Development of Tension Meter for Wire Rope and Lashing Belt

Abstract

Wire rope and lashing belt are conveniently used in many places without knowing their tension. From the view point of safety, it is important to know the magnitude of their tension to avoid accident. The authors developed a tension meter for wire rope and lashing belt of a post-mountable type by which the magnitude of their tension in use can be evaluated. The tension meter twists a small part of the target and evaluates the torque required for a twist. So far, it has been unclear where to set a reference point for twist angle due to an internal friction of the wire rope. In this study, the reference point can be determined automatically by an electric control system so as to charge the same twist angle onto the wire rope. Regarding the lashing belt, there is no need to control the reference point as it has little internal friction. It was confirmed in the experiments that there was a linear relation between the tension and twisting torque in both wire rope and lashing belt. In addition, the internal friction of wire rope is discussed using a simple model.