AS 3569 Steel Wire Ropes - Product Specification specifies minimum requirements for the manufacture and testing of stranded steel wire ropes for general purposes, including lifting equipment such as cranes and hoists.
It provides a common specification, vocabulary, designation and classification system for steel wire ropes for reference by manufacturers, suppliers, users and regulators so that steel wire ropes may be selected and applied appropriately.
This new edition is based on the following ISO Standards, with some variations:
- ISO 2408:2004 Steel wire ropes for general purposes - Minimum requirements
- ISO 17893:2004 Steel wire ropes—Vocabulary, designation and classification.
In addition, this edition includes new requirements and terminologies reflecting the many new technological developments which have occurred with wire rope over the past 20 or 30 years.
This includes new constructions of ropes, the introduction of plastic fillings within the internal spaces of wire rope, compacted strand ropes and compacted or swaged ropes. In addition, tables for eight strand ropes and the International Standard tensile strength grades of 1570, 1770, 1960 and 2160 have been included, while formulae for calculating minimum breaking strengths for new designs of ropes have also been accommodated.
Jeff Rogers, Chair of Standards Australia's Steel Wire Ropes Committee ME-007 said the changes introduced that are most relevant to users and suppliers of wire ropes related to designation terminologies, including surface finish and lay of rope.
Some key revisions:
Surface finish:
- Galvanised wire rope - Zinc coated Class 'B' now denoted with 'B'
- Galvanised wire rope - Zinc coated Class 'A' now denoted with 'A'
- Uncoated or Bright wire rope – now denoted with 'U'
Previously, the terminology 'B' was used to indicate Black or Bright wire rope.
Lay of Rope
International Standards use the symbols 'S' and 'Z' to denote the lay of the rope and 's' and 'z' to denote the lay direction of the wires in each strand. These will replace such terminologies as RHOL, RHLL, LHOL and LHLL as time goes by.
Mr Rogers also noted that whilst the new edition is based heavily on International Standards, some modifications have been made, including:
- extending the range of sizes beyond 60 mm;
- providing breaking strengths of 1570 Grade ropes for a limited range of sizes and classifications of wire ropes;
- specifying Australian Standards for wire and coatings for wire;
- expanding the information required on test certificates;
- and improving the markings required.
