A wire rope is a machine, by dictionary definition: "An assemblage of parts.that transmit forces, motion, and energy one to another in some predetermined manner and to some desired end."
A typical wire rope may contain hundreds of individual wires which are formed and fabricated to operate at close bearing tolerances one to another. When a wire rope bends, each of its many wires slides and adjusts in the bend to accommodate the difference in length between the inside and the outside bend. The sharper the bend, the greater the movement.