AmercageTME-M cables offer increased life and reliability

The construction and performance features of a new concept in the strength member component of contrahelically armored (C-H-A) electromechanical (E-M) cables is discussed. The performance features, with emphasis on the axial rotation vs. tension characteristic, are shown to overcome common operational problems which tend to limit the life and reliability of commonly used electromechanical cables. The results of comparative laboratory tests of flexure life and tensile modulus characteristics show the new concept, Amercage^TMcable, to be superior to full coverage C-H armored cables. The design restraints of full coverage contrahelical armor are shown to be overcome by Amercage^TMcable. This is accomplished by adding armor wire spacing as an additional design variable. The advantages of Amer-cage^TMare shown to be achieved by a trade off of a reduced strength-to-diameter ratio.