A Comprehensive Review of Steel Wire Rope Degradation Mechanisms and Recent Damage Detection Methods

Steel wire ropes are the vital load-bearing element in many rope transport devices, such as mine hoists, personal lifts, bridges and cableways. Non-destructive fault detection is a crucial issue for safety and reliability. This paper presents a comprehensive review covering three areas: damage mechanisms for steel wire ropes, physical phenomena used for diagnostics of steel wire ropes and practical applications of magnetometers. The advantages and disadvantages of each group of sensors, such as the induction coil, Hall element, magnetoresistance and optically pumped magnetometers, are presented. The author indicates the direction of the development of signal analysis techniques. In summary, the challenges and future directions for the development of wire rope flaw detection in practical applications are presented, especially considering the future of passive magnetic methods.