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Wire Rope

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 CHAPTER 17

Wire Rope
Chapter Outline
17.1 Introduction 721
17.2 Wire Rope Selection 725
17.3 Conclusions 732
References 732
Further Reading 732
Nomenclature 733

Abstract
Flexible wire rope is formed by using many small diameter wires twisted around a central core. Wire
rope is widely used for hoists, haulage, and conveyor applications, where the wire rope supports
tensile loading along its length. This chapter introduces the technology and outlines a selection
procedure for typical applications.

17.1 Introduction
Wire rope is widely used in hoisting, haulage, and conveyer applications, with a NASA heavy
lift winch example shown in Figure 17.1. By using many small diameter wires, twisted
around a central core, some flexibility in the wire rope can be achieved, and it is possible for
the wire rope to articulate drums and other radial segments.
Wire rope is manufactured by helically twisting many small wires together to form a strand,
as illustrated in Figure 17.2. Typically 7, 19, or 37 small wires are twisted into a strand.
Subsequently, a number, often six or eight, of multiwire strands are twisted about a core to
form the flexible wire rope. Some common multiwire strand wire rope configurations are
indicated in Table 17.1.
The central core is usually saturated with a lubricant in order to facilitate the sliding
movement of the strands relative to each other.
The lay of a wire rope is designated by direction and type, with examples shown in
Figure 17.3. The direction is right or left according to how the strands have been laid around
the core. The type of lay is either regular or lang, depending on whether the wires in the
strands are laid in the opposite direction of the strands or in the same direction as the strands.

Mechanical Design Engineering Handbook. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097759-1.00017-4

Copyright Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 721
722 Chapter 17

Figure 17.1
Use of wire rope in a winch application for the NASA 325 ton hoist.

Figure 17.2
Wire rope construction. Reproduced from AISI (1979).
 Table 17.1: Common multiwire strand wire rope configurations.
Wire Typical application
6
7 Haulage

6
19 Standard hoisting

8
19 Extra flexible

6
37 Specially flexible

Continued
724 Chapter 17

Table 17.1: Common multiwire strand wire rope configurations.dcont’d

Wire Typical application

7-wire Haulage

Regular lay wire rope is used for the widest range of applications. It generally has better
resistance to crushing than lang lay wire rope and does not rotate as severely under load when
used in an application, where either end of the rope is not fixed. In regular lay, the wires
appear to be nominally aligned with the axis of the rope.

Figure 17.3
Wire rope lay. Image courtesy of Noble & Son Ltd.
 Wire Rope 725

In lang lay, the wires appear to make an angle with respect to the axis of the rope. Lang lay
provides some advantages with possibly 15%e20% advantage for fatigue and wear
resistance. This is because of the following two factors:
1. Smaller strains occur in the outer layers as the rope passes over a drum or radius; and
2. The contact areas between wires are larger and, therefore, the contact stresses are smaller.
However lang lay rope has some disadvantages. It tends to rotate when axial loads are applied,
unless the rope is secured at both ends. Lang lay rope has less resistance against crushing
against a drum or sheave.
When a tensile load is applied to helically twisted wire rope, the wires tend to stretch and the
helixes “tighten.” This causes Hertzian contact stresses and sliding motion between the wires.
With load cycling and as wire rope is bent around formers and drums, the wire rope can
experience failure due to:
• Tensile fatigue;
• Bending fatigue;
• Fretting fatigue;
• Surface fatigue wear;
• Abrasive wear;
• Yielding; or
• Rupture.

17.2 Wire Rope Selection

Aspects that require consideration in rope wire system design include the following:
• Materials;
• Wire rope dimensions;
• Construction type;
• Rope attachment;
• Drum or mandrel dimensions; and
• Inspection and maintenance.
Striking a balance between abrasion resistance and resistance to bending fatigue is an
important aspect of wire rope selection. Typically, empirical guidance for this is available
in the form of use of an industry selection chart, known as an X plot or an X chart,
Figure 17.4.
Usually wire rope selection is an iterative process. It requires selection of an initial set of
parameters, followed by an analysis of the proposed design, and then revision of the proposal
and re-analysis, as necessary.
726 Chapter 17

6 6x7

Le
as
9 6 x 19 S

st
te
t

ea
10 6 x 21 FW

gr
re
si
st

on
an
10 6 x 26 WS

si
ce

ra
to

ab
12 6 x 25 FW

be
nd
in
12 6 x 31 WS

to

g
fa
ce

tig
an
14 6 x 36 WS

ue
st
si
16 re 6 x 41 SFW

gr
ea
t
as

te
Le

st
18 6 x 46 SFW
Figure 17.4
X plot comparing bending fatigue resistance versus abrasion resistance for selected wire rope
constructions. Adapted from Wire Rope Technical Board (2005).

