Wire rope drum materials are primarily categorized into three main types: Cast Iron, Cast Steel, and Welded Steel.
1. Cast Iron Class
Cast iron drums are manufactured using traditional casting methods.
Advantages:
Good Wear Resistance: The graphite components in cast iron provide a self-lubricating effect, effectively resisting wire rope wear.
Excellent Castability: Easy to mold into complex shapes, suitable for parts with intricate geometries.
Good Vibration Damping: Effectively absorbs vibration and shock.
Relatively Low Cost: Raw material and manufacturing costs are lower compared to cast steel.
Disadvantages:
Low Strength: Tensile and yield strength are far lower than steel; it is brittle and has poor impact resistance.
High Weight: Its high density results in a heavy drum.
Potential Casting Defects: Defects such as sand holes and gas pores may be present, which can compromise strength.
Suitable Wire rope drumTypes:
Primarily used for small to medium-sized, single-layer winding drums with lower duty groups (e.g., M3-M5), low lifting capacities, and no severe impact loads.
Not suitable for: Multi-layer winding drums (which endure high radial pressure), heavy-duty regimes (M6 and above), or applications involving impact loads.

2. Cast Steel Class
Cast steel is employed when higher strength is required.
Advantages:
High Strength: High load-bearing capacity. Toughness is superior to cast iron, allowing it to withstand certain impact loads.
Disadvantages:
Poor Castability: Lower fluidity than cast iron, making it prone to defects like shrinkage cavities.
High Cost: Material and casting process costs are higher than those of cast iron.
Poor Weldability: Repair welding requires highly specialized procedures.
Suitable wire rope drum Types:
Used for drums with larger lifting capacities, higher duty groups, or those subject to impact loads.
Due to the prevalence of welded drums, pure cast steel drums are less common in modern cranes. They are more frequently used for components like wire rope drum hubs and flanges.

3. Welded Steel Class
This is the absolute mainstream manufacturing method for medium and large modern crane drums. They are formed by rolling and welding steel plates.
Common Grades:
Q235B: A standard carbon structural steel. Offers moderate strength, excellent weldability, and is cost-effective.
Q345B (16Mn): A high-strength low-alloy steel. Its yield strength (≥345 MPa) is significantly higher than Q235B, making it the preferred material for achieving lightweight and high-strength designs.
Q420B: Used for extra-large, heavy-duty drums, offering even higher strength.
Advantages:
High Strength to Weight Ratio: Can be made thinner and lighter than cast iron drums for the same load capacity, enabling lightweight design.
Stable Quality and High Reliability: High-quality rolled steel plates have a uniform internal structure, free from casting defects.
Manufacturing Flexibility: Ideal for producing large, extra-long, or structurally complex drums (e.g., complex Lebus grooves can be precisely machined into the steel plate via CNC).
Enhanced Safety: Steel has good toughness, exhibits significant plastic deformation before failure, and avoids the risk of brittle fracture.
Disadvantages:
Relatively Poor Wear Resistance: Often requires surface heat treatment (e.g., quenching) or the application of wear-resistant coatings to enhance groove durability.
High Demands on Welding Process: Weld quality is critical and must be verified through non-destructive testing (e.g., ultrasonic inspection) to ensure it is defect-free.
Suitable wire rope drum Types:
Almost all types of modern drums, specifically:
Large Drums: All medium and large drums for overhead, gantry, and port cranes.