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CA-3028440-C - APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING PROPERTIES OF A ROPE

CA3028440CCA 3028440 CCA3028440 CCA 3028440CCA-3028440-C

Abstract

A rope, a system and a method for measuring one or more properties of a rope. A property evaluation system for ropes can be deployed for a number of different applications including, but not limited to, moving lines, e.g., crane or winch and static lines, e.g., mooring lines, stays, etc., to evaluate physical properties of the ropes and, in some cases, to help evaluate structural health of the ropes. A sheave assembly (10) may transmit a signal into a rope (14) to measure at least one property of the rope. At least one sensor (25) may be coupled to or assembled in the rope to measure at least one property of the rope.

Inventors

  • Luis S. Padilla
  • Wesley CONGER

Assignees

  • ACTUANT CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20170626
Priority Date
20160624

Claims (16)

  1. 84974439 CLAIMS: 1. A system for measuring one or more properties of a rope, the system comprising: a sheave assembly including a wheel having a circumferential groove for at least partially receiving the rope; and a transducer coupled to the wheel in the groove of the sheave, the transducer being operable to transmit a signal into the rope when the rope is in contact with the wheel to measure at least one property of the rope, the signal being transmitted in a generally transverse direction relative to a longitudinal direction of the rope.
  2. 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a second transducer coupled to the sheave assembly.
  3. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the second transducer is in a position on the wheel that is a different radial distance from a center of the wheel than the first transducer.
  4. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the transducer is coupled to a trough of the groove.
  5. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the transducer is a first transducer, and wherein the system further comprises a second transducer coupled to the sheave assembly.
  6. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the second transducer is in a position on the wheel that is a different radial distance from a center of the wheel than the first transducer.
  7. 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the groove is at least partially defined by a first flange on one axial end of the wheel and a second flange on an opposite axial end of the wheel, and wherein the first transducer is coupled to the first flange and the second transducer is coupled to the second flange.
  8. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the sheave assembly includes a shaft supporting the wheel, and wherein the first transducer is positioned a first distance from the shaft and the second transducers is positioned a second distance from the shaft.
  9. 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first distance and the second distance are the same. 24 Date re~ue/Date received 2024-02-13 84974439
  10. 10. The system of claim 5, wherein the first transducer and the second transducers are positioned to contact opposite sides of the rope approximately across a diameter of the rope.
  11. 11. The system of claim 5, wherein the first transducer and second transducer define a first transducer set, and wherein the system further comprises a second transducer set coupled to the wheel to measure a property of the rope at a different axial location of the rope than the first transducer set.
  12. 12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of rope transducers coupled to the rope along an axial length of the rope to measure a property of the rope at a location of a rope transducer, each rope transducer being activated by the transducer coupled to the sheave to communicate information about the rope.
  13. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of rope transducers are operable to measure at least one of temperature, load, pressure, and thickness of the rope.
  14. 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of rope transducers each include a memory to store a maximum parameter measured when the rope is deployed for use, the stored parameter being communicated to the transducer coupled to the sheave when the rope transducer is positioned adjacent the transducer coupled to the sheave.
  15. 15. A method of measuring a property of a rope in use, the method comprising: providing a sheave having a passageway for engaging the rope, the sheave having a transducer positioned along the passageway; moving the rope through the sheave; transmitting a signal transversely into the rope relative to an axial length of the rope; receiving the signal after the signal has passed transversely through the rope; and based at least partially on the signal, determining with a controller a property of the rope.
  16. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising, before transmitting, contacting the transducer with the rope. Date re~ue/Date received 2024-02-13

Description

84974439 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MEASURING PROPERTIES OF A ROPE RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/354,492, filed June 24, 2016, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/354,497, filed June 24, 2016. FIELD [0002] The present invention relates to a system for evaluating signal propagation properties through high performance synthetic fiber ropes for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) of synthetic fiber ropes. Such a system can be used in conjunction with application-specific operating characteristics to understand the health of the rope and establish retirement criteria for the synthetic ropes and cables used in those applications. SUMMARY [0003] The lightweight nature of synthetic fiber rope provides many performance and economic advantages over metal wire rope. For example, when used in conjunction with sheaves in applications known as cyclic bend over sheave (CBOS) applications (e.g., cranes, elevators, heave compensation systems, and pulling lines), synthetic fiber rope allows for the use of equipment having a smaller footprint, less weight, and less power consumption than similar equipment for metal wire rope. However, regardless of whether metal wire or synthetic fiber rope is used in a particular application, assessment of the condition of the rope enables providing and maintaining a retirement criteria for reliable operation of the rope. [0004] A dynamic component for determining and maintaining an accurate retirement criteria is the structural integrity of the rope. The integrity of the rope is used in conjunction with other components including user preferences (e.g., replacement at 50% strength, etc.) and the particular application, (e.g., mooring, cranes and winches, safety lines, etc.) to determine the retirement criteria. [0005] A number of SHM and NDE systems and methods that measure rope and cable structural integrity to determine the retirement criteria of steel and other metallic wire ropes 1 Date re~ue/Date received 2024-02-13 WO 2017/223555 PCT/0S2017/039244 have been developed. However, there are no generally accepted methods of measuring structural integrity of synthetic ropes, and, thus, the typical practice for determining retirement crite1ia for synthetic fiber ropes relies on visual inspections and/or by tracking the history of usage for each rope. Visual inspections are inherently subjective and history-ofusage tracking can be highly inaccurate. As a result, current retirement criteria are not based on meaningful parameters. [0006] In response to deficiencies of visual inspections and history of usage tracking, a number of objective methods for SHM and NDE for synthetic fiber ropes have been developed. The methods use secondary materials such as conductive carbon fibers and glass or polymeric optical fibers intertwined with the synthetic fibers of the rope. In theory, the secondary materials undergo the same stresses and wear as the synthetic fibers. 'Ihe stresses on the secondmy materials can be easily measured, and, from these measurements, the stresses and wem· on the synthetic fibers is inferred. [0007] In reality, because the materials are inherently different and due to the complicated structure of the rope, the synthetic fibers can undergo stresses and \Vear that the secondary materials do not. Furthermore, the secondary materials are only exposed to stresses in their immediate vicinity and, as such, there may be sections of the rope in which stresses and wear are not measured. Mea,;;urements obtained using secondary materials directly reflect the integrity of the evaluation materials only and indirectly reflect that of the synthetic fibers that mal..:e up the rope itself. [0008] Furthermore, synthetic fiber ropes intertwined ·with secondary materials may be less strong, have different than expected abrasion properties, and be more difficult to manufacture than ropes formed entirely from synthetic fibers. For at least these reasons, methods for measuring the structural integrity of rope \vith optical fibers are not widely practiced.. [0009] Another method of monitoring and evaluating synthetic fiber ropes involves the use of longitudinal waves propagated over a length of rope. Such a method may utilize longitudinal ,vave propagation theory as described by M. Ferreira et al. in "Non Destructive Testing of Polym·amide Cables by Longitudinal Wave Propagation: Study of the Dynamic Modulus", Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol 40, No. 7, July 2000. This method calls 2 84974439 for at least some physical contact with the rope as probes or tappers directly contact the rope to introduce the acoustic signal. [0010] Furthermore, to determine meaningful retirement criteria with data from longitudinal waves, the rope must be held under constant tension (e.g., elevator cables, antenna stays, etc.) when being evaluated. This limits the use of this metho