Wire Rope Damage Photos: Broken Wires, Crushing, Corrosion

By Dean McDonald, founder, Crane Rope Solutions

Every photo on this page was taken during our own rope and sheave inspections on mobile, crawler, tower and offshore cranes. Click a photo to see it full size. To judge whether a rope you have inspected should be retired, use the discard calculator.

Jump to: Broken wires · Corkscrew and waviness · Crushing and flattening · Core protrusion and birdcaging · Corrosion · Spooling problems · Measuring diameter and wear · End terminations · Sheaves and drums · Other damage

Broken wires

Broken wires are the most common reason a crane rope is retired. Where they appear tells you why. Crown breaks on the outside of the strands come from bending fatigue over sheaves and drums, and are the normal way for a rope to wear out. Breaks in the valleys between strands, or breaks concentrated at the drum cross-over zone, point to internal wear, a tight groove or poor spooling. Count the breaks over 6 and 30 rope diameters and compare them with the discard criteria for your rope type and standard.

Broken wires on a Lang's lay luffing rope above the drum of a Liebherr BOS 4200 offshore crane — **Liebherr BOS 4200 offshore crane, Lang's lay luffing rope**Broken wire ends standing out of a Lang's lay luffing rope just above the winch drum.

Crown wire breaks on rotation-resistant hoist rope wraps on a Demag CC 3800-1 winch drum — **Demag CC 3800-1 crawler crane, rotation-resistant hoist rope**Crown wire breaks on the lower-layer wraps of a rotation-resistant hoist rope, in the drum cross-over zone.

Five fatigue wire breaks circled in red on a Liebherr 357 HC-L luffing rope — **Liebherr 357 HC-L tower crane, luffing rope**Five fatigue wire breaks circled on one wrap of the luffing rope.

Liebherr BOS 4200 luffing rope with wire breaks marked in red boxes, one strand with more than six breaks — **Liebherr BOS 4200 offshore crane, luffing rope**Wire breaks marked along the luffing rope; one strand has more than six breaks.

Crown wire breaks and corrosion on a wire rope from a Konecranes quay crane, with a broken outer wire lifting off the strand — **Konecranes quay crane**Crown wire breaks and corrosion: a broken outer wire lifting off the strand crown, with rust along the rope.

Corkscrew and waviness

The centre line of the rope takes a spiral shape. It is usually caused by twist put into the rope at installation, by a groove that is too tight, or by the rope being pulled over an edge. Waviness is a discard criterion in ASME, CSA and ISO standards once it passes the limit for your rope, so measure it rather than judge it by eye.

Corkscrew waviness in the winch 4 wire rope of a Liebherr LR 1600/2 crawler crane — **Liebherr LR 1600/2 crawler crane, winch 4 rope**Corkscrew waviness in the winch 4 rope running up to the head sheaves.

Corkscrew deformation in a 34 mm hoist rope inside the mast of a Potain MR 615 luffing tower crane — **Potain MR 615 luffing tower crane, 34 mm hoist rope**Corkscrew deformation in the hoist rope hanging inside the tower mast.

Corkscrew deformation in a 35x7 rotation-resistant hoist rope on a Jaso J380PA tower crane — **Jaso J380PA luffing tower crane, 35x7 hoist rope**Corkscrew deformation along a 35x7 rotation-resistant hoist rope hanging below the jib.

Wire rope leaving tight sheaves on a Clyde barge crane block, being forced into a corkscrew — **Clyde barge crane**Rope actively being forced into a corkscrew and waviness by tight sheaves.

Wire rope falls of a Clyde barge crane against the sky, showing corkscrew waviness from tight sheaves — **Clyde barge crane**Rope actively being forced into a corkscrew and waviness by tight sheaves: look along the falls for the spiral.

Crushing and flattening

Flattened wires and strands, most often on multi-layer drums where lower layers are loose or the rope crosses over itself. Compacted ropes resist crushing better than round-strand ropes. Getting the spooling tension and diameter tolerance right prevents most of it.

Crushed boom hoist rope wraps on the plain drum of a Seatrax offshore crane — **Seatrax offshore crane, boom hoist rope on a plain drum**Crushed, distorted wraps in the lower layers of a boom hoist rope on a plain (ungrooved) drum.

Pen pointing at minor crushing on the bottom-layer rope wraps of a Manitowoc 2250 winch drum — **Manitowoc 2250 crawler crane, winch rope**Minor crushing on the bottom-layer wraps, at the pen tip.

Hoist rope with peened, flattened outer wires on a fixed port cargo crane — **Fixed port cargo crane, hoist rope**Peened, flattened outer wires from a worn drum flange and a bad fleet angle.

Manitowoc 999 boom hoist wire rope with distorted, crushed strands — **Manitowoc 999 crawler crane, boom hoist rope**Mechanical damage on the boom hoist rope: distorted, crushed strands and loose wires.

Crushed strand on a Manitowoc 999 boom hoist rope from loose wraps on the drum — **Manitowoc 999 crawler crane, boom hoist rope**A flattened, crushed strand from wraps that were spooled loosely on the drum.

Flat spots on the outer wires of winch 4 rope wraps on a Liebherr LG 1750 drum — **Liebherr LG 1750, winch 4 rope**Flat spots on the rope wraps from lack of maintenance: the rope was not re-tensioned after a wind maintenance job, there was no slip and cut, and the cheapest OEM rope that meets the spec was chosen.

Core protrusion and birdcaging

The outer strands open up and the core or inner strands push out. Causes include a sudden release of load, twist, and running the rope through a groove that is too small. Core protrusion and birdcaging mean immediate discard under every major standard.

Core protruding between the strands of an 8-strand boom hoist rope on a stacker reclaimer drum — **Stacker reclaimer, 8-strand boom hoist rope**Core protruding between the outer strands of the boom hoist rope on the drum.

Birdcaged rotation-resistant wire rope from a Terex Explorer 5800 lying on gravel — **Terex Explorer 5800, rotation-resistant rope**A birdcage in a rotation-resistant rope, caused by reeving the rope over the top of a sheave keeper pin.

Corrosion

Surface rust is easy to see. Corrosion inside the rope, in the valleys and around the core, is the dangerous kind because it hides behind the lubricant. Keep the rope lubricated and look for rust weeping out of the valleys.

Manitowoc 999 boom hoist rope on the drum coated in excess grease and dirt — **Manitowoc 999 crawler crane, boom hoist rope**Excess grease and dirt built up on the boom hoist wraps. Grit held in old grease wears the rope and hides its condition.

Four photos of heavy corrosion and pitting on an 83 mm subsea anchor winch rope — **Subsea anchor winch, 83 mm rope**Heavy corrosion and pitting on a subsea anchor winch rope.

Rust in the strand valleys of a Terex CTL 630 tower crane luffing rope — **Terex CTL 630 tower crane, luffing rope**Corrosion in the valleys between the strands of the luffing rope.

Liebherr BOS 4200 auxiliary winch rope with surface corrosion and a wire-brushed test area — **Liebherr BOS 4200 offshore crane, auxiliary rope**Superficial surface corrosion. The marked area was cleaned with a wire brush to show it had not gone into the rope.

Corrosion between the strands of a Jaso J380PA hoist rope, hidden under excess grease — **Jaso J380PA tower crane, hoist rope**Excess grease hiding an unknown amount of corrosion between the strands (arrow).

Fresh grease applied over a dangerously corroded wire rope on a ZPMC ship-to-shore crane — **ZPMC ship-to-shore crane**Greasing over dangerously corroded wire rope. Fresh lubricant slows new corrosion but does not undo what is already there.

Corroded wire rope with fresh grease on a ZPMC ship-to-shore crane — **ZPMC ship-to-shore crane**Greasing over dangerously corroded wire rope: the corrosion still shows through the fresh grease.

Corroded hoist rope on a winch drum of a Demag CC 2400 crawler crane after storage — **Demag CC 2400 crawler crane**Hoist rope corroded during storage. Store rope under cover and off the ground, and keep it lubricated.

Valley corrosion between the strands of a luffing tower crane rope — **Luffing tower crane**Valley corrosion: rust between the strands, where the rope wears from the inside.

Spooling problems

Loose wraps, gaps between wraps and uneven layers on the drum. Spooling problems lead straight to crushing and rat's nests. The usual causes are uneven tension between layers, a rope outside the drum's diameter tolerance, or a metric and imperial mix-up.

Uneven hoist rope spooling at the drum flange of a Jaso J380PA tower crane — **Jaso J380PA tower crane, hoist rope**Uneven spooling at the drum flange after the hoist rope lost its tension.

Gaps and irregular wraps in the winch 4 rope layers on a Liebherr LG 1750 drum — **Liebherr LG 1750, winch 4 rope**Gaps and irregular wraps in the rope layers on the winch 4 drum.

Slack, loosely wound rope on both winch drums of a Tadano GR-1000XL rough-terrain crane — **Tadano GR-1000XL rough-terrain crane, winch ropes**Rope diving and distortion from loose wraps, after the rope was reeved with more parts of line than the lift needed.

Loose, uneven wraps of 19 mm hoist rope on a Tadano GR-1600XL winch drum — **Tadano GR-1600XL rough-terrain crane, 19 mm hoist rope**Loose, uneven wraps of 19 mm hoist rope on the winch drum.

Hoist rope drum of a Liebherr 280 HC-L luffing tower crane, marked for hoist rope tension — **Liebherr 280 HC-L luffing tower crane**Marking hoist rope tension on the hoist drum.

Hoist winch and drum of a Liebherr 280 HC-L luffing tower crane — **Liebherr 280 HC-L luffing tower crane**Marking hoist rope tension on the hoist drum.

Measuring diameter and wear

Measure the rope across the crowns of opposite strands with a caliper, in several places, and compare it with the diameter you recorded when the rope was new. A local drop in diameter can mean internal wear or core failure.

Digital caliper measuring the diameter of an offshore crane hoist rope above the sea — **Offshore crane, hoist rope**Checking the hoist rope diameter with a digital caliper.

Digital caliper measuring wire rope diameter at the block of an overhead bridge crane — **Overhead bridge crane**Measuring rope diameter with a caliper across the strand crowns.

End terminations

Rope ends and fittings: poor seizing lets strands loosen and the rope unlay from the end.

Wire rope end at a drum with poor seizing and loosening strands — **Rope end at the drum**Improper end seizing: the strands are starting to loosen at the rope end.

Wire rope end with a welded pulling eye held by a bolted clamp on a winch drum — **Rope end at the drum anchor**A welded pulling eye on the rope end, clamped at the drum anchor.

Welded pulling eye on a hoist rope end, clamped at the drum of a Liebherr 280 HC-L tower crane — **Liebherr 280 HC-L luffing tower crane**Welded pulling eye used for hoist rope installation.

Non-standard swaged wire rope end at the drum anchor of a LeTourneau RTG container crane — **LeTourneau RTG crane**Non-standard swaged rope end at the drum anchor. Order the replacement to the exact end dimensions in the OEM specification, not by the rope size alone.

Sheaves and drums

Worn, pitted or grease-packed grooves and damaged drums destroy new rope. These are the sheave and drum checks from our inspections, done with groove gauges in 0.25 mm steps and a straight edge across the drum grooves.