As STW the source of all knowledge I thought I would try and get an answer about chains in lifting rigging!

If there is a length of chain in between your lifting hook and the load, will this act as a bit of a damper/spring? Or will behave the same as a steel wire?

Hmm.. the chain won’t exhibit much elastic deformation (well – it will a tiny bit) so it will be pretty dead – with no damping effect.

So you’re saying DON’T use it for bungee jumping? Got it.

It will also have to be taken into consideration on load weight too and effectively reduces the permitted weight of the object you want to lift wrt hoist/crane save loads.

I would have thought your steel wire would be more elastic. But I know nothing.

Most of the lifts I have been involved in lately have used nylon strops/slings and shackles, chains seem to be going out of fashion, most of our lifts are between 20-40 tonne, last real biggy was a 52 tonner.

ps Im not a lifting engineer just a nosey project engineer with a crane fetish.

Depending on which calculation standards your insurance company require, a moving load (lifting from the deck of a ship, etc.) will mean an increase in the effective load.

Eg. multiply the stated weight by 1.3 to give the dynamic load.

Yes, the calculations are often that simple. It’s so they can be easily checked by the insurance company, who may well ask to see them before signing off the lift.