Theory of Wire Rope

Mechanical engineering, an engineering discipline born of the needs of the industrial revolution, is once again asked to do its substantial share in the call for industrial renewal. Wire rope is used in countless applications ranging from braces for teeth to superconducting cables. Many power lines are strands of aluminum wires twisted around a steel center wire; the most spectacular bridges are suspended from wire cables; wire rope is used to lower workers and equipment as deep as three miles in the gold mines of South Africa; and wire rope finds many applications in biomechanics. Considerable progress has been made in the development of models to predict the response of ropes and to determine the effects of variations in the design and properties of a rope on its performance. The book begins with the equations of equilibrium for a thin curved wire in space, solves these equations, and applies the solution to determine the stresses in a simple strand. These results are then extended to ropes with more complex cross sections. Numerous examples are worked out to illustrate the theory. Test results are also discussed. This second edition includes new chapters on tension and compression of a cord, on fatigue, and on approximations. Intended for graduate students and practicing engineers, this book is a comprehensive theoretical review of the mechanical behavior of wire rope.