Stainless steel wire ropes – how to use them right?

Stainless steel wire ropes and chains are essential marine products, which are mostly used in loading ships. However, these highly important marine products are little understood but abused extensively. Just because the rope is made of steel, does not mean they are indestructible. They may not be soft like your chain, but they need to be taken care of well to ensure that they are used to their utmost potential. This is particularly of more importance for ensuring safety – mainly while loading goods on and off the ship in order to avoid any accident or injury. In order to do that it is crucial to understand these components a bit more clearly.

When it comes to strength and durability, Crosby products are given preference over others. The construction and design of the components is such that products are highly resilient and safe to use. This is why Crosby chain, sling, wires or other products are given preference when it comes to marine or other heavy-duty applications. Here are a few things that Crosby’s Leading Distributor reveals about the products and using them the most appropriate way:

Stainless Steel Wire Rope and regular rope are not very different – both are create in the same fashion – but materials used are different. When making regular ropes, strands of natural or synthetic fibres are intertwined to add more strength and sturdiness, and the same is done to metal wires.

For the formation of metal wires, a core of metal or fibre is taken onto which multi-wired strands are wrapped around. Herein, the core is of utmost importance as it decides the strength and flexibility. The number of strands used in making also decides the behaviour of wire. Therefore, it is quite important to choose the correct rope configurations for heavy-duty applications. Decision is usually quite tough and only an experienced individual can choose the best suited configuration for a particular application.

Steelwire rope suppliers generally offer two types of ropes – regular lay and lang lay. Actually, they are categorised on the basis of the wires are laid. In the regular frame – strands are laid in way that the wires in the strands seem to be in the opposite direction of the strand. It means that the wires are parallel to the rope’s axis. Making it clearer, wires are laid in the horizontal direction but the strands are twisted in the vertical. On the other hand, lang lay wires are opposite to the regular lay. The direction of the wires laid is horizontal whereas the strands are twisted in vertical. It means, wires and strands remain in the same direction.

Talking about their strength and durability, regular lay is more flexible and has more compressive strength than the other. Lang lay type finds application only in the case when the ends of the wires are to be kept fixed.

To ensure you make the right choice for stainless steel wire rope:

• Consider the load capacity or the safe load and make sure you do not exceed the maximum limit
• Consider how the rope would behave while passing through sheaves while loading or unloading

Four important facts about stainless steel wire rope

Industries rely on a variety of tools, machines, components, equipment and other elements to meet their production demands. One such component used in a number of industries is stainless steel wire rope. Let’s get into the details of a few facts about characteristics, use and application of wire

ropes made out of stainless steel:

• Stainless Steel Wire Rope finds great application in the construction of structures like barriers for decks, staircase – for instance, in Handrail and Balustrade applications. There are different types of wires used by the professionals depending on the construction needs. For instance, if required for horizontal applications, like in a straight line, then 1/19 Wire is considered suitable. When applied under these situations, it is good to terminate the wire by swagging onto swag fits at its ends. 7/7 or 7/19 wire is considered fit if a vertical wire arrangement has to be made. This is to cover up the bends at top and bottom handrails. Stainless eyelets would be screwed into Timber Handrails or stainless tube handrails at the points.
• These wire ropes have plenty of crevices, by its nature. However, this characteristic of ropes makes them more susceptible to corrosion by trapping salt and dirt in the gaps, which act as catalysts for corrosion. Marine Grade Stainless Steel or 316 Grade Stainless Steel may undergo corrosion if not taken care of very well due to their very nature – crevices between wire stands. In the 7/7 construction type, one can see 7 wire strands wound together, and then 7 of these wire groups again wound in a single unit. 
• Steel wire rope suppliers do use natural Lanolin based product, basically known as Prolan or Lanotec to apply onto the wire surface in order to protect them from corroding away. However, this should be done together with regular cleaning and maintenance program. Doing so ensures that the wire will have its good looks well-maintained and would not Tea-stain. In case any Tea-staining or discolouration is noticed, then Phosphoric acid based cleaner works wonder. Herein, using Grunt Emergel can help to remove rust or Iron-Oxide from the wire surface revealing its good shiny looks.
• There are many more precautions that fabricators as well as industry professionals can take to avoid Tea-staining. Out of the many options, one is to choose the right grade of Stainless Steel for wire ropes and Crosby chain. Herein, it is important to get a good guide in making the perfect selection. With the right choice of products, it becomes easier to maintain the smoother finish and shine of the wire surface even after heavy duty applications. For instance, minimum of 316 marine grade stainless steel should be chosen for wire rope & chain sling in marine or coastal environments to resist corrosion. This is particularly important because these environments favour corrosion more than any others. Moreover, it is important to regularly wash away the salt deposits and residues from the steel surface to keep it shiny and smooth.

Rely on Crosby products and its leading Distributor for the quality-grade stainless steel wire rope, chain slings, etc. to ensure safety under extreme conditions.