Right Lay Regular Lay

A standard wire rope is a right hand regular lay rope composed of six strands
laid around a core. This is the type of rope that is most commonly furnished unless
otherwise specified or indicated. In this rope, the individual wires of the strand have
been laid in a left hand direction and the strands themselves have been laid in a right
hand direction around the core of the rope. This rope is easily identified through the
individual wires, as they appear on the surface of the rope, and are parallel to the axis
of the rope. The strands appear as a right hand thread.

Stranded ropes are an assembly of several strands laid helically in one or more
layers around a core. This core can be one of three types. The first is a fiber core,
made up of synthetic material. Fiber cores are the most flexible and elastic, but have
the downside of getting crushed easily. The second type, wire strand core, is made up
of one additional strand of wire, and is typically used for suspension. The third type is
independent wire rope core, which is the most durable in all types of environments.
Most types of stranded ropes only have one strand layer over the core (fibre core or
steel core). The lay direction of the strands in the rope can be right (symbol Z) or left
(symbol S) and the lay direction of the wires can be right (symbol z) or left (symbol
s). This kind of rope is called ordinary lay rope if the lay direction of the wires in the
outer strands is in the opposite direction to the lay of the outer strands themselves. If
both the wires in the outer strands and the outer strands themselves have the same lay
direction, the rope is called a lang lay rope (formerly Alberts lay or Langs lay).
Multi-strand ropes are all more or less resistant to rotation and have at least two
layers of strands laid helically around a centre. The direction of the outer strands is
opposite to that of the underlying strand layers. Ropes with three strand layers can be
nearly non-rotating. Ropes with two strand layers are mostly only low-rotating.

The direction the wires are wound in the strands in relation to the direction of
the strands around the core: In regular lay rope, the wires in the strands are laid in one
direction while the strands in the rope are laid in the opposite direction. In lang lay
rope, the wires are twisted in the same direction as the strands. See figure below.

In regular lay ropes, the wires in the strands are laid in one direction, while the
strands in the rope are laid in the opposite direction. The result is that the wire crown
runs approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rope. These ropes have
good resistance to kinking and twisting and are easy to handle. They are also able to
withstand considerable crushing and distortion due to the short length of exposed
wires. This type of rope has the widest range of applications.

Lang lay (where the wires are twisted in the same direction as the strands) is
recommended for many excavating, construction, and mining applications, including
draglines, hoist lines, dredgelines, and other similar lines.

Lang lay ropes are more flexible and have greater wearing surface per wire
than regular lay ropes. In addition, since the outside wires in lang lay ropes lie at an
angle to the rope axis, internal stress due to bending over sheaves and drums is
reduced causing lang lay ropes to be more resistant to bending fatigue.

A left lay rope is one in which the strands form a left-hand helix similar to the
threads of a left-hand screw thread. Left lay rope has its greatest usage in oil fields on
rod and tubing lines, blast hole rigs, and spudders where rotation of right lay would
loosen couplings. The rotation of a left lay rope tightens a standard coupling.