Tribology International 130 (2019) 270–283

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Tribology International
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Effect of wear scar characteristics on the bearing capacity and fracture T

failure behavior of winding hoist wire rope
Chang Xiang-donga, Peng Yu-xinga,∗, Zhu Zhen-caia, Zou Sheng-yongb,c,d, Gong Xian-shenge,
Xu Chun-minga
a
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Mine Mechanical and Electrical Equipment, China University of Mining and Technology,
Jiangsu Province, Xuzhou, 221116, China
b
Citic Heavy Industries Co. Ltd, Luoyang, China
c
Luoyang Mining Machinery Engineering Design Institute Co. Ltd, Luoyang, China
d
State Key Laboratory of Mining Heavy Equipment, CITIC HIC, Luoyang, China
e
College of Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Surface wear is an inevitable damage of wire ropes used in winding hoist. It always reduces the service life of the
Wire rope wire rope and threatens the mine safety. The characteristics of the surface wear scar caused by sliding contact
Wear scar between ropes were discussed in a quantitative and qualitative method for this paper. A series of breaking tensile
Bearing capacity tests were carried out to investigate the effects of the wear characteristic parameters on the bearing capacity of
Fracture failure
the rope. Furthermore, the fracture failure behaviors of the rope with different wear scars were analyzed. Results
show that the wear scar changes from distributing on one strand to evenly distributed on two adjacent strands as
the sliding wear position changes from the strand peak to valley. When the wear region concentrates on one
strand, the maximum wear depth increases from approximately 0.46 mm to approximately 0.64 mm with the
increase of wear area. Broken wires seriously affect the elongation and breaking force of the rope. The maximum
breaking force is approximately 42 KN and the maximum local elongation is approximately 1.5 mm under the
condition of broken wires. Additionally, the external wires of the strand are easier to fracture caused by torsion
and tension together. Furthermore, the shear lip and the fibre region on the fracture surface of the wires become
not very obvious with the increase of the wear scar parameters.

1. Introduction
With a shortage of global resources and energy, exploring more
deeply into the earth for mineral resource has become an important
strategic choice in China [1]. Because of the limitation of the multi-rope
friction hoist in hoisting height (the maximum height is 1700 m), multi-
layer winding hoist has become the most suitable lifting equipment for
ultra-deep coal mines (the hoisting height is more than 2000 m) [2–4].
Additionally, wire rope is a key part of the mine hoisting system be-
cause of its high strength-to-weight radio, great flexibility and com-
pactness [5,6]. Therefore, the performance of the wire rope determines
the safety level of a coal mine hoisting. However, considering the
system vibration and repeated bending of the rope in the winding hoist
process, there is serious extrusion contact, relatively sliding and torsion
fatigue between the wire rope in different layers, in particular for the
ultra-deep coal mine [7,8]. Then, it will cause severe plastic
deformation and surface wear, which are the primary degradation
mechanisms for the winding hoist wire rope and determine the service
life [9,10]. Moreover, according to the coal mine safety rules in China
[11], in a vertical shaft, the number of winding layers of the rope on the
drum must be no more than two layers. This severely limits the appli-
cation of the multi-layer winding hoist in deep coal mines. The reason is
also that the wear characteristic and its effect on the degradation of the
rope performance have not been understood. Therefore, it is significant
to explore the characteristics of surface wear scars and conduct studies
about the effect of wear parameters on the bearing capacity and
breaking failure behaviors of the rope, which could be helpful for the
safety use and maintenance of the wire rope, then prolong its service
life.
In the past, several studies on the related performance of wire ropes
have been conducted by other scholars. Considering the damage of
fretting fatigue between the internal wires, Wang et al. [12]

