With their ability to support high axial loads with a low bending and torsional stiffness, wire ropes meet the requirements for lifting and pulling. Moreover, by their multicomponent composition, their use is safer than other structures like steel bars. Indeed, and as a result of friction forces between components, a wire rope with broken wire can recover its nominal load at the end of a length called recovery length. The standards EN 12385-3 and ISO 4309 specify under which conditions a cable with broken wire may be kept in service. In this context, this work aims to define the wire rope damage depending on the number of broken wires.

We study the behavior of the constitutive strands of a wire rope of type 19 * 7 (1 * 7 + 6 * 7 + 12 * 7). A default is initiated on the samples of strand by cutting wires in the middle. The strand damage is calculated through different life time by an experimental method of residual forces, then by the unified theory developed by Bui-Quoc and al and finally by the linear Miner damage.

Based on simple tensile test, this research allows us to establish the damage and reliability curves of the strands according to the fraction of life. Different damage stages with an experimental normalized method are established. Comparison were made between this method and the unified theory. The adjustment of the loading level gave good correspondence in damage function.In conclusion, the strand stays in the initiation damage stage until the second wire breaking. Then, it enters in the progressive damage stage. The limit of this stage is at the 5th wire's breaking.