Advanced Materials Research Online: 2012-12-13

ISSN: 1662-8985, Vol. 619, pp 347-350

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.619.347
© 2013 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland

Experimental Study on Mechanical Characteristics of the End Plates of

Lebus Drum
Hu Yong1, a, Tang Jing1, b and Hu JiQuan1, c
1
School of Logistics Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China
a
wuhanhuyong@163.com, b tang0519@126.com, chjq580818@126.com

Keywords: Lebus drum, multilayer winding, wire rope

Abstract. The mechanical characteristics of the end plates of Lebus drum were investigated by an
experimental approach. Strain-electricity method was used to test the stress of the end plates of the
drum. Experimental results show that the equivalent stress exerted on the end plate is 3 time higher
than the stress obtained by the conventional calculation method. The stress exerted on the end plate of
one side of Lebus drum grows one time as the wire rope adds two layers according to the winding
process and the increment of the stress becomes larger and larger with the wire rope layer number
increasing. When the wire rope rise from the 10th layer to 11th layer, the increment of the stress in
radial direction on the end plate of the entry side reaches up to 54.9 [Mpa].

Introduction
With the fast development of the marine engineering, cross-river and cross-ocean bridge
construction, port transportation and construction of hydropower stations, the demand of high-lifting
hoisting machinery is increasing. In order to solve the problem of high-lifting, multilayer winding
system must be used [1]. However, the wire rope drums often used in hoisting machinery had smooth
drum cylinders or screw-shaped grooves on the surface in order to improve the wire rope guidance in
the first layer. This brought the restrictions that the rope could only be reeled orderly in a single layer
under high tensile loads because the risk of cutting upper layers as well as built-up rope at one point
was great (Fig.1). In addition, the long crossing range of the individual winding leads to extensive
wire rope wear and therewith to a shorter durability of the wire rope [2, 3]. In the beginning of the
1960’s, the company of Lebus International Engineers introduced a new winding drum that has found
wide application in the field of lifting and salvaging to solve the problem of high-lifting. It can make
the wire rope wind orderly around the grooves formed by the lower layer wire rope loops, improve the
contact conditions of the wire rope and prolong the wire rope’s service life (Fig. 2) [4,5].

Fig. 1 Smooth Drum Cylinder with Wound Wire Rope Fig. 2 Orderly Rope on a LeBus Drum
Characteristics of Lebus Drum
As shown in Fig. 3, Lebus Drum is characterized by four peripheral regions, two parallel and two
inclined sections, in which the rope is diverted by a half of a winding spcing.The angular expansion of
the parallel and inclined sections varies from design to design and is dependent upon the type of
application, the rope diameter, the drum dimensions and the rope flexural stiffness.The parallel
sections are normally larger than the inclined sections,they take up 50 to 80 percent of the drum
surface. There is a special guide plate on both sides of the drum and its shape is shown as the black
part in Fig. 3. Besides guiding the 1st layer wire rope to wind around the drum orderly, the guide plate
at the entry side is mainly to lead the wire rope to climb from the 2nd layer to the 3rd layer smoothly

All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Trans
Tech Publications, www.ttp.net. (#69853034, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA-19/09/16,18:23:22)
348 Hydraulic Equipment and Support Systems for Mining

and make the wire rope of the 3rd layer reverse in inclined section 2. The main role of the guide plate
at the return side is to lead the wire rope to climb from the 1st layer to the 2nd layer smoothly and
make the wire rope of the 2nd layer to reverse in inclined section 2.With the Lebus-winding, the rope
experiences a defined guidance even in the upper layers because the lower layers take up the function
of the grooved drum. These results in an orderly rope arrangement that makes a high number of layers
and thereby a compact rope drum design possible. The relatively small angular expansion causes a
shortening of the crossing range in the winding of two neighboring layers by which the rope wear and
the flattening of the rope cross-section is limited locally. Another aspect which is to be considered
more closely is the changed contact ratio between the rope and end plates in comparison with the
smooth and screw-shaped grooved rope drums.
Entry Side

Return Side
Inclined Section 1 Parallel Section 2 Inclined Section 2 Parallel Section 1
Fig.3 Unfolded Drawing of LeBus Drum
Winding Process of Lebus Drum
As shown in Fig.3, when the wire-rope coils into the rope groove in the order of Parallel Section 1-
Inclined Section 2-Parallel Section 2-Inclined Section 1, it just winds one circle and moves forward
one pitch in the axial direction. This movement has the advantage of ensuring the wire rope's better
winding traces and reducing the cross section of the adjacent winding layers. After completing a full
layer winding, the Wire rope rises to the next layer by the following four stages (Fig. 4).
Layer I+1
Layer I+1
Layer I+1
Layer I+2

Layer I

Layer I

Layer I
End Plate

(I+2)1 I1 (I+1)n I1
(I+1)n (I+1)n
I1
I2 (I+1)n-1
I2
I2 (I+1)n-1
(I+1)n-1
I3

Inclined Inclined
Parallel Section 1 Section 1 Parallel Section 2 Section 2 Parallel Section 1

Fig.4 Representation of the Winding Process

1).When the last winding loop (I+1)n in the layer I+1 reaches the parallel section 2, it runs along
the end plate and positions itself in the gap between the first winding loop I1of the layer I and the
end plate . As a result of high bendability, Wire rope exerts an axial pressure on the end plates
due to its tension.
2).In the subsequent inclined section 1, wire rope begins to rise and the end plate prevents an axial
reshifting of the rope so that it rises to the next layer I+2 on the winding loop beneath it. In this
phase, a bigger pressure is exerted on the end plate.
3).In the following parallel section 1, the wire rope lies in the gap between the last winding loop of
the lower layer i+1 and the end plate. This wedging effect continues to exert pressure upon the
end plate.
 Advanced Materials Research Vol. 619 349

