The influence of wire break distribution on strength

RoundTable – ENDURANCE RESEARCH OF WIRE ROPE AND ITS PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS – Glasgow 1985

The problem of load redistribution in the region of broken wires is reviewed. An account is given of experiments to ascertain the influence of frictional coupling between wires on the variation of strength loss with the location and distribution of wire breaks. It is concluded that breaks distributed around a section have significantly less influence on strength than the same number of breaks concentrated in the adjacent wires of one strand. It is also shown that the critical axial separation between breaks is much less when friction is high.

Author(s): C.R. Chaplin & N.R.H. Tantrum