A mechanical model for compaction of strands in wire ropes

Steel wire ropes are used for numerous industrial applications such as ships, elevators, cranes and bridges. A wire rope consists of numerous thin, steel wires and its geometrical construction can be explained in two steps. First, several wires are wrapped together in a helical shape called a strand. Second, several strands are wrapped together in a helical shape to form the final wire rope. In most cases, each strand is compacted before they are wrapped together to form the final wire rope. Compaction generally reduces contact stresses and thereby, extends ropes’ service life. Not many models have been proposed to predict the compaction process and its influence on the strand’s mechanical behavior during service. This contribution proposes a computationally efficient approach that consists of two elastoplastic mechanical models. The first model, describing the compaction process, is of a 2D plane strain nature and is therefore fast. Subsequently, the 2D geometry and plastic variables predicted by the compaction model are used to generate the initial geometry and initial plastic state of a 3D model, that is subsequently used to describe the strand’s mechanical behavior during service (we limit ourselves to tension). The results of the approach, with and without the mapping of the plastic variables, are compared to experimental measurements and the results without compaction. This is investigated for two real world strands.