The new Cordage Institute fiber rope test methods

The Cordage Institute (CI) recently published a new “Standard Test Methods for Fiber Rope”. This method is generally similar to the earlier CI rope test methods, but it includes a number of significant changes and several new test methods. The new CI test method incorporates rope test methods from ASTM (American Society for Testing Materials) and OCIMF (Oil Companies International Marine Forum). It recognizes the special requirements for testing a variety of synthetic fiber ropes with wide ranges of sizes, strengths, and elastic moduli. This paper describes the new CI “Rope Test Methods”. It explains the background for some of the methods and indicates how these test methods differ from those in other standards. It explains the distinction between elongation and extension, as used in rope application engineering. It describes the relationship between the length of the specimen and the accuracies achieved when measuring of elongation and extension. This paper updates information contained in a previous paper “Comparison of National and International Synthetic Fiber Ropes Test Standards”, presented at the MTS ´93 Conference