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Handling&maintenance PDF
Handling&maintenance PDF
Handling&maintenance PDF
and Maintenance of
Steel Wire Ropes
Handling, Installation
and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes
by Dipl.-Ing. Roland Verreet
Fig. 1
Fig. 4
R. Verreet, Handling, Installation and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes, 2/97 3
1.2. How steel wire ropes of any rope back to the manufac-
should be stored turer on the basis of storing
number, specification, date of or-
Steel wire ropes should be stored der and date of delivery.
in a clean, cool, dry place indoors.
The ropes must not be allowed to
rest on the floor. They can be
placed on pallets (Fig.5).
Fig. 6
R. Verreet, Handling, Installation and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes, 2/97 5
2. The installation In the latter case ensure that the
of steel wire ropes surface is clean; sand or grit that
sticks to the lubricant might dam-
When installing steel wire ropes, age the wires when the rope trav-
extra care must be taken that the els over sheaves.
ropes are unwound from the ring
or reel without torsions and with-
out any outer damage. The same 2.2. Unwinding the steel wire
applies to reeving the ropes into rope from the reel
the system.
An unreeling stand (turntable)
should be used to unwind a wire
2.1. Unwinding a steel wire rope from its reel (Fig. 9).
rope from the coil
Another accepted unreeling me-
If a rope is delivered on a coil, it is thod is to mount the reel on a
either unwound on a turntable shaft supported by two jacks (Fig.
(Fig. 7) or the coil is rolled along 10).
the ground like a hoop Fig. 8).
Fig. 7
Fig. 9
R. Verreet, Handling, Installation and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes, 2/97 7
Rolling the wire rope along the wire rope; at the same time the
floor (Fig. 11), as is sometimes proportions of lengths of the rope
recommended in the relevant lit- elements and finally the distribu-
erature, does not work very well tion of load within the rope are
in practice because the reel always changed. A rope that is unwound
unwinds less wire than the dis- at the sides of the coil or reel will
tance the reel travels, so that with try to resist the enforced torsions
this method the rope has to be and form loops. When pulled taut
dragged along by the worker. these loops will result in irrepa-
rable kinks (Fig. 14). Steel wire
Under no circumstances must the ropes with kinks are not safe to
rope be pulled off a coil while it is operate and must be discarded.
lying on the ground or looped over
the head of the reel (Fig. 12 and
13), because this procedure will 2.3. The installation
inevitably induce one torsion per procedure
wrap into the rope.
The most advantageous way of
Every torsion will change the lay installing a steel wire rope varies
lengths of the strands and of the from system to system. In any
Fig. 10
Fig. 12
R. Verreet, Handling, Installation and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes, 2/97 9
Fig. 13
Fig.14
Fig. 16
Fig. 17
R. Verreet, Handling, Installation and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes, 2/97 13
Another possibility is connecting the
rope ends with Chinese fingers. These
are tubes made out of braided strands,
which are pulled over the rope ends and
then secured at their ends with tape
(Fig. 18). Under load the Chinese fin-
gers will contract and hold the rope
ends by friction.
2.6 Installing
under load
Fig. 19
R. Verreet, Handling, Installation and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes, 2/97 15
Fig. 20
Fig. 21
Fig. 23
The rope and this wire end are Steel wire ropes must be serviced
now wrapped moving away from regularly, the kind of maintenance
the location of the intended cut depending on the lifting device, its
(Fig. 23a). The rope is tightly use and the selected rope. Regu-
wrapped for a distance of approx. lar maintenance may considerably
three rope diameters (Fig. 23b). increase the service life of a steel
wire rope.
Both ends of the seizing wire are
then pulled tight and twisted to-
gether for a length of one rope di- 3.1. Relubricating
ameter (Fig. 23c). The twisted con- steel wire ropes
nection is then hammered into a
strand valley. During production the rope re-
ceives intensive lubrication. This
After preparing the other side of in-process treatment will provide
the intended cut accordingly the the rope with ample protection
rope can now be cut (Fig. 23d). against corrosion and is meant to
reduce the friction between the
Instead of using one long seizing elements which make up the rope
it is also possible to apply at least as well as the friction between
three seizings the size of one rope rope and sheaves or drums. This
diameter each on both sides of the lubrication, however, only lasts for
intended cut. a limited time and should be re-
applied periodically.
There are several techniques of With this method the two halfs of
lubricant application: The most a sleeve, which is equipped with
common ones at present are rubber sealings, are clamped
painting or swabbing (Fig. 25a). round the rope and screwed to-
gether. While the rope runs
Quite often the lubricant is ap- through the lubricator the lubri-
plied at a sheave (Fig. 25b), some- cant is pressed into the sleeve at
times a continuous drip method a pressure up to about 30 bars.
is used. If only a little lubricant is
required, pressure spray nozzles It is important with all different
can be applied. methods of relubrication of steel
wire ropes that they are carried
Various other systems allow the out regularly right from the begin-
application of a continuous bath ning of the service life of the rope
200
lubricated + relubricated
[%]
150
lubricated
Number of Cycles
100
50
unlubricated
0
100 200 300 400 500
Tension [ N /mm2 ] Fig. 24
a
b
Fig. 25
R. Verreet, Handling, Installation and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes, 2/97 21
broken wires are detected which Another typical local damage oc-
might cross adjacent wires and curs on the drum at those sections
destroy them when running over where the rope rubs against the
sheaves, these broken wire ends adjacent winding (crossover point)
must be removed. and must be deflected to the side.
