Paralock® from Wirelock®
Socketing compound for fibre rope applications
For fibre rope applications, Wirelock® offers a product called Paralock®. While the properties and functionality are the same as other Wirelock® products, Paralock® is a lower viscosity to make it suitable for use with fibre rope.
Fibre rope applications are unique in that it functions differently during socketing than wire rope. The construction of fibre rope and the composition of the fibre itself play a significant role in determining the brooming process, whereas with steel rope, the methodology is consistent.
Socketing behaviour of fibre rope
Fibre rope transfers load in only the front 20/25mm of its resin cone, as opposed to steel wire rope, which can transfer load throughout the resin cone. As a result, the stress on this front area of the fibre rope is substantial, stretching the resin cone, leading to a potential for shearing at the centre as the outer fibres are restricted by the friction and compression where the resin cone and the socket meet. These outer fibres begin to break down, and progressively continue to break down the rope, moving towards the centre. As the fibre is unable to slip within the resin, the breaking point will occur at the neck of the socket.
Smaller diameter fibre ropes, up to approximately 10mm, are able to perform regardless of the socket’s internal geometry. This performance degrades with increase of rope diameter, with the breaking strength reducing to 70% of M.B.L. for large diameter fibre ropes.
Some methods for improving this rate of performance include splitting the large fibre ropes to create smaller ropes within the socket. These do increase the efficacy of the socketing, but are not entirely reliable.
