Steel wire rope is composed of strands and rope core. The strand is comprised of steel wire and a strand core that is either steel wire or a fiber core.
1. Steel wire
Steel wire rope plays the role of bearing a heavy load. The performance depends mainly on the steel in the steel wire. The steel wire is a kind of round (or special-shaped) wire. It’s made with carbon steel or alloy steel through a cold-drawing or cold-rolling process, with high strength and toughness. The surface is treated differently according to the use environment.
2. Rope core
The rope core is divided into fiber core or metal core
2.1 Fiber core
It is used to increase the elasticity and toughness of steel wire rope, to lubricate steel wire, reduce friction, and improve endurance. Commonly used rope cores include organic fiber (such as hemp, cotton), synthetic fiber, asbestos core (for high temperature conditions) or soft metal material.
2.2 Metal core
It can increase the tensile strength of steel wire rope, with good anti-extrusion, impact resistance, and high temperature resistance performance.