ABSTRACT
In their underground and surface mining applications the steel wire ropes are subjected to internal and external wear, which results in progressive loss of strength and service life. This loss can be attributed to several damage mechanisms including fatigue, corrosion and wear. The problem of accurate and fast method for determining the wire rope condition become important for economical and safety reasons. The failure to replace a worn-out rope at the proper time may cause its breakage with all its catastrophic consequences including possible loss of life. On the other hand, too early rope change will increase the costs of mining. The paper presents the techniques used for nondestructive examinations of ropes in various mining applications. Instrumentation as well as methods for accurate data interpretation in terms of loss of breaking strength are discussed.
