PowerForce: Lifting strap made from high-performance fibers

SpanSet is launching an innovative lifting strap made of high-performance fibers. High cut resistance and low elongation of the fabric expand the range of applications

Lifting straps are usually made of conventional polyester. SpanSet is now taking a new approach with PowerForce. For the first time, the company from Übach-Palenberg is using high-molecular-weight polyethylene (HMPE), which is particularly resistant to cutting and abrasion, for a lifting strap. The most obvious advantage of the high-performance fiber is that the PowerForce lifting strap requires no additional protection for sharp edges with a radius of just two millimeters.

From an edge radius of two millimeters, there is no need for additional edg

This is good news for practitioners in particular: It is not always clear in the heat of the lifting battle whether additional edge protection is called for to ensure that the lifting strap is not damaged during use. To find out, you have to measure the edge radius and thickness of the lifting strap. Because basically the formula applies: An edge is sharp if its radius is smaller than the diameter of the lifting strap.

No more tedious handling

PowerForce simplifies the matter. As long as the edge does not fall below a radius of two millimeters, it can be handled without edge protection - even though the belt has a thickness of three millimeters. This saves the user the hassle of handling additional equipment and speeds up the lifting process.

Depending on the version, PowerForce is designed for a nominal load (working load limit, WLL) of up to six tons. In the first stage of the market launch, SpanSet is offering the new lifting straps as single-ply loop lifting straps and single-ply strap slings. Other variants with D-brackets and through-brackets will follow later in 2019.

Designed in accordance with product standard EN 1492-1.

SpanSet operates its own facility on which the cut resistance of PowerForce was tested under nominal load beyond the usual tests defined in the standard. PowerForce was designed in accordance with EN 1492-1 for, among other things, polyester lifting straps. "Based on" because the standard does not consider HMPE material.

Low elongation 

Also noteworthy is the low elongation of the fabric made of high-performance fiber, which leads to direct force build-up and enables precise lifting operations.

The automatic seam defined specifically for PowerForce lifting straps makes the difference

State-of-the-art automatic sewing machines ensure consistently high quality seam patterns, which are designed to be particularly small and space-saving. As a result, more contact area remains for the load than with other lifting straps of the same length.

The HMPE sling is white in every version. Marking according to load capacity is done by color coding of the loop and by clearly visible patches.

Abb.1 [download]: The three millimeter thick SpanSet PowerForce lifting sling manages without edge protection even on small radii.