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: pengyuxing@cumt.edu.cn (P. Yu-xing).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2018.09.023
Received 22 June 2018; Received in revised form 4 September 2018; Accepted 25 September 2018
Available online 27 September 2018
0301-679X/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C. Xiang-dong et al.
investigated the fretting fatigue behaviors of steel wires under different
displacement amplitudes. The results show that the fretting damage
accelerates with increasing displacement amplitude. Additionally, the
wear parameters of wires were measured and quantitatively analyzed
[13]. Cruzado et al. [14–17] explored the effects of contact load and
crossing angle on the fretting of thin steel wires through experiments.
Then, to reduce the economic cost and experimental time, a simulation
method was developed, which can accurately predict the wear scar
parameters. Furthermore, Zhang et al. [18] researched the character-
istics of the fretting fatigue for wires under different crossing angles and
found that surface wear is more serious under the crossing angle of 90°.
Wang et al. [19] studied the fretting fatigue behaviors of steel wires
under tension and torsion loads. They found that the wear scar becomes
large with the increase of torsion angle. Due to the working condition of
hoisting wire rope is very complex, McColl et al. [20] explored the
fretting wear properties of wires under different lubrication conditions.
Xu et al. [21] researched the fretting wear behaviors of hoisting rope
wires in acid medium and found that the wear depth is larger in the acid
medium than that under dry-friction condition. To quantitatively ana-
lyze the effect of corrosive media on anti-wear properties, Wang et al.
[22] investigated the effects of three corrosive media on anti-wear
properties of steel wires and found that the anti-wear property is better
in the high-pH corrosive media. Considering the sliding contact be-
tween wire ropes and rollers, Oksanen et al. [23,24] described the wear
characteristics between the roller and the wire rope in laboratory and
in-service conditions. The wear mechanism and fatigue cracks were
analyzed. However, the structure of the rope is complex and contact
forms are diversified. To investigate wear properties between ropes,
Peng et al. [1,25] studied the sliding friction and wear characteristics
between ropes under cross contact and winding contact.
As the spiral structure of the wire rope determines its complex
mechanical properties, many scholars have presented theoretical
methods to calculate the response of wire ropes [26,27]. Additionally,
Wang et al. [6] presented a brief parameterized modelling method for
rope wires and strands. Wu et al. [28] developed a mechanical model
for the wire rope to accurately calculate the deformation and elonga-
tion of ropes under known tension. To compare the experimental and
theoretical results, Onur et al. [29] explored the mechanical char-
acteristics of rope strands subjected to tensile load through theoretical
calculation and experimental analysis. The results show that outer wires
suffer greater strain and stress values in the direction of wire axis than
in the direction of strand axis. Furthermore, based on the strong si-
mulation ability of the finite element (FE) method, Stanova et al.
[30–33] established mathematical geometric models and finite element
models for wire ropes and strands with different shapes. The mechan-
ical behaviors of the rope and strand subjected to different axial loads
were analyzed. Moreover, the three-dimensional finite element model
was also used to study the mechanical properties of wire ropes used in
different working conditions [34,35].
The reasons for the degradation of the rope performance vary from
service conditions. To understand the failure behavior of the ropes,
Chaplin [2] and Schrems et al. [36] analyzed the working condition and
degradation characteristics of the mine hoist wire rope. Performances of
in-service ropes with different damages were investigated using a series
of experiments. Mahmoud et al. [37] analyzed the broken wires ob-
tained from an in service bridge cable and the carrying capacity of the
cable was estimated. Peterka et al. [38] conducted many mechanical
tests to explore the evolution of the wire rope used in real hoisting
conditions and understand the cause of damage after a short period of
use. Singh et al. [10] provided a brief review on failure behavior of the
wire rope and presented two case studies of failed wire ropes used in
two different Indian coal mines. Additionally, Urchegui et al. [39] and
Zhang et al. [40] investigated the wear evolution and bending fatigue
life of wire ropes by a series of bending fatigue experiments. Then, the
effects of the broken wire on the degradation characteristics were
analyzed. Furthermore, in order to explore the wear degradation of
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wire ropes better, Argatov et al. [41] presented the Archard's wear law
based mathematical model of fretting wear between wires to estimate
the fatigue life for the wire rope. Then, to investigate the effect of
fretting wear on fatigue fracture properties of the steel wire, Wang et al.
[42] established the relationship between the crack propagation life
and the initial fretting wear depth of steel wires. Moreover, Zhao et al.
[43] predicted the fatigue life of wire ropes based on the theory of stress
field intensity and liner fatigue cumulative damage theory. However,
the previous studies focus mainly on the fretting wear behavior of steel
wires, the mechanical properties and the failure mechanisms of ropes
and strands under different service conditions. The sliding wear scar
characteristics on the rope surface and the effects of the wear properties
on the bearing capacity and breaking failure behaviors for the hoisting
wire rope have not been developed yet.
Therefore, the aim of this article is to quantitatively and qualita-
tively analyze the surface wear scars of the wire rope and investigate
the relationships between the wear characteristics and the fracture
failure behaviors. The morphology distribution and characteristic
parameters of the wear scars were obtained using optical microscope
and the confocal three-dimensional contour measuring instrument (SM-
1000), respectively. The mechanical response of the damaged wire
ropes was analyzed by breaking tensile experiments, which were con-
ducted in a tensile testing machine (ZCGD-W100KN). Additionally, the
fracture behavior and the wear defect of wires in the breaking location
were investigated by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Moreover, all the work is meaningful for enhancing the utilization ef-
ficiency of the wire rope and improving the operational reliability of
the winding hoist.
2. Experimental details
2.1. Wire rope samples
The research object of this paper is the wear-out 6 × 19 + FC (fibre
core) wire rope. Fig. 1 presents the wear test rig and the rope sample.
The test apparatus can realize the reciprocating sliding between wire
ropes under different contact loads, strokes, velocities and crossing
angles. Additionally, the surface wear scars on the rope samples studied
in this paper were caused by the wear tests from the previous work
[44]. The detailed parameters of the tests were listed in Table 1. The
crossing contact can reflect the multi-wire and multi-strand contact
behaviors of the wire ropes and the sliding parameters are easier to be
controlled under the crossing angle of 90°, which is better to in-
vestigated the effects of the parameters on the wear properties of the
wire rope and provide reference for the multi-layer winding hoist. Thus,
the sliding contact form of the wire ropes was simplified, as shown in
Fig. 1c. The two wire ropes, lower sliding rope and upper loading rope,
contact with each other with the crossing angle of 90° and complete the
reciprocating sliding. Then, different surface wear scars were obtained
by adjusting the contact parameters (stroke and velocity). Additionally,
more detailed introduction about the friction experiments and the rope
sample parameters can be found in literature [1,4,44]. Furthermore, the
upper loading ropes with the wear scar were selected to investigate, as
shown in Fig. 1d.
2.2. Test procedure and analysis methods
To study the influence of the wear on the rope performance, the
characteristics of the wear scar were analyzed quantitatively and qua-
litatively. Fig. 2 shows two typical contact locations and wear scars. It
can be seen that the rope surface is very complex, which contains
several spiral strands and the strand valleys and peaks appear alter-
nately, as shown in Fig. 2a. Therefore, the wear scar changes from
concentrating on one strand to evenly distributed on two adjacent
strands gradually when the contact region changes from the peak to the
valley, as shown in Fig. 2b and c. Additionally, the wear regions can be
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Fig. 1. Wire rope sample (a): wear test rig; (b): cross section; (c): crossing contact form; (d): damaged rope sample.

