01
Rope Technology Basics All about "wire", the strand and the rope
Technical Brochure
➜ Wire rope lubricant The wire rope lubricant has two major tasks: it should protect the rope from corrosion and minimize the friction between the rope elements themselves and between the rope and the sheave or the drum. A reduction of the friction reduces the actuating power and minimizes the wear of the rope, the sheaves and the drums.
➜ Re-lubrication Generally wire ropes are lubricated intensively during the production process. Nevertheless, this initial lubrication has to be renewed regularly during the whole rope’s lifetime.
We differentiate between wax-based lubricants and oil-based lubricants.
The lubricant used for re-lubrication needs to be compatible with the lubricant used during production.
While wax-based lubricants offer a better handling of the ropes, the oil-based lubricants advantage is a better closing of the lubrication film due to the gravitational force of the oil.
It is advised to follow the maintenance instructions in ISO 4309.
A regular re-lubrication contributes to an increase in the rope’s service life (figure 23).
The quality of the wire rope lubricant has a great impact on the fatigue resistance of a wire rope (figure 22).
350
350
300
300
250
250
200 [%]
200 [%]
150
150
100
100
50
50
0
Dry rope
Lubricant 1
Lubricant 2
Figure 22: Wire rope lubricant impact on the fatigue resistance of the wire rope
16
Lubricant 3
0
Dry rope
Basic lubrication
Basic lubrication & re-lubrication
Figure 23: Influence of the re-lubrication on the lifetime of a rope