Some aspects on quantification of the wear at steel wire ropes

Abstract

Steel ropes are widely used in material handling machines. The excessive wear of wires is often presented as a type of rope degradation. One of many indicators of the wear is abrasion, corrosion and fatigue cracks. Within this class of rope degradation, the main representation of wear is wire abrasion in the layers of the external wires. This is especially noticeable at the steel ropes which are operating in the drum devices with multilayer winding and in hoists of mining shafts. Over performed work cycles, the estimation of losses in rope cross-section is important for the calculation of the rope capacity. Abrasive wear of external wires is a relatively easy phenomenon to detect with a qualitative interpretation. However, it is a very difficult phenomenon to quantify. The aim of this article is to address this issue. A brief survey of usual methods for rope inspections is given, which can serve as practical guidance for the engineers in this field. With accompanying case study, it presented the advantages of magnetic method in rope inspections oriented towards measuring the changes of wires within the wear assessment.