4).In the inclined section 2, the wire rope loses contact to the end plate because it moves in the axial
direction toward the opposite end plate.
When viewed comprehensively, the contact region between end plate and wire rope spans a
maximum of 180°（one inclined section and one parallel section）. As shown in Fig. 5, the adjacent
layers contact region interlaces with 180°. Therefore, when the first layer contacts with the end plate
in parallel section 1, it would be away from the end plate in parallel section 2.
Parallel Section 2

First Loop

Parallel section 1

Fig. 5 Sectional Drawing of Lebus Drum Fig. 6 Lebus Drum Test Rig
Lebus Drum Test Rig
Fig. 6 shows a Lebus drum test rig which is consisted of main winding device, auxiliary winding
device and pulley block strut frame. Each winding device includes driving motor, reducer, winding
drum and dynamometer which used to provide artificial load. Each winding drum can take up 700m
of wire rope with diameter 20mm .This high storage capacity guarantees the execution of test series in
which the test drum can be wound in multilayers within a wide range. As the main winding device
begins to wind, the dynamometer of the auxiliary winding device can provide load up to 130KN by
adjusting excitation current. Conversely, the dynamometer of the main winding device provides load
during the winding process of the auxiliary winding device. The pulley block strut frame can be
moved to change the deflection angle of wire rope.
The execution of the experiment takes place in the automatic testing facility .It is thereby possible
to vary the rope tensile force up to 130KN and speed up to 60m/min in the layers so that the stress
distribution of a multilayer wound drum can be analyzed under different load situations. The dynamic
operating behavior of rope drums and the influence of rope wear on the winding behavior can be
examined through presetting the load collectives.
Stress Test of the End Plates
Strain-electricity method was used to test the stress exerted on the end plates of Lebus drum in
winding process. Test conditions: Wire rope tension is 62 [KN]，wire rope speed is 40 [m/min]. The
studied winding process is that wire rope winds from the 15th loop of the 1st layer to the 3rd loop of the
11th layer.
Before the drum was installed, resistance strain gauges had been pasted on the surface of the two
end plates. Fig.7 is the distribution of measuring points on the two end plates. Strain Gauges on the
odd number points measure the stress and deformation of the end plates in radial direction.
Correspondingly those on the even number points give the stress in tangential direction.

Fig.7 Left: Position of Strain Gauges on the End Plate of the Entry Side; Right: Position of Strain Gauges on
the End Plate of the Return Side
350 Hydraulic Equipment and Support Systems for Mining

Result and Discussion

Experimental results show that the peak stress in radial direction is about 1½ time higher than the
peak stress in tangential direction at different measuring points. The equivalent stress is 3 time higher
than the stress obtained by the conventional calculation method according to Waters[6]. Fig.8 shows
an example of the stress of point F1 and point G1 variation over the time during the test. As can be
seen from Fig.8, the stress exerted on the end plate is found to grow one time as the wire rope rising
from the even number layer to the odd number layer and the increment of the stress increases with the
winding layer number increasing as a result of the comprehensive action of the axil fore exerted on
the end plate and its arm increasing. The stress of ponit F1 increases from 86.7[Mpa] to 141.6[Mpa]
when wire rope rises from the 10th layer to the 11th layer.However, due to the end plate’s big thickness,
the effect of the guide plate and the small arm of force, the stress increment is less than 5 [Mpa] when
the winding layer number is less than four. Comparing the stress curve of point F1 and G1, the stress of
point F1 is higher than that of point G1during the winding process because point F1 lies in the inclined
section 1 where wire rope rise to next layer and the end plate prevents an axial reshifting of it . In
designing the light-weight multilayer winding drum in practical engineering, this section of the end
plate should be reinforced in order to obtain a safe construction.
The variation law of the stress of point H1,H2,I1 and I2 on the end plate of the return side is nearly the
same with the corresponding point on the entry side,excepting the stress increases when the wire rope
rise from the odd number layer to the even number layer according the winding process.
F1
20
G1
0

-20

-40
Stress (Mpa)

-60

-80

-100

-120
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
layer layer layer layer layer layer layer layer layer
-140

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

Time (S)
Fig.8 Stress Curves of Measuring Points F1 and G1
Conclusion
The stress exerted on the end plate of one side of Lebus drum grows one time as the wire rope adds
two layers according to the winding process, while the increment of the stress becomes larger and
larger with the wire rope layer number increasing. The equivalent stress is 3 times higher than the
stress obtained by the conventional calculation method. In designing the light-weight multilayer
winding drum in practical engineering, these should be taken into account in order to obtain a safe
construction, especially when the number of the winding layers is more than 5.

References
[1] Y. Hu, Z.H. Hu, J.Q. Hu:Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 157-158(2012), P.36-39
[2] Tadashi Egawa, Motoharu Taneda:Bulletin of JSME,Vol.1(1958),P.133-138
[3] C. R. CHAPLIN: Engineering Failure Analysis. Vol.2 (1995), P.45-57
[4] Z.Hu, Y.Hu,and J.Q.Hu: Advanced Materials Research, Vol.301-303 (2011),P.1618-1623
[5] Otto S.: Proceedings of the 7th International Design Conference, Vol.1-2 (2002), P.1091-1096
[6] Waters, E.O.: Trans. ASME, Vol.42 (1920), P.463-485