Materials Handling

Equipment
University of Gondar
Institute of technology
Mechanical Engineering Department
2015/16

1
Flexible hoisting appliances

A. Hemp ropes
o Poor mechanical properties
o Rapid abrasion, inadequate
strength, rapid damage from
sharp materials, atmospheric
effect etc…
o Recommended only for hand
operated hoisting machinery

o Min. Sheave diameter 10d, d

is nominal rope diameter
• Two types of Hemp ropes
o Plain-laid
o Cable-laid

• Sometimes Hemp ropes are

impregnated with tar for water
proofing (to resist weather)
o Disadvantage weight gain and lose
of strength
 𝜋𝑑 2
𝐹= 𝜎
4 𝑏𝑟
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐹 = 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 [𝐾𝑔𝑓]
𝑑 = 𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟[𝑐𝑚]
𝐾𝑔𝑓
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝜎𝑏𝑟 = 100
𝑐𝑚2
𝐾𝑔𝑓
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝜎𝑏𝑟 = 90
𝑐𝑚2
B. Welded and Roller chains

I. Welded load chains • Classification base on the

relation between t and d
o Short-link chains

o Long-link chains
• Classification based on • Production methods
Manufacturing accuracy o Hammer (forge) welding
o Calibrated

o Uncalibrated o Electric resistance welding

Forge welding
Automated chain manufacturing
Applications
• Used only for
o some hand driven mechanisms (Dmin > 20d),
o for few power driven mechanisms (Dmin > 30d)
• Preferred to use calibrated chains
• Employed for low capacity machines
o Hoists, winches, hand-operated cranes etc…
Pros and cons
• Advantages of welded chains
o Good flexibility in all
directions
o Possibility to use small
diameter pulleys and drums
o Simple design and
manufacture
• Disadvantages of welded
chains
o Heavy weight
o Susceptible to jerks and
overload
o Sudden failure
o Intensive wear at the link
joints
o Low safe speed of movement
Selection of load chains

• Stress calculation

• Very difficult
• Statistically determinate w.r.t external
forces and indeterminate w.r.t. internal
stress

• Use higher safety factor (3 to 8) to

compensate the complexity
Intensive wear occur at internal bent
• The wear intensity for chains depends on
o The ratio of the connecting pitches

o Tension and speed of chain

o The angle of the relative turn of links as they pass around the sheaves
Typical reduction of chain sling’s rated load (Safe Working Load) according to
temperature
Recommendations on Use of Chain Slings

• Slings should be padded to prevent links from being bent and to protect the load.

• Chain links and attachments shall hinge freely with adjacent links.

• Chain slings shall not be shortened or lengthened by knotting, twisting

II. Roller chains

• Number of plates depend on the load they

are intended to handle
o Two plates for light load
o Up to 12 plates for very heavy loads
Applications

• Used for
o hand operated and power driven winches and hoisting mechanisms of high load lifting
capacity
o Operate at low speed
o Need guide ways
• Advantages
o Higher reliability of operation
o Good flexibility and can be used
on small diameter sprockets with
small number of teeth
o Less friction at the joints than that
of welded chains
• Disadvantages
o Should not be used to carry a load
at an angle
o Should not be in dusty
environment if not sealed
o Should not be allowed to wind on
a drum
o Max. allowable speed is 0.25 m/s
Selection of roller chains
Selection
Chains Drive Factor Ratio Min.
power of Number
safety (D/d) of teeth
K on
sprocket
Welded calibrated and uncalibrated Hand 3 20 5
Power 6 30 5
Welded calibrated on sprocket sheaves Hand 4.5 20 -
Power 8 30 -
Welded uncalibrated (sling) passing - 6 - -
around the load
Welded uncalibrated (sling) not - 5 - -
passing around the load

Roller - 5 - 8
Manufacturing
III. Steel wire ropes
• The most extensively used ropes for
hoisting machineries
• Cold drawn, heat and chemical
treated
• Standard 6 – 8 strands and core
• Each strand consists of 19-37 wires
• Advantages
o Lighter weight
o Less susceptible to damages from
jerks
o Silent operation even at high speeds
o Greater reliability in operation
o If galvanized(zinc coated) can work in
damp premises (coating reduces the
strength up to 10%)
Manufacturing steel wire rope
• Double lay ropes: wire ropes made from strands
Wire rope classification based on lays
I. Cross regular lay ropes: the direction of twist of wires in the
strand is opposite to that of the strands in the rope. Have the
widest application

II. Parallel or long lay ropes: the direction of the twist of wires
and strand is the same. More flexible and resist wear better,
but tends to spring. Used in lifts and other hoisting
equipments with guide ways and haulage ropes

III. Composite or reverse laid ropes: the wires in two

adjacent strands are twisted in the opposite directions
Kinds of wire ropes
1. General purpose steel wire
ropes:

a) Ordinary (one size wire)

construction
o Wires have equal diameter
o High unit pressure on external
wires (shorter life)
b) Warrington type compound rope
o Wires have different diameter
o Reduced unit pressure
2. Non spinning wire ropes:

o The most expensive wire ropes

• Advantages

o Uniform load distribution over the individual wires which reduces internal stress to
a minimum
o Better flexibility
o Greater operation safety
o Less wear of wire running over drums or sheaves (wires and strands do not project
from contour, outer wires wear uniformly, Brocken wires remain in their initial
position
3. Steel wire ropes with flattened strands:

• Made from five flattened strands with flattened wire

core

• Strands are laid on hemp core

• Uniform pressure

• Used in places where there is intensive abrasion and

wear

• These ropes have a larger area of contact with the

pulley or drum with smaller compression, abrasion
and wear
4. Locked-coil steel wire ropes

• Outer wire ropes have special shape

• They have smooth surface

• Little wear

• Used with cable ways and cable cranes

• Never met within hoisting machines

• Have flexibility problem

Safety factor and allowable broken wires as to the construction of wire
rope for lifts

Initial Rope construction

factor of 6×19=144+1C 6×37=222+1C
safety of Cross laid Parallel laid Cross laid Parallel laid
rope for
Number of wire breaks over the length of one pitch
tension
after which the rope should be discarded
Up to 9 14 7 23 12
9-10 16 8 26 13
10-12 18 9 29 14
12-14 20 10 32 16
14-16 22 11 35 17
Above 16 24 12 38 19
Safety factor and allowable broken wires as to the construction of wire rope
for cranes and hoists

Initial Rope construction

factor
6×19=144+1C 6×37=222+1C 6×61=366+1C 18×19=342+1C
of
safety Cross Parallel Cross Parallel Cross Parall Cross Parallel
laid laid laid laid laid el laid laid laid
Number of wire breaks over the length of one pitch after which the rope
should be discarded
Up to 6 12 6 22 11 36 18 36 18
6-7 14 7 26 13 38 19 38 19
Above 16 8 30 15 40 20 40 20
7
Steel wire rope selection
• Steel wire ropes are subjected to
• Tension
• Bending
• Twisting
• Compression and
• Rubbing
• Wear or abrasion of outer wires
• Experimental:
• wire ropes are affected by fatigue
• A wire can withstand only a definite number
of bends during service life
Number of bends and rope life

• Rope life is inversely proportional to

number of bends
• one bend = transmission of rope from
straight to bend or vise versa
• Reverse bend = two single bends
• Number of bends = number of pulleys or
drums
• Total number of bends in a symmetrical
system with compensating pulley is half
the number of bends
• Bends in a compensating pulley are not
counted

Number of bends =5
3 7
Mechanics of wire rope
No. of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
bends
Dmin/d 16 20 23 25 26.5 28 30 31
No. of 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
bends
Dmin/d 32 33 34 35 36 37 37.5 38