27
RIGGINGREVIEW
MAY 2014
ACT
Bratthauar anticipates that all crane
OEMSwill beginoffering synthetic ropes
in the future. “Currently theKZ™100
technology is beingoffered exclusivelyby
Manitowoc andhas the advantageof being
specificallydesigned as ahoisting rope for
mobile crane applications,”he said.
Another benefit to changing to this type
of rope is that it integrateswith existing
technologies onManitowoc/Grovemobile
cranes. “Therewere reallynomajor
challenges toovercome in cranedesign,”
Bratthauar said.
Tested and retested
Theprocess tobring KZ™100 tomarket
hasmeant arduous testing,Quinn said.
Manitowoc andSamson startedworking
on the joint project about twoyears ago.
Samsonhadprevious experience replacing
wire ropewith synthetic inmanyother
markets.Manitowoc saw that Samson’s
successwithdifferent technologies from
other industries couldbebrought forward
in terms of craneusage. Samson’s first
concernwashow to spool the synthetic
ropeon thehoist,Quinn said.
“Weweren’t really sure, sowe took two
optionswehad inknownproducts to see
how theseperformed inbaseline tests,”
he explained. “We started from there
and that ledus to a specific typeof rope
construction to themanagement of the
spoolingperformanceon thehoist.”
Otherperformance facets included
strengthversusdiameter tolerance,
bend fatigue and testing invarious
temperatures.Other questionswere:How
dowe attach the rope to thehoist?What
do theprofilesneed to look likeon the
boomnose?
“Weneeded to look at everyplacewhere
the ropewould connect to seewhat kind
ofwearwould takeplace,”he said. “We
created a testmatrix for each challenge.”
Fornow, KZ™100 is specific tomobile
cranes. Theplan is forManitowoc to
introduce it on its entireRT seriesup to
the130-ton capacityRT9130 andgoing
down to the25-ton capacity industrial
cranes.”
KZ™100 ismade from a combination
of Dyneema® high-performance
synthetic fibers that provide strength
similar to traditional wire rope but is
80 percent lighter.
