Understanding Wire Rope Materials

Wire rope is a steel cord that is flexible and extremely strong. Typically, these types of cables are used for hoisting, anchoring heavy loads, towing, and running gondolas. One of the most critical parts of the rope is the core, but that does not mean that the outside material is not essential. When shopping for wire ropes, the three most commonly used materials are Bright, Galvanized, and Stainless Steel. Below, we will go over some of the essential differences between the three types of materials.Wire Ropes

  1. Bright: these ropes are made from wire that does not have coatings. Rotation resistant bright wire rope is a type of bright steel, which is designed to reduce rotating while under loads. Frequently, the rope is used in single part lines, and also in situations that require ropes to resist cabling in multiple systems.
  2. Galvanized: Drawn Galvanized wire rope has the same pulling strength as Bright, but Hot Galvanized does not. Depending on the environment, this material can be a great economical alternative to buying stainless steel wire rope.
  3. Stainless steel: this is the highest quality wire rope available. It is not as strong as the above ropes, but stainless steel will last longer in all settings.

If you need more help picking wire ropes for specific applications, please call our team to have a discussion.

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