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Page 1 The Importance of Equal Hoist Rope Tensions

The Importance of Equal Hoist Rope Tensions

By Dennis Kelly

DRUCEGROVE Ltd, Unit 12 Abbey Mead Industrial Park, Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1HU Phone: +44 (0) 1992 650486 Fax: +44 (0) 1992 652226 sales@drucegrove.com www.drucegrove.com

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Page 2 The Importance of Equal Hoist Rope Tensions

or various technical reasons there are more than one hoist rope on a lift. One good reason is that if there were only one rope and it broke into two pieces it would be a catastrophic failure. With more than one rope it would be unusual for all ropes to break at the same time. If a rope were to fail the lift would be safely suspended by the remaining hoist ropes and there would be plenty of time to take corrective action. There are numerous other good reasons to have more than one rope but there is no need for it to be discussed in this article. What is important is that when there are more than one hoist rope all Hoist Ropes must have the same tension in them before the lift is moved for the first time . The reason why it is so important will be ascertained in this article. First of all let us recap a little: On a traction lift the hoist ropes are gripped by the driving (traction) sheave which is rotated by various means. The distance the lift should travel is equal to the circumference of the driving sheave, which is determined by the sheave diameter and the number of revolutions of the driving sheave. See figure 1.

Figure 1

There is a formula to act as a guide, 2r. 2 is the numerical value 2 and is a constant. is also a constant, it is one of those magical numbers used in formul that help solve equations. r is the radius of the arc subscribed by the hoist rope around the traction sheave, and is a variable value. Therefore the distance travelled per revolution of the driving sheave will be 2 x x r, and as r is the only variable, the distance travelled by the rope will be dependent on that radius. It is important that all the ropes being driven by the same driving sheave must all travel the same distance. Because they are all attached to the same lift/counterweight does not make it obvious that it will happen, as we shall see later on.

DRUCEGROVE Ltd, Unit 12 Abbey Mead Industrial Park, Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1HU Phone: +44 (0) 1992 650486 Fax: +44 (0) 1992 652226 sales@drucegrove.com www.drucegrove.com

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Page 3 The Importance of Equal Hoist Rope Tensions
How do we determine what r is when the rope is wrapped around a sheave and one part of the rope is closer to the sheave axis than another part? Ropes have the ability to stretch and retract when bent in a curve and for the purpose of any calculations the radius r is defined as the distance between the centre of the driving sheave shaft (axis) and the centre of the cross-section of the rope when wrapped around the sheave. See figure 2.

Figure 2

Whilst we are still recapping: If a rope is laid horizontally and cut to a certain length (say 50 metres) and is subsequently suspended in a lift shaft, its measured length will be greater than the original cut length, this is because the rope is now carrying its own weight and will stretch. If an additional weight were then add to the rope its length will increase even further.

DRUCEGROVE Ltd, Unit 12 Abbey Mead Industrial Park, Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1HU Phone: +44 (0) 1992 650486 Fax: +44 (0) 1992 652226 sales@drucegrove.com www.drucegrove.com

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Page 4 The Importance of Equal Hoist Rope Tensions

Where did this extra length come from?

s we know the rope volume and rope weight has not altered, volume being equal to the rope area (r2) x rope length (r in this expression being the radius of the rope). Once again we have a situation where something has altered i.e. rope length, when there are two constants and a variable. The constants are the rope volume v and , therefore r (radius of the rope) must have changed. It now becomes obvious that when a rope stretches the rope diameter, (which is twice its radius r) gets smaller. With different hoist rope loads there must be a difference in rope travel per rope as the sheave rotates. Now we can get back to the original subject; the importance of equalising the rope tensions. We must assume that when the lift is installed for the first time all equipment is new. The traction sheave has been accurately machined so that all rope grooves are identical to each other and perfectly round about the sheave axis and that the hoist ropes are from the same batch of rope as produced by the rope manufacturer. All of the hoist ropes must have the same characteristics, i.e. rope stretch/load, diameter and construction, etc. After the hoist ropes have been attached to their respective anchor points, and the loads placed on the ropes on both sides of the driving sheave (non traction lifts also use multiple hoist ropes), equalising the rope tension must take place. The ropes on the lift car side of the driving sheave must be treated as separate ropes to that of the ropes on the other side of the driving sheave. The tensions will be different on either side of the driving sheave, if a counterweight is installed, but must be the same on all ropes on their respective sides. It is at this point of the lift installation that a check of the hoist rope tension must be carried out and adjustments to each end of the ropes made to ensure all ropes have equal tensions. The load on the ropes on the car side of the traction sheave will be different to the load on the ropes on the counterweight side, therefore the stretch will be different and the rope diameters will be different. As the driving sheave rotates the ropes with the larger diameter (i.e. empty car side) will want to travel a greater distance than the ropes with a smaller diameter i.e. counterweight side) and as the ropes pass over the uppermost part of the driving sheave (in a top drive installation) the difference in load will transfer from one side of the sheave to the other causing the ropes to creep over the driving sheave. This is a natural feature on a traction lift and is no cause for concern, but if there is unequal tension between the ropes on both sides of the traction sheave then a totally different situation exists. As an example, if we look at the ropes on the car side of the traction sheave and the tensions were unequal then the loads in each rope must be unequal, their respective diameters will therefore be unequal and at different radii to the sheave shaft centre (Axis). These ropes will want to travel different distances as the sheave revolves and the loads will constantly change from rope to rope. The ropes which start off with the lightest loads will want to travel greater distances as the traction sheave rotates than those ropes with heavier loads and rapidly get pulled into the traction sheave groove as the load increases, these ropes are then forced to slip in the groove of the traction sheave. After all, all of the ropes are attached to the same lift car and want to travel the same distance, you can not have it both ways. Rapid wear must take place on both rope and traction sheave as the ropes are forced to slip. The driving sheave grooves will cease to be round in respect to the sheave shaft axis.

DRUCEGROVE Ltd, Unit 12 Abbey Mead Industrial Park, Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1HU Phone: +44 (0) 1992 650486 Fax: +44 (0) 1992 652226 sales@drucegrove.com www.drucegrove.com

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Page 5 The Importance of Equal Hoist Rope Tensions
Vibration will automatically be set up during lift car travel. Once this type of wear has taken place there is no way to correct it other than to re-groove the (traction) sheave and replace all the hoist ropes. A similar situation can exist if only hoist ropes that are damaged are replaced instead of the complete set of ropes. This situation of replacing only the damaged ropes can be tolerated if the replacement ropes are from the same manufactured batch as the original. On a Traction type lift the loss of traction due to rope and sheave wear cannot be tolerated. We now arrive at the most important question:How do we know when the hoist rope tensions are equal? The quickest, most accurate and easiest way to check the hoist rope tensions is by using a purpose made tool. Rope tension tools will give a good indication of the tensions in each rope.

Numerous variations of Rope Tension Tools are available, but not all of them are suitable when equalising rope tensions. It must be remembered that adjusting any 1 hoist rope will also effect that tensions on the remaining ropes. It is a very dynamic situation, so adopting the correct procedure is necessary to produce accurate results. See the article on 99.9% Accuracy using Rope Tension Gauges by Dennis Kelly, Drucegrove Ltd.

DRUCEGROVE Ltd, Unit 12 Abbey Mead Industrial Park, Brooker Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1HU Phone: +44 (0) 1992 650486 Fax: +44 (0) 1992 652226 sales@drucegrove.com www.drucegrove.com