If the damage caused in these sec-
Under no circumstances should tions is the main reason for dis-
the broken wire ends be pinched carding the rope, several cuttings
off with a pair of nippers (Fig. 26). or shiftings will move the stresses
The best method is to move the to different rope zones and possi-
wire ends backwards and for- bly multiply the service life of the
wards until they break deep in the rope.
valley between two outer strands
(Fig. 27). With thicker wires a tool
should be moved backwards and 3.5. End- for- ending
forwards on the surface of the steel wire ropes
rope, thus bending the wires un-
til they break. On some machines, various rope
sections are subjected to very dif-
ferent stresses. The drag rope of
3.4. Cutting a dragline, for instance, is mainly
or shifting steel wire ropes subjected to bending fatigue at the
drum end, whereas the section at
Very often wire ropes must be dis- the bucket end is subjected to se-
carded although only short rope vere abrasion by being dragged
sections, e.g. the one that climbs through the rubble.
to the second layer on the drum,
are seriously damaged, while the Particularly in the USA and in the
rest of the rope is still in perfect UK it is common practice to re-
condition. verse the rope after a certain time
of service (end for ending) so that
In cases such as this the service now the drum end of the rope,
life of wire ropes can be enor- which then usually is in better
mously increased by shortening, condition, can be subjected to the
shifting them at the fixing point wear at the bucket end.
by a span that removes the sec-
tion of the rope which has had The effect of such measures is
most abuse out of the critical rather controversial. In any case
zone. the expenditure will only pay off,
if the value of the rope exceeds the
After this procedure an adjacent costs of the rope installation.
section will be subjected to the
abuse.
Fig. 27
R. Verreet, Handling, Installation and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes, 2/97 23
For further editions of this bro-
4. Concluding remarks chure the author will appreciate
suggestions for improvements or
any comments, if these are ad-
For reasons of space this brochure dressed to:
can only deal with general ques-
tions of handling, installation and Ing.-Bro fr Frdertechnik
maintenance of steel wire ropes. Dipl.-Ing. Roland Verreet
However, the publisher, Draht- Grnenthaler Strae 40 a
seilwerk Saar GmbH, and the au- 52072 Aachen Germany
thor, Dipl.- Ing. Roland Verreet, Tel 02 41 / 17 31 47
would always be pleased to give Fax 02 41 / 1 29 82
their opinion on any special prob- e-Mail: R.Verreet@t-Online.de
lems.
CASAR
Pressure lubricators for
steel wire rope lubrication.
available from:
Casar Drahtseilwerk Saar GmbH
Casarstrae 1, D-66459 Kirkel
Germany
Phone ++49-6841/8091-0
Fax ++49-6841/8694
Sales Department
Phone ++49-6841/8091-44
Fax ++49-6841/8091-29
Which rope
for my crane?
STRAND
ROPE
ORDINARY LAY
LANGS LAY
CONVENTIONAL STRANDS
COMPACTED STRANDS
26 R. Verreet, Handling, Installation and Maintenance of Steel Wire Ropes, 2/97
WHAT IS A COMPACTED STRAND?
Ropes made out of compacted strands have a higher breaking load, a greater
flexibility and better rope- to- sheave contact conditions than comparable ropes
made out of conventional strands. Because of the larger outer wires and the
smaller exposed area they are more resistant to abrasion and corrosion.
The material presented in this publication has been prepared in accordance with recognized
engineering principles and is for general information only. This information should not be used
without first securing competent advice with respect to its suitability for any given application. The
publication of the material contained herein is not intended as a representation or warranty of the
part of Casar Drahtseilwerk Saar GmbH or the authors that this information is suitable for any
general or particular use or of freedom from infringements of any patent or patents. Anyone making
use of this information assumes all liability arising from such use.
Permission to reproduce or quote any portion of this book as editorial reference is hereby granted.
When making such reproductions or quotations, the title and the author of this publication must
be mentioned.
;;;;
;;;;
;;;;
;;;;
;;;;
;;;; CASAR DRAHTSEILWERK SAAR GMBH
;;;;
;;;;
;;;; Casarstrae 1 D-66 459 Kirkel
Postfach 18 7 D-66 454 Kirkel
Phone ++ 49-68 41/ 80 91-0
Fax ++ 49-68 41/ 86 94
Sales Dept.
Phone ++ 49-68 41/ 80 91-39/44
Fax ++ 49-68 41/ 80 91-29
http://www.casar.de