The following procedure provides a basis for wire rope selection.

1. Establish the principal design specifications for the system such as loads, failure modes,
life, safety, cost, and maintenance.
2. Select an initial wire rope construction using the X plot (Figure 17.4).
3. Select a wire rope material.
4. Select a safety factor.
5. Determine the rope size using st ¼ T/A.
6. Using the rope diameter, determine the minimum recommended sheave diameter
(see manufacturer data or Table 17.3 for indicative data).
7. Estimate the approximate bending stress in the outer wires (using Eqn (17.2)).
8. Determine the fatigue strength parameter, RN (see Figure 17.5).
9. Determine the required rope diameter based on fatigue.
10. Determine the wear based limiting pressure for the rope class and sheave or drum
material (see manufacturer data or Table 17.2 for indicative data).
11. Calculate the necessary rope diameter based on wear.
12. Identify the larger of the wire rope diameters determined from consideration of
dr static, dr fatigue, and dr wear.
13. Check all of the calculations with this new diameter and reconsider or modify the
selections if necessary.
The direct tensile stress can be estimated using
T
st ¼ (17.1)
Arope
 Wire Rope 727

Fatigue strength parameter RN = (p/Su)

0.006

0.004

0.002 6 37 6 24
6 19

6 12

0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000

Number of bending cycles to failure, Nf

Figure 17.5
Fatigue lives for several wire rope constructions as a function of fatigue strength parameter.
Collins et al. (2010).

where T is the resultant tensile force (N) and Arope is the approximate metallic cross-sectional
area of the rope (m2) as a function of the rope diameter, dr.
Force components that may need to be considered include
• Load to be lifted,
• Weight of the wire rope,
• Inertial effects from accelerating the load to the operational velocity (these forces can be a
few times the static load),
• Impact loading, and
• Frictional resistance.

Table 17.2: Maximum permissible pressures (Bridon).

Number of outer Cast iron Low carbon steel 11%e13% Mn steel or
wires in strand (kgf/cm2) (kgf/cm2) equivalent (kgf/cm2)
5e8 ordinary lay 20 40 105
5e8 lang lay 25 45 120
9e13 ordinary lay 35 60 175
9e13 lang lay 40 70 200
14e18 ordinary lay 42 75 210
14e18 lang lay 47 85 240
Triangular strand 55 100 280
728 Chapter 17

Table 17.3: Material and construction data for selected wire rope classes.
Classification 637 6 3 19 6 3 37 8 3 19
Number of outer 6 6 6 8
strands
Number of wires per 3e14 15e26 27e49 15e26
strand
Maximum number of 9 12 18 12
outer wires
Approx diameter of dr/9 dr/13 to dr/16 dr/22 dr/15 to dr/19
outer wires
Material available IPS (200) I (80) IPS (200) I (80)
(typically). Core: FC T (130) T (130)
IPS (200) IPS (200)
Material available IPS (190) I (190) EIPS (220) IPS (190)
(typically). Core: T (220) EIPS (255) EIPS (200)
IWRC IPS (255)
Approx metallic cross- 0.384d2r 0.404d2r S4 0.427d2r (FW)4 0.366d2r (W)4
section of rope.
Core: FC
Approx metallic cross- 0.451d2r 0.470d2r S4 0.493d2r (FW)4 0.497d2r (W)4
section of rope.
Core: IWRC
Standard nominal ¼ to 5/8
1/16ths ¼ to 5/8
1/16ths ¼ to 5/8
1/16ths ¼ to 5/8
1/16ths
rope diameters 3
/4 to 1½
1/8ths 3/4 to 23/4
1/8ths 3
/4 to 3¼
1/8ths 3/4 to 1½
1/8ths
Unit weight of rope 1.5d2r 1.6d2r 1.55d2r 1.45d2r
(lb/ft)
Approx modulus of 11.7
106 (FC) 10.8
106 (FC) 9.9
106 (FC) 8.1
106
elasticity of the rope 13.5
10 (IWRC) 12.6
106 (IWRC)
6

(psi) 0% to 20% of Su
Approx modulus of 13
106 (FC) 12
106 (FC) 11.6
106 (FC) 9
106
elasticity of the rope 15
106 (IWRC) 14
106 (IWRC)
(psi) 21% to 65% of Su
Recommended 42dr 34dr 18dr 26dr
minimum sheave or
drum diameter
Note: FC ¼ fiber core; IPS ¼ improved plow steel.
Source: Collins et al. (2010).

