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Failure Analysis of Failed Wire Rope

Article in Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention August 2010

DOI: 10.1007/s11668-010-9367-2

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J Fail. Anal. and Preven.
DOI 10.1007/s11668-010-9367-2
TECHNICAL ARTICLEPEER-REVIEWED
Failure Analysis of Failed Wire Rope
Madhavarao Krishnadev Maude Larouche
V. I. Lakshmanan R. Sridhar
Submitted: 30 April 2010 / in revised form: 20 May 2010
ASM International 2010
Abstract Failure of an old rope from a stringing lattice
transmission towers occurred in winter while the rope was
being removed to make way for a new rope. Fracture took
place around mid-span. At that time, ambient temperature
was 22 C. Wire rope was in service for nearly 50 years.
We were given the mandate to determine the reasons for
the fracture of the wire rope and also to suggest measures
to prevent such failures from occurring. The study involved
laboratory testing (mechanical and metallographic) of
representative wire rope samples. The effect of low tem-
perature (from room temperature to 40 C) on the tensile
behavior of wires and wire rope samples was evaluated. In
addition, we designed an instrumented impact test to assess
the effect of notches, low temperatures and dynamic
loading on the fracture behavior; however, no standards
were available for direct comparison. Optical metallogra-
phy was used to judge the extent of corrosion and the
nature of microstructure and the cleanliness of the steel.
The fracture morphology of broken tensile and impact
specimens was carried out using scanning electron
microscopy to establish relations between test parameters
and fracture modes. Results indicate that considerations
have to be given to the occurrence of corrosion, notches,
low temperatures, and dynamic loading conditions when
replacing wire ropes and this may necessitate the replace-
ment of wire rope earlier than the time dictated by the
criterion of 10% loss in breaking strength. Results also
M. Krishnadev (&)
M. Larouche
Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering,
Laval University, Quebec City G1V 0A6, QC, Canada
e-mail: devk@rogers.com
V. I. Lakshmanan
R. Sridhar
Process Research ORTECH, 2395 Speakman Drive,
Mississauga, ON L5K 1B3, Canada
indicate that impact testing is a better evaluator of the
susceptibility of wire ropes to brittle fracture than tensile
tests.
Keywords Wire rope
Failure
Metallography

Mechanical testing
Introduction
In general, in case study failure analyses, the actual fracture
surfaces are available for metallographic analysis and
evaluation, thus, the mode and mechanism of fracture are
relatively easy to identify. However, under unusual cir-
cumstances, such surfaces are not available and the
investigators have to deduce the reasons for failure based
on laboratory testing of available material. This paper
presents such a case study. Also, in the literature there are
many examples of failure analysis of wire ropes used in
mining and heavy machinery but relatively few examples
discuss lattice transmission towers for power distribution
[1, 2].
The failure of an old rope that was used in stringing
lattice transmission towers occurred while being pulled
through to make way for a new rope. The wire rope was in
service for more than 50 years. Fracture took place around
mid-span. At that time of fracture, the ambient temperature
was 22 C. A conditioning test, conducted earlier, indi-
cated that measured breaking strength was 91.4% of the
book value. Actual fractured surfaces were not available;
however, adjacent lengths of the rope were available and
we had to deduce the reasons for the failure by extrapo-
lating the effects of low temperatures and dynamic loading
on the mechanical behavior of samples from the available
rope. Although this was a bit challenging, we were able to
123

