BRITISH STANDARD BS 302-2:1987

Reprinted,
incorporating
Amendment No. 1
Licensed Copy: Gaynor Haywood, Thames Water Utilities Ltd, Wed Aug 02 15:30:41 BST 2006, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI

Stranded steel wire

ropes —
Part 2: Specification for ropes for
general purposes

UDC 677.721
 BS 302-2:1987

Committees responsible for this

British Standard
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The preparation of this British Standard was entrusted by the Mechanical

Handling Standards Committee (MHE/-) to Technical Committee MHE/2,
upon which the following bodies were represented:

Associated Offices Technical Committee

Association of Supervisory and Executive Engineers
British Coal
British Ports Association and the National Association of Ports Employers
British Railways Board
British Steel Industry (Wire Section)
Bureau Veritas
Chain Testers Association of Great Britain
Department of the Environment (Property Services Agency)
Federation of Manufacturers of Construction Equipment and Cranes
Federation of Wire Rope Manufacturers of Great Britain
Health and Safety Executive
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Institution of Mining Engineers
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy
Ministry of Defence
National Association of Lift Makers
Zinc Development Association

This British Standard, having

been prepared under the
direction of the Mechanical
Handling Standards
Committee, was published
under the authority of the
Board of BSI and comes
into effect on
30 June 1987

© BSI 01-1999

First published, as BS 302,

September 1927
First revision, as BS 302 and
BS 621, December 1957
Second revision, as BS 302, Amendments issued since publication
May 1968
Third revision, as BS 302-2, Amd. No. Date of issue Comments
June 1987

5874 July 1988 Indicated by a sideline in the margin

The following BSI references
relate to the work on this
standard:
Committee reference MHE/2
Draft for comment 85/70786 DC

ISBN 0 580 15634 6

 BS 302-2:1987

Contents
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Page
Committees responsible Inside front cover
Foreword ii
1 Scope 1
2 Definitions 1
3 Compliance 1
4 Wire rope constructions and sizes 1
5 Material 1
6 Lay 2
7 Lubrication 2
8 Minimum breaking load 2
Figure 1 — 6 × 19 and 6 × 36 construction groups 3
Table 1 — Wire rope constructions and sizes 1
Table 2 — 6 × 7 construction group 2
Table 3 — 6 × 19 and 6 × 36 construction groups 4
Table 4 — 12 × 6 over 3 × 24 construction group 5
Table 5 — 17 × 7 and 18 × 7 construction groups with fibre
or steel core 6
Table 6 — 34 × 7 construction group with fibre or steel core 7
Publications referred to Inside back cover

© BSI 01-1999 i
 BS 302-2:1987

Foreword
Licensed Copy: Gaynor Haywood, Thames Water Utilities Ltd, Wed Aug 02 15:30:41 BST 2006, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI

This Part of BS 302 has been prepared under the direction of the Mechanical
Handling Standards Committee. It is one Part of a combined revision of
BS 302:1968, BS 236:1968, BS 329:1968, BS 330:1968, BS 365:1968 and
BS 3530:1968, which are withdrawn. BS 302 is now published in six Parts and
takes account of both national and international developments since 1968.
This Part (Part 2) specifies requirements for general purpose steel wire ropes
additional to the general requirements in Part 1. Subsequent Parts specify the
additional requirements for other particular uses of ropes:
— Part 3: Specification for zinc coated ropes for ships;
— Part 4: Specification for ropes for lifts;
— Part 5: Specification for ropes for hauling purposes;
— Part 6: Specification for ropes for mine hoisting.
Two further Parts are in preparation, covering larger diameter ropes (64 mm
to 205 mm diameter) and higher strength ropes and will be Parts 7 and 8
respectively.
In line with the principles of international standard ISO 2408, published by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the constructions are
grouped according to the number of outer wires in the strands. The general
requirements of BS 302-1 and the methods used for calculating breaking loads
and approximate masses are in accordance with ISO 2408. In respect of
individual usages the ropes in Parts 2 and 3 are fully in accordance with ISO 2408
and those in section 2 of Part 4 are in accordance with ISO 4344. In each of these
Parts however, certain additional ropes still in common use in the UK have been
included.
In line with current international practice, the term “zinc coated” has been
adopted in this standard in place of “galvanized”. The terms are synonymous.
Purchasers ordering to BS 302 are advised to specify in their purchasing contract
that the manufacturer operate a quality system in compliance with the
appropriate Part of BS 5750, or suitable equivalent, to ensure themselves that
products claimed to comply with BS 302 consistently achieve the required level of
quality.
Wire rope users will find valuable information in the companion publication
BS 6570 “Code of practice for the selection, care and maintenance of steel wire
ropes”.
A British Standard does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a
contract. Users of British Standards are responsible for their correct application.
Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity
from legal obligations.