Table 1 divided into irregular surface and relatively regular surface. There are
Wear experimental parameters. many small grooves on the irregular surface and its contour curve is
Parameter Value
uneven as shown in Fig. 2b. Furthermore, the wear region and its
contour curve are relatively smooth for the relatively regular surface, as
Stroke (x/mm) 10; 20; 30; 50; 70 shown in Fig. 2c. Thus, the surface wear scars were categorized ac-
Velocity (v/mm/s) 6; 12; 18; 30; 42 cording to the contour features.
Contact load (P/N) 100
Crossing angle (α/°) 90
Furthermore, the dimension parameters (the maximum wear width
Tensile force (F/N) 2000 W, length L and depth h) of the wear scars were obtained and statisti-
Number of cycles (n) 90; 126; 210; 315; 630 cally analyzed by the optical microscope and its supporting software, as
Sliding distance (S/mm) 12600 shown in Fig. 3. Moreover, the Auto-CAD software was used to calculate
Lubricant condition Dry-friction
the wear area (S) through scaling the optical microscope images and the
Temperature Room temperature
Relative humidity (%) 70 ± 5 contour curves, which is an important parameter for the wear evalua-
Atmosphere Laboratory air tion. Moreover, as the rope surface is very complex and uneven, it is
really difficult to measure the wear depth of the wire rope accurately. In

Fig. 2. Surface wear scar characteristic of rope samples (a): contact locations; (b): wear scar for peak; (c): wear scar for valley.

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Fig. 3. Wear scar parameters (a): counter curve of the wear scar; (b): wear depth.

this paper the maximum wear depth of the rope was measured by the Table 2
side view of the wear scar and the supporting software of the optical Parameters of the breaking tensile test and machine.
microscope, as sown in Fig. 3b. To reduce the measuring error, all the Parameter Value
values of the wear scar were measured three times and averaged.
The investigation of the bearing capacity and fracture failure be- Sample length 600 mm
haviors of the damaged wire ropes were conducted through a series of Local measuring length 50 mm
Tensile velocity 20 mm/min
breaking tensile tests. The tensile testing machine was used to complete Pre-tension force 1 KN
the tests and data acquisition, as shown in Fig. 4a. Its maximum test Maximum test force 100 KN
force and space is 100 KN and 1000 mm, respectively. Additionally, the Maximum test space 1000 mm
extensometer was used for many samples to measure the local elon- Accuracy of force 1N
Accuracy of displacement 0.001 mm
gation with a range of 50 mm (l), which is near the wear scar region, as
Acquisition frequency 1000 Hz
shown in Fig. 4b. The axial elongation of the other samples was re-
presented by the total elongation for the whole rope length (L). To
make is easier to fix the wire rope, the upper and lower tensile fixtures elongation curves. Finally, the surface characteristics and the fracture
and the rope socket catch were custom-made, as shown in Fig. 4b and c. morphology of the wires near the wear region were discussed to reveal
Furthermore, the breaking tensile test will stop as the load is less than fracture failure mechanisms of the rope samples.
the 70% of the maximum tension. The parameters of the breaking
tensile test are listed in Table 2. Moreover, other descriptions about the 3. Results and discussions
machine and tests can be found in the previous report [3]. Then, the
force-elongation curves and maximum breaking load were exported and 3.1. Wear scar characteristics
analyzed combined with the wear scar parameters. Additionally, the
curves obtained by the extensometer were defined as force-local The surface wear scars always concentrate on a single strand when

Fig. 4. Breaking tensile test apparatus (a): test rig; (b): tensile fixture for ropes; (c): rope socket catch.

