National Safety Council

Data Sheet 667 Reaf. 89 Rev. June 2005

Care and inspection of wire rope

he applications of wire rope for crane
hoists is an important tool and probably one of the least understood and most
abused.
2. This data sheet discusses the inspection
of wire rope and the precautions necessary
to avoid accidents.

What is wire rope?

3. By definition, wire rope is a twisted bundle of drawn steel wires. It is usually composed of wires, strands and a core. The
wires are drawn to a pre-determined size
and laid together in various arrangements
having a definite pitch (or lay) to form a
strand. The required number of strands are
helically laid or formed around the core,
which may be a core of synthetic or natural
fiber, a metallic strand or an independent
wire rope core.
4. The size, number and arrangement of
wires, the number of strands, the lay and
the type of core in a rope are determined
largely by the service for which the rope is
to be used. Flexibility and abrasion are the
most important considerations; other factors, such as load conditions, rope speeds,
vibration, crushing, and equipment design
also must be considered.
5. In general, the greater the number of
wires in a strand and the greater the number
of strands, the more flexible the rope.
Flexibility should not be confused with bending fatigue resistance, (i.e., a fiber core rope
is more flexible but frequently gives poorer
service than an IWRC rope, particularly if
sheaves are small and loads are heavy).
Hoisting ropes require flexibility and are
usually made up of six or eight strands with
16-26 wires per strand for the 6 by 19 classification and 27-49 wires per strand for the
6 by 37 classification.

6. Flexibility is not a requirement for guy

wires, highway guards and similar services;
therefore, six strands of seven larger diameter wires (called six by seven) construction are suitable. The selection of wire rope
for a particular service should be made in
accordance with types recommended by
engineers of wire rope manufacturers.
Some service conditions require rope with
special qualities.
7. Wire strand cores may or may not be
the same construction as the outer strands
of the rope. Steel cores of either strand or
IWRC give the most solid support and
must be used when loads are heavy, there
are shock loads and the temperatures are
above 212F.
8. Wire ropes may be zinc-coated or made
from stainless steel wires to resist certain
types of corrosion.

One of the many applications of wire rope is shown.

National Safety Council

Data Sheet 667 Reaf. 89 Rev. June 2005
9. Practically all wire rope manufactured
today is the preformed construction. This
means the wires and strands have been
preset during manufacturing into the permanent helical shape they take in the completed rope. Preforming improves the
operating characteristics of rope and
decreases the possibility of damage during
handling. Because the wires of preformed
rope tend to remain in position when broken, closer inspection is necessary to
detect broken wires.

Deterioration of wire rope

10. Deterioration of wire rope is largely due
to factors that may vary considerably in
importance, depending on the conditions of
service. For example, corrosion is often the
principal cause of deterioration of mine hoisting rope in wet mine shafts because of moisture and the presence of acid in the water.
11. Other factors contributing to deterioration are:
Wearparticularly on the crown or outside wires, from contact with sheaves
and drums
Corrosionparticularly of the interior
wires, indicated by pitting and often
caused by drying due to lack of lubrication and exposure to heat or moisture.
This condition is difficult to detect and is
highly dangerous. Corrosion also interferes with the movement of the wires
and hastens fatigue failure.
Kinksacquired during improper installation of new rope or caused by sudden
release of the load and by knots made to
shorten the rope, hoisting with slack in
the rope, etc. A kink is a defect that cannot be removed or corrected.
Fatiguethe breakage of wires from
flexure while operating under normal
conditions. Repeated bending over
sheaves under normal loads or even
axial flexure.

Wire rope life depends upon application and care.

Pendants eventually cause wires to

break. The wire break is usually square
across the wire, but frequently is the Z
type. Heavy loads, corrosion and lack of
lubrication accelerate fatigue failure.
Operation on undersized sheaves and
drums also hastens failure from fatigue.
Drying out of lubricationoften hastened by heat.
Overloading and over windingnot following safe working load charts.
Mechanical abusesuch as crushing
and cutting wires or dragging ropes
12. The safety and efficiency of hoisting
rope installations can be greatly increased
by the use of sheaves and drums of the
correct size and design, by proper lubrication, and by maintenance of the rope and
the hoisting equipment.
13. There are established safety factors
recommended for various types of service.
Safe working load is the ratio of nominal

