ROTATING BENDING FATIGUE TEST MACHINE

Abstract

Steel wire ropes are widely employed across numerous industries, particularly in aviation, where they are used in onboard cranes, winches, hoists, mechanical control systems, and cargo-securing tie-down assemblies. The mechanical performance of steel wire ropes is governed by the properties of their individual components.  Steel wire is a primary structural element of these ropes. In service, wire ropes are exposed to cyclic operational loading during cargo lifting, movement, and handling, as well as additional dynamic loads caused by acceleration. In many cases, they also operate in unfavorable and aggressive environments. Together, these factors lead to fatigue, wear, and corrosion, critically influencing the service life and reliability of wire ropes. This study presents the development of a compact rotating-bending fatigue testing machine specifically designed to evaluate the fatigue behavior of steel wires. The base configuration is intended for laboratory testing at dry air; however, further upgrades will enable testing in aggressive corrosive media, various surfactants, greases, and corrosion-preventive compounds to investigate adsorption-induced weakening phenomena, including the Rebinder effect. Analytical stress calculations based on Reuleaux’s classical approach were validated by finite element modeling, demonstrating close agreement between the methods. The developed machine provides an efficient and reliable tool for studying fatigue mechanisms in steel wire materials under realistic operating conditions.