Gleistein 100 & 10 mT testbenches

Dromec and Gleistein are pulling the right strings

If two companies are pulling the strings in their sector, it is Dromec and Gleistein. One in the field of drives and winches, the other with ropes, lines and cables in all shapes and sizes. Dromec developed two new and advanced test benches for the rope factory in Slovakia. Without the right tension, there is no right quality.
Eerde Warnaar from  company Gleistein explains it perfectly in the video below!

Gleistein from Germany, which hopes to celebrate its bicentenary in 2024, is the number two in Europe in the field of rope production. A family business, which is now run by the eighth generation. Gleistein manufactures ropes for applications in the offshore, maritime sector, heavy and industrial lifting, water sports and playgrounds. Every day, a total of more than 45 kilometers of rope rolls out of the production locations in Bremen and Slovakia. More than 5000 different types of ropes are in the range, varying in thickness from 0.3 to more than 360 millimeters.

Pre-stretch

‘A newly produced rope must first become stiff through use,’ says Eerde Warnaar, Senior Application Engineer and Business Developer at Gleistein. ‘When there is tension, the rope stretches slightly. A material like nylon can generate as much as 18 percent stretch. There are customers who require a maximum tolerance of 1 centimeter. That is why we must be able to calculate exactly how long the stretch length is at a certain tension force (the so-called pre-stretch). And then correct that to the desired actual rope length.’

Measuring = knowing. Gleistein has two very heavy test benches of 300 and 30 tons to analyze the pre-stretch. The company has ordered two new ones from Dromec: 100 and 10 tons. They are completely custom designed, with full digital programming and automatic winches. The software can also be controlled and programmed remotely. Clever in case there is a malfunction in the system. A laser measures the lengths and the tension forces, without any chance of deviations.

Tracing Rope Breaks

‘These test benches also offer a solution for tracing the causes of rope breaks. Because we repair broken ropes if it is economically rewarding and technically justifiable. Strands can be spliced ​​and tied together. No two ropes are the same, apart from the uses. Each rope has its own construction and materials.’

That Dromec was awarded the order did not come out of the blue. ‘Gleistein previously had large winches and coils made in Rhenen. I have known Cees Drost, the CEO of Dromec, for fifteen years. Their service is always excellent. Together with the client, they work neatly on a tailor-made solution. That always gives confidence and a sense of satisfaction.’ The development of the test benches took fourteen days, while construction was completed in three months.