ISO 4346 Steel Wire Ropes for General Purposes - Lubricants - Basic Requirements

EUROLAB, with its state-of-the-art accredited laboratories and expert team, provides precise and fast testing services within the scope of ISO 4346 testing. This standard covers the nature and properties of lubricants used in the manufacture of general purpose wire ropes. Service dressings and fiber-based lubricants are excluded. It includes general and specific requirements, qualification tests and quality control.

Lubricants or impregnating compounds must contain a homogeneous, non-volatile base material that protects the strands of the rope from corrosion and reduces friction and wear between the strands. In particular, lubricating or impregnating compounds:

• It has good covering properties;
• It must be water-repellent, water-resistant and not contain compounds that can emulsify significantly in water;
• It should not be subject to significant embrittlement;
• It must not contain sand, abrasives, deliberate weighting agents, water, chlorides or similar impurities;
• It must not contain any additives or compounds that, when combined with moisture in any form, may naturally form products that are corrosive to steel or zinc or harmful to the fiber components of the rope;
• Must not contain any additives or compounds that may naturally corrode steel or zinc due to degradation by heat or natural sunlight exposure or form products harmful to the fiber components of the rope.

The non-volatile base material can be dissolved in a solvent, but if solvents are used they must not contain benzene or chlorinated hydrocarbons. The state of the base compound will be substantially the same before dissolution and after evaporation of the solvent.

If for application purposes it is necessary to reduce viscosity by heating, the lubricant must be such that it substantially returns to its initial state after heating, ie it must be heat reversible. Care should be taken not to deteriorate such lubricants by heating at too high a temperature or by heating for too long.

Rope lubricants and impregnating compounds supplied in accordance with this International Standard must have undergone and passed qualification tests agreed between the lubricant supplier and the wire rope manufacturer.

EUROLAB assists manufacturers with ISO 4346 test compliance. Our test experts, with their professional working mission and principles, provide you, our manufacturers and suppliers, the best service and controlled testing process in our laboratories. Thanks to these services, businesses receive more effective, high-performance and quality testing services and provide safe, fast and uninterrupted service to their customers.