bought out the bankrupt Paulsen Wire Rope, a rope mill located in nearby Sunbury, and continued to produce under the Paulsen name. But by 2003 the company was also in financial strife, and the management were looking for another buyer who could bail out the company and keep the 600,000 square foot Bethlehem factory running.

The US wire rope manufacturing industry had changed dramatically over the course of 100 years. From an exciting new industry that would allow explosive growth in the productivity of coal mining through the development of dragline surface mining operations in the early 20th century, as well as enabling some of the biggest civil engineering projects ever seen since the Pyramids of Giza, the US stable of 27 wire rope companies had been consolidated down to just three names: Bridon, WireCo, and Bethlehem.

Bridon is another Pennsylvania company, based 100 kilometres away in Wilkes-Barre. Unlike Williamsport which remained a local manufacturer, Bridon expanded rapidly, acquiring other wire rope companies and branching out across the world, developing into a massive, multinational conglomerate, as did WireCo Worldgroup.

With two global entities for domestic competition, Bethlehem also faced increasing pressure from low-cost offshore wire rope producers in countries like China, Korea and India.

Present executive vice-president Lamar J Richards remembers circumstances were looking grim for the Bethlehem brand and for the local employees, with a bid for takeover by Pennsylvania, USA and world market rival WireCo Worldgroup in late 2003.

“Instructions from the ownership at the time were, because we were about to be bought by a competitor we really weren’t going to be making wire, so we had to get rid of all the raw material, the rod, our starting point for the wire,” he said.

“So in that environment, there was an effort by local people to see if they could put together a coalition to buy the company and keep the manufacturing here in Williamsport. The concern was that with a competitor buying we would ultimately be folded up and moved.