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Fig. 5. Three-dimensional topography of the wear scar under peak contact (a) and (b): irregular surface; (c) and (d): relatively regular surface.
the loading rope sample contacts with the sliding rope at the location of
the strand peak, as shown in Fig. 5. Because the helical structure of the
rope makes the height of each strand wavy on the rope surface and only
one strand will reach the highest position in the strand peak. Then, the
sliding contact and wear first occur in the highest strand surface of the
rope sample. Additionally, the three-dimensional topographies of the
wear scars present that the surface properties in the wear region can be
divided into two categories, irregular surface and relatively regular
surface. As shown in Fig. 5a and b, the wear contour is approximately
an ellipse and there are many small circular grooves along the sliding
direction on the wear surface. It is caused by the stable reciprocating
sliding of the outer wires and each wire slides along one of the grooves.
However, with the change of velocity and stroke, there are some fluc-
tuations for the contact position of the outer wires in each sliding cycle.
Furthermore, the other kind of wear surface property, relatively regular
surface, is presented is Fig. 5c and d. It is clear that the distribution and
transition for the wear depth are smooth in the wear scar. Moreover, the
maximum wear depth appears in the middle of the wear region and it
becomes smaller from the middle to the ends. Due to the diameter of the
steel wires is 0.6 mm, the outer wires in the wear region will break if the
maximum wear depth is greater than 0.6 mm, as shown in Fig. 5d. Thus,
the wear distribution is relatively concentrated and the wear scar can be
divided into the above two types when the wire ropes sliding contact in
the strand peak.
As the sliding contact position changes from the strand peak to the
strand valley, the surface wear scar distributes on two adjacent strands
gradually, as shown in Fig. 6. It is clear from Fig. 2 that the change of
the surface height for the adjacent strands is opposite from the peak to
the valley. The height difference is big near the strand peak position.
Thus, only one strand can contact with the other rope at the beginning
of the sliding wear experiment. However, as the wear depth and area
increasing, the height gap between the two strands becomes smaller.
Two strands sliding contact with the other rope finally. Therefore, the
wear scars unevenly distributed on two adjacent strands under this
condition. The wear area is larger on one strand and smaller in the
other strand, as shown in Fig. 6a. Moreover, the height of the adjacent
strands is almost equal when the contact position is close to the strand
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valley. It is easier to cause wear on two strands simultaneously in the
initial stage of the wear test. Therefore, the surface wear scar evenly
distributed on two adjacent strands, as shown in Fig. 6d. Additionally, it
also can be seen that the surface properties are similar to that in Fig. 5.
The wear surfaces can be divided into irregular surface, as presented in
Fig. 6a and b, and relatively regular surface, as presented in Fig. 6c and
d. Furthermore, it aggravates the unstable sliding contact for the fric-
tion pair because there are two adjacent strands contact with the other
rope simultaneously. Thus, the small circular grooves on the irregular
surface are not very obvious and the wear region for the relatively
regular surface is more complete compared with that caused by strand
peak contact.
To make a quantitative analysis on the characteristics of the wear
scars, the wear scar contours were measured and used to calculate the
wear area S, the maximum wear length L and width W. Additionally,
the maximum wear depth h was also measured through the side view of
the wear scar. Fig. 7 presents the contour and dimension parameters of
the wear scar caused by the sliding wear contact in the strand peak. To
facilitate the observation and comparison for the wear scar properties,
all the contour curves were sorted by the wear area. It is clear that the
size difference of the wear scars is not very large because all the wear
scars were observed after the relatively stable stage of the sliding wear
experiments. The average maximum width and length of the wear scars
is approximately 5.58 mm and 2.72 mm, respectively. Additionally, due
to the surface of the rope is very complex and not on the same plane,
the wear scar contour is irregular and random. As shown in Fig. 7a, the
maximum wear width and length are larger than that in Fig. 7c, but the
wear area and wear depth are smaller because the shape of the wear
scar in Fig. 7a is more irregular than that in Fig. 7c. Therefore, although
the width and length can reflect the span of the wear region, the wear
area is also needed to comprehensively understand the characteristics
of the wear scar distribution. Moreover, it can be seen from the data in
the figures that the maximum wear depth increases from approximately
0.46 mm to approximately 0.64 mm with the wear area increases from
approximately 8.83 mm2 to approximately 11.88 mm2. It is because the
contact surface is curved and concentrates on one strand. The size of the
contact area depends much on the wear depth. Furthermore, the wear
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Fig. 6. Three-dimensional topography of the wear scar near valley contact (a) and (b): irregular surface; (c) and (d): relatively regular surface.

