Study on Free Vibration Test of Elevator Rope and Time History Response Analysis Method by Difference Method

Elevators are essential for means of vertical transportation. Recently, the high-rise building increases by the development of the building technology. The elevator rope, which is installed in the high-rise building, is also longer than the usual ropes. The natural period of high-rise building and elevator rope become closer. Furthermore, the risk of resonance increases. When the high-rise buildings receive an external force such as the strong wind and the earthquake, the elevator rope may sway intensely. As a result, the rope, which hang the elevator inside the building, may be hooked to the equipment in the host-way. As an actual example, 2125 cases of elevator rope catching damage were reported in the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake. The confirmation of the rope behavior during earthquake is important for the seismic design. The time history response analysis, which applies the difference method, is often carried out for ascertainment of the elevator rope behavior. The verification of the validity of the analysis method is importance. Therefore, in this study, we carried out the vibration test of elevator rope, and furthermore, investigate the validity of the analysis method. In this paper, the displacement of the main rope of the test and analysis are compared. The vibration characteristic of the elevator rope is reported.