Loos and Company Blog

Our Products

Loos and Company has over 50 years of experience in the wire and cable industry. With our knowledge and experience, we can offer the highest quality products available on the market. Our general product lines and capabilities are listed above. As a manufacturer we can provide customized products for any application. If you have any questions or wish to learn more about our products and capabilities, visit our product specific pages or contact us.

New Call-to-action

New Call-to-action

New call-to-action

Loos HotWire: LoosCo.com's Blog

How Do I Figure out Cable and Wire Rope Stretch?

Aug 24, 2022 09:11 AM

When designing cable or wire rope systems, the amount of stretch that will occur when a force is applied is an important consideration. In today’s blog we will look at the importance of understanding stretch in cable and wire rope. Knowing this will ensure that you are getting the right products for your applications. The first thing to keep in mind when doing your stretch calculations is that there are two types of stretch.

image-Nov-17-2021-03-04-35-00-PM-1

The two forms of stretch in cable and wire rope are Structural Stretch and Elastic Stretch.

Structural Stretch

Structural Stretch is the lengthening of the lay in the construction of cable and wire rope as the individual wires adjust under load. Structural Stretch in Loos & Co., Inc. products is less than 1% of the total cable length. This form of stretch can be completely removed by applying a cable or wire rope prestretching operation prior to shipment.

Elastic Stretch

Elastic Stretch is the actual physical elongation of the individual wires under load. The elastic stretch can be calculated by using a specific formula. The formula for determining elastic stretch is:

E = (W x G) / D2

Where:

E = Elastic Stretch, as a % of Length**

W = Weight of Load, in pounds

D = Diameter of cable, in inches

G = See Chart Below

Cable/Wire Rope

"G" Factor

Cable/Wire Rope

"G" Factor 

1x7 302/304 SST

.00000735

1x7 Galvanized

.00000661

1x19 302/304 SST

.00000779

1x19 Galvanized

.00000698

7x7 302/304 SST

.0000120

7x7 Galvanized

.0000107

7x19 302/304 SST

.0000162

7x19 Galvanized

.0000140

6x19 302/304 SST IWRC    

.0000157

6x19 Galvanized IWRC      

.0000136

6x25 302/304 SST IWRC

.0000160

6x25 Galvanized IWRC

.0000144

19x7 302/304 SST

.0000197

19x7 Galvanized

.0000178

*Elastic Stretch derived from this formula is an approximation.

**Remember to keep your units of measure constant. The length of your cable must be calculated in inches to correspond with the diameter measurement, also in inches

For more information, use our free stretch calculator from our website, contact a product manager or visit our technical information page. Alternatively, if you have any questions our team is here to help! Reach out to us by email at sales@loosco.com or by phone at (860) 928-7981.