come up with reasonably satisfying answers based on the
laboratory testing (mechanical and metallographic) of
representative samples from the failed rope.
Objective
This investigation focuses on determining the (i) chemistry
and grade of steel employed, (ii) the uniformity and
cleanliness of the microstructure of the rope steel and the
effect of microstructure on crack initiation and propaga-
tion, and (iii) the nature and extent of failure mechanisms
as affected by rates of loading and temperatures as revealed
by the test results and fractography of broken tensile and
impact samples. This information will help in establishing
the lower limit of ambient temperature and in specifying
the required low temperature tensile and impact properties.
Experimental Approach
Samples were cut from wire ropes for chemical analysis,
tensile testing, and instrumented impact testing and
metallography. Tensile testing was also carried out with
individual wires.
Chemical Analysis
Chemical analyses were carried out as per ASTM standards
E1019-03, E1097-03 (modified), and E1479-99 (2005).
Mechanical Testing
For microhardness measurements, a dedicated Vickers
hardness-testing machine with a load of 25 gf has been
used. Polished and lightly etched specimens were used.
For tensile testing of wires, samples 150 mm long with
75 mm between grips were used. Tests were conducted
from room temperature down to 40 C. Tests were con-
ducted based on ASTM standard E8. For testing of wire
ropes, initially 150 mm in long samples with 75 mm
between grips were used. Tests were conducted at RT, 0,
10, and 25 C. Lengths of the samples were dictated by
the dimension of the cold chamber. Controlled evaporation
of liquid nitrogen was used to obtain the low temperatures.
To prevent temperature gradients in the sample even grips
were cooled. Dedicated hydraulic grips were used, and
brass sheaves were used to envelop the ends of the wire
ropes to prevent damage while gripping.
No standards are available for evaluating the notch
toughness of wire ropes; hence, we designed an instru-
mented impact test to assess the effect of notches, low
temperatures, and dynamic loading on the fracture behavior
123
J Fail. Anal. and Preven.
to give us a go-no-go criterion for the lowest temperature
that the rope can withstand before cleavage (brittle frac-
ture) occurs. The load time/deflection traces indicate the
fracture behavior under dynamic loading. To our knowl-
edge, such testing has not been carried out before.
For impact testing, specimen dimensions were based on
IZOD (ASTM E 23) test technique. This technique is
generally used for evaluating the notch toughness of round
bars and Server and Ireland have modified this technique
for testing toughness and fracture behavior of composite
materials and hollow tubes [3]. However, we had to modify
the notch position and use Charpy impact testing proce-
dures, as Izod testing is not recommended for low
temperatures. The test specimens were 75 mm long spec-
imens with a central circumferential shallow notch. Tests
were conducted from 0 C, down to 40 C.
Metallography
For metallography, specimens were mechanically polished
and etched in Nital and for studying fracture morphology, a
SEM equipped with EDAX was used.
Results and Discussion
Composition
Table 1 shows that the chemical composition of the wires
corresponds to AISI 1060 steel. The wire steel is reason-
ably clean with low sulfur and phosphorous. Although
compositional requirements for wire ropes are not very
rigid, it is worthwhile pointing out here that high strength
wire ropes are generally manufactured from AISI 1074 [4].
Metallography
Cross-sectional metallography of wire rope samples indi-
cated severe corrosion and pitting in outer wires (see Fig. 1).
There is considerable loss in the metallic area and presence
of notches is evident. Microcracks initiate and link up and
grow probably due to fatigue (see Fig. 2). Presence of not-
ches can increase locally the yield strength by a factor of
nearly three and initiate fracture before general yield [5].
The core wires were virtually free from corrosion and
were still covered with the galvanized coating (Fig. 3).
Table 1 Chemical analysis of steel (wt.%)
C Mn Si S P Fe
Wire rope 0.57 0.89 0.18 0.019 \0.01 Balance
AISI 1060 0.5565 0.690


\0.05 \0.04 Balance
J Fail. Anal. and Preven.

Fig. 1 (a) Cross-sectional view

of wire rope showing
considerable loss of metal due
to corrosion. Note that core wire
is virtually free from corrosion.
(b) Showing extensive corrosion
and creation of notches

Fig. 2 Metallograph of a
longitudinal section of an outer
wire showing notches on a
microscale and interior metal
loss due to corrosion (see dark
arrows). Crack link up along
inclusions may also be seen
(white arrow)

