T-NEWS

service AND MAINTENANCE, INTERNal / EXTERNal

INSPECTION AND DISCARD

DISCARD criteria OF
STEEL WIRE ROPES
iso 4309:2010(E)

02/2014, V.1.0.
The current version of the German DIN ISO 4309-2013 standard accounts for the types of
use of steel wire ropes that have been of significance in recent years and thus supersedes
DIN 15020-2:1974.
This useful document will be provided to manufacturers, experts, crane operators, and
other persons, for the provision of support to those in charge of „Maintenance and Care“
as well as to those in charge of „Inspection and Discard“.

SCOPE

� cable cranes and gantry cranes � portal or portal-gantry bridge cranes

� cantilever cranes (pillar, jib, wall-mounted, or wall-mounted � portal or semi-portal cranes
traveling cranes) � rail-mounted cranes
� deck cranes � tower cranes
� derrick cranes, and guy derrick cranes � offshore cranes
� derrick cranes with rigid bracing This international standard applies to ropes used on cranes for
� floating cranes hooks, grabs, magnets, ladles, buckets or stackers, operated
� mobile cranes manually, electrically, or hydraulically.
� overhead travelling cranes

DISCARD CRITERIA

DISCARD CRITERIA DECREASE OF ROPE DIAMETER

� type and number of wire breaks (see wire break table(s)) � uniform decrease along the rope
� rope category number (RCN) or total number of load-bearing � local decrease, e.g., due to failure of rope core
wires in the rope‘s outer strands � fracture of strand
� rope design: regular lay / lang lay � corrosion: external, internal, or fretting corrosion
� strand construction
� classification group of the mechanism DEFORMATIONS AND DAMAGE
� singlelayer, multilayer spooling � waviness
� wire breaks at a termination � basket deformation
� wire breaks in strand valleys � core or strand protrusion or distorsion
� local concentration of wire breaks � loop deformation
� rate of increase of wire breaks � local increase in rope diameter
� flattened portion
� kink or tightened loop
� bends in the rope
� damage due to heat or electric arcs

warning
The use of these products may be hazardous. Therefore, never use our products for purposes other than those
they were designed for. Customers must ensure that all persons using these products are familiar with their
correct use and the related necessary safety precautions. Please bear in mind that any of these products can
cause harm, when they are used incorrectly or overstrained. TEUFELBERGER and 拖飞宝 are internationally
registered trademarks of TEUFELBERGER Ges.m.b.H. Austria.
 DISCARD criteria OF STEEL
WIRE ROPES
Iso 4309:2010(E)
SEVERITY RATING OF THE VARIOUS DISCARD CRITERIA

Degree of rope damage, expressed in percent of the discard state. The rating may relate to either a single type of damage such as wire
breaks or a decrease in diameter, or to the combined impact of more than one type of damage, e.g., wire breaks and a decrease in dia-
meter.

DECREASE OF ROPE DIAMETER

The actual uniform decrease in diameter, expressed in percent of the nominal diameter, is calculated using the following equation:
[(d ref –d gem )/d nom ] x 100(%)
d ref ........ reference diameter
d gem ...... measured diameter
d nom....... nominal diameter

Example:
For a 6 x 36 IWRC rope having a diameter of 40 mm and a reference diameter of 41.2 mm (which during the inspection is found to have a
measured diameter of 39.5 mm), the decrease in percent is:
[(41.2 - 39.5)/40] x 100 = 4.25 %
Note: The severity rating for uniform decrease in diameter is 20% towards discard (i.e., slight).

Table 5 — Uniform decrease in diameter signalling discard of rope — Rope spooling on a single-layer drum and/or running through a steel sheave

Uniform decrease in diameter Severity rating

Rope type
(expressed as % of nominal diameter)
Description %
Less than 6 % — 0
6 % and over but less than 7 % Slight 20
7 % and over but less than 8 % Medium 40
Single-layer rope with fibre core
8 % and over but less than 9 % High 60
9 % and over but less than 10 % Very high 80
10 % and over Discard 100
Less than 3,5 % — 0
3,5 % and over but less than 4,5 % Slight 20
Single-layer rope with steel core 4,5 % and over but less than 5,5 % Medium 40
or parallel-closed rope 5,5 % and over but less than 6,5 % High 60
6,5 % and over but less than 7,5 % Very high 80
7,5 % and over Discard 100
Less than 1 % — 0
1 % and over but less than 2 % Slight 20
2 % and over but less than 3 % Medium 40
Rotation-resistant rope
3 % and over but less than 4 % High 60
4 % and over but less than 5 % Very high 80
5 % and over Discard 100

TEUFELBERGER Seil Ges.m.b.H., Böhmerwaldstraße 20, 4600 Wels, Austria, T +43 7242 615-0, www.teufelberger.com
 DISCARD criteria OF STEEL
WIRE ROPES
Iso 4309:2010(E)
WIRE BREAK TABLES: EXCERPT FROM DIN ISO 4309:2013-06

Number of visibly broken outer wires

Total number of Sections of rope working in steel sheaves and/or spooling on single Multilayer spooling on
Rope load-bearing layer drum (wire breaks randomly distributed) grooved drum
Category wires
Number in the Drive mechanism group classes M1 to M4 or of unknown class All classes
outer strands
NON-ROTATION-RESISTANT ROPES

RCN Ordinary lay Langs lay Ordinary lay and Langs lay
n
Over a length Over a length Over a length Over a length Over a length Over a length
of 6d of 30d of 6d of 30d of 6d of 30d
02 51 ≤ n ≤ 75 3 6 2 3 6 12
03 76 ≤ n ≤ 100 4 8 2 4 8 16
04 101 ≤ n ≤ 120 5 10 2 5 10 20
05 121 ≤ n ≤ 140 6 11 3 6 12 22
06 141 ≤ n ≤ 160 6 13 3 6 12 26
08 181 ≤ n ≤ 200 8 16 4 8 16 32
09 201 ≤ n ≤ 220 9 18 4 9 18 36
10 221 ≤ n ≤ 240 10 19 5 10 20 38
11 241 ≤ n ≤ 260 10 21 5 10 20 42
13 281 ≤ n ≤ 300 12 24 6 12 24 48
>13 n > 300 0,04 x n 0,08 x n 0,02 x n 0,04 x n 0,08 x n 0,16 x n
n ... number of load-bearing wires in the outer strands d ... nominal rope diameter

Number of visibly broken outer wires

rotation resistent ROPES

Rope Number of
Category load-bearing Sections of rope working in steel sheaves and/or Multilayer spooling on
Number wires in the spooling on single layer drum grooved drum
outer strands
RCN n Over a length of Over a length of Over a length of Over a length of
6d 30d 6d 30d
23-1 71 ≤ n ≤ 100 2 4 4 8
23-2 101 ≤ n ≤ 120 3 5 5 10
27 201 ≤ n ≤ 220 4 9 9 18
30 261 ≤ n ≤ 280 6 11 11 32
n ... number of load-bearing wires in the outer strands d ... nominal rope diameter

RCN OF SPECIAL TEUFELBERGER ROPES

Design type Diameter range RCN

ROTATION-RESISTANT

PERFECTION TK15 7 - 24 23-2

ROPES

EVOLUTION TK16 9 - 30 23-1

EVOLUTION TK16 32-42 23-2

EVOLUTION TK17 10 - 42 23-2

EVOLUTION TK18 44 - 80 27

TEUFELBERGER Seil Ges.m.b.H., Böhmerwaldstraße 20, 4600 Wels, Austria, T +43 7242 615-0, www.teufelberger.com
 DISCARD criteria OF STEEL
WIRE ROPES
Iso 4309:2010(E)
Design type Diameter range RCN Design type Diameter range RCN

NON-ROTATION-RESISTANT
PS 610 F 26 - 40 4 EVOLUTION Q8 52 - 54 10
NON-ROTATION-RESISTANT

PERFECTION F30 10 - 26 4 Q 810 V 13 - 32 9

FSS 2 - 625 F 10 - 22 4 PERFECTION M8 38 - 70 13

ROPES
ROPES

FSS 2 - 619 S 7 - 14 2 QS 816 V(G) 10 - 42 9

EXECUTION K3 20 - 30 8 QS 816 V(G) 44 - 50 11
EXECUTION D6s 30 - 52 6 QS 816 V(G) 52 - 70 >13
EXECUTION D6 30 - 52 6 QS 808 S 10 3
EXECUTION M6 44 - 70 13 BS 909 S 11 5
EVOLUTION Q8 12 - 50 6

IMPORTANT! When using the wire brake values listed in the tables, be sure to distinguish between singlelayer or multilayer spooling on
the drum. If a rope section is used in a multilayer spooling configuration, external wear will usually be predominant, which is why wire
breaks occur at the rope‘s surface. In this case, the standard allows higher numbers of wire breaks than in cases where the rope is used
in a singlelayer spooling configuration or runs only over pulleys, in which case material fatigue will be the predominant type of loading.

ISO 4309 provides a method for the assessment of the cumulated overall state. Whereas use of this method is not mandatory, it is highly
recommendable for safety reasons. With respect to their discard state, wire ropes must always be subjected to a comprehensive evalua-
tion. Since all types of damage in a certain area will cause a loss in load-bearing capacity, it will make sense to assess the overall state.
Even though individual discard criteria may still be within their acceptable range, the cumulated overall state may already have exceeded
its discard limits.

The frequency of periodical inspections must be defined by a person skilled in the art. In this connection, the following must be taken
into consideration:
� legislation concerning cranes or hoisting equipment in the country of use;
� crane type and ambient conditions in which it is operated;
� classification group of the mechanism;
� result of previous inspection(s);
� empirical values from the inspection of ropes on comparable cranes;
� time period during which the rope was in use;
� frequency of use.

Note: person skilled in the art

A person having such knowledge and experience regarding wire ropes on cranes and hoists as is necessary for this person to assess the
condition of the rope, make a judgment as to whether it may remain in service, and stipulate the maximum time interval between inspec-
tions.

This is only a brief summary of what is new in ISO 4309. For more detailed information, we recommend that you read the standard itself.
If necessary, we offer special rope inspection workshops held by our experienced application engineers. For those, please contact your
TEUFELBERGER sales consultant.

TEUFELBERGER Seil Ges.m.b.H., Böhmerwaldstraße 20, 4600 Wels, Austria, T +43 7242 615-0, www.teufelberger.com