Visual inspection

Surface quality: The surface of high-quality stainless steel wire rope should be smooth and clean, without obvious scratches, indentations, bumps, hangings, scratches or nail injuries and other defects. If there is rust on the surface, slight floating rust may be allowed, but if there are still rust spots after wiping or if it has caused pitting or a rough surface, the quality is poor.

Galvanization condition: For galvanized stainless steel wire ropes, it is necessary to check whether the galvanized layer is uniform, and whether there are any phenomena such as cracking, peeling, zinc accumulation, zinc scars and exposed steel.

Oiling condition: The steel wires or hemp cores on the surface of the steel wire rope should be evenly coated with lubricant. If there is a lack or uneven distribution of lubricant, it indicates poor oiling, which will affect the performance of the steel wire rope.

Packaging labels: The packaging of genuine products will have clear manufacturer information, product specifications and quality certification marks, etc. These information are complete and accurate. However, the packaging of counterfeit and shoddy products may have blurry handwriting or even lack important information.

Dimensional measurement: Use a vernier caliper or a dedicated diameter gauge to measure the diameters at least three positions under tension-free conditions. The diameters should meet the nominal diameter requirements. If the diameter reduction exceeds a certain proportion (such as 7% of the nominal diameter of ordinary steel wire ropes or 3% of non-rotating steel wire ropes), the quality is unqualified

Magnetic test: Austenitic stainless steel is a non-magnetic steel, but after large pressure cold working, its magnetic property is relatively light. Both pure chromium steel and low alloy steel are strongly magnetic steels. The material of stainless steel wire rope can be initially determined through magnetic tests.

Chemical test: The copper sulfate spot test method can be used. Drop a 5% to 10% copper sulfate solution onto the surface of the ground steel wire. Ordinary carbon steel or iron will form a surface metallic copper within a few seconds, while the surface of stainless steel will not produce copper precipitation or show the color of copper.

Mechanical property test: Check whether the tensile strength of the product meets the standard requirements through tensile testing. Regular stainless steel wire ropes have high tensile strength and good toughness. Bending fatigue tests can also be conducted to observe the performance of the product during repeated bending processes to determine its wear resistance. High-quality stainless steel wire ropes have excellent fatigue resistance.

Material composition analysis: You can check the material certification documents provided by the product to confirm whether it contains sufficient elements such as chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni), and complies with relevant industry standards. The material composition of stainless steel wire ropes can also be tested by professional testing institutions using instruments such as spectrometers.

Phase Two: Strand twisting

Twist multiple qualified steel wires around a center to form a "strand".

Twisting strands

A certain number of steel wires (such as 7 or 19) are twisted through a twisting machine.

At the center is  steel wire, surrounded by other steel wires, which are twisted together at a specific lay (the pitch of the helix) and lay direction (such as the right alternating lay "ZS") to form a strong helical structure.

Phase Three: Rope combination and post-processing

This is the step of combining multiple strands with the rope core to form the final steel wire rope.

Combined rope

Twist several strands (such as 6 strands or 8 strands) around a rope core to form a rope.

The rope core is a key component of steel wire ropes, and its function is:

Support strands: Maintain the circular cross-section and structural stability of the steel wire rope.

Oil storage and lubrication: Reduce internal friction and extend service life.

Increase flexibility.

The rope core can be a fiber core (FC, such as sisal, synthetic fiber), a metal core (WC, such as independent steel wire rope core IWRC), etc. Stainless steel wire ropes commonly use stainless steel wire rope cores or cotton-free rope cores (such as polypropylene cores) to prevent corrosion.

Post-procesing

Stabilization treatment (pre-tensioning) : Apply a tension close to 60%-80% of the breaking force to the assembled steel wire rope to make the internal stress uniform, "shape" the structure, and reduce the structural elongation in the initial stage of use.

 the entire production process and on the final product, dedicated lubricants are used for lubrication to reduce wear and corrosion.

Inspection and packaging

Final inspection: including diameter measurement, breaking tensile force test, lay length inspection, appearance inspection, material certification, etc., to ensure that the product complies with standards (such as GB/T, DIN, ASTM, JIS).

Packaging: Usually wound on I-beams or wooden wheels for protection to prevent damage during transportation and storage.