Tribological properties and residual strength of wire rope with different strands during the interlayer-transition stage

Abstract Wear is a common phenomenon between the upper and lower ropes during the interlayer-transition stage, especially for the hoisting drum with the parallel rope groove in the ultra-deep mine. It will directly reduce the service life of ropes and threaten the safe operation of the winding hoists. In order to study the tribological properties of round strands and triangular strands during the interlayer-transition stage, a wear tester was developed. Moreover, the residual strength of the worn ropes of the strands was analyzed. Results show that the coefficient of friction (COF) of triangular strands is smaller than that of round strands. The COF of the two strands were decreased under the condition of grease lubrication. The friction temperature of both kinds of strands show a trend of “rising rapidly - slight fluctuation - tending to stability”. However, the wear morphology of round strands is more serious than triangular strands. Additionally, the breaking force of worn round strands between 45kN and 65kN is smaller than that of worn triangular strands, concentrated between 71kN and 82kN. Furthermore, the breaking force-wear depth fitting formulas for the two kinds of strands are obtained to predict the residual strength of the worn ropes.