High Performance Steel Fixed Socket
The fixed sockets made of high performance steel are including cast steel parts or machined steel components. They can be also classified as swaged or poured sockets. In the company product range MAC and MCC are the two fixed swaged sockets while the poured sockets are TTF, CYF and CYC.
Our range of high-performance steel cables can be either supplied using Full Locked Coil (FLC) ropes or Open Spiral Strands (OSS). Both solutions are available with poured spelter cone type sockets (resin or zinc filled) or with pressed swaged sockets depending on the cable diameter and the project requirements and specifications.
Each socket is made using high strength steels and can be chosen from a wide range of socket shape options, the majority of which are available in either a fixed or length adjustable configuration to meet the design and architectural requirements.
In case of special architectural structural requirements, sockets can be customized in relation to degree of length adjustment, resistance, structural interface.
Cables are terminated to the sockets by means of three possible methods:
- Spelter socketing by poured polyester resin for structural use with minimum 100% efficiency to the strand minimum breaking force. In accordance with EN 13411-4.
- Spelter socketing by poured hot zinc or zinc alloy with minimum 100% efficiency to the strand minimum breaking force. In accordance with EN 13411-4.
- Swaged (pressed) socketing with minimum 90% efficiency to the strand minimum breaking force. In accordance with EN 13411-8.
Spelter socketing involves the following manufacturing operations:
- The wires at the strand end are opened to form a “brush”.
- The brush is ultrasonically cleaned.
- The brush is positioned inside the internal cone profile of the socket.
- Structural polyester resin or zinc / zinc alloy is poured into the socket wires to form socket cone.
- The solid cone that is created transfers the load between cable and socket.
There are no mechanical wedges, grips, serrations, or connections used in the socketing process, meaning there is no mechanical damaging of the wires within the strands at this safety critical area. Whilst the structural efficiency of resin and zinc / zinc alloy socketing is the same, there are some differences to be considered in the selection of the preferred method:
- Resin is cold process and zinc / zinc alloy is a molten hot metal pour, meaning pouring resin is inherently safer than pouring zinc / zinc alloy.
- Resin is more efficient to produce because of the relative curing time compared to zinc / zinc alloy.
- • Zinc / zinc alloy is poured at a temperature of approximately 450 °C, therefore sockets must be pre-heated before socketing operations begin.
- Where there is a requirement for painted sockets, pre-heating the sockets is not possible, therefore resin socketing is the only available choice.
- Resin is recommended for HDPE sheathed cables because of the high temperatures of the poured zinc / zinc alloy can melt and damage the polyethylene.
Socketing by swaging is performed by pressing the section of sockets with the cable termination inside. This method reduces the cable system’s resistance by 10% of strand minimum breaking force. All sockets’ connections are designed to have a breaking force higher than that of the respective strand.