The bending stress (N/m2) can be determined from


M d2w dw
sb ¼   ¼ E r (17.2)
Mds ds
2Er
 Wire Rope 729

Table 17.4: Maximum allowable bearing pressure between rope and sheave.
Sheave material
Rope Wood Cast iron Cast steel Manganese steel
Regular lay
6
7 1.0 2.1 3.8 10.1
6
19 1.7 3.3 6.2 16.6
6
37 2.1 4.0 7.4 20.7
8
19 2.4 4.7 8.7 24.1
Lang lay
6
7 1.1 2.4 4.1 11.4
6
19 1.9 3.8 6.9 19.0
6
37 2.3 4.6 8.1 22.8
8
19 2.7 5.5 10.0 27.6
Adapted from Wire Rope Users Manual.

where dw is the wire diameter (m); ds is the sheave or drum diameter (m); Er is the modulus
of elasticity of the wire rope (N/m2); M is the applied moment (N m).
The compressive stress between the wire rope and the sheave can be estimated using
2T
p¼ (17.3)
dr ds
where p is the unit radial pressure (N/m2).

The fatigue strength parameter, RN, can be calculated from

p
RN ¼ (17.4)
suts

Selected data for the maximum allowable bearing pressure between the rope and sheave is
given in Table 17.4.
Example 17.1
Select a wire rope for a hoist required to lift 800 kg. The hoist design uses two lines to support
the load attached to a vertically moving sheave, on which the swivel hook is mounted.
The desired design life is 2 years, and the anticipated maximum use is 20 lifts per hour, 7.5 h a
day for 220 days per year. A safety factor of 5 is required based on static ultimate
strength and 1.5 based on fatigue.
Solution
Load ¼ 400
9.81 ¼ 3924 N.
730 Chapter 17

From Figure 17.4, going for a balance of resistance to abrasion and fatigue, a 6
31 WS or a
6
25 FW wire rope construction might be appropriate.
From Table 17.3, the nearest classifications compatible with 6
31 WS and 6
25 FW are
6
37 and 6
19, respectively. As a first iteration for the design, a 6
37 WS wire rope
construction will be explored.
A safety factor of 5 based on ultimate tensile strength has been defined.
For a suddenly applied load,

smax suddenly applied ¼ 2smax static

From Eqn (17.1),

T
smax suddenly applied ¼ 2smax static ¼ 2
Arope

Each wire rope carries 3924/2 ¼ 1962 N. From Table 17.3, Arope ¼ 0.427d2r

T 1962
smax suddenly applied ¼ 2 ¼2 2
Arope 0:427drope

From Table 17.3, the static ultimate tensile strength of improved plow steel (IPS) is
200,000 psi z 1379 MPa.
With a static safety factor of 5, the design stress is given by

sd ¼ 1379=5 ¼ 275:8 MPa

Equating the suddenly applied stress and the design stress, smax suddenly applied ¼ sdesign , and
solving for the rope diameter gives
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
3924
drope ¼ ¼ 8:164 mm
275:8
106
0:427

From Table 17.3, the nearest larger standard rope diameter is 11/32 in or 12/32 in. Going for
the larger of these, 12/32 in, dr static ¼ 9.525 mm.
From Table 17.3 the minimum recommended sheave diameter is given by

dsheave ¼ 18drope ¼ 18
9:525 ¼ 171:5 mm

 Wire Rope 731

The bending stress in the outer wires can be estimated from

dwire
sb ¼ Erope
dsheave

The approximate diameter of the outer wires, in this case, from Table 17.3 is dwire ¼ drope/22.
So,

dwire 8:164=22
sb ¼ Erope ¼ 75:8
109 ¼ 191:5 MPa
dsheave 171:5

The number of cycles is

Nd ¼ 20
7:5
220
2 ¼ 66;000

From Figure 17.5, the fatigue strength parameter, RN ¼ 0.0055.

