Double sheave swivel fairlead

For its client IHC Offshore Systems, a company for equipment and ships for the offshore and dredging markets, MechDes did the basic and detailed design of a fairlead (wire guide). The fairlead is used to guide a cable between the winch and the anchor point of the ship. We also provided an extensive calculation report.

Based on the report, we found that the large angle that the cable can make, resulting in high forces on the structure, posed a challenge. To create sufficient space for the cable entry, we used self-aligning spherical roller bearings with a diameter of 750 millimeters.

The acting force is 180 tons and the diameter of the steel cable is 79 millimeters.