Wire Rope Specifications – as a topic – covers a LOT of ground…
The Specification of a wire rope includes the:
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- base material (Comparing Stainless and Galvanised Wire Rope);
- material relates to physical properties of the wire such as corrosion resistance, work hardening, and elasticity
- basically, the material is the core building block affecting the behaviour of the wire while in use
- grade (Stainless Grades and Galvanised Grades)
- grade relates to the classification of material based on alloy composition
- basically, each separate material has a grading system managed by a body or tradition that specifies the ‘rules’ that classify the alloy composition of a material according to a “grade”/scale
- structure (e.g. 1×19 vs 6×36)
- structure relates to the number of fibres/strands/bundles.
- basically, the flexibility varies directly with the number of fibres and strength (MBS) varies inversely with the number of fibres
- core (e.g. FC vs IWRC)
- core relates to the “central component” upon which all fibres/strands/bundles of a wire rope are wrapped in a pattern
- basically, the flexibility and strength of the wire rope varies directly as the flexibility and strength of the core.
- Lay (e.g. RHOL)
- lay relates to the wrapping pattern of fibres/strands/bundles about the core
- basically, the lay of a wire rope affects more subtle behaviours beyond strength and flexibility such as rotation and surface ‘traction’
- Diameter
- diameter relates to the relevant fittings of the wire rope as well as strength and flexibility.
- basically, the strength (MBS) varies directly with the diameter of the wire and the flexibility varies inversely with the diameter of the wire.
- base material (Comparing Stainless and Galvanised Wire Rope);
As a product, Wire Rope has a history and uses some unique terms
In general, Wire Rope Structures greatly affect how Wire Rope behaves.