As you may already know, wire ropes are widely used in several industries, from construction to transportation to manufacturing. The global steel wire rope market alone was valued at $11.9 Billion in . It is projected to reach $17.5 Billion by , growing at a CAGR of 8%.
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Wire rope strands are made of individual wires twisted together. The strands are combined with one another to create a wire rope or industrial wire rope cable. Understanding how wires turn into strands, and the strands turn into a wire rope or a cable is necessary. It helps you decide what type of industrial wire rope or cable is best suited for your rigging application.
Let&#;s explore the differences between wire, strand, and cable.
Think of a wire as the smallest part or the foundation of wire ropes or cables. It is a single, flexible, string-like rod usually made from stainless steel, galvanized steel, or galvanized carbon steel. Each rod passes through a series of small holes called dies. That is how you get the wires of a desired diameter.
Usually, steel wires are preferred over other types of wires, particularly synthetic versions. Steel wires are stronger and last longer. They can also withstand external corrosion better. Always choose high-quality steel wires for rigging applications in harsh environments.
A strand is composed of two or more wires laid around a single center wire. Wire rope suppliers and manufacturers can use several wire combinations to create strands. However, 1×7 and 1×19 are the two most common configurations.
Let&#;s take a look at those.
These strands consist of seven wires in total. There is one (straight) center core wire, and six wires are helically stranded around the core. The diameter of these strands ranges from 1/8&#; &#; 5/8&#;. The 1X7 wire rope strands yield minimal stretch. That&#;s why they are best suited to make 3X7 and 7X7, and 7X19 industrial wire rope cables.
As you can imagine, this is one strand of 19 wires with a center wire. The rest of the wires are helically wrapped around the core in two layers. The inner layer has six wires, while the outer one has twelve wires.
These strands are most commonly used to build wire ropes intended for hydraulically swaged fittings. These are the stiffest wire rope strands available. So, they are not suited for Thimble and Ferrule-type swages.
Wire ropes or industrial steel cables are made by concentrically wrapping groups of strands. You can find a wide range of wire ropes or cables out there. Different wire rope suppliers and manufacturers use unique combinations to create wire ropes of the desired strength and flexibility.
For example, a 7×7 industrial wire rope cable comprises seven strands, each made of seven wires. On the other hand, a 7×19 cable consists of seven strands with 19 wires in each one. The strength and flexibility of wire ropes depend on these helical combinations and the material used.
These wire ropes are durable, more flexible, and abrasion resistant. But they are best suited for general-purpose construction where strength and flexibility are a priority. However, you can use them over pulleys. Just be sure to consult a professional or wire rope supplier before doing so.
These ropes have 133 wires in total. They are one of the strongest and most flexible wire ropes. They also have an excellent stretch, making them best suited for use over pulleys. But you can also find them in garage doors, gym equipment, control cables, wind turbines, and winch ropes. They are also used to make wire-rope slings.
The wire is the smallest component in a wire rope or industrial steel cable. On the other hand, a wire rope strand gets formed when you combine seven or 19 wires together. As a result, a strand is often stronger than a single wire. You can use strands on their own or as a combination, turning them into wire ropes and cables.
Wire ropes and industrial cables are basically the same. The term is also used interchangeably. But wire ropes often have diameters larger than 3/8&#;. Cables, however, have smaller diameters. The strength, flexibility, and corrosion resistance will vary from cable to cable. You will need to speak with your wire rope supplier to find a cable that meets your specifications.
The wire is a single metal strand that lays the foundation of wire ropes and cables. Strands are made of multiple wires twisted together. And wire ropes or cables are made of multiple strands braided together. That&#;s what makes cables and wire ropes suitable for heavy-duty applications. Knowing this can help you choose a cable best suited for your application.
Are you looking for high-quality wire ropes and industrial steel cables? As a leading wire rope supplier, Elite Sales can help you find what you want. Call us now!
March 6, / General, 101 learning, Installation and testing, Best Practices
Both shielded and unshielded twisted-pair copper cable comes in either stranded or solid wire versions. There are plenty of considerations when it comes to choosing one or the other, including standards, environment, application, and cost. Let&#;s take a look at the differences and considerations, so you can decide whether stranded copper wire or solid copper wire cable is right for your specific installation.
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Stranded and solid wire differ in key ways. Stranded wire is more flexible; it&#;s better for patch cords and areas where cable will be bent and reconfigured frequently. Solid wire is rigid and a better electrical conductor.
The first difference between stranded and solid wire cable is in the way they&#;re made: the terms stranded and solid refer to the actual construction of the copper conductors within the cable.
The second most noticeable difference between stranded and solid wire cable is flexibility.
A less-obvious difference between stranded and solid wire cable is performance.
Now that you understand the differences between stranded and solid wire cable, let&#;s cover what you need to consider when making a choice.
Which type of wire is the best choice depends on the installation's requirements.
When it comes to 90-meter horizontal permanent links, there&#;s no choice: whether it's shielded or unshielded twisted pair, both TIA and ISO/IEC standards require solid wire cable. Stranded cable (24 and 26 AWG) is limited to patch cords and 10-meter lengths within a 100-meter channel.
Because stranded cables are more flexible and can withstand bending, they make excellent patch cords for equipment connections and cross-connects where cables are frequently bent and manipulated; at just 10 meters of the channel, the increased insertion loss and resistance aren&#;t a factor in the overall channel performance. However, smaller 28 AWG stranded patch cords that have even more insertion loss and resistance due to their smaller gauge do have some limitations &#; get the Skinny on 28 AWG Patch Cords to learn more.
Open office environments, however, are special situations; they&#;re faced with regular reconfigurations and may require a more flexible cabling system. In those installations, the standards allow stranded patch cords to take up more than 10 meters of the channel. However, if you&#;re using more than 10 meters of stranded cable in a channel, industry standards require de-rating the overall channel length to accommodate for the greater insertion loss and DC resistance.
When it comes to de-rating stranded cable per industry standards, the overall gauge is a factor: higher-gauge (thinner) cables have a higher de-rating factor. The de-rating for 26 AWG stranded cable is 0.5, while 24 AWG is only 0.2, and 22 AWG stranded cables require no de-rating at all.
Here are the calculations to determine overall channel length, where H=horizontal cable length, D=de-rating factor, C= total stranded cable length and T=total channel length.
For example, if you&#;re using 60 meters of horizontal solid category 6A cable and 40 meters of stranded 24 AWG category 6A patch cable with a 0.2 de-rating factor, the total length of the channel must be reduced to 97.5 meters. (If you prefer the actual math: total stranded cable length = [105-60]/[1 + 0.2], or 37.5, and total channel length = 60+37.5, or 97.5 meters.) If you&#;re using 26 AWG stranded cable with a 0.5 de-rating, the channel length needs to be reduced to 90 meters.
While stranded cable is the norm for patch cords at patching areas in the telecommunications room (TR) and at the work area (perhaps longer than 10 meters in open offices), a primary application to consider in today&#;s LANs warrants the use of solid patch cords: Power over Ethernet (PoE). When PoE is delivered over twisted-pair copper cable, some of the power dissipates as heat. When power dissipates as heat, the cable temperature increases. With higher insertion loss and DC resistance, stranded patch cords are more likely to exhibit degraded transmission performance at elevated temperatures.
While not typically a concern in environmentally controlled spaces like the TR, stranded patch cords could become an issue once you start connecting devices in the ceiling &#; think wireless access points, security cameras, LED lights, and more. In best practice, if the environment isn&#;t temperature controlled and the cable doesn&#;t have to bend much, solid cable patch cords should be used. If you do use stranded patch cords in uncontrolled environments, it&#;s better to keep them short (about 5 meters or less). And when it comes to higher-temperature environments, industry standards require de-rating channel length for that, too; more cables in a bundle, each generating more heat, can require even more length de-rating (though there can be An Exception to Every Rule).
While more strands in a conductor mean greater flexibility, a higher strand count also means a higher price. To keep costs down, stranded category 6 and category 6A cable are designed to strike a balance: enough strands to maintain proper flexibility, but not so many that it creates a dramatic price difference. You don&#;t have to compromise performance (or standards compliance) by selecting stranded wire cable instead of solid for environments and applications for which it&#;s not suited. Keep your stranded cables in environmentally controlled areas that require greater flexibility, and use solid wire cable where rugged performance (and little bending) is required.
Whether it&#;s patch cords, permanent links, or channels, you can configure a Fluke Networks Versiv&#; tool to certify the cable's performance.
View the Versiv Configurator
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