What is wire mesh? Definition, features, and target markets

A great variety of shapes and applications

&#;Wire mesh&#; is a generic term. It refers to two- or three-dimensional lattices made from two or more metallic wires which are linked to one another by different processes such as welding, weaving, netting, or knitting. Wire mesh products are widely employed for reinforcing, armoring, protecting, fencing, carrying, and displaying operations in a large variety of areas. Therefore, we can say that wire mesh is an integral part of industry and everyday life.

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Wire mesh materials and their main characteristics

Wires used for wire mesh can be made from carbon steel, galvanized steel, PVC coated steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, copper alloys (brass and bronze), and other metals or alloys. Let&#;s take a look at the differences between all of these materials.

Mesh made of carbon steel wires has high strength, is magnetic, and can be galvanized or cladded with a PVC coating or painted to prevent corrosion. Mesh made from stainless steel wires, instead, does not require further surface treatment. While on the one hand, copper wire is ductile, has a high thermal and electrical conductivity, and is resistant to atmospheric corrosion; on the other, brass wire has excellent abrasion-resistance properties. Last but not least, bronze wire is effective against atmospheric agents, while aluminum wire can be used to fabricate extremely lightweight and corrosion-resistant mesh. The material selection, the wire diameter, and the manufacturing method depend on the application of the mesh products and their conditions of use.

Welded wire mesh

Welded wire mesh is a metal wire screen usually made out of two low carbon steel wires or stainless steel wires which are joined to each other at right angles and welded at the crossing points. Typical examples are reinforcement meshes for concrete components. In addition, there are industrial meshes in light or heavy design that can be used as fences, partition walls, and protective gratings. Three-dimensional welded wire meshes are used e.g. as shopping carts, shopping baskets, and goods displays in supermarkets, as well as trays for domestic appliances, ventilation grids, cable guides, and cages for animals. Another example are electro-welded gabions, which are intended to hold masses of stone together and are enjoying growing popularity in landscaping.
Welded wire mesh is characterized by high stability and rigidity, and can also be welded into frame constructions.

Wire fabrics

Wire fabrics, also called woven wire cloth, are flat structures made of two wire systems intersected by weaving. Typical products are airbag filters and other reinforcement fabrics, transportation and process belts, sieves, as well as pulp and paper processing systems. Wire fabrics are also used in filtration, separation, and cleaning processes for the mining, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and food processing industries. Furthermore, wire fabrics act as a radio and microwave shielding, spark protection, or as fly nets. Last but not least, woven wire cloth is applied in architectural applications such as façade covering. Depending on the material of the wires and the wire cloth texture, wire fabrics can be as soft and flexible as silk, or as rigid and durable as a steel plate.

Wire nettings

Wire nettings include the so-called wire netting fences. Examples are the rectangular nettings which are often used to enclose properties. Hexagonal nettings are used in agriculture and forestry to enclose woodland plantations and protect them against animals. Such kind of netting also serves as a slope reinforcement and protection against rock slides and avalanches. There is also a special group of nettings, that is round braids, which act as a reinforcement of hoses and cables or as shielding of cables against electromagnetic interferences.

Literature

About textile weaving:
Valeriy Choogin, Palitha Bandara, Elena Chepelyuk: Mechanisms of Flat Weaving Technology. 1st Edition. Woodhead Publishing,
ISBN:
eBook ISBN:

Introduction Top Weaving Technology.
https://textilelibrary.wordpress.com//04/09/introduction-to-weaving-technology/

Emel Önder, Ömer Berk Berkalp: Weaving Technology II
https://web.itu.edu.tr/~berkalpo/Weaving_Lecture/Weaving_Chapter1a_06S.pdf

About resistance welding:
Hongyan Zhang, Jacek Senkara: Resistance Welding. Fundamentals and Applications. Taylor & Francis Inc; New edition, .
ISBN-10:
ISBN-13: 978-

Nigel Scotchmer: The Other Resistance Process: Cross Wire Welding. In: Welding Journal, December , pages 36-39.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/_The_other_resistance_process_Cross_wire_welding

For helping us compile the information, we thank Dipl.-Ing. Konrad Dengler, technical journalist and translator specialized in industrial topics.