Summary of pages
This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, pages i and ii,
pages 1 to 8, an inside back cover and a back cover.
This standard has been updated (see copyright date) and may have had
amendments incorporated. This will be indicated in the amendment table on
the inside front cover.

ii © BSI 01-1999
 BS 302-2:1987
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1 Scope 4 Wire rope constructions and sizes

This Part of BS 302 specifies the requirements for Constructions and size ranges shall be as given in
steel wire ropes for general purposes and is for use Table 1.
in conjunction with Part 1. NOTE In the absence of a precise indication by the purchaser
NOTE 1 Information to be supplied by the purchaser on the on the enquiry and order, the choice of construction within a
enquiry and order is given in appendix F of BS 302-1:1987. group is at the discretion of the supplier.
NOTE 2 The titles of the publications referred to in this
standard are listed on the inside back page. 5 Material
2 Definitions 5.1 Wire
5.1.1 General. The wire used for the manufacture of
For the purposes of this Part of BS 302, the
wire ropes specified in this Part, as shown in
definitions given in BS 302-1 apply.
Table 1, shall comply with sections 1 and 2 of
BS 2763:1982. The mechanical tests shall be
3 Compliance confined to the tensile strength and torsion
Ropes in accordance with BS 302-2 shall comply requirements.
with this Part and with BS 302-1. 5.1.2 Wire finish. The wire shall be bright or class Z
zinc coated for all constructions. Zinc coating shall
comply with BS 2763.
Table 1 — Wire rope constructions and sizes
Rope Description Size range Typical construction
group (diameter)
mm
6×7 Up to seven outer wires in a strand, one layer of 2 to 9 6 × 7 (6/1)
wire over a king wire.
6 × 19 8 to 12 outer wires in a strand, two or three 3 to 52 6 × 19 (9/9/1)a
layers over a king wire. Wires equal laid. 6 × 19 (12/6 + 6F/1)
6 × 26 (10/5 and 5/5/1)
6 × 31 (12/6 and 6/6/1)
6 × 36 14 to 18 outer wires in strand, 3 or more layers 9 to 60 6 × 36 (14/7 and 7/7/1)
of wire over a king wire. Wires equal laid. 6 × 41 (16/8 and 8/8/1)
6 × 49 (16/8 and 8/8/8/1)
12 × 6 “Paragon” multi-strand. 8 to 32 12 × 6 over 3 × 24
over
3 × 24 12 to 18 centreless flat strands each comprising
four to six wires cross laid over three oval
strands usually of the construction (15/9/FIBRE)
over a fibre core.
17 × 7 17 or 18 strands in rope. Two layers of strand 6 to 26 17 × 7 (6/1)
or over fibre or steel core. 18 × 7 (6/1)
18 × 7
34 × 7 34 or 36 strands in rope. Three layers of strand 16 to 40 34 × 7 (6/1)
over fibre or steel core. 36 × 7 (6/1)
a3 mm to 6 mm ropes in this group are only available as 6 × 19 (12/6/1).

