Unravel the Specifications for Wire Ropes

When you decide to buy wire rope for your next rigging job, you may need your dictionary of acronyms on hand. But go for it because it really isn’t that hard to figure out when you know what you’re looking for.

When ordering wire rope, you’ll want to get an idea of ​​what you need in terms of size, construction, arrangement, core, and grade. This is the short list when it comes to figuring out this common category of tackle supply.

1. Size: refers to the diameter of the rope.

2. Construction: this type of material is made up of strands and wires. You will see numbers associated with it, such as 6 x 19 or 6 x 41. The first number tells you how many strands, 6 in both cases. The second number tells you how many wires per strand. These numbers can also be followed by a combination of letters like FW (Filler Wire) or WS (Warrington Seale) that tells you how the outer shell is assembled. A WS would have a combination of large and small. An FW would have the same sizes throughout.

3. Laying – This designation has to do with how the wires are wrapped around the core and then how the wires are formed around the wires. The ordinary layman makes them oppose each other. Lang’s lay makes them go in the same direction as each other.

4. Core: the centers of the part are usually made of fiber material (FC – Fiber core) or steel wire (IWRC – Independent cable core). The fiber offers more elasticity. Steel increases weight and strength.

5. Grade: explains the grade of steel used. The classifications are, in order of strength: IPS (Enhanced Plow Steel), EIPS (Additional Enhanced Plow Steel), GIPS (Galvanized Enhanced Plow Steel). EEIP (Extra Extra Enhanced Plow), DGEIP (Drawn Galvanized Enhanced Plow Steel).

You can find suggested wire ropes for particular uses. For example, if you are going to use it on an overhead crane, you can choose 1 1/8 “, 6 x 41WS, RRL, IWRC, EIPS.