Curvature effects on contact position of wire strands

Abstract The shape of a wire strand section in a wire rope cross-section is usually assumed elliptical, and the analysis of contact between strands is based upon such assumption. This assumption is valid for large helix angles or when the strands are nearly parallel to the rope axis, but considerable errors can result when the helix angle is small. In this paper, the true geometric shape of the strand section is obtained and the curvature effect on the contact position between strands is discussed.