The wire matrix had a hardness of 345 HV (25 gf) while
the coatings show very low hardness values. A hardness
value of 345 corresponds approximately to UTS of
1104 MPa [6]. However, for cold-rolled and annealed
wires, it is difficult to predict precisely the strength values
from hardness measurements.
Microstructure
Figure 4 shows a typical ferritepearlite microstructure
elongated due to cold rolling. Inclusions are generally
dispersed uniformly, except, for occasional stringers.
Mechanical Properties
Mechanical properties and description of the as-received
cable are shown in Table 2. Tensile results of the wires and
wire ropes are shown in Tables 3 and 4. Figures 5 and 6
show typical loaddisplacement curves. It is apparent that
there is general yielding before the maximum in yield is
reached attesting to the inherent ductility of wires under
tensile loading. It may also be noted from Fig. 6 that ini-
tially outer wires fail one by one, followed by the failure of
core wire due to tensile overload. It is evident that low
temperatures have no adverse effect on the strength and

123
 J Fail. Anal. and Preven.

Table 3 Effect of low temperatures on the strength and ductility of

wires
Temperature, Maximum Maximum
Wire C load, lbf load, N

Core RT 1,549 6890.295

0 1,555 6916.985
30 1,557 6925.881
40 1,573 6997.053
Outer corroded RT 1,408 6263.096
wires (average)
30 1,433 6374.302
40 1,424 6334.268
Note: All specimens exhibited well-defined general yield before
maximum in load was reached attesting to the inherent ductility of
samples under tensile loading even at low temperatures
Fig. 3 Metallograph of core wire showing microhardness of the
matrix and the zinc coating
Table 4 Effect of low temperatures on the tensile properties of wire
rope
Specimen Test temperature, Maximum Maximum
no. C load, lbf load, N

1 RT 9,769 43454.68
2 0 10,058 44740.21
3 10 10,190 45327.38
4 18 10,109 44967.07
5 25 10,253 45607.62

Fig. 4 Optical metallograph showing ferritepearlite matrix elon-

gated due to cold work

Table 2 Material description from catalog

Galvanized steel cable 5/16 9 7 strand

Ultimate tensile strength 180 000 psi or 1 241.06 N/mm2

Nominal cable diameter
Nominal wire diameter
Nominal area of wire
Number of wires
Rated breaking strength
0.327 in or 8.31 mm
0.109 in or 2.77 mm
0.0093 Sq. in or 6 mm2
7
11 000 lbf or 48 930.44 N

Fig. 5 Loaddisplacement curves for corroded outer wires and core

ductility properties. In fact there is a tendency for strength
to increase with a decrease in the test temperature. Similar
trend has been observed in HSLA steels and it is attributed
to the intrinsic property of the b.c.c iron matrix [7, 8]. From
this, it is evident that tensile test alone cannot be used as an
wire (test temperature40 C). Note well-defined general yielding
before the maximum
indicator of the susceptibility of the wire rope to brittle
failure at low temperatures. The fact that tensile testing is a
poor predictor of steel behavior at low temperatures is

123
J Fail. Anal. and Preven.

rather well known and it was somewhat surprising that
there were apparently no standards for dynamic testing of
notched ropes even though wire ropes are often used at low
temperatures.
UTS of core wire was estimated by dividing the peak
load by the area of the wire and a value of around
1173 MPa was obtained. This is lower than the book value
but is in excellent agreement with the hardness measure-
ments. There is the possibility that the bare wire before
galvanization had the required UTS and could have been
softened during galvanizing treatment. In any case,
strength values, at the best, were borderline.
Impact Testing
Impact test results are shown in Table 5 and Fig. 7 shows
typical instrumented impact traces. At 0 C, there is only
cracking and no cleavage fracture. At 10 C, there is
cleavage but there is enough ductile dimpling to allow the
rope to maintain some toughness. At 20 C and below
cleavage (brittle) fracture dominates. This is in indirect
contrast to what was observed in tensile tests. The reason is
the higher rate of loading and triaxial state of stress [3]. It is
also worth noting that, even when outer wires fail by
cleavage, core wire being free from corrosion, merely

