GLOSSARY OF WIRE ROPE TERMS
- Abrasion
- Frictional surface wear on the wires of a wire rope
- Acceleration Stress
- The additional stress that is imposed on a wire rope as a result of an increase in the load velocity
- Aggregate Strength
- The strength derived by totalling the individual breaking strengths of the elements of the strand or rope. This strength does not give recognition to the reduction in strength resulting from the angularity of the elements in the rope, or other factors that may affect efficiency
- Aircraft Cables
- Strands, cords and wire ropes made of special strength wire primarily for aircraft controls and miscellaneous uses of Aircraft Industry
- Alternate Lay
- Lay of a wire rope in which the strands are alternately regular and Lang Lay
- Area, Metallic
- Sum of the cross-sectional areas of individual wires in a wire rope or strand
- Armored Rope
- Rope with individual strands spirally wrapped with flat steel wire
- Back-Stay
- Guy used to support a boom or mast: or that section of a main cable, as on a suspension bridge, cable-way, etc., leading from the tower to the anchorage
- Becket Loop
- A loop of small rope or strand fastened to the end of a larger wire rope, used to facilitate wire rope installation
- Bending Stress
- Stress imposed on wires of a wire rope by bending
- Boom Hoist Line
- Wire rope that operates the boom hoist system of derricks, cranes, draglines, shovels, etc.
- Breaking Strength (aggregate wire)
- The sum of the breaking strength in tension of all the wires of a wire rope when the wires are tested individually
- Breaking Strength (wire rope)
- Breaking strength is the ultimate load which a tensile failure occurs in the sample of wire rope being tested. (Note: The term breaking strength is synonymous with actual strength.) Minimum Acceptance Strength is that strength which is 2-1/ 2% lower than the catalog or nominal strength. This tolerance is used to offset variables that occur during sample preparation and actual physical test of a wire rope. Nominal Strength is the published (catalog) strength calculated by a standard procedure that is accepted by the wire rope industry. The wire rope manufacturer designs wire rope to this strength and the user should consider this strength when making design calculations.
- Bridle Sling
- A two-part wire rope sling attached to a single part line. The legs of the sling are spread to divide and equalize the load
- Bronze Rope
- Wire rope made of bronze wires (not coated with zinc, tin, or any other protective metal)
- Button Conveyor Rope
- Wire ropes to which buttons or discs are attached at regular intervals to move material in a trough
- Cable
- A term loosely applied to wire ropes, wire strands, and electrical conductors
- Cable-Laid Wire Rope
- A type of wire rope consisting of several wire ropes laid into a single wire rope
- Centers
- Wire, strand or fiber in the center of a strand about which the wires are laid
- Choker
- Short wire rope sling used to form a slip noose around the object to be moved or lifted
- Classification
- Group or family designation based on wire rope constructions with common strengths and weights listed under the broad designation.
- Clevis
- A "U" shaped fitting with pin (also Shackle)
- Clip
- Fitting for clamping two parts of wire rope to each other.