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The history of wire mesh and wire mesh manufacturing

The manufacture of wire meshes has its roots in the most traditional textile production technologies, such as weaving and knitting. Wire weaving on looms for industrial purposes appeared in the early part of the 18th Century. In those years, the steam-driven loom for textile weaving was invented: this new technology rapidly transferred to the wire industry, in particular for automated wire weaving processes. A driving force behind the development of wire meshes was the growing paper industry, as an endless wire mesh belt allowed the processing of pulp much faster than before. The result was that paper needed for newspapers, journals, and books could be produced at higher speeds and in larger quantities than ever.

Wire mesh also plays an important role in the &#;Davy lamp&#;, which was invented by the chemist Humphry Davy in . It was designed to reduce the danger of flammable gas explosions and to warn about carbon monoxide presence in mines. This safety lamp was crucial for the development of the coal and iron ore mining industry, and thus for the progress in steel making in the 19th century. Woven wire mesh, therefore, was key to the development of the industrial revolution. In the early 20th century, with the widespread availability of electricity, modern welding methods &#; such as resistance welding &#; arose and opened the way to welded wire mesh manufacturing. In the first decades of the 20th century, increasing military demand for military aircraft, tanks, vehicles, and gas mask filters caused an economic increase in the wire mesh industry.

Manufacture of wire mesh, wire cloth, and packaging types

Different methods &#; such as welding, weaving, netting, or knitting &#; are used to process metallic wires into wire mesh. Flat mesh products arrive on the market in the form of coils or stacks.

Welded wire mesh is produced via automated CNC welding machines. Horizontal wires are continuously fed in parallel rows into the machine directly from the coil. Vertical wires are straightened, cut, and laid onto the horizontal wires for spot welding operations. In this way, a flat and rigid panel with square, rectangular, or diamond-shaped meshes is manufactured. A shear cuts the mesh panel once it reaches its specified length. Then, a transporting device extracts the final products from the welding line and stacks them for the following transportations.
Different diameter and wire spacing configurations allow great panel customization to accommodate any need.

Wire cloth is made on weaving machines. The longitudinal wires, known as warp wires, run continuously from the back of the machine to the front side. A device holds the warp wires in place. Some of these wires are alternatively raised or lowered by a mechanism, creating an opening in the transverse direction. A shuttle &#; with another wire, called weft wire &#; is &#;shot&#; through one opening, returned through the subsequent one, and so on. In this way, the weft wire is woven through the warp wires. Both types of wires interlace with each other at specific angles to form the wire cloth.

Wire nettings are manufactured via chain link machines, which loop different wires into one another according to a regular pattern.

Literature

About textile weaving:

Valeriy Choogin, Palitha Bandara, Elena Chepelyuk: Mechanisms of Flat Weaving Technology. 1st Edition. Woodhead Publishing,
ISBN:
eBook ISBN:

Introduction To Weaving Technology.
https://textilelibrary.wordpress.com//04/09/introduction-to-weaving-technology/

Emel Önder, Ömer Berk Berkalp: Weaving Technology II
https://web.itu.edu.tr/~berkalpo/Weaving_Lecture/Weaving_Chapter1a_06S.pdf

About resistance welding:

Hongyan Zhang, Jacek Senkara: Resistance Welding. Fundamentals and Applications. Taylor & Francis Inc; New edition, .
ISBN-10:
ISBN-13: 978-

Nigel Scotchmer: The Other Resistance Process: Cross Wire Welding. In: Welding Journal, December , pages 36-39.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/_The_other_resistance_process_Cross_wire_welding

For helping us compile the information, we thank -Ing. Konrad Dengler, technical journalist and translator specialized in industrial topics.

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