IMCA to Host Wire Rope Workshop
The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) Wire Rope workgroup has held three Wire Rope Workshops, the fourth in the series ‘Optimum System Design for High Value Subsea Construction Ropes’ will be held 18 March 2014 at the Radisson Blu Hotel at Amsterdam Airport.
“Our biannual Wire Rope Workshops are proving extremely relevant and interesting. Over 90 attended the last one in Amsterdam in October which focused on the lubrication of high value subsea construction ropes; others have looked at high value wire rope issues, and at non-destructive testing” explains IMCA’s Technical Director, Jane Bugler.
“The March event will embrace the operators’ view of current and future system requirements; the system designer’s approach for wire rope interaction (storage, routing, winches, sheaves and active heave systems); rope qualification methods for specific systems; fully integrated monitoring systems and interaction with rope system; and multi-fail and parallel winch systems in deep water.
“There are a number of ‘hot topics’ that will undoubtedly make it onto the Workshop agenda,” she adds. These include:
- Applicable factors of safety
- D:d ratio related to large diameter ropes
- Active Heave Compensation related to wire rope life
- Rope torsional affects (torsional disturbance and multi-fall operations)
- Multilayer drum winch design
- Rope wear in fleeting, drum winches and traction winches
- Weighted bend cycle monitoring and theoretical limits
Workshop sessions will allow attendees to get fully involved with the discussion on relevant topics including what is required by the subsea construction industry; the approach taken by the wire rope and system designers; what is being developed to overcome the increasing future requirements; and how the theory can be used or developed further to bring solutions to optimum design for rope life, system size and performance.
Typical attendance at previous events had included representatives from various subsea contractors, wire rope manufacturers, system designers / suppliers, equipment suppliers and academic institutes, all eager to further the discussion within the industry on requirements, opportunities and future development requirements.
