Rope Lays

The lay of a wire rope is the description of the way the wires and strands are placed during manufacture.

Right and Left lay refers to the direction in which the strands of the rope are wound around the core.

Regular and Langs lay refers to the way the wires in the strand are wound in relation to the strands.

RIGHT HAND LAY  means the strands pass in a left to right direction across the rope.

LEFT HAND LAY     means the strands pass in a right to left direction across the rope.

REGULAR or          refers to the way the wires are placed in each strand.  Regular or Ordinary

ORDINARY LAY      lay means that the wires in the strand are laid in an opposite direction to that of the strand.  The crowns of the wires appear to be parallel to the axis of the rope.

This is the most common lay. 

 

LANGS LAY              Langs lay means that the wires in the strand are laid in the same direction as the strand.  The crowns of the wires appear to be at an angle to the axis of the rope.

 The characteristics of each lay are as follows:

 Right Lay                   The most common lay

 Left Lay                      Used in a few special applications – cable tool drilling line, for example

 Regular Lay              less likely to kink and untwist, easier to handle, more crush resistant than langs lay.  Relatively poor wearing qualities due to the point contact on the crown wires in the strand.

 Langs Lay                 Increased resistance to abrasion due to the surface pressure being spread over a longer length of wire, greater flexibility and fatigue resistance, has a tendency to kink and untwist and so recommended only for use where the rope and load are secured against rotation.

RHRL or RHOL has the widest range of applications and meets the requirements of most equipment.  In fact, other lay specifications are considered exceptions and must be stated when ordering.  There are however, the following exceptions.  Langs lay is recommended for much excavating, construction and mining applications, including draglines, hoist lines, dredgelines and other similar lines.  This is because langs lay ropes are more flexible than regular lay ropes and they also have greater wearing surface per wire than regular lay ropes which results in increased resistance to abrasion.

Where properly recommended, installed and used, langs lay ropes can be used to greater advantage than regular lay ropes.  However, langs lay ropes are more susceptible to the abuses of bending over small diameter sheaves, pinching in undersize sheave grooves, crushing when winding on drums and failing due to excessive rotation.  Left lay rope has the greatest usage in oil fields on rod and tubing lines, blast hole rigs and spudders where rotation of right lay rope would loosen couplings.  The rotation of a left lay rope tightens a standard coupling.