Wire Rope Designation

A wire rope is identified not only by its components but also by its lay and construction.
When referring to the lay, it is important to distinguish between the direction of lay of the strands
in the rope and the direction of the wires in the strands.
A wire rope is known as "right lay" if the strands are laid in a right helix (a curve that lies
on the surface of a cylinder or cone and cuts the element at a constant angle), similar to a right
hand thread and a "left lay" if the strands are laid to the left.

There are two main types of lay:
Ordinary lay (regular lay) a rope in which the direction of lay of the wires in the strands
is opposite to the direction of lay of the strands in the rope. In this type of ropes, the outer
wires of the strands are laid approximately parallel to the rope's axis. These ropes are
designated sZ for a right ordinary lay rope and zS for a left ordinary lay rope.

Lang lay in this type of lay the direction of lay of the wires in the strands is the same as
the direction of lay of the strands in the rope. The outer wires in the strands are at an angle
relative to the rope's axis. Lang lay ropes are designated zZ for a right lang lay rope and sS
for left lang lay rope.

A wire rope under load develops an internal torque (a twisting force) in a direction opposite the
closing direction. In lang lay ropes this torque is larger than ordinary lay ropes because the
opposing directions of lay counteract this tendency to some extent. However, a lang lay rope has
better wear resistance when running over sheaves because a longer part of the wires is in contact
with the sheave. The load is distributed over a larger area and the stresses are lower.


Wire rope constructions are also divided into two additional classes:
Cross lay when the strands are composed of layers of wires of the same diameter, each
layer is stranded in a separate operation with a different lay length. The wires of different
layer cross each other at an angle making point contact between them.
Parallel lay these strands are manufactured in one operation. The strand is composed of a
number of layers of wires of different diameters. The relative position of each wire is
constant so the wires are parallel and make linear contact.




Cross lay Parallel
lay
Parallel lay has the advantage that the contact between layers is along a line, not in a few
points, resulting in a larger contact area which reduces the stresses and improves the ropes
resistance to fatigue and radial stresses.
Cross lay constructions have the advantage that they are easier to design and manufacture.
The machines required to make them are smaller and simpler. This type of ropes was very
common in the past but now is used mostly for very small diameter ropes or very large ones. Most
running ropes nowadays are parallel lay.

Pre-forming:
In a pre-formed wire rope during the closing stage the strands are given a helical shape.
This process reduces almost completely the tendency of the rope to unravel and reduces the elastic
stress in the wires forming the strands.
This process has a few advantages:
Reducing the stresses in the wires improves their fatigue resistance and extends the service
life of the rope.
Broken wires don't tend to protrude. In every rope some wires break during use due to
fatigue or wear. In non-preformed ropes, these tend to protrude from the rope. This may
cause damage to adjacent strands and cause injuries during maintenance.
Preventing unraveling of the cut ends. When a non-preformed wire rope is cut, the end
tends to unravel. Seizing is still necessary at the end to ensure that it will not unravel if it is
hit by something but one seizing is enough.


Pre-formed



Non-preformed

Core:
The core is the central component of the rope around which the strands are closed in one or
more layers. The core can be made in a number of forms:
Fiber core, either synthetic or natural.
Wire strand core.
Independent wire rope core.
Parallel closed wire rope core.
For general applications the fiber core is very common because these ropes are more
flexible. A steel core makes the rope somewhat less flexible but it increases the breaking strength
and the rope's resistance to crushing and radial pressure.
Steel core ropes are also more suitable for high temperature applications. Fiber core ropes
have a maximum working temperature of 100 C (210 F) while steel core ropes can be used in
temperatures up to 150 C (300 F).
Natural Fiber Core NFC or Synthetic Fiber Core SFC: Natural fiber cores are used primarily
for elevator ropes. They are made of sisal yarn. Synthetic fiber cores are mostly made of
polypropylene and are used for most other purposes and in some cases also for elevator ropes. For
wire ropes up to 8 mm in diameter (5/16") the core is made of a single yarn or a single strand made
of yarns. For ropes above 8 mm the cores are made of 3 or 4 strands which are made of yarns. Four
strand cores also have a center strand.
Wire Strand Core WSC: small diameter wire ropes and many rotation resistant ropes normally
have a core that is a single strand in a construction similar to that of the rope's strands.
Independent Wire Rope Core IWRC: Single layer wire ropes of diameter above 12 mm (" and
higher) normally have an IWRC. This core is made in a separate operation. It is by itself composed
of strands and a core.
Parallel Closed Wire Rope Core PWRC: this type of core is also composed of a wire strand core
and strands but it is not closed in a separate operation. Instead, it is closed together with the rope
strands in one operation with the same lay length in parallel lay. This type of core has the benefits
of linear contact between the core strands and the rope's outer strands and also a higher metallic
cross section so it has better fatigue resistance and higher breaking force than a similar diameter
rope with IWRC. It does however have a higher torque factor than IWRC ropes. Another
disadvantage is that a much larger closing machine is required to make it so the diameter range we
can offer is limited.

Rope construction:
This term refers to the number of strands that form the rope, number of wires in each
strand, the arrangement of the wires in the strands and the arrangement of strands in the rope. In
general ropes constructions are designated by two groups of digits separated by a multiplication
sign "". The second group may have additional prefix and/or suffix letters. The first group is the
number of strands in the rope. The second group is the number of wires in the strands, their
arrangement and other properties relating to the strand. As an example, 18x7 is a wire rope
composed of 18 strands of 7 wires each.
There are many different rope constructions, each with its different properties, advantages
and disadvantages. Stranded ropes are divided to two main groups:
Single layer ropes these ropes have only one layer of strands,
normally 6 or 8 but in some special constructions even as low as 3
strands laid helically around a core. Some 3 or 4 stranded rope
constructions do not have a core at all.

Multiple layer ropes (rotation resistant ropes) these ropes have at
least two layers of strands laid helically around a core which is
normally WSC. The direction of lay of the outer layer is opposite
to the underlying layer. Under load the torque developed by the
outer layer is counteracted by the torque of the inner layers to
reduce the overall torque and rotation of the rope. Rope
constructions with more layers have better torque balance.



Prepared by: Rey T. Salley Jr.
BSAMT 3