Strength decay of wire ropes by corrosion and wear at different surface conditions

The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of different lubricated and protective conditions of wire ropes. The failure behaviors of wire ropes under different surface conditions were evaluated by using salt spray, wear, and tensile testing. The four surface conditions of the test wire ropes included naked wire and wires coated with wire rope oil, 85W/140 gear oil, and grease, respectively. The potentiodynamic polarization curves revealed that the naked wire was more easily corroded in 3.5% aqueous NaCl solution than in 5%. The results indicated that only the specimen coated with wire rope oil showed no corrosion in the 5% aqueous solution after nine days of the salt spray, and likewise this specimen was not characterized by long distance scratches in a starvation lubrication condition, causing the wire’s tensile strength underwent almost no degradation. Furthermore, the uncertain performance of grease restricted the applications of wire ropes in corrosive environment.