, ,
Sheave design versus wire rope life
0) By Wilbert A . Lucht (Al)
~
n a11 installations us ing wire r~pe problem for years. '1'0 compouncl the
~
•
I timt opcrates ove r s heaves, des ig n
of lhc sheavc has a significalll ef-
Ject on the service life of the wire rope.
problem cl omestic wire rope is manufac-
tl1l'ed to the fOllowing diameter tolerance
unless otherwise specified.
c-r-:Ilncluded in shcave des ign is thc ma terial
(rom which the sheave is made and its [)iOIHClc r To lc nwcc COI" Wirc Ropc
heat treatmen t if the material is metaL ""NOtulnl Dln mctcr --unoc l' ~IZC ---u\·crST7.e
Also affecling sheave life is wire rope or Hope in in ch es % %
design, espccially wirc size and hard-
ness,
o to 1/8 o 8
Over 1/8 [0 :1/ 16 o 7
T hc correctcontour fo r a "U " g rooved Over 3/16 lO 1/4 o fi
s hcave is that shown in Fig, 1 and Fig, 2 Ovcr 1/4 o 5
This sheave design is shown in many
hanclbooks. Tests h<l ve shown this '1'0 highl ight the problem for a 1" rope.
design pruvides maximum wire rope life. as an examplc, the information was
The "V" groove and undercut "U" taken from Page 44 of the 2nd Edition 01
groovc offer much lcss wire rope life the AISI IIWirerope Users Manual."
whcn compal'cd with that of thc t'ccom· T his information provided minimum
mended "U" g roove. shcave and dnun groove dimensions
In a muJti-grooved drum th c s pace be- which has been displayed in the follow-
t wecn grooves is de noted in Fig. 2 by ing along with permissible maximum
clearanl:e "C" which is as folIows; wire I'ope tolerance. Diameters smaller
t han the worn groovc should be recondi- Fig. 1 Sheave
Ropc Dia. Clcnrnncc HC" tion ed 01' replaced.
"C"
Inches in Inches Upon review of thc data below, it ap-
pears I'Opes made to the maximum over-
1/2 - 1-114 1116 size tolerance should not bc used in a
1-3/8 - 1-314 3/32 machine with worn grooves.
1-7/8 - 2-1/2 1/8 Large earth moving shovcls and drag
Iines face such a problem. Ropes made to
GJ'oovcs in Sheaves should be sligh tly the maximum oversizc tolcrancc contain
larger than the diameter of t he wire rope 10 percent more steel area , are stronger!
in ord er to prevent pinching and binding provide mOre wear surface alld at face
value are a bargain. Fig. 2 Spiral Grooved Drum
of the wire rope strand s. The groove
diameter suppor ts the wire rope for near- '1'0 OvCrCOmC thc small diameter
Iy one half the wire rope circuIllferencc grooves, companies often increase the
which minimizcs shol'tcr w irc rope life groove size and try to erase lay corruga-
due to f1atten ing (lnd distortion of thc t ions by pulling through ropes of the op-
rope. posite lay. Somc wirc rope companies
also seek the rCCjuirclllcnt that the
If the sheave is not hard enough 01' is
customer use 3 sets of wire rope con-
heat tJ'eated incoJ'rectly LO withstand the secutively of the same wire 1'0PC to
loads to which it is subjccted! thc shcave ac hieve maximum wire rope perfor-
weal's. T hc sizc of the groovc ultimatcly mance. In the wl'iter !s experience this
becomes the size of th e rope pHssing has worked.
through , i\J1c1 sometim es becomes deeply Othel' wii'c rope companies furnish on-
cOITugatecl to 1.:011fol'l11 to the lay of the size rope, hopeflilly to fit worn grooves, Fig. 3 Worn Sh covc S howin~ LIIY
rupe. but also at lesser cost because of the J Inprcssion
Fig. J anel Fig. 4 arc two cxtl'eme ex- red uced metallic area. Still others play
ampies of wenr whic h indicate insuffi- middle of thc rond anel work to a two and
cient hardness and poor heat treatment. one half percent oversize lolerance.
