Calculation of rope stresses using the Finite Element Method

Wire ropes are applied in various different ways in the field of mechanical handling. As a result of cyclic loading, ropes are not durable and must therefore be constructed in order that they guarantee an adequate lifetime. Building up knowledge about stress in rope wire is of equal interest as experimental lifetime examinations. Due to its complex, non-linear behaviour, analytical stress determination is both difficult and limited. Meanwhile, owing to the improvements made both to computers and software, it is now feasible to apply FEM in order to realistically calculate rope stresses. This will provide a basis for the selective and planned quantification of the influence of varying rope parameters and boundary conditions on stresses in ropes. The results of FEM calculations can, thus, make a complementary stress based contribution to the optimisation of wire ropes and, in the long term, the calculation of rope endurance, too.

Author(s): S. Ziegler and K.-H. Wehking