Abstract
An experimental study has been undertaken into the wear performance of the interface between the traction sheave and rope of elevator. In conventional elevator traction drive, the wire rope slightly slide, called creep, on the traction sheaves. The creep has led to the wear of the traction sheave and the rope over the long term. Wear of rope and traction sheave was simulated by a test bench with cyclic load and reciprocating sliding mechanism. The influence of normal load and contact period on wear was investigated at some typical conditions of elevator systems. Wear of sheave are proportional to the number of contact cycles, not the sliding length. The crack was observed on the wear surface of the sheave specimens. The results of this study show that fatigue wear occurs in sheaves.
