What Is Steel Cable Made From?
Steel cable, also known as wire rope, is an extremely strong material that can withhold immense pressure and weight. It is often used with industrial machinery and aircraft, and even to suspend bridges.
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Identification
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Steel cable comprises strands of wire rope. Most often, the cable will contain six strands of steel wire rope and consist of a fiber core that has been saturated in oil to keep the rope lubricated and strong. However, some may be made up of wire core. It can be galvanized with steel to stiffen the rope and prevent corrosion that is associated with weather and general wear and tear.
History
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The first person to use galvanized steel cable was John Roebling, the architect for the Brooklyn Bridge, in 1883. Roebling proposed a plan for a suspension bridge using galvanized steel cable. Bridges at that time typically used iron, but Roebling thought that iron made bridges vulnerable to high winds. The bridge used four immense cables, two outer ones and two located near the middle of the bridge. They were 15 inches in diameter and manufactured by Roebling's Trenton wire works. The cables were made of wire as thick as lead pencils, without thousands of wires to a cable.
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How It is Made
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Cable wire is made using a basic strand of either tubular or planetary stranding machines. Depending on what the cable is being used for, the machine will reel strands of wire together. The difference between a tubular strander and a planetary strander is that the tubular reels remain stationary and the planetary strander rotates the reels.
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References
- Photo Credit bridge image by Brett Bouwer from Fotolia.com
