<p>Addressing the stress concentration effects in steel wire ropes is vital for industries, such as versatile swing stages, that depend on these components for heavy lifting tasks. The integrity and longevity of these ropes are directly linked to operational efficiency and safety. In this paper, the stress concentrations along interwire contact and outer wear areas of steel wire ropes with double layers of strands laid helically are studied numerically. Based on a verified FE model, the mitigating stress concentration effects of the steel wire rope are determined in terms of peak stress distribution manner and stress gradient from pre-existing wear defect. The wire strand core of the end section in contrast to that of the middle section is found to undergo greater plastic deformation and load redistribution between different layers of wires. The evolution of stress concentration in the steel wire rope with the redistribution of load is discussed. The comparison of the stress concentration factors (<i>K</i>_t) for the simulation illustrates the sensitive range for greater <i>K</i>_t in line with larger diameter of the helical wires and larger lay angles of the rope. It also reveals that <i>K</i>_t for the exterior helical wire with larger wear depth and the location farther from the center of the bottom of the wear groove diminishes at a slower rate.</p>