Tension in steel cable stranding

Hello there,

Generally it takes a long time, a fair amount of experimentation and effort to create a process manual of the type that you are requesting.

Most wire and cable manufacturers see this as intellectual property belonging to the company and therefore it is usually not for sale at any price.

If an engineer, technician or operator absconded with that information when he/ she left that company, it would obviously be perceived as theft. This is something I suspect you are aware of already by using the fake company name of Tycsa.

I would be surprised if anyone or any company is going to give you the information you are looking for. Perhaps you can buy it but I suggest you start building the standards and compile the data for your plant yourself. In this way you will learn a lot more and have much appreciation for the information you have gathered and compiled. Start by getting your senior's approval for this project.

Regards
Peter J. Stewart-Hay
Principal
Stewart-Hay Associates
www.Stewart-Hay.com
519 641-3212

WAI Forums Moderator

Thanks for your answer, but Caballe isn´t a specialist in steel cable.

I would like to know someone with enough process experience and knowledge who has a handbook with the tension for process stranding differences vs cable diameters.

In Spain, there was a Tycsa engineer that was like that, because Tycsa (not actually Tycsa) made several different stranded steel cables. This person had a notebook with all his process information and data in it.

Thanks a lot.
Best regards.

It would be prudent to ask in one or two machinery manufacturers in your area (not necessarily the original machine manufacturer who likely is already defunct)to assist you. Given that you have a 40 or 50 year old machine, they would also be most happy to try to sell you a new machine. Anyway, Caballe in Barcelona would probably be one good source of additional insight into the proper settings for your current machine. Do not be shy about possibly paying them for their services/time.

Also, even with manual tensioning devices, it is possible to document/replicate settings from previous successful runs. Obviously, consistent maintenance is key to ensuring the accuracy of this aspect.


Erik Macs
VP North American Machinery Sales
Fine International Corporation
148 Oak Street
Natick, MA 01760 USA
508-315-8200 fax: 615-658-1988
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

First, the machines that I'm talking about is 40 or 50 years old. Thus there is no handbook (missing).

Second, now I study the stranding process a little bit and if you ask about the tension of steel wire to a machines constructor or to a factory's worker I think that you will get a great surprise.

Like a constructor someone states one tension (of course, you must believe) but in the factory, the workers (with a experience for more to 20 years) make a manual tension of the band brake (= unknown tension).
Of course if you have a modern machine (load cells, pneumatic control system, etc.), things change.

I think my question asks something that nobody has. A general table for a range of cable sizes but again, the tension in cable process is usually adjusted manually without instruments.

Sorry for the extensive reply. I agree your answers Donrose00 and Howar.

Best regards

Hi Jordibg,

Your question is a little too generic. Wire tensions for a stranding operation depend on a number of different factors such as the type of machine you run the strand on, the actual execution of the machine, production speed (RPM), strand construction etc.

The overriding factor for all this is, however, that you do not want to stretch (beyond a controllable limit) the wire during the stranding.

Your equipment manufacturer should also be able to give you guidelines for wire tensions suitable for their machine.

Best Regards,


Willy Hauer
Howar Equipment Inc.

www.Howarequipment.com

you can find that information in the machinery's hand book. just look in the index for wire or springs. i just came across it last week looking up round wire spring information