Wire Cloth Grades and Industrial ApplicationsHow is mesh size utilized in industry?

Wire Cloth Grades and Industrial ApplicationsHow is mesh size utilized in industry?

Wire cloth can be categorized into two primary application fields:

• Industrial

• Architectural & Construction

Architectural applications encompass:

• Decorative or functional facades, windows or fenestration, and roofing elements, which can act as:

• Graphics and signage imprinted on the screen such as company name or advertising

• Wind breaks

• Sunlight diffusers

• Shade producers to reduce solar thermal heating on an interior space

• Railing and fall protection - railings on or around decks, stairs, and other open, elevated spaces in buildings or their exteriors can utilize wire mesh or cloth to provide a protective barrier to prevent falls from elevated surfaces.

• Screens and fencing - wire mesh can be used as fencing or barrier material to stop animals, insects, livestock, and people from entering or exiting a space. Chain link fence is a spiral woven wire product. Fence wires have deep V-shaped “crimps”. V-shaped wires are spiral threaded or woven into each other.

• Soil Stabilization - Geomesh is wire mesh that can be used to prevent soil, gravel, and earth erosion. Geomesh is important in retaining and stabilizing soil or earth in building and construction applications. Gabion or slope stabilization netting is used to make Gabion boxes, which are filled with stones and gravel to provide a barrier to stop erosion on slopes during floods or heavy rains.

• Concrete reinforcement - Remesh is placed inside concrete forms to reinforce concrete in conjunction with rebar. Remesh provides a bridge across cracks, which prevents the cracks from propagating.

Industrial applications include:

• Battery Electrodes - Wire mesh can be used to create electrodes in batteries and other applications.

• Belting and Conveyor Mesh - Conveyor mesh is used to make process belts. Process belts are used to move and process materials. High temperature mesh belts can convey parts or materials through a furnace for thermal processing, sintering, and heat treatment. Process belts are also used to manufacture paper and nonwoven polymer fiber webs. Process belts can be spliced or endless. Endless belts have no splice or joint, so they do not leave a repeating pattern in a nonwoven or paper web formed on the endless belt. Endless woven belts are made by spiral weaving.

• Catalyst and Catalyst Supports - Wire mesh can be used as a support media hold reactive catalyst compound in chemical process plant applications. Certain metals like a fine nickel mesh can act as catalysts.

• Containers and Packaging - Wire cloth can be formed into containers and packages such as baskets or bags. The openness of the mesh allows air to circulate through the goods in the container, which can prevent mildew and spoilage in some applications. Wire mesh containers can be rigid or flexible depending on the wire cloth product utilized.

• Dewatering - removal of water from sludge or slurries

• EMI/FEI shielding - The electrical and magnetic properties of metal wire mesh make the material suitable for EMI/FEI shielding while reducing the weight compared to a solid sheet metal enclosure.

• Filtration

• Wire cloth can act as a filter or filtration media

• Wire mesh or screen can act as a filter media support behind the filter

• Gasketing and Seals - Wire cloth can be die cut into shape to form gaskets and seals as well as EMI/RFI shielding gaskets.

• Personal protection - Wire mesh can be fabricated into personal protection components such as shields, barriers, covers, machine guards, dividers, and flame arrestors. Space cloth is the wire cloth grade typically used for these applications. Space cloth tends to be rigid, deeply crimped mesh with openings from ¼ to 4 inches. Space grade cloth is typically specified by opening size.

• Screen Printing - Screen or wire mesh can be used to print patterns for electronic circuitry, graphics, and even bill and note watermarking.

• Sieving for particle size classification - Screening, sifting, sieving, and sorting powders and granular materials to produce a specific particle size distribution. The wire cloth is mounted into a frame and placed on a screening machine, which shakes back and forth as powder is fed onto the surface. Bolting grade and market grade wire cloth are commonly used in screening applications. Bolting grade wire cloth has a large percent open area and extremely thin wire to maximize material flow through the screen during sifting of flour, grain, seeds, and metal powders. Bolting grade cloth is typically specified by mesh size.

• Structuring and reinforcing mesh materials:

• Hernia repair requires a surgical mesh

• Steel cord or belting is used to reinforce tires