Lanyard Testing
- May 22, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 25
The Challenge
A collaborative project to study and evaluate the effect of wear, environmental degradation, and work environment on fall protection lanyard strength to determine the effects of everyday use and damage on the strength of personal fall protection lanyards.
The Solution
Lanyards were purposely damaged by the researchers to simulate weld damage, abrasion, and cuts.
The lanyards were drop tested from a drop structure with a test mass of 45 to 175 kg. The drop test allowed 6 to 12-foot free fall distances to test the personal energy absorber and lanyard Engineering Involvement:
Design of Test Structure, Rigging and Setup
Finalization of Drop Test Procedure
Supervision of the Initial Drop Tests
A crew from the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet was on site for the day to film the test set-up and drop test. Dr. Carolyn Sparrey was interviewed sharing the excitement and knowledge we gained from testing and the collaboration with BCIT. The segment was aired in January 2015. Videos of the various drop test can be viewed on our YouTube channel.
About Simon Fraser University and BC Institute of Technology
Consistently ranked among Canada’s top research-intensive universities, Simon Fraser University is a world leader in research, knowledge development and sustainability.
The BC Institute of Technology offers practical career credentials designed for the workplace, from diplomas and certificates to bachelor's and master's degrees. Their schools cover subjects as diverse as applied and natural sciences, business and media, computing and IT, engineering health sciences and trades. Visit their websites Simon Fraser University & British Columbia Institute of Technology.
