PowerForce: Lifting strap made of high-performance fibres

SpanSet is about to launch an innovative lifting strap made of high-performance fibres. Its high cut resistance and its low degree of elongation will extend its application range. 

Lifting straps are commonly produced from conventional polyester. But with PowerForce SpanSet is set on a new direction. For the first time ever the company situated in Übach Palenberg is using a particularly cut and abrasion resistant high-molecular polyethylene (HMPE). The most obvious advantage of this high-performance fibre: PowerForce does not require additional edge protection for sharp edges with a radius of only 2 mm. 

From an edge radius of 2 mm onwards no additional edge protection is required.

That is particularly good news for practical people: In the heat of the moment it is not always clear if additional edge protection should be used to avoid damage to the lifting strap in use. To decide, the edge radius and the thickness of the lifting strap have to be measured. In general the rule applies: An edge is considered sharp when its radius is smaller than the diameter of the lifting strap. 

Tedious handling is avoided

PowerForce facilitates the matter. As long as the edge radius is not lower than 2 mm, edge protection is not required - despite the fact that the strap has a thickness of 3 mm. For the user, this saves him tedious handling of additional equipment and speeds up the lifting process.

PowerForce has been designed for a working load limit WLL of up to 6 t depending on the particular model. In the first step of the launch, SpanSet offers the new lifting straps as one-layered round slings and one-layered web slings. Other models with D-bracket and push-through bracket will follow in the course of 2019. 

Designed following product norm EN 1492-1

SpanSet has its own equipment on which the nominal weight limit of PowerForce was tested according to and beyond the tests required by the norm. PowerForce was designed following EN 1492-1 for polyester lifting straps, amongst others. "Following" here means that the norm does not take the material HMPE into consideration. 

Less than two percent elongation

Also remarkable is the low elongation of the material. It is approx. four percent which allows for exact lifting processes based on direct force generation. Also, when lifting big loads in relatively small production areas, the low elongation can be a decisive advantage.

The automated seam particularly defined for PowerForce lifting straps makes the difference

The latest type of sewing automats ensure a consistently high quality of the seam pattern which is executed in a particularly small and space saving manner. As a result there is more contact area for the load compared to other lifting straps of the same length. 

The HMPE strap is white for all models. The marking of the load capacity is done with colour coding of the sling and a clearly visible patch.

Ill. 1: The 3 mm thick SpanSet lifting strap PowerForce does not require edge protection even for small radii.

Ill. 2: High abrasion resistance: PowerForce succeeds even on rough concrete surfaces.