are used to harness various kinds of goods. These slings are stressed by the tensile forces but first of all by bending stresses when bent over the more or less sharp edges of the goods. Rope drive Technical regulations apply to the design of rope drives for cranes, elevators, rope ways and mining installations. Factors that are considered in design include: Number of working cycles allowed before replacement or breakage of the rope Donandt force (yielding tensile force for a given bending diameter ratio /) - strict limit. The nominal rope tensile force must be smaller than the Donandt force . Rope safety factor, ratio between the rope's breaking strength and the maximum load to be expected Allowable number of broken strands before replacement Optimal rope diameter for a given sheave diameter, so as to obtain best working life The calculation of the rope drive limits depends on: Data of the used wire rope Rope tensile force Diameter of sheave or drum Simple bendings per working cycle Reverse bendings per working cycle Combined fluctuating tension and bending per working cycle Relative fluctuating tensile force Rope bending length Safety The wire ropes are stressed by fluctuating forces, by wear, by corrosion and in seldom cases by extreme forces. The rope life is finite and the safety is only ensured by inspection for the detection of wire breaks on a reference rope length, of cross-section loss, as well as other failures so that the wire rope can be replaced before a dangerous situation occurs. Installations should be designed to facilitate the inspection of the wire ropes. Lifting installations for passenger transportation require that a combination of several methods should be used to prevent a car from plunging downwards. Elevators must have redundant bearing ropes and a safety gear. Ropeways and mine hoistings must be permanently supervised by a responsible manager and the rope must be inspected by a magnetic method capable of detecting inner wire breaks. Terminations The end of a wire rope tends to fray readily, and cannot be easily connected to plant and equipment. There are different ways of securing the ends of wire ropes to prevent fraying. The common and useful type of end fitting for a wire rope is to turn the end back to form a loop. The loose end is then fixed back on the wire rope. Termination efficiencies vary from about 70% for a Flemish