What is the alternative to perforated metal sheet?

Building material

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Sheet of expanded metal

Expanded metal is a type of sheet metal which has been cut and stretched to form a regular pattern (often diamond-shaped) of mesh-like material. It is commonly used for fences and grates, and as metallic lath to support plaster or stucco.

Description

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Expanded metal is stronger than an equivalent weight of wire mesh such as chicken wire, because the material is flattened, allowing the metal to stay in one piece. The other benefit to expanded metal is that the metal is never completely cut and reconnected, allowing the material to retain its strength.

History

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The inventor and patentee of expanded metal is John French Golding, whose first British patent was issued in . He forged partnerships with Hartlepool industrialists Mathew Gray, Christopher Furness and Robert Irving Jr., who, together with W.B Close, brought the manufacture of expanded metal to Hartlepool. The Expanded Metal Company Limited of Hartlepool, United Kingdom, remains a recognised market leader globally in the manufacture of expanded metal to this day and is one of the largest employers locally.

Design

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Formation of one type of expanded metal

Some commonly used shapes are circles, squares, and diamonds; diamonds are the most popular shapes because of how well the shape absorbs energy and resists mechanical deformation after installation. Other design considerations are the size and angles of the shapes, which will also affect how well the metal absorbs energy and where the energy is spread throughout the expanded metal.

For the diamond shape, there are at least four different angles that come into account, the two acute and two obtuse angles. The larger the angles, the less strength the shape will have because there would be too much space inside the shape. However, if the angles are too small, strength is lost because the shape is too close together, so there is no space for the structure to hold.

The angle in which the shapes are laid also plays a significant role. If the angle is zero, the ends of the shape point to the start and the end of the sheet, making straight lines across the sheet of diamonds. This option provides the most strength when it comes to compressing the sheet on its side. This can even take more pressure than a solid piece of metal because the sheet will compress and spread the pressure throughout the sheet. The other four commonly used angles are 60º, 90º, 90º plus 60º, and 60º plus 90º. A 60º angle puts the diamond diagonal at the start and end to the sheet. A 90º angle makes the diamond vertical to the start and the end of a sheet. The 90º plus 60º and 60º plus 90º angles combine both a 60º angle and a 90º angle; the order of the angles is respective to the order in naming. The expanded metal can be manufactured and supplied as standard mesh; or it can be flattened by further levelling processes to have a smooth surface, which allows usage of mesh in more applications, such as prisons, as it no longer has sharp edges that could cause injury.

Applications

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Expanded metal lath used to support stucco () Facade made from expanded metal

Expanded metal is frequently used to make fences, walkways, and grates, as the material is very durable and strong, unlike lighter and less expensive[dubious &#; discuss] wire mesh. The many small openings in the material allow flow through of air, water, and light, while still providing a mechanical barrier to larger objects. Another advantage to using expanded metal as opposed to plain sheet metal is that the exposed edges of the expanded metal provide more traction, which has led to its use in catwalks or drainage covers.

Large quantities of expanded metal are used by the construction industry as metal lath to support materials such as plaster, stucco, or adobe in walls and other structures.

Expanded metal is also used by artists, especially sculptors, who use the material to form complex 3-dimensional surfaces and compound curves which can then be covered with plaster, clay, or other materials. For example, Niki de Saint Phalle made extensive use of expanded metal to support the curved surfaces of large-scale architectural sculptures in her Tarot Garden sculpture garden, in Tuscany, Italy.

A similar material made of stiff sheets of paper or cardboard is used as a low-cost cushioning and packaging material.

In contemporary architecture, expanded metal has been used as an exposed facade or screen material which can be formed into simple or complex decorative shapes. Photographic images may be printed on the surface, producing textures or large graphic images, which still allow light to filter through the exterior surface of a building.

Safety

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Freshly-cut expanded metal has a large number of exposed sharp edges, requiring caution and protective clothing, such as leather gloves and aprons to prevent skin abrasions and cuts.

Notes

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References

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From air and water filtration to grilles and decorative features, perforated metal has many applications.

It&#;s easy to find perforated mesh walkways, perforated speaker grilles, perforated metal building cladding and many more perforated metal products and solutions.

But despite perforated metal&#;s versatility, it also has a major disadvantage&#; the waste of raw materials.

Let&#;s look at the manufacturing process&#;

To manufacture perforated metal, several techniques are used.

During &#;cold perforation&#;, a roller full of pins is run over a metal sheet to punch the holes out. &#;Hot perforation&#; is a similar technique, but heated pins are used instead: these create welts around the holes.

In addition to cold perforation and hot perforation, there is the die and punch process, in which a sheet with protruding needles is pressed on to a metal sheet as it rolls through a punch press, and laser perforation, where holes are burned into the metal sheet.

What these techniques have in common is that they punch or burn the holes out, wasting raw material.

So what is the alternative to perforated metal?

Expanded metal offers similar practical advantages to perforated metal. However, the material is formed by slitting and stretching metal sheets, rather than punching through holes. This results in minimal waste of raw material. When applied to a material such as stainless steel or galvanised steel &#; especially where high volumes are concerned &