Failure Analysis of Crane Wire Rope

Abstract

A failure analysis of a broken multi strand wire rope from an offshore platform crane was performed. The wire rope was operated for less than 5 years. The wire consists of seven strands, one central strand and six strands around it. The diameter of the small wires was about 0.78-0.94 mm and the larger wires was a round of 1.52 - 1.78 mm. The large size wires were found fractured by cyclic torsional stresses as characterized by the presence of fatigue cracking originating from the outer surface of the wire. Meanwhile the smaller wires were fractured in a ductile manner under excessive load after the larger wire broken out due to the fatigue mechanism.