Overview of research studies on wire rope endurance prediction conducted at the Turin Politecnico over the last forty years

The problem of obtaining structures and machines that are safe, economical and long lasting has been give different answers over time, on the basis of theoretical and experimental research works. The discovery of fatigue phenomena, in the last century, modified a purely static conception of safety which, from then on, was assessed on the basis of the so-called "fatigue limit" instead of the "yield (or failure) limit" determined through static tests. For machines in general, i.e. the category to which wire ropes belong, theory and experimental work are both aimed at predicting endurance in service conditions according to reasonable economy and safety criteria.

 Author(s): Rossetti, U.