EVALUATING THE STRUCTURAL CONDITION OF SYNTHETIC AND METALLIC CABLES

In view of the fact that mechanical cables are very popular and powerf ul structural members, methods that provide information concerning the ir ''health'' are anxiously needed. In general, and because of their e xtended length (a rope used in a gold mine in South Africa is 9.3 mile s long), methods which inspect the cable as a continuous function of t he length variable are very expensive and time-consuming. The present paper surveys the state-of-the-art and discusses limitations and advan tages of the techniques available today, the most recent one being the ''induced, transverse wave propagation method''.