Wire ropes can be classified according to the material, surface condition, twisting method and purpose of the wire rope.

Classified by material
1. Carbon steel wire rope is made of high-quality carbon structural steel wire twisted as raw materials.
2. Stainless steel wire rope, made of twisted stainless steel wire

Classified by surface condition
1. Phosphating coated steel wire rope (Chinese patent), referred to as phosphating steel wire rope, the weight of the steel wire phosphate film is 3-60 g/m2. After phosphating, the steel wire is directly twisted without cold drawing before twisting. , Steel core and steel wire rope, phosphating film can improve the abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance of the surface of the rope steel wire, and effectively inhibit the occurrence of fretting fatigue. Phosphating treatment of rope steel wire, preferentially adopt manganese or zinc-manganese phosphating. After phosphating, the steel wire is not subjected to any drawing processing, and the phosphating steel wire is directly used to twist the wire rope. The surface of the steel wire is more wear-resistant due to the phosphating coating. Moreover, the phosphating film is not conductive, which can improve the corrosion resistance of the steel wire at the same time. The service life of the phosphated steel wire rope is 2-3 times that of the smooth steel wire rope, and the fatigue resistance of the steel wire rope is greatly improved. Phosphating steel wire rope is not only an ideal substitute for smooth steel wire rope, but also fully capable of replacing imported steel wire rope.
2. Zinc aluminuim steel wire rope includes two methods: hot-dip galvanizing and electro-galvanizing. The protection of the steel wire by the galvanized layer is anodic protection. The thicker the galvanized layer, the stronger the corrosion resistance.
3. Plastic-coated steel wire rope, coating a certain thickness of plastic on the outer surface of the steel wire rope or the outer surface of the strand, including polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, etc.
4. Smooth steel wire rope, the rope-making steel wire obtained after heat treatment and cold drawing of the raw materials prepared for the surface, the steel wire is directly twisted into strand rope, steel core and steel wire rope without any surface treatment.

Classification according to the wire rope twisting method
Single-strand rope: also known as single-twist rope, it is made by twisting the rope-making steel wire around the central wire or hemp core, and can twist one or more layers of steel wires.
Double twisted rope: It is made by twisting a double stranded rope around the core (steel core or fiber core), which can twist one or more layers of steel wire, and is the most widely used wire rope variety.
Three-twisted rope: Double-twisted rope is twisted around the core of the rope, mainly used for steel wire ropes with a diameter of 60mm or more, such as offshore steel wire ropes.