Experimental research of steel rope integrity problem

This paper is dedicated to treatment of a problem of a steel rope diagnostics. Research was carried out in order to reveal possibilities of diagnostics of steel rope integrity by virtue of dynamical properties of tensed steel rope in a special test rig, which was designed and fabricated for this particular research work. Excitation of the considered system was accomplished by means of a special shaker, which was connected to the rope body. Vibration measurements were performed with respect to the test rig frame for the whole rope to detect the broken wire. During experimental research the efforts were made to excite the broken wire of the rope through the whole rope. Another series of experiments were conducted in order to determine the dynamic response of the wire to forced vibration of the rope with the constant amplitude of rope vibrations. In addition, attempts were made to define the influence of rope tension onto resonant frequency of the broken wire. Results of research are presented as spectrums of forced vibrations in a frequency range of interest. Major experimental findings are summarized by the conclusions.