On dangerous deterioration of steel wire ropes occurring over a local length

Technical Meeting Experiences with Ropes – Lenzburg 2003

Cases of local deteriorations in steel wire ropes are reported in this paper. They have been selected from over 150 rope failure case studies which the author has investigated over a period spanning 30 years, in association with work studying the degradation of long service ropes. Rope deterioration or damages over a local length are brought about by lateral loads applied instantaneously or repeatedly; bending- or fatigue-related wire breaks concentrated over a short length; and, abnormal (as compared to the remaining length) loss of metallic area. The causes behind extensive damage occurring over very short lengths arise from particular operation conditions which, though not always alleviated, should be accounted for by the supervising personnel. Sometimes damages could occur through minor, hardly visible residual strain effects created during installation or operation after non-standard interaction with solid objects. lt is highlighted that mandatory rope checks are to be carried out along the whole length avoiding extrapolation of the results from a longer length to the remaining unchecked length.

Author: V. Berezhinsky