This cable features an integrated bus system without increasing the overall diameter of the cable, so that it can be used in existing spreader drums.

Nexans has also launched a new spreader cable which features two integrated sensor cores in addition to the control cores. The electrical resistance of the sensor cores varies according to the changing load on the cable, and this movement is measured to provide information about the tensile load in the cable. This makes it possible to measure the tensile load in a spreader cable during operation without stopping.

The continuing move up in size in terms of cranes – with increasing numbers of super-post-panamax cranes being orders – has important repercussions for the crane OEM market and also affects subsystem and cable suppliers, says Nexans.

This includes a drive to reduce the total weight of the crane – calling for lighter, stronger materials, including cables, and new state-of-the-art designs.

In a recent report, Nexans highlighted the speed of container operations at the Port of Hong Kong. “Many 22-storey-high, super-post-panamax cranes have a hoisting speed of over 60 metres/minute with an empty spreader and 30 metres/minute with a maximum load,” said the report.

“The trolley transverse speed is 76 metres/minute and the gantry travel speed is 135 metres/minute.

“Material handling at this velocity and even at far higher speeds puts a lot of strain on cables and cabling systems in terms of flexibility, durability, high temperatures, tension, torque and overall wear and tear.”

Meanwhile, cranes are becoming part of an information-rich, dynamic supply chain which will extend from initial material acquisition to the end point of sale and delivery, says the report. “This demand for information is what has led many crane and equipment manufacturers to build higher data capacity into their products, whether hybrid energy/databus cables based on copper technologies, or fully fledged optical fibre solutions.”

These “smarter” crane cables must meet the same high-speed movement and wear requirements, it emphasises.

Nexans recently established a new Handling Application Centre in Lyon, France, where it can test all cable requirements in crane applications, including torsion, traction, bending and flexibility, in real-time simulations.