Industrial wire cloth, also commonly referred to as wire mesh screen, is a woven metal fabric having either square or rectangular “working openings” between wires — produced on large weaving machines called looms. “Working openings” are the clear spaces or distances between wires in both directions of the woven wire fabric. Usually openings 1/4 inch and over are referred to as space cloth. Wire mesh with openings less than 1/4 inch are referred to by its mesh count.
Wire cloth and wire mesh screen offers many benefits, including:
- Widest range of filtration & separation from over 6 inch (152.4 mm) aperture down to 1 micron nominal
- High open area/flow rate versus other media
- Closely-controlled, accurate apertures
- Smooth surface — screening surface has no sharp edges, burrs or acute angles
- Very high temperature tolerance (variable according to metal selected)
- Wire mesh is very durable, yet flexible — ideal for forming rigid concave/convex shapes
- Control of chemical/acid/corrosion resistance using different metals
- Short, custom runs are available
- Special aperture requirements can be met without high tooling costs
- Wire screen is self-supporting, stays stable under tension and will hold up under high pressure
- Suitable as support for less rigid media
- Weaving process uses no punching, piercing or expanding operations that create stress-induced weakness