Modeling Rope Reliability

In this paper we attempt to model the reliability of a steel rope that is susceptible to breakage during its operation. Each individual strand of the rope is modeled using a counting process for breakages and the associated process describing new breakages. The decision to replace the rope is based on the maximum number of breakages in the strands along a given length. Using a stochastic simulation, significant simplifications in the model of the associated process are introduced. The decision to replace the rope is based on the convolution of the associated processes acting on the strands. This is approximated by a Gaussian process. Deterministic modeling of the strands indicates the possibility of estimating the parameters of the processes that characterize the rope.