National Safety Council

Data Sheet 667 Reaf. 89 Rev. June 2005
breaking strength of the rope divided by the
load imposed upon it.
SWL =

Nominal strength
Load

This ratio, sometimes referred to as the

safety factor, is published in various publications. The American National Standards
Institute, OSHA or other regulatory sources
should be consulted.
14. The inspection of ropes for maintenance and replacement must be made in
accordance with the American National
Standard B30 Codes, which have now
been incorporated by reference into the
appropriate OSHA regulations.
15. In general, all running ropes (except
elevator ropes) in continuous service must
be inspected once every working day, and
a thorough inspection of all ropes in use
should be made at least once a month with

a full, written, dated and signed report of

rope condition that should be kept on file.
Trained and authorized designated personnel must make inspection. Inspection
items for determination of need for cable
replacement should include the following:
Reduction of rope diameter
Presence of broken wires and the
degree of distribution or concentration
Outside wire wear
Evidence of heat damage from any cause
Suspicion of lightning strikes
Failure to have bearings on hooks turn
freely and thus cause rope to twist or
not work according to design
Corroded, fatigued or broken wires at
end connections
Corroded, cracked, bent, worn or
improperly applied end connections
Severe kinking, crushing, cutting or
unstranding

Shock loading and abrasive conditions shorten wire rope life.

National Safety Council

Data Sheet 667 Reaf. 89 Rev. June 2005

Side-pull hoists causes rope overlapping and damage, leading to failure. Ropes should not be run out
of grooves.

Equipment operators are the first line of inspection,

and should inspect equipment and wire ropes daily.

16. No precise rules can be made for

determining the exact time wire rope
should be replaced. Safety mainly depends
on the judgment of the qualified person
who evaluates the strength remaining in a
used rope after allowing for deterioration
disclosed by inspection.
17. The following conditions are cited from
a section of OSHA regulations as typical
criteria to question rope safety:
In running ropes, six randomly distributed broken wires in one lay or three
broken wires in one strand of one lay
Wear of one-third the original diameter
of individual outside wires
Kinking (not to be confused with dog legging), crushing, bird-caging or other damage resulting in distortion of the rope
structure
Evidence of heat damage from any
cause, such as exposure to heat above
recommended limits, (e.g., when used
to soak heated billets, lift forgings or

exposure to burning torches

Excessive elongation or sharp reduction
in diameter, which means replacement
is necessary
In standing ropes, more than two broken
wires in one lay in sections beyond end
connections, or more than one broken
wire at an end connection
Contact with an energized electrical
conductor
18. All wire rope users should establish a
time interval for rope replacement to allow
wire ropes to be removed from service
before failure occurs. However, such periodic replacements must not take the place
of frequent inspection. Should rope failures
occur or inspection reveal abnormal wire
breakage or defects, the time interval
between periodic replacements should be
reduced. Used wire ropes should not be
used to make wire rope slings.
19. A vital part of any wire rope program is
the training of both operating and maintenance personnel to know how to inspect
and recognize wire rope conditions.
Adherence to the rule will result in safe
wire rope use. The users should have a
copy of the manufacturers recommendations for use and maintenance. Remember

National Safety Council

Data Sheet 667 Reaf. 89 Rev. June 2005

Scheduled rope inspections and planned periodic

replacements reduce wire breakage and prevent
accidents.

Wire rope wear and damage should be inspected by

trained specialists to pin point problems and institute
corrective measures.

that most equipment is designed so the

rope will go first. The rope is replaceable at
a cost that is small relative to some more
vital part of the machine.

Wire rope load failures

20. Failures of wire rope can result in fatal
or disabling injuries where personnel are
working close to loads carried by boom
cranes at construction sites.
Property damage can result from rope
failures when suspended loads fall.
Interruption of production usually results
from wire rope failure.
Wire rope failures often necessitate
repairs and costly maintenance.

Methods of inspection
21. Inspection of wire rope must be performed on a regular basis, at two levels of

responsibility; operator and maintenance.

The first level is where the operator examines wire rope conditions daily within the
scope of his training, usually at the beginning of his assigned work shift.
22. The operator should inspect these visible parts of a system at rest for:
Rope appearance for kinks, breaks,
wear, corrosion or other visible signs of
weakening or deterioration
Rope drum for position of cable in
grooves, tracking, means of anchoring or
drum wear or damage
Sheaves and equalizers for alignment of
ropes, guides or damaged or worn parts
Hook block sheaves, guides and dead
ends
Slack rope conditions at sheaves
23. The operator should inspect visible
parts of the system in motion for:
Smooth payout of wire rope to and from
drum
Sheaves turning without binding or jerky
appearance as a rope passes over them
Wire rope not rubbing on stationary
parts; proper alignment where rope
enters sheaves
Hook block sheaves turning smoothly
without obstruction or rocking

National Safety Council

Data Sheet 667 Reaf. 89 Rev. June 2005
Ropes not rubbing on rope sheave
guards
Absence of rubbing, scraping or chattering noises during operation
24. The second level is at the maintenance
level. Personnel in this group should be
qualified to make normal maintenance
repairs or rope replacements and should
have the necessary tools and equipment to
perform more thorough rope inspections.
Inspections by such personnel should be
periodic and in addition to inspections
resulting from operator reports of actual
rope damage or failure during operation.
25. For this second level of inspection, the
equipment should be removed from serv-

ice and more elaborate inspection techniques should be used to examine all parts
of the ropes.
26. Personnel performing the inspection
should:
Lower hoist to unload rope sheaves
Unwind all wire rope from the hoist
drum to expose all parts of a rope, making sure that the rope does not rewind in
the reverse direction
Unload equalizer to expose wire rope
and related sheave conditions
Inspect sockets, dead ends, thimble

End fittings should be of the best possible type for

the specific use. Zinc poured sockets (bottom) are
efficient in straight tension, but are not as fatigueresistant as swagged sockets (top).

Photo courtesy of John A. Roeblings Sons Corp.,

Subsidiary of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corp.

Broken wires in wire rope are one of the danger

signals.

National Safety Council

Data Sheet 667 Reaf. 89 Rev. June 2005

joints and wire rope hardware

Inspect all parts of the cable itself, cleaning wire rope only as required to complete an inspection; excessive removal
of lubrication will lead to rope damage
Re-lubricate to prevent corrosion and to
prevent wear from friction and drying out
of the core; lubricants that are fluid at normal temperatures and are fortified with
polar additives and rust inhibitors can penetrate the rope and afford good protection
even under wet operating conditions
Check for ropes that have been operated
dry; they should be replaced because
there may be hidden damage that is not
detectable by visual inspection
Replace ropes that show signs of wear,
damage, or corrosion beyond standards
set for replacement

National Safety Council, 1121 Spring Lake Dr., Itasca,

IL 60143: Accident Prevention Manual for Industrial
Operations.
Armco Steel Corp. 703 Curtis St., Middletown, OH
45042: Wire Rope Handbook and Catalog E; OSHA
and Wire Rope.
Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Bethlehem, PA 18016:
Bethlehem Wire Rope, Catalog 2305-A.
Broderick & Bascom Rope Co., 10440 Trenton Ave.,
St. Louis 63132: Wire Rope Handbook (1966).
OSHA: Code of Federal Regulations, Section
1910.184, Slings. Available from the Superintendent
of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington D.C. 20402.
United States Steel Corp., 600 Grand St., Pittsburgh
15230: Making, Shaping and Testing of Steel, 9th
Edition (1971); Inspection and Care of Wire Rope
(1968); Wire Rope Tiger Brand (American Steel and
Wire Division), (1971).

Copyright 2008 National Safety Council.

All rights reserved.

Acknowledgment
This data sheet was reaffirmed by the
Construction Division, of the National
Safety Council, 1121 Spring Lake Drive,
Itasca, IL 60143.

Although the information and recommendations contained in this publication have been compiled from
sources believed to be reliable, the National Safety
Council makes no guarantee as to, and assumes no
responsibility for, the correctness, sufficiency or

Sources of information

completeness of such information or recommenda-

American National Standards Institute, 1430 Broadway,

New York 10017: Safety Code for Elevators,
Dumbwaiters, Escalators and Moving Walks. A17.1.

tions. Other or additional safety measures may be

required under particular circumstances.