Table 5 Effect of low temperatures on the impact energy of wire

rope specimens
Test temperature, C Energy, J Fracture morphology

0 51 Minor cracking but no cleavage

crack propagation
10 50.7 Occurrence of cleavage cracks
but compensated by dimples
20 37.9 Dominance of cleavage cracks
25 40 Predominantly cleavage
30 26.3 Predominantly cleavage
40 29 Predominantly cleavage
Note: (1) Specimens were 75 mm long with a central circumferential
notch (nonstandard specimen based on modified Izod test technique)
and (2) one reason for the relatively high energy at low temperatures
Fig. 6 Room temperature loaddisplacement curve for wire rope (even when cleavage dominates) is the fact that the core wire, being
illustrating the sequential prior-rupture of outer wires before the final free from corrosion, does not crack but merely bends blunting crack
failure of the core wire prorogation

Fig. 7 Instrumented impact

traces from wire rope specimens
illustrating the gradual decrease
in energy with lowering of test
temperature. Top two traces are
from tests at 0 and 10 C, and
the bottom two traces are from
tests at 20 and 30 C

123
 J Fail. Anal. and Preven.

bends and serves as an effective crack arrestor. The crack
arrest capabilities of the individual inner wires is the reason
that even at 40 C, there is still significant amount of
impact energy absorbed during the tests.
Fractography
Fractographs of broken tensile and impact specimens are
shown in Figs. 811. In impact specimens, at low tem-
peratures, cleavage is quite significant (see Fig. 11). Since
cleavage (brittle) failure occurs rapidly and virtually
without any plastic deformation, it should be avoided to
prevent catastrophic failures. However, in tensile speci-
mens, even at low temperatures, there is not much change
in the fracture behaviorit is still basically ductile with
extensive dimpling surrounding cleavage microcracks.
This is also apparent from the shape of loaddisplacement
curves that show pronounced general yielding before the
peak in load is reached (see Fig. 6).
Probable Failure Scenario
applications [9, 10]. According to British Standard 6570 a
wire rope should be discarded when the surface of the
wires is severely roughened or pitted. According to
research conducted on the validity and appropriateness of
discard criterion for wire ropes used in mining, it has been
suggested that although the general discard criterion were
based on a 10% loss in the rope strength, a number of the
discard criterion in the code required wire rope to be dis-
carded, not because it had lost an estimated 10% of its
strength, but it had sustained damage of a nature such that
the rate of subsequent deterioration would be far greater
than normal to the extent that the rope would have to
discarded before the next inspection [10].
It would also appropriate to reexamine the way that the
ratio of measured strength to book value is estimated. By
including the core wire that is virtually free from corrosion
in the calculation, we will be under estimating the real
effect of corrosion. For example, from the conditioning
tests carried out, conventional calculations give a value of
91.4% whereas by taking consideration only the corroded
outer wires, the ratio becomes 89.9% (see Table 6).

Metallography of wire rope samples has indicated that outer

wires are severely corroded. This results in reduction in the
load-bearing capability of the wires. In addition, the creation
of notches on a microscale increases, locally, magnitude of
the stress promoting cleavage. Low temperatures further
enhance this effect. Initiation of microcracks and their link
up probably by fatigue also promotes fracture. Thus likely
failure scenario is the fracture of outer wires followed by
failure of core wire due to overload. Since temperature was
below 20 C and since high carbon steels are intrinsically
prone to brittle fracture, it is very likely that cleavage plays a
significant role in the fracture of outer wires.
Although the results of conditioning tests carried out
indicated that the residual breaking strength was 91.4% of
the book value, in view of the severe corrosion and pitting,
consideration should have been given to replacing the wire Fig. 9 An enlarged view of cleavage fracture from Fig. 8(b) showing
before the next inspection as has been suggested in the case clearly defined cleavage steps and river pattern (see dark arrows).
of wire rope used in mining and other load-hauling Dimples surround the cleavage areas (see white arrows)

Fig. 8 Fractographs of an
outside wire fractured in tension
at room temperature: (a) Low
magnification photo showing an
essentially ductile fracture
interspersed with fine cracks
running in parallel. (b) At high
magnifications, walls of these
are formed by cleavage
probably at hard and brittle
pearlite colonies that are
elongated in the direction of
rolling

123
J Fail. Anal. and Preven.

Fig. 10 (a) Macro fractograph

of a broken wire sample.
Instrumented impact at 0 C.
(b) SEM fractograph of a
broken wire sample showing
essentially a ductile fracture
with traces of cleavage (brittle)
fracture. Instrumented impact at
0 C