The pressure corresponding to failure in 66,000 cycles is

pNf ¼ RN suts ¼ 0:0055
1379 ¼ 7:584 MPa

The fatigue safety facture is 1.5, so

pNf 7:584
pd fatigue ¼ ¼ ¼ 5:056 MPa
1:5 1:5

The wire rope diameter based on fatigue is given by

2T 2
1962
drope fatigue ¼ ¼ ¼ 9:054 mm
pd fatigue dsheave 5:056
106
0:1715

From Table 17.4, for a 6
37 wire rope on a cast-carbon steel sheave (BHN 160), the
allowable bearing pressure load based on wear is 8.1 MPa.
The wire rope diameter based on wear is given by
2T 2
1962
drope wear ¼ ¼ ¼ 5:627 mm
pd wear dsheave 8:1
106
0:1715

In this case, examining the wire diameters based on static loading, fatigue and wear, the
largest diameter is that for static loading.
In summary, the wire rope required is 3/8 in 6
37 WS IPS fiber core. The sheave is carbon
steel (BHN-160) with a diameter of 171.45 mm.
732 Chapter 17

17.3 Conclusions
Wire rope can be useful for hoist, haulage, and conveyer applications, where a force needs to
be applied over a large distance and some flexibility is an advantage. The flexibility of wire
rope enables it to be wound on a drum or sheave. Wire rope is available in a wide range of
classes as a standard stock item. When a tensile load is applied to helically twisted wire rope,
Hertzian contact stresses arise which may induce failure by fatigue, bending fatigue, fretting,
surface wear, abrasion, yielding, or rupture. Failure due to corrosion may also be an issue.
Step-by-step procedures for the selection of wire rope are available.

References
Collins, J.A., Busby, H., Staab, G., 2010. Mechanical Design of Machine Elements and Machines, second ed.
Wiley.
Wire Rope Users Manual. fourth ed., 2005 Wire Rope Technical Board.
Wire Rope Users Manual, 1979. AISI.

Further Reading
Costello, G.A., 1997. Theory of Wire Rope, second ed. Springer.
Drucker, D.L., Tachau, H., 1945. A new design criterion for wire rope. Trans. ASME 67, A33eA38.
Starkey, W.L., Cress, H.A., 1959. An analysis of critical stresses and mode of failure of a wire rope. Trans. ASME,
Eng. Ind. 81, 307e316.

Standards
ASTM A 1023/A 1023M. Standard Specification for Stranded Carbon Steel Wire Ropes for General Purposes.
BS 302e1: 1987, 1987. Stranded Steel Wire RopesdPart 1: Specification for General Requirements.
British Standards Institute.
BS 302e2:1987, 1987. Stranded Steel Wire RopesdPart 2: Specification for Ropes for General Purposes.
British Standards Institute.
BS 302e5:1987, 1987. Stranded Steel Wire RopesdPart 5: Specification for Ropes for Hauling Purposes.
British Standards Institute.
BS EN12385-4:2002 +A1:2008, 2008. Steel Wire RopesdSafetydPart 4: Stranded Ropes for General Lifting
Applications. British Standards Institute.
BS EN12385e2:2002 +A1:2008, 2008. Steel Wire RopesdSafetydPart 2: Definitions, Designation and
Classification. British Standards Institute.
BS EN12385e3:2004 +A1:2008, 2008. Steel Wire RopesdSafetydPart 3: Information for Use and Maintenance.
British Standards Institute.

Web Sites
At the time of press, the world-wide-web contained useful information relating to this chapter at the following sites.
www.bridon.com/
www.certex.co.uk/
www.fuchslubricants.com/
www.jakob.co.uk/
 Wire Rope 733

www.juststainless.co.uk/
www.midlandwirerope.com/
www.ormiston-wire.co.uk/
www.s3i.co.uk/
www.southwestwirerope.com/
www.stahlcranes.co.uk/
www.steelwirerope.com/
www.tecni-cable.co.uk/
www.wire-rope.co.uk/
www.wirerope.com/
www.wire-rope-direct.com/
www.wwirerope.com/
www.wwwrope.com/

Nomenclature
The following symbols have been used in this chapter. Generally, preferred SI units have
been stated:

Arope approximate metallic cross-sectional area of the rope (m2)

drope rope diameter (m)
dsheave sheave or drum diameter (m)
dwire wire diameter (m)
Erope modulus of elasticity of the wire rope (N/m2)
M applied moment (N m)
Nd number of cycles
p unit radial pressure (N/m2)
RN fatigue strength parameter
T resultant tensile force (N)
sb bending stress (N/m2)
sd design stress (N/m2)
suts ultimate tensile strength (N/m2)

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