   When a sling is used in a vertical position, the load angle factor is 1. This means that a 1000 lb load will put 1000 lbs of stress on the sling. When two or more slings are attached to a load, the load is divided among the slings. If it is an unsymetrical load, the stress on the slings will not be equal. The stress on a sling is also dependent upon the angle. The drawing below shows this effect for a symetrical load with one sling. It can be seen that the stress increases as the angle gets smaller. This adjustment applies to both wire rope and synthetic slings. 
Here the angle is measured from the top of the load to the sling.
The chart below shows the load angle factor for angles between zero and ninty degrees.
The angles from 30 to 50 degress are in yellow because they should be used with caution if unavoidable.
The angles shown in red should not be used.
In estimating the angle of the sling, one should err on the low side, which will overestimate the load on the sling. A sling rated for more than the load is never a problem. |