Fig. 3 is that of a section of sheave used Another practice which has mcrit is to
in a material handling crane. Fig . 4 is make oversize rapes and squeeze thcm
that uf lowing pins used on a tug be- with compression rollers to form on -size
t \\Ieen which the towing I'ope was pass- wire rope.
cd. 80th cxamples show degraded wire All this maneuvering, the result of COI1-
rope ami are situations which influence tinuously changillg sheave groovc size
safety. from wear, is vel'Y expensive to both lhe
I f a new rope is ins ta lIed in a worn consumer i1l10 wire rope producer .
sheave and the rope is too large in ~ AI.""
diametcI' to fi t corrcctly without. squeez- FiA. 4· Lay lml)rc~" ion on Towillg Ptns
ing ! w il'c I'ope life is shortened . Maxinlum
Nominal New WOrrl On
Operating over H <.:orn 1gHled she~l ve Rope Groovc Groovc Size Rope Ovcrsize Ropc
shortens wire rope life even more. Diame tel' Diameler Diam e t.l.~ r Diame ter Dü,mcter
Installation of new wir e rope into worn
1.00 inch 1.086 inch 1.026 inch 1.00 inch 1.050 inch
sheaves has been an exis ting operating
Wire Rope News & Sling T ec hnology OClober 1992 33
Closer wire I'ope tolcrances can readil y I1ardening must be deep enough to bearing pressure is much, much higher
be achieved. The quiekest way would bc proviele the strength to stlstain the load thall that shown by thc I'ccommended
for the conslimer to establish a specifica- at a given depth below the surface. formula. lt also will indiea te the depth of
tion w ith closet' 1'OPC tolerances, and bet· Since c(lrbon elocs not cffecl deplh of sheavc hardening ll1\1 st often be much
ter yet to s pecify wire sizes ancllay on his hardening the hnrdenecllayel' on sheaves thicker tha n normally tlsed.
plIrehase order. '1'0 ob tain uniformity in is only at the surface and often is I'eadily lf it is difficult to calctllate the bear·
use it is necessa ry to use the same prod- worn Or broken throllgh qlliekly. Thc ing surf;:.lce. it can be measllfcd by mak-
uct over and over and over again. depth of hardening can be increased and ing an impression with a dye or some
Another factor contributing to sheave co ntrolled by adding alloying e lements other medium.
wear is the increasing unit presslIres im- such as Chromium, Nicke l, MOly- Use of the formula based on actual
posed On sheave su rfaces due to in- bdellllm, and Vanadiam. area of contact disclosed the significant
creased operating load s. Increased Thc depth of h;:lrden ing factor in steels changes in bearing pressure bet ween
operating load is thc resliit of using is known as HA RDENAßI Ll TY. Thcre ropes of different strand constnlctions,
higher und lligher breaking stre ngth wirc has been much st ud y as to thl:! ha rden ing lang lay vs, regular lay, swaged strands
rope at thc same design factor of effects of val'ious elements. A test to vs. non·swagecl strands , nattcnccl strand
previolls!y used lower strcngth wire measure the depth of hardening was vs. round strand, and other wire rope
rope. devised by Walter Jomin y. Steels can be va riances.
The major factor responsible for made and purch.ased with knowll hanlen - Sheave wear am! wire rope life are
sheave wear is the hardness and depth of ability factors. both adversely affeeted by inaelequate
hardness of metal sheaves, Meta! sheave Figu re 5 is a schemalic showing the ef- lubrication. Thc lubricant Illust be such
surfaces must be harder than that of the fect of ca rbon ami alloy on hardenability . that it is stilllllobile belaw 32 ' F und can
<>uter wire rope wires . Also, the hal'dncss This CllrVe wa s tnken from the following be effective ilt thc tcmperatures tu which
depth Il'luSt be sufficien t to withstand th e article written by Stnnley B. Lasday it is exposed at the interface of the
pr.essurc of. thc individual contacting "Fundamenta ls of Hardn css and sheave (lnd rope, This is the area where
Wlre rope wIres. Harde nabilily as Related to Quenching". lubricant should be applied if rllaximum
The mOst COmmon llleaSlll'e of hnrd- May 1992. 11ldusll'ialllealill/!. 'l'he artiele shcave wcal' is to be obtaincd. Extreme
ness is made using n RockweIl h.:u-dness is recom·mended I'cading for those in- pressure lubricants such as Mo 52 Or
tester. A diamond "bntle" i!o> pressed teresterl in variables offered in sheave g raph ite will be pressed into the pores of
against thc stecl under a known load and manufacturl:!. the sheave surface, thus lowering the
the degree of the impression is shown On After determining the h<lrdness and friction.
