Plastic-Coated Steel Wire Rope Extrusion Line

Plastic-Coated Steel Wire Rope Extrusion Line

A plastic-coated steel wire rope extrusion production line is a specialized automated complete set of equipment used to continuously and uniformly coat a layer of plastic sheath onto the surface of bare steel wire rope. Its core process utilizes a plastic extruder to tightly coat molten plastic (such as PVC, PE, PP, etc.) onto the steel wire rope moving at a constant speed. After cooling and setting, the final plastic-coated steel wire rope product is formed.
Advantages of Plastic Coating:
Through the plastic coating process, the steel wire rope is endowed with numerous excellent properties:
Excellent Corrosion Resistance: Effectively resists corrosion from seawater, humid air, and chemicals, significantly extending service life.
Outstanding Wear Resistance: Reduces friction loss against pulleys, drums, and internal friction.
Good Insulation: Provides a degree of electrical insulation protection.
Aesthetics and Identifiability: Can be made into various colors by adding color masterbatch, facilitating differentiation and management.
Comfortable Handling: Improved feel, easier for bare-handed operation, and can reduce noise and vibration.
Stain and Dirt Resistance: Smooth surface is less likely to accumulate dirt and grime.

Production Line Composition

A complete plastic-coated steel wire rope extrusion line consists of the following seven systems working together, all indispensable:
Pay-off System
Core Equipment: Pay-off stand.
Function: Supports and releases the bare steel wire rope from the carrier reel or spool to be coated.
Key Requirement: Provides stable and adjustable tension control (typically using a torque motor or magnetic particle brake) to prevent the wire rope from becoming slack or overly tight, ensuring the rope enters the extruder head straight and stable.
Pre-treatment System
Core Equipment: Cleaning device, Pre-heater.
Function:
Cleaning: Uses brushes, compressed air, etc., to remove oil, moisture, and dust from the steel wire rope surface.
Pre-heating: Employs medium-frequency induction heating or electric heating tubes to heat the steel wire rope to a certain temperature (typically 80-150°C).
Importance: Pre-heating thoroughly removes moisture and increases the contact temperature between the plastic melt and the steel wire rope, enhancing bonding strength and preventing coating loosening or bubble formation due to uneven shrinkage during subsequent cooling.
Extrusion System
Core Equipment: Plastic extruder, Extrusion die (Head).
Function: Melts and plasticizes plastic pellets, then extrudes and uniformly coats them onto the steel wire rope surface.
Extruder: Composed of a screw, barrel, heating bands, and drive system. Responsible for heating and pressurizing solid plastic raw material into a homogeneous melt.
Head (Die): This is the technical key. The steel wire rope passes through the center of the head, and the molten plastic forms a tubular coating around the wire rope inside the head. The precision design of the die directly determines the thickness uniformity and concentricity of the coating.
Cooling and Setting System
Core Equipment: Cooling water tank.
Function: Rapidly cools and solidifies the high-temperature plastic-coated wire rope emerging from the die head, setting it into the final product.
Process: Typically employs staged cooling (e.g., initial spray cooling/warm water cooling, followed by entry into a cold water tank) to avoid internal stress caused by rapid quenching, which could lead to plastic layer deformation, cracking, or debonding from the wire rope.
Pulling System
Core Equipment: Puller (typically a dual-caterpillar type).
Function: Provides continuous and stable pulling force for the entire production line, drawing the steel wire rope forward at a constant speed.
Key Requirement: The pulling speed must be strictly synchronized with the extrusion speed, pay-off, and take-up speeds. Even minor fluctuations in speed will directly cause uneven coating thickness. This is a critical link for ensuring stable product quality.
Take-up System
Core Equipment: Take-up stand.
Function: Winds the cooled and set finished plastic-coated steel wire rope neatly and tightly onto a carrier reel or spool.
Type: Usually an active take-up, equipped with a traverser to achieve automatic, neat winding and maintain constant winding tension.
Electrical Control System
Core Equipment: PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), Touchscreen (HMI), Temperature control modules, Frequency converters, etc.
Function: Centrally controls the operation of the entire production line. Precisely sets, adjusts, and synchronizes parameters such as speed, temperature, and tension for various parts including the extruder, puller, pay-off, and take-up, enabling automated production and monitoring.

Plastic-Coated Steel Wire Rope Extrusion Line Datasheet

Model	30	40	50	60	70	80	90
Screw Diameter (mm)	φ30	φ40	φ50	φ60	φ70	φ80	φ90
Screw L/D Ratio	25:1	25:1	26:1	26:1	26:1	26:1	26:1
Extrusion Amount (kg/hr)	25	40	70	100	140	200	250
Outlet Wire (mm)	0.2-1	0.4-3	0.8-5	1-8	2-15	3-25	5-35
Total Power (KW)	18	20	25	33	40	55	63
Traction Power (KW)	2.2	2.2	4	4	4	5.5	5.5
Production Speed (m/min (Max.))	600	600	600	500	500	300	300
Take-up Spool (mm)	φ200-400	φ300-500	φ400-630	φ400-630	φ500-630	φ800-1000	φ1000-1250

Plastic-Coated Steel Wire Rope Extrusion Line Application

The plastic-coated steel wire rope extrusion line is a high-tech integrated system that combines machinery, electrical engineering, and thermal processes. Through precise process control and system coordination, it perfectly combines high-performance plastic sheathing with high-strength steel wire rope to produce composite products that meet the demands of various harsh working conditions. It is an indispensable and important processing equipment in modern industry.
Due to its unique advantages, plastic-coated steel wire rope is widely used in the following scenarios:
Marine and Ship Engineering
Mooring ropes: For ship mooring at ports and offshore platforms.
Marine aquaculture: Fixed cables and main ropes for aquaculture nets.
Towing and traction ropes: Offer good buoyancy and corrosion resistance in seawater.
Fishing Industry
Fishing net main ropes: Serve as the main ropes for large fishing nets such as trawls and purse seines, offering high strength, seawater resistance, and wear resistance.
Construction Engineering and Mining
Safety guard cables: Used for anti-collision guardrail cables on bridges and highways.
Construction cables: Cables for construction elevators, gondolas, and other equipment, especially in corrosive environments.
Mining cables: Used for mine hoisting and equipment transportation.
Sports, Leisure, and Daily Use Equipment
Core strings for tennis rackets and bowstrings.
Yacht ropes and sailboat rigging.
Load-bearing cables for zip lines and suspension bridges.
Clotheslines, pet leashes, etc.
Other Industrial Fields
Power cables: Used as reinforcing cores for submarine fiber optic cables and overhead ground wires.
Skeleton material for industrial conveyor belts.