Depending on where they are used, wire ropes have to fulfill different requirements. The main uses are:
- Running ropes (stranded ropes) are bent over sheaves and drums. They are therefore stressed mainly by bending and secondly by tension.
- Stationary ropes, stay ropes (spiral ropes, mostly full-locked) have to carry tensile forces and are therefore mainly loaded by static and fluctuating tensile stresses. Ropes used for suspension are often called cables. [7]
- Track ropes (full locked ropes) have to act as rails for the rollers of cabins or other loads in aerial ropeways and cable cranes. In contrast to running ropes, track ropes do not take on the curvature of the rollers. Under the roller force, a so-called free bending radius of the rope occurs. This radius increases (and the bending stresses decrease) with the tensile force and decreases with the roller force.
- Wire rope slings (stranded ropes) are used to harness various kinds of goods. These slings are stressed by the tensile forces but first of all by bending stresses when bent over the more or less sharp edges of the goods.
钢丝绳应用非常广泛。不同用途的钢丝绳 ，有不同的结构特点和力学特征。
- 动态绳索： 通常是由股捻合而成，通过滑轮和卷筒的钢丝绳。有这类作业特点的钢丝绳，首先要有耐弯曲特性，其次要耐张拉力。
- 静态绳索：通常为螺旋股全密封钢丝绳 。这类钢丝绳通长要承受相当静态或波动的的拉力，用于悬架，通常被称为钢缆。
- 牵引绳 （全密封绳）通常被用于护栏、架空索道、缆索起重机等。
- 钢丝绳吊索具