a dial indicritor. Therc are various tests c1eptll of hardening to which a sheave is The goal should bc to build new
made with the RockweJl machine. Thc to be manufactu l'ed it is necessary to shcaves to last thc life of the machine
variance bcing changed with the type of est"blish the load in PSI (Pounds per which will require specifications dif-
materia l being tested. Fm slwflue and Square Inch) to wh ich the sheave is to bc ferent than those currently in lIse. The
wire hardness use of the dia mond brale exposed . same goa ls should be in cffect for recon·
and load required to ob tain Rocl<lvell The mOst commonly used formula ex- ditioned sheaves. The first step is to
"C" hardness is the ha,·dness procedllre isting in rope handbooks to determine determine the co mpl ete c hemica!
llsed as the basis of thc following corn- the unit radial pl'eSSlll'e bel wcen rope ana lysis of the sheave, induding alloy
111ents. and g roove is the following: co ntent. Then the type of material from
The RockweIl "C": herdness o( the wh ich it was made ami the heat treat-
outer rope wires has been me:\sured HS 2'1' ment to whieh it was ami is to bc s ub-
high as RoeklVell "C" 46. jected,
1'0 "csis t wcar it has been my ex- p= Dei
The best shcave surf(lce fini~h is nor-
perience to harden sheave slI!'faces to a maHy obtalned by a final grinding, with
minimum of Hockwe il "C" 55. Most where p Unit radinl press ure in
=
pounels per squflre in ch water to keep it cool, to avoid tel11pering
sheaves I have checked are below th(lt the surface. Smoothness is necessary
figure and wear unduly, '1' = Load On the rope in pounds
D = Tread diameter uf the bec~\use sm31l surfacc projectiol1s act as
Whal is worse lhe dCPlh of harclness i8 a grinding wheel against the rope wires
too thill. To cxplain the impoI'tance of sheave 01' drum in inches
d = Nomina l diameter of the ami create stress ri se rs and serious
depth onc has to consider ice skati ng . lf defccts. It ShOllld not be necessary to use
th c ice is too thin to su pport YOll r weight rope in in ches
wire rope to "clean" the sheaves. This
it will crac k ami olle takes a cold bath. This fOl'l1lula Is wrong in that the certainly is not its' function.
However \Vhen the ice is thiek enough to nominal diameter of the rupe is used. lf the sheave is beefy enough it pro·
s upport you!' weig lll skating is a The area of contact is that of each in- bably can be re-grooved. If the steel car-
pleasul'e. The point to remelllbe,' is - the dividual wire surface bearing againsl the bon content or alloy is insuffieient it will
ice whether th in or thick is the samc shcave. By lIse of lhe wil'e bearing sur- be necessary to deposit material capable
hflrdness. To support your weight the ice face area it can I'cac\ily be determi ned the of being ground smoo th , without cl'acks
mllst be thick enough, the more you or openings, or oxidcs, and to be heat
weigh lh e ice mllst be increasingly treated to achieve a s urface of He 55
<_
---
A '19>....",.,.
_.10)-«>">1"
lhieker.
lIa rdness of sheaves illllSt be similarly
cOlltl'olled. The sheave must be hal'd
enough to res ist the wen!', but the
,
"
--
!jl...
-.....
Cl.."utroOf\
" .....
minimum, 01' preferably higher, and a
s uffic ient depth to wilhsland the
pressure .
Specifications fo1' this work ami
harelencel depth lllust be thick enough to methods.. for attainment must be c1early
withstand lhe load, understood betwecn purchaser and sup-
Sheave suppliers should not only ad- ,'. ,. "l H I ",. "', t ~.
D. • . - . ...... ~ElIII .. _ " " plier.
vise the surface hal'dness, but also lhe A (urther method used in deep-mining
c1epth of ha rdncss anel its load I'csistance. F it(. 5 Schcm utic, Jo min )' CurvC8
ha l'dn ess (H e) a t va l'io us d istan ces and other industries is to use inseI'ts of
Carbon is thc Il1njor element con- f1·om qu cHc hcd end of t es t ba i·. Each sllitable hardness ami scc tion size. This
t ributing to steel hardness. T he high er s t ec l h as its un iq u c c ur vc, ~' s could be a progrcssive mcthod in that
the carbon eOn tent of both ca rbon anel rc p l'c~c llt c d b y t hese · th rec ma ter ia ls field repair time probably is less than
alloy sleel the greater the hardness at- w it h vudo us levels of max imum hurd- shcave changeover time and life ean be
taina ble. n css fi lld h arde na bilit y. substa ntially longer. 0
34 Wire Rope News & ling Tecl111010gy October 1992
