It has to be steel for many cable carrier applications

For cable management in extreme conditions, properties such as strength, temperature resistance, hardness, impact strength and corrosion characteristics are invaluable. In such applications, explain the experts at Kabelschlepp Metool, there is often simply no alternative to steel.

An extensive range of plastic and hybrid carriers allows customers to always find the right material for virtually any application. Cable carriers with steel side bands are a practical choice for extremely rough environmental conditions, very high temperatures or high mechanical loads. They can ensure very extensive unsupported lengths with high additional loads from cables.

Due to the higher weight, steel cable carriers can only be used up to around 2 m/s travel speed, but this aspect is almost always a minor factor for the ‘classic’ areas of application in heavy engineering, steelworks technology, mining or deep drilling. The focus is on the robustness and durability of the solution. With the use of additional measures, however, Kabelschlepp Metool can implement travel speeds up to 4 m/s.

Steel cable carriers can be built with a significantly more compact design compared to plastic cable carriers with the same load capacity. Conversely, this means that a steel cable carrier with the same size and same load has a significantly longer unsupported length than a plastic cable carrier. Steel as a material makes full use of all its strength benefits here. Additional loads up to several hundred kilograms per metre are possible if multiple side bands can be placed side by side.

Many customers choose steel cable carriers based on their high level of robustness to withstand the rough environmental conditions with a high degree of contamination under great mechanical load. In addition to the typical application, for example in steelworks on roll stands, continuous casting systems or flame descaling systems, these carriers have been operating reliably in the field of drilling systems for many years. They can handle the mechanical impact forces from the stones, sand and soil in the extreme ambient conditions. Even complicated motion sequences such as the power supply for a rotating coal digger or reclaimer can be covered with steel cable carriers.

Depending on the model, steel cable carriers can resist short-term temperature loads or application-related maximum values of up to 400 °C, and briefly even up to 1000 °C for stainless steel versions. Galvanised steel cable carriers are the first choice in industrial furnaces, in foundries and in the steel processing industry. Relatively high operating temperatures occur in rolling mills, for example.

Even environments with hot swarf cannot affect the functionality of steel cable carriers. In addition, the carriers are resistant to chemicals and radiation and are a sound choice for handling robots and manipulators in chemical plants. Kabelschlepp Metool offers stainless steel cable carriers in three different quality levels, which can even be used in the environment of acid baths in galvanising shops, in power plant applications or in other areas with radioactive radiation.

Offshore applications are another classic area of application for stainless steel cable carriers, which have to meet strict technical requirements in this field. This is where Kabelschlepp Metool says steel cable carriers excel thanks to their resistance to seawater and UV radiation. They can permanently and reliably withstand the rough climate. With their high load capacity due to the material properties and their robust design, they can handle even extreme mechanical stress from particularly high additional loads, even with extensive unsupported lengths.

The STEEL-LINE from Kabelschlepp Metool includes a number of steel cable carriers in various sizes and configurations, with a comprehensive range of accessories available to match. All cable carriers are made of galvanised steel or – for even higher requirements – stainless steel. Different types of stainless steel can be used based on the application.

Depending on the local conditions at the place of use, Kabelshlepp Metool offers different stay variants made of an aluminium alloy. The cable carriers are usually equipped with aluminium stays that can be precisely adapted to the respective application in a 1 mm grid in both cases.

The stays have two central purposes: they form the mechanical connection between the side bands and are also the contact and friction points with the cables and hoses that are guided in the cable carriers. Their coefficient of friction therefore has a crucial influence on the service life of the cables and hoses and on the reliability of the entire cable carrier system.

Steel cable carriers can run for many decades – Kabelschlepp Metool can point to cases where a cable carrier has been in use for over 50 years. However, the benefits of a steel cable carrier do not stop at the end of its service life. Up to 100% of the components of the steel cable carriers can be recycled at the end of their service life, conserving resources and protecting the environment. Using one ton of steel in recycling saves one ton of CO2 emissions and avoids mining of 1.5 tons of iron ore.