Fig. 11 (a) Macrofractograph

of a wire sample broken at
40 C, instrumented impact.
(b) SEM fractographs showing
cleavage steps, river pattern and
microcracks typical of brittle
fracture, instrumented impact at
40 C

Table 6 Calculation of breaking strength values (lbf)a from condi-
tioning test results
Rated breaking strength = 11,000 lbf (48,930 N)
Total measured breaking strength including core wire = 10,141
(45,109 N)
Conventional interpretation
Conventional measured strength to book value = 10,141/
11,100 = 91.4%
Alternate interpretation
Total measured breaking strength of six corroded outer
wires = 8,574 (38,137)
Measured breaking strength value of core wire = 1,565 (6,961 N)
Measured strength to book value using only outer wires = 8,574/
(11,100 1, 565) = 89.9%
Note: (1) Generally cables are replaced when measured breaking
strength values reach 90% of the book value and (2) based on the
alternate criterion that is more realistic, cables should have been
replaced earlier
a
Original conditioning results were in English units
Conclusions
1. Wires are made of AISI 1060 steel. Microstructure is
essentially elongated ferritepearlite with reasonably
finely distributed inclusions except for occasional
stringers. Levels of sulfur and phosphorous are low
and within the norm.
2. Cross-sectional metallography of wire rope sections
indicates that outer wires are subjected to severe
corrosion and pitting. There is considerable loss in
metallic area on the surface of the rope. In addition,
notches on a microscale are present. These notches can
increase the yield strength locally, nearly by a factor of
three, and initiate fracture before general yield.
3. In outer wires, there is evidence for the initiation,
growth, and link up of microcracks probably due to
cyclic (fatigue) loading that is inevitable in service.
This reduces again lowers the resistance to crack
propagation.
4. Core wire is virtually free from corrosion and still has
galvanized coating on it.
5. Room temperature tensile data and microhardness
measurements indicate that ultimate tensile strength
(UTS) of the wires is \1240 MPa.
6. Low temperatures down to 40 C have no adverse
effect on the strength and ductility of wires and wire
ropes. UTS of both the wire and the wire rope
increases with a decrease in the test temperature. This
is due to an intrinsic property of the b.c.c iron matrix.
SEM fractography of broken samples indicate that
even at room temperature, there are minor cleavage
cracks but the samples have enough ductility to blunt
them and prevent them from linking up and growing.
Even at moderate low temperatures, there is enough

123

ductility in the samples to prevent brittle failure.
Hence, tensile tests at low temperatures are not ideal
for predicting the susceptibility of wire ropes to brittle
failure at low temperatures.
7. Modified impact tests of circumferentially notched
wire rope specimens (75 mm long with central
circumferential notch) broken at different tempera-
tures, indicate that there is considerable cleavage
(brittle) fracture below 10 C. Thus, impact testing is
a better evaluator of susceptibility of wire ropes to
brittle fracture than tensile tests. However, there is still
no ASTM or other standards for conducting such tests.
Recommendations
1. When there is severe corrosion and pitting, as in the
present case, wires have to be replaced earlier than the
normal criterion of 10% loss in the breaking strength.
This would prevent premature failure of the wire rope
due to enhanced corrosion before the next inspection.
2. It would be more apt and prudent, when estimating the
ratio of measured breaking strength to the book value,
to give preference to corroded outer wires only.
Inclusion of core wire would distort the ratio, as it is
virtually free from corrosion.
3. As far as possible, cable replacement should be
carried out at a relatively high ambient temperature
but, if necessary replacement can be made when the
rope is close to freezing but not at temperatures lower
than 10 C. (The actual temperature below which
replacement should not be made depends on the
123
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J Fail. Anal. and Preven.
ductile-to-brittle transition temperature of the rope
steel, but 10 C is a reasonable general suggestion.)
At the same time, it is important to make sure that cable
has enough metallic area to resist the service loads and
that it is free from notches that could provoke
cleavage failure initiation at low temperatures.
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