Which of the following are common indicators of worn or damaged wire rope?

• A. Bird-caging only.
• B. Broken strands, bird-caging, kinks, corrosion, flattening, fraying, or reduced flexibility.
• C. Rust on the drum.
• D. Visible wear on the rope cover only.

Answer: (B)

When evaluating wire rope for crane use, you look for a range of signs that show the rope has been damaged or worn and may fail under load. The most complete and reliable indicators include broken strands, bird-caging, kinks, corrosion, flattening, fraying, and reduced flexibility. Each of these points to structural compromise: broken strands reduce the rope’s effective cross-section and strength; bird-caging reveals internal strand distortion that weakens the rope from the inside; kinks create sharp bends that concentrate stress and can propagate damage; corrosion weakens the metal and reduces fatigue resistance; flattening shows the rope has been bent excessively and loses its round shape, which harms load distribution; fraying indicates outer wires are deteriorating and can lead to progressive failure; and reduced flexibility means the rope cannot bend smoothly around sheaves and drums, accelerating wear and increasing the chance of a sudden break.

Rust on the drum isn’t a direct measure of the rope’s condition, and visible wear on the rope cover alone doesn’t necessarily reveal internal damage. The rope’s interior could be compromised even if the outer jacket shows only superficial wear, so the comprehensive signs listed above are the best indicators to rely on.