Fig. 7. Wear scar dimension parameters of strand peak contact (b)–(d): irregular surface; (a), (e) and (f): relatively regular surface.

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Fig. 8. Dimension parameters of unevenly distributed wear scar on two adjacent strands (b)–(d): irregular surface; (a), (e) and (f): relatively regular surface.
scar surface is irregular for Fig. 7b–d and relatively regular for Fig. 7a, e
and f according to the shape of the contour curves (see Fig. 2b and c). It
is clear that the upper curve and the lower curve of the profilogram are
smooth when the wear surface is relatively regular. And for the other
wear scar surfaces, the curves are uneven which are corresponding to
the small grooves in the wear region. Moreover, the maximum wear
depth for Fig. 7e and f is approximately 0.65 mm and 0.64 mm, re-
spectively. It means there are many broken wires among the wear scar
region and the internal wires of the strand were damaged.
Fig. 8 presents the dimension parameters of wear scars unevenly
distributed on two adjacent strands. It is caused by the sliding contact
position of the rope samples appears between the strand peak and the
strand valley. In this region, the height difference of the adjacent
strands is not particularly large. Although the higher strand surface is
first to show sliding wear scar, the other lower strand surface will be
damaged as the sliding wear test goes on. Therefore, the wear scar
appears on two strand surfaces and is divided into two areas of unequal
size by the rope strand gap, as shown in Fig. 8. The wear area is much
larger on the higher strand surface. Additionally, it is clear from the
shape of contour curves that the wear region for Fig. 8b–d is irregular
surface and relatively regular surface for Fig. 8a, e and f. Furthermore,
different from Fig. 7, there is no obvious variation tendency for the
maximum wear depth with the increase of wear scar area. The depths
vary in the range of approximately 0.36 mm to approximately 0.53 mm
with the wear area increases from approximately 8.79 mm2 to ap-
proximately 12.31 mm2. There are no broken wires in the wear regions.
Furthermore, it is clear that the wear depth is generally smaller and the
wear area is larger compared with that in Fig. 7. Because the contact
pressure is larger as the wear scar concentrates on one strand. Con-
sidering the wear is serious in the initial stage of the experiment, which
leads to the wear area in the lower wear scar region grows fast. Then,
the wear in the upper region of the wear scar becomes mild. Therefore,
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the maximum wear depth is smaller and the wear scar area is larger in
this contact condition. Moreover, the contour curve of the smaller wear
region in each wear scar can reflect the wear process on a strand. As the
strand surface is consisting of many helical wires, there is only one wire
in the wear region at the beginning of the sliding wear, as shown in
Fig. 8a. With the increase of wear depth in the strand, more wires ap-
pear in the region, but it was divided into different parts by the gaps
between adjacent external wires, as shown in Fig. 8d and f. Then, the
wear region in each wire combined into a whole as the wear in the
strand continues as shown in Fig. 8b. Therefore, the contour features of
the wear scars on the strand mainly depend on the wear depth.
As the wire ropes contact at the strand valley by moving the lower
sliding rope along the axis of the upper loading rope before each test,
the distribution of the wear scar becomes more and more even on two
adjacent strands. Fig. 9 presents the dimension parameters of the evenly
distributed wear scar near strand valley contact. It can be seen from the
curves that the shape of the two wear regions for each wear scar is
similar. The surface property is irregular for Fig. 9a and d and relatively
regular for Fig. 9b and c. The two strands almost contact and wear
simultaneously in this contact condition. Additionally, the wear scar
area is the largest compared with that in Figs. 7 and 8. It ranges from
approximately 12.67 mm2 to approximately 15.77 mm2. Due to the
sliding path includes two strand surfaces and a strand gap, the sliding
fluctuation of the friction pairs is large and it is easier to cause rela-
tively regular surface in the wear region. The maximum wear depth
changes from approximately 0.37 mm to approximately 0.57 mm with
the wear area. Furthermore, the wear region in each strand is smaller
compared with that in Fig. 7. It means the wear is more serious as all
the wear region concentrates on one strand. Additionally, the maximum
wear depth did not appear in the rope sample with the maximum wear
area, as shown in Fig. 9c. It is because the contact is the nearest to the
strand valley and the contact area is small in each strand at the
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Fig. 9. Dimension parameters of evenly distributed wear scar near strand valley contact (a) and (d): irregular surface; (b) and (c): relatively regular surface.
beginning of the wear test. The wear is more serious and stable. Then,
wear depth is larger and the wear region is very smooth, as shown in
Fig. 6d.
3.2. Force-elongation curve of rope sample with different surface wear scars
To research the bearing capacity of rope samples with surface wear
scars, a series of breaking tensile experiments were conducted. The
force-elongation curves of the samples with wear scar under the con-
dition of strand peak contact are shown in Fig. 10. As there are man-
ufacture errors for the length of all the samples, the maximum elon-
gation of the whole sample during the tensile test can not accurately
reflect the effect of the surface wear scars. Therefore, the extensometer
was used to measure the local elongation near the wear scar and the
local measured length was 50 mm. It can be seen that the maximum
breaking force of the rope sample decreases from approximately
46.36 KN to approximately 41.86 KN with the increase of wear scar
area and the maximum wear depth. Furthermore, there is a little change
for the maximum breaking force as the wear area increases from ap-
proximately 8.83 mm2 to approximately 10.41 mm2, as shown in
Fig. 10a–d. But with the wear area continuing to increase to approxi-
mately 11.60 mm2 and approximately 11.88 mm2, as shown in Fig. 10e
and f, the reduction of the breaking force is larger, from approximately
44.66 KN to approximately 41.86 KN. It is because the change of the
maximum wear depth is small for Fig. 10a–d, and the depth is greater
than 0.6 mm for Fig. 10e and f. There are broken wires among the wear
regions. Therefore, the effect of the maximum wear depth on the
bearing capacity is more obvious than the wear area. Furthermore, the
elongation is not so obvious and the plastic elongation stage is shorter
for Fig. 10e and f. Thus, the broken wires on the strand surface seriously
affect the maximum breaking force and the elongation of the damaged
wire ropes.
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Fig. 11 presents the force-elongation curves of the rope samples
with unevenly distributed wear scar on two adjacent strands. It can be
seen that the variations of the maximum local elongation and whole
elongation are small with the increase of wear scar area, which stabilize
around 1.7 mm and 27 mm, respectively. Additionally, there is no ob-
vious correlation between the change laws of the breaking force and the
wear scar area. It is because the maximum wear depth has no obvious
trend with the increase of wear area and the breaking force is decided
by the wear depth and the wear scar area together. When the wear area
and the wear depth is relatively small, the breaking force is larger
(approximately 45. 97 KN), as shown in Fig. 11a. With the increase of
the wear area and wear depth together, the breaking force becomes
smaller as shown in Fig. 11b. Additionally, when the wear area in-
creases to 11.68 mm2, the wear depth is 0.43 mm, which is smaller than
that in Fig. 11a. Thus, the decrease of the breaking force is not very
obvious. However, although the wear area continues to increase, the
braking force changes to larger, as shown in Fig. 11d and e. It is because
the maximum wear depth of the rope sample is much smaller than that
in Fig. 11a and b. Therefore, the wear area and wear depth jointly
determine the bearing capacity of the ropes with unevenly distributed
wear scar.
The force-elongation curves of rope samples with evenly distributed
wear scar near the strand valley contact are presented in Fig. 12. The
curves are corresponding to the wear scars in Figs. 6 and 9. As the wear
on the two adjacent strands is severe, the two strands always break
simultaneously during the breaking tensile test. Additionally, it is clear
that there is almost no change for the maximum local elongation of all
the rope samples, which is approximately 1.7 mm. It indicates that the
effect of the surface wear on the local elongation is little when the wear
scar distributes on two strands evenly. Compared with Fig. 10, the
broken wires caused by the wear affect the elongation more obvious.
Furthermore, the maximum breaking force decreases from about
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Fig. 10. Force-elongation curves of rope samples with scar under strand peak contact (b)–(d): irregular surface; (a), (e) and (f): relatively regular surface.

Fig. 11. Force-elongation curves of rope samples with unevenly distributed wear scar on two adjacent strands (b)–(d): irregular surface; (a), (e) and (f): relatively
regular surface.

45.81 KN to about 44.68 KN as the wear scar area increases from ap-
proximately 12.67 mm2 to approximately 15.77 mm2, as shown in
Fig. 12a. However, as the wear surface is relatively regular, the dif-
ference between the two curves is very little, as shown in Fig. 12b. It
indicates that the effect of the wear depth and wear area is little when
the wear scar evenly distributed on two adjacent strands, especially for
the relatively regular surface. The degradation of the bearing capacity is
more serious comparing with the results in Figs. 10 and 11, but broken
wire is still the most important factor. Moreover, it also can be found
from the figure that the influence of the wear area and the maximum
wear depth are not so obvious in this damage condition. The variation
of the maximum breaking force and local elongation of the ropes are all
relatively little with the wear parameters.
Therefore, the effects of the wear scar characteristic parameters on
the bearing capacity and elongation properties of the rope samples are
different with the change of wear scar distribution. As the sliding wear

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Fig. 12. Force-elongation curves of rope samples with evenly distributed wear scar near strand valley contact (a): irregular surface; (b): relatively regular surface.
position of the rope sample is close to the strand peak, the wear scar
concentrates on one stand and the maximum wear depth plays a major
role on the breaking force. The broken wires affect the elongation and
breaking force most obviously. Additionally, the wear area and the
wear depth determine the bearing capacity and elongation together
when the wear region unevenly distributed on two adjacent strands.
Then, with the contact position changes to the strand valley, the wear
scar distributes on two adjacent strands evenly. The breaking force and
elongation mainly depend on the distribution of the wear on two ad-
jacent strands. Furthermore, the effects of the wear area and wear depth
are not very obvious under strand valley contact.
3.3. Fracture failure behaviors
To understand the fracture failure behaviors of the damaged wire
ropes, the failure characteristics of the rope samples subjected to the
breaking tensile test were analyzed. Fig. 13 presents the optical mi-
croscope images of the external and internal wires in the broken strand.
As the distribution of the wear scar is uneven for many rope samples,
not all wear-out strands were completely broken. When the wear scar
unevenly distributed on two strands as shown in Fig. 8, there are sev-
eral external wires fracture in the strand with mild wear, as shown in
Fig. 13a–c. It is clear that the wires with relatively large wear scar are
easier to break during the test. Additionally, the fracture was caused by
torsion and tension together because of the strand lay angle. Thus the
fracture surface is not perpendicular to the axis of the wire and it is a
slope along the strand lay direction, as shown in Fig. 13b. Moreover, the
Fig. 13. Optical microscope images of the broken strands (a)–(c): outer wires; (d)–(g): internal wires.
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fracture location of many wires is not the wear region but the contact
position of the adjacent strands, as shown in Fig. 13c. It is because the
wires in that contact area are subjected to larger extrusion load and
stress concentration during the breaking tensile test, which is much
larger than some mild wear region in the wire surface. Furthermore,
there is obvious plastic deformation for the internal undamaged wires
near the fracture (see in Fig. 11d–g). It always occurs in the strands with
severe surface wear, as shown in Fig. 7. The fracture surface is relatively
regular and the cup and cone-shaped fracture is very obvious. It is
because the lay angle of the internal wires is smaller and the wires are
mainly subjected to axial tensile load in the process of experiment.
Additionally, as the large wear depth will cause fracture and wear of the
external and internal wires (see Fig. 7e and f), the internal damaged
wires always break first, as shown in Fig. 13e and g. Therefore, the
external wires are easier to fracture in the stress concentration area
(wear or large extrusion region) and are influenced by the torsion ob-
viously. Moreover, the undamaged internal wires always fracture si-
multaneously and still remain spiral structure.
Fig. 14 shows the SEM micrographs and optical microscope images
of the wire surfaces with different damages. The characteristics of the
surface wear vary with the contact conditions, as shown in Fig. 14a–c.
The wires with smaller wear scar are usually in the severe wear stage
and the furrows are large and obvious in the wear region. Additionally,
the wear surface is relatively smooth and the profile is very regular
when the contact pressure is large enough on the edge of the sliding
wear region. There are many small furrows caused by wear debris in the
wear region. Furthermore, Fig. 14c presents the wear groove in one
C. Xiang-dong et al.
Fig. 14. SEM micrographs and optical microscope images of the damaged wire surface (a)–(c): sliding wear; (d)–(f): surface scratching.
steel wire for the irregular wear scar surface. It was caused by the
sliding wear of a wire in the other rope. As the sliding trace is relatively
stable and the contact pressure is large, the wear depth is large and
more plastic deformation and spalling occur in the wear region. How-
ever, although there is only surface wear on the rope samples before the
breaking tensile tests, many scratches appear on the external wires of
the strand, as shown in Fig. 14d–f. It can be seen that the scratch on the
wire is very serious and the plastic deformation of the wire is very
obvious in that region. It indicates that there is severe extrusion be-
tween the adjacent strands under large tensile load. Additionally, the
localized wear on the strands makes the deformation of different
strands uneven, which leads to large relative motion and aggravates
this damage for wires. Moreover, the scratched surfaces are very regular
and smooth.
As wire breaking is the direct reason for the wire rope scrap, it is
important to research the properties of the broken wires and reveal the
breaking failure mechanism of the damaged ropes. Additionally, when
the sliding wear appears near the strand peak, the wear scar con-
centrates on one strand surface. Only one strand breaks in the wear
region after the tensile test. With the sliding contact area changes from
the strand peak to the strand valley, the wear scar distributes unevenly
on two adjacent strands. The tensile test will cause one broken strand
and some fractured external wires in the other strand. Moreover, as the
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contact region changes to near the strand valley, the wear scar dis-
tributes evenly on two adjacent strands, which break together in the
tensile test. Therefore, the sliding contact position and the character-
istics of the wear scar distribution can affect the number of the broken
strands and the fracture order of the two adjacent strands during the
breaking tensile test.
The images of broken wires from the damaged strands are shown in
Fig. 15. It can be divided into elastic elongation, plastic elongation and
breaking for the wires in the broken strands during the test. As shown in
Fig. 15a, there is obvious necking in the plastic deformation stage for
the undamaged wires. Additionally, the fracture surface is similar to
incomplete cup and cone shape. It is because the wires are easier to
appear torsional shear in the plastic deformation stage. Furthermore,
Fig. 15b and c presents the properties of the fractured wires in the ir-
regular and relatively regular wear scar surface, respectively. It is clear
that the wires always fracture at the bottom of the small groove for the
irregular surface. Additionally, there are several grooves in a steel wire
and the wear depth is the largest for the fractured one. However, the
variation of the wear depth is smooth from both ends to the middle in
the relatively regular wear scar surface, and the maximum wear depth
always occurs in the middle of the wear region. Thus, this is the reason
why the wires break at the bottom of the big circular groove. Fur-
thermore, there is little plastic deformation for the seriously damaged
C. Xiang-dong et al.
Fig. 15. SEM micrographs and optical microscope images of the broken wires (a): undamaged surface; (b): irregular wear surface; (c): relatively regular wear surface.
wires near the fracture surface, as shown in the SEM micrographs.
Fig. 16 shows the SEM micrographs of the fracture surface for dif-
ferent wires. Due to the stress concentration and broken wires always
appear in the wear scar region, the undamaged wires nearby the region
will be subjected to large axial load and fracture rapidly. The fracture
surfaces are shown in Fig. 16a and b, which are regular cup and cone-
shaped fracture. It is clear that the shear lip distributes around the
fracture surface and the fiber region concentrates on the central area of
the cross-section, because the fracture was mainly caused by the axial
tension. The effect of the torsion was relatively little. Additionally, the
surface wear of the external wire will reduce its curvature and bearing
capacity. When the wear scar on the wire is small, as shown in Fig. 16c
and d, the shear lip and the fiber region are still obvious, but it is not
complete because of the wear. Furthermore, it can be seen from the
partial enlarged details (see in Fig. 16c) that there are many dimples
with different sizes in the fiber region, which indicates that the major
failure mechanism of the wires is ductile fracture. Moreover, as the
wear scar and wear depth of the wires are large, the plastic deformation
is no longer obvious. The distribution of the shear lip and fiber region is
irregular and the dimple becomes very small. It indicates that the wear
seriously affects the mechanical properties of the wires. The crack ap-
pears earlier in the wear region which makes the damaged wires easy to
fracture under small tensile load. Thus, the plastic deformation of the
wires is short, which is corresponding to Fig. 10. Additionally, it also
can be found that the fracture of the wires near the wear scar region
was mainly caused by the axial tensile load. The plastic deformation
and the bearing capacity of the wires decrease with the increase of wear
scar parameters, which determine the service life of the ropes.
4. Conclusions
(1) The wear scar of the rope concentrates on one strand under strand
peak contact and distributes on two adjacent strands evenly under
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strand valley contact. The maximum wear depth increases from
approximately 0.46 mm–0.64 mm with the wear area changes from
approximately 8.83 mm2–11.88 mm2 as the ropes sliding contact at
the peak.
(2) The maximum breaking force decreases rapidly from approximately
44.66 KN to 41.86 KN as the wear depth increases from approxi-
mately 0.5 mm–0.65 mm for the wear scar caused by strand peak
contact. Additionally, the wear depth and the wear area jointly
determine the bearing capacity and the elongation when the wear
region unevenly distributed on two adjacent strands. The local
deformations are similar (approximately 1.7 mm) as the severe
surface wear distributes evenly on two adjacent strands.
(3) In the breaking tensile test, there is one broken strand and several
fractured outer wires in the other strand for the rope samples with
unevenly distributed wear scar. The fracture of the internal wires is
mainly caused by the axial tensile load. The surface wear of the
strand can reduce the effect of the torsion on the wire fracture and
cause severe scratch between external wires.
(4) The wires with severe wear always break with little plastic de-
formation. The fracture failure mechanism of the wires is ductile
fracture. Furthermore, the dimples in the fiber region are smaller
with the increase of wear scar characteristic parameters (wear area
and wear depth).
Acknowledgements
This study is supported by The Fundamental Research Funds for the
Central Universities (2018BSCXA15), Postgraduate Research & Practice
Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (KYCX18_1954). The authors
also wish to thank Top-notch Academic Programs Project of Jiangsu
Higher Education Institutions (TAPP), and Project Funded by the
Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education
Institutions (PAPD).
C. Xiang-dong et al.
Fig. 16. SEM micrographs of the fracture surface for wires near the wear scar.
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