Structural failures of rope-based systems

The aim of this paper was to emphasise the importance of making a broad collection of hypotheses at the beginning of failure investigations as a precondition for efficiency and correct conclusions. For this purpose, four case studies of structural failures are presented, where the failed load carrying structure was based on wire ropes (steel cables) and the incidents occurred despite safety precautions. The investigations are not dealt with in depth – they are merely summaries intended to highlight the failure hypotheses and the procedure in finding the failure causes.Some generalised conclusions are formulated at the end of each case study. In this way, the knowledge and experience derived from a failure analysis can be archived in memory and called upon during future investigations – regardless of whether or not a wire rope is present in the failed system.