- Come-Along
- Device for making a temporary grip on a wire rope
- Common Strand
- Galvanized strand made of galvanized iron wire whose grade is common iron
- Conical Drum
- Grooved hoisting drum of tapering diameter
- Construction
- Design of wire rope including number of strands, number of wires per strand and arrangement of wires in each strand
- Continuous Bend
- Reeving of wire rope over sheaves and drums so that it bends in the same direction, as opposed to reverse bend
- Conveyor Rope
- Parallel endless wire ropes used to carry material
- Cord
- Term applied to small sizes of wire ropes
- Core
- Member of a wire rope about which the strands are laid. It may be fiber, a wire strand or an independent wire rope
- Coring Line
- Wire rope used to operate the coring tool for taking core samples during the drilling of a well
- Corrosion
- Chemical decomposition of the wires of a rope by exposure to moisture, acids, alkalines or other destructive agents
- Critical Diameter
- Diameter of the smallest bend for a given wire rope which permits the wires and strands to adjust themselves by relative movement while remaining in their normal position
- Cylindrical Drum
- Hoisting drum of uniform diameter
- Deceleration Stress
- Additional stress imposed on a wire rope due to decreasing the velocity of the load
- Diameter
- Distance measured across the center of a circle circumscribing the wires of a strand or the strands of a wire rope
- Dog-Leg
- Permanent short bend or kink in a wire rope caused by improper use
- Drum
- A cylindrical flanged barrel of uniform or tapering diameter on which rope is wound for operation or storage. It may be smooth or grooved
- Efficiency (wire rope)
- Percentage ratio of measured breaking strength of a wire rope to the aggregate strength of all individual wires tested separately
- Elastic Limit
- Limit of stress above which a permanent deformation takes place within the material
- Endless Rope
- Rope whose two ends are spliced together
- Equalizing Thimbles
- Special type of fitting used as a component part of some wire rope slings
- Extra High Strength Strand
- A grade of galvanized or bright strand
- Eye or Eye Splice
- A loop with or without a thimble formed in the end of a wire rope
- Factor of Safety
- Ratio of breaking strength of a wire rope to total rope stress
- Fatigue
- Term commonly applied to progressive fracture of wires of a rope
- Fiber Cores
- Cords or rope made of vegetable fiber or synthetic fiber used in the core of a wire rope
- Filler Wire
- Small auxiliary wires in a strand for spacing and positioning other wires
- Fitting
- Any accessory used as an attachment for wire rope
- Flat Rope
- Wire rope made of parallel alternating right lay and left lay ropes sewn together by relatively soft wires
- Fleet Angle
- Angle between position of a rope at the extreme end wrap on a drum, and a line drawn perpendicular to the axis of the drum through the center of the nearest fixed sheave
- Galvanize
- To coat with zinc to protect against corrosion
- Galvanized Rope
- Rope made of galvanized wire
- Galvanized Strand
- Strand made of galvanized wire
- Galvanized Wire
- Wire coated with zinc
- Grades, Rope
- Classification of wire rope by its breaking strength. In order of increasing breaking strengths they are Iron, Traction, Mild Plow Steel, Plow Steel, Improved Plow Steel, Extra Improved Plow Steel
- Grades, Strand
- Classification of strand by its breaking strength. In order of increasing breaking strengths they are Common, Siemens Martin, High Strength and Extra-high Strength. A Utilities grade strand is also made to meet special requirement
- Grooved Drum
- Drum with grooved surface to accommodate and guide the rope
- Grooves
- Depressions in the periphery of a sheave or drum for positioning and supporting a rope
- Guard Rail Cable
- A galvanized wire rope or strand erected along a highway
- Guy Line
- Strand or rope, usually galvanized, for holding a structure in position
- High Strength Strand
- Grade of galvanized or bright strand
- Idler
- Sheave or roller used to guide or support a rope
- Independent Wire Rope Core (IWRC)
- Wire rope used as the core of a larger rope
- Internally Lubricated
- Wire rope or strand having all wires coated with lubricant
- Kink
- Sharp bend in a wire rope that permanently distorts the wires and strands
- Lagging
- External wood covering on a reel of rope or strand
- Lang Lay Rope
- Wire rope in which the wires in the strands in the rope are laid in the same direction
- Lay
- Manner in which wires are helically laid into strands or strands into rope
- Left Lay
- (a) Strand
- Strand in which the cover wires are laid in a helix having a left-hand pitch -(b) RopeRope in which the strands are laid in a helix having a left-hand pitch
- Marline Spike
- Tapered steel pin used in splicing wire rope
- Messenger Strand
- Galvanized strand or bronze strand used to support telephone and electric cables
- Modulus of Elasticity
- Mathematical quantity giving the ratio, within the elastic limit, between a definite range of unit stress on a wire rope, to the corresponding elongation
- Mooring Lines
- Galvanized wire rope, usually 6x12, 6x24 or spring lay construction, for holding ships to dock
- Non-Rotating Wire Rope
- 18x7 wire rope consisting of a 6x7 left lay
- Peening
- Permanent distortion of outside wire in a rope caused by pounding
- Preece Test
- A recognized standard of testing the galvanized coating on wire
- Preformed Strand
- Strand in which the wires are permanently shaped, before fabrication in the strands, to the helical form they assume in the strand
- Preformed Wire Rope
- Wire rope in which the strands are permanently shaped, before fabrication into the rope, to the helical form they assume in the wire rope
- Prestretching
- Stressing a wire rope or strand before use under such a tension and for such a time that the constructional stretch is largely removed
- Reel
- The flanged spool on which wire rope or strand is wound for storage or shipment
- Regular Lay Rope
- Wire rope in which the wires in the strands and the strands in the rope are laid in opposite directions
- Reserve Strength
- Strength represented by the inner wires of a wire rope
- Reverse Bend
- Reeving of a wire rope over sheaves and drums so that it bends in opposite directions
- Reverse Lay
- synonymous with Alternate Lay
- Right Lay
- (a) Strand Strand in which the cover wires are laid in a helix having a right-hand pitch, similar to a right-hand screw (b) Rope in which the strands are laid in a helix having a right-hand pitch, similar to a right-hand screw
- Rollers
- Relatively small diameter cylinders which are free to turn while supporting ropes
- Safe Working Load
- Proper load which the rope may carry economically and safely
- Sash Cord
- Term applied to small 6x7 wire ropes commonly made of iron, bronze or copper wires
- Seale
- A strand construction having one size of cover wires with the same number of one size of wires in the inner layer and each layer having the same length and direction of lay.
- Seize
- To bind securely the end of a wire rope or strand wfth seizing wire or strand
- Seizing Strand
- Small strand usually of 7 wires made of soft annealed wire
- Seizing Wire
- soft annealed wire
- Serve
- To cover the surface of a wire rope or strand with a wrapping of fiber cord
- Shackle
- A "U" shaped fitting with pin
- Sheave
- A grooved pulley for use with rope
- Siemens-Martin Strand
- A grade of galvanized strand
- Slings
- Wire ropes made into forms, with or without fittings, for handling loads and so made as to permit the attachment of an operating rope
- Slings, Braided
- A very flexible sling composed of several individual wire ropes braided into a single sling
- Smooth Faced Drum
- Drum with a plain face, not grooved
- Spiral Groove
- Groove which follows the path of a helix around the drum, as the thread of a screw
- Splicing
- Interweaving of two ends of ropes so as to make a continuous or endless length without appreciably increasing the diameter. Also making a loop or eye in the end of a rope by tucking the ends of the strands
- Stainless Steel Rope
- Wire rope made of chrome-nickel steel wires having great resistance to corrosion
- Steel Clad Rope
- Rope with individual strands spirally wrapped with flat steel wire
- Stone Sawing Strand
- Usually a 3-wire strand used in quarrying stone or slate
- Strand
- An arrangement of wires helically laid about an axis. or another wire or fiber center to produce a symmetrical section
- Swaged Fittings
- Fittings in which wire rope is inserted and attached by cold flowing method
- Tag Line
- A small wire rope used to prevent rotation of a load
- Tapered Drum
- Grooved hoisting drum of tapering diameter
- Tapering & Welding
- Reducing the diameter of the end of a wire rope and welding it to facilitate reeving
- Thimble
- Grooved metal fitting to protect the eye of a wire rope
- Tiller Rope/Cable
- A very flexible operating rope, commonly made by cable laying six 6x7 ropes around a fiber core resulting in a 6x42 construction. Also a 3/32" 7x7 galvanized cable coated to an outside diameter of 3/16" with vinyl or nylon.
- Tinned Wire
- Wire coated with tin
- Turnbuckle
- Device attached to wire rope for making limited adjustments in length. It consists of a barrel and right and left hand threaded bolts
- Warrington
- A strand construction in which one layer of wires, usually the outer, is composed of alternating large and small wires
- Wire (round)
- Single continuous length of metal cold drawn from a rod
- Wire Rope
- A plurality of strands laid helically around an axis or a core