© BSI 01-1999 1
 BS 302-2:1987
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5.1.3 Tensile grade of wires. For all constructions, 6 Lay

all wires except filler wires, king wires and wires
6.1 Direction of lay
forming a steel main core, whether bright or zinc
coated, shall be of 1 770 N/mm2 1) tensile grade. Ropes shall be of right-hand lay or of left-hand lay.
5.2 Rope main core NOTE For economic reasons right-hand lay is preferred and
will be supplied. It will need to be stated by the purchaser on his
5.2.1 General. The main core of the rope shall be of enquiry and order if a left-hand lay rope is required.
fibre or steel. 6.2 Type of lay
5.2.2 Fibre core. Fibre cores shall comply with 3.2 of Round strand ropes shall be either ordinary or
BS 302-1:1987. Lang’s lay. Multistrand ropes shall have either an
5.2.3 Steel core. Where a steel core is used, it shall ordinary or Lang’s lay outer layer, with the
be an independent wire rope (IWRC) for rope sizes exception of ropes of Paragon construction which
of 13 mm diameter and above. For rope sizes smaller shall have a Lang’s lay outer layer.
than 13 mm diameter the steel core shall be either
an IWRC or a wire strand (WSC). 7 Lubrication
All wires forming a steel main core, except king Fibre main cores shall be treated and the wires of
wires, shall be of one tensile grade. the rope shall be coated with a lubricant complying
with 3.3 of BS 302-1:1987.
NOTE The degree and type of lubrication should be agreed
between the purchaser and the supplier.

8 Minimum breaking load

The minimum breaking loads shall be as given in
Table 2 to Table 6.
NOTE For guidance, these tables also give approximate masses
of ropes, calculated as in C.2 of BS 302-1:1987.

Table 2 — 6 × 7 Construction group

Nominal Minimum breaking force Minimum breaking load Approximate mass

diameter (1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade) (1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade)

Fibre cored Steel cored Fibre cored Steel cored Fibre cored Steel cored

mm kN kN t t kg/100 m kg/100 m
2 2.35 2.54 0.24 0.26 1.38 1.52
3 5.29 5.72 0.54 0.58 3.11 3.43
4 9.40 10.2 0.96 1.04 5.54 6.10
5 14.7 15.9 1.50 1.62 8.65 9.53
6 21.2 22.9 2.16 2.33 12.5 13.7
7 28.8 31.1 2.94 3.17 17.0 18.7
8 37.6 40.7 3.83 4.15 22.1 24.4
9 47.6 51.5 4.85 5.25 28.0 30.9

1)
1 N/mm2 = 1 MPa.

2 © BSI 01-1999
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© BSI 01-1999
Figure 1 — 6 × 19 and 6 × 36 construction groups

3
BS 302-2:1987
 BS 302-2:1987
Licensed Copy: Gaynor Haywood, Thames Water Utilities Ltd, Wed Aug 02 15:30:41 BST 2006, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI

Table 3 — 6 × 19 and 6 × 36 construction groups

Nominal Minimum breaking force Minimum breaking load Approximate mass
diameter (1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade) (1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade)

