Abstract: By using differential geometrical theory and ANSYS software, the geometrical model and finite element model of the 6×7IWS wire rope are established. The right-same-direction-lay wire rope is compared with the right-sz-lay one. Some regularities are obtained from geometrical structure, and the finite element calculation is performed under the same boundary conditions of these two kinds of wire ropes. The result shows the difference in stress distribution and stress magnitude between the two wire ropes. Based on the analysis of geometrical model, the correlative regularity is obtained. The change amplitude in stress of wires within strands of the same-direction-lay wire rope is greater than that of the sz-lay wire rope. The change cycle of the former is longer than that of the later one. There are different stress at different points. For a single wire, the stress distribution is closely related to position. The theoretical conclusion is proven true by experiment.

Key words: Finite element, Numerical simulation, Stress distribution, Wire rope model