Non-destructive testing of steel wire ropes and their discard criteria

Steel wire ropes are extensively used for haulage put-poses in mine winders and aerial ropeway carrying/haulage/track ropes for transportation of passengers and play a vital role in these installation. Structural integrity of these wire ropes is to be monitored to safe guard human lives. Regular periodic non-destructive investigation right from the date of installation after allowing a constructional stretch will not only enable the user to achieve optimum safe utilization but also to alarm when untoward deterioration is caused due to different parameters. Different countries adopt different rope discard criteria to caution the user by conducting non-destructive investigation to detect the rope deterioration which otherwise would have been unnoticed by mere visual inspection to assess the rope condition while they are in service. The authors would like to throw some light on this technique and discuss the criteria for rope discard by developed countries adopting this technique as mandatory.