Fibre cored Steel cored Fibre cored Steel cored Fibre cored Steel cored

mm kN kN t t kg/100 m kg/100 m
3 4.89 5.29 0.50 0.54 3.11 3.43
4 8.69 9.4 0.89 0.96 5.54 6.10
5 13.6 14.7 1.39 1.50 8.65 9.53
6 19.6 21.2 2.00 2.16 12.5 13.7
7 28.6 30.9 2.92 3.15 17.7 19.5
8 37.4 40.3 3.81 4.11 23.1 25.5
9 47.3 51.0 4.82 5.20 29.2 32.2
10 58.4 63.0 5.95 6.42 36.1 39.8
11 70.7 76.2 7.21 7.77 43.7 48.2
12 84.1 90.7 8.57 9.25 52.0 57.3
13 98.7 106 10.1 10.8 61.0 67.3
14 114 124 11.6 12.6 70.8 78.0
16 150 161 15.3 16.4 92.4 102
18 189 204 19.3 20.8 117 129
19 211 227 21.5 23.1 130 144
20 234 252 23.9 25.7 144 159
22 283 305 28.8 31.1 175 193
24 336 363 34.3 37.0 208 229
26 395 426 40.3 43.4 244 269
28 458 494 46.7 50.4 283 312
32 598 645 61.0 65.7 370 408
35 716 772 73.0 78.7 442 488
36 757 817 77.2 83.3 468 516
38 843 910 85.9 92.8 521 575
40 935 1 008 95.3 103 578 637
44 1 131 1 220 115 124 699 771
48 1 346 1 452 137 148 832 917
52 1 579 1 704 161 174 976 1 076
54 1 703 1 837 174 187 1 053 1 161
56 1 832 1 976 187 201 1 132 1 248
60 2 103 2 268 214 231 1 300 1 433
NOTE 1 3 mm to 8 mm rope is not available in the 6 × 36 construction group.
NOTE 2 56 mm and 60 mm ropes are only available in the 6 × 36 construction group.
NOTE 3 The values for 3, 4, 5 and 6 mm ropes are based on 6 × 19 cross-lay construction.

4 © BSI 01-1999
 BS 302-2:1987
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Table 4 — 12 × 6 over 3 × 24 construction group

Nominal diameter Minimum breaking force Minimum breaking load Approximate mass
(1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade) (1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade) (fibre cored)

mm kN t kg/100 m
8 34.0 3.47 23.2
9 43.0 4.38 29.3
10 53.1 5.41 36.2
11 64.3 6.55 43.8
12 76.5 7.80 52.1
13 89.7 9.14 61.2
14 104 10.6 71.0
16 136 13.9 92.7
18 172 17.5 117
19 192 19.6 131
20 212 21.6 145
22 257 26.2 175
24 306 31.2 209
26 359 36.6 245
28 416 42.4 284
32 544 55.5 371

© BSI 01-1999 5
 BS 302-2:1987
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Table 5 — 17 × 7 and 18 × 7 construction groups with fibre or steel core

Nominal diameter Minimum breaking force Minimum breaking load Approximate mass
(1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade) (1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade) (fibre cored)

mm kN t kg/100 m
6 20.9 2.13 14.0
7 28.4 2.90 19.1
8 37.2 3.79 25.0
9 47.0 4.79 31.6
10 58.1 5.92 39.0
11 70.2 7.16 47.2
12 83.6 8.52 56.2
13 98.1 10.0 65.9
14 114 11.6 76.4
16 149 15.2 99.8
18 188 19.2 126
19 210 21.4 141
20 232 23.6 156
22 281 28.6 189
24 334 34.0 225
26 392 40.0 264

6 © BSI 01-1999
 BS 302-2:1987
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Table 6 — 34 × 7 construction group with fibre or steel core

Nominal diameter Minimum breaking force Minimum breaking load Approximate mass
(1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade) (1 770 N/mm2 tensile grade)

mm kN t kg/100 m
16 144 14.7 99.8
18 182 18.6 126
19 203 20.7 141
20 225 22.9 156
22 272 27.7 189
24 324 33.0 225
26 380 38.7 264
28 441 45.0 306
32 576 58.7 399
35 690 70.3 478
36 729 74.3 505
38 813 82.9 563
40 901 91.8 624

© BSI 01-1999 7
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8
blank
 BS 302-2:1987

Publications referred to
Licensed Copy: Gaynor Haywood, Thames Water Utilities Ltd, Wed Aug 02 15:30:41 BST 2006, Uncontrolled Copy, (c) BSI

BS 2763, Specification for round carbon steel wire for wire ropes.
BS 5750, Quality systems2).
BS 5750-2, Specification for manufacture and installation.
BS 6570, Code of practice for the selection, care and maintenance of steel wire ropes2).
ISO 2408, Steel wire ropes for general purposes — Characteristics2).
ISO 4344, Steel wire ropes for lifts2).

2) Referred to in the foreword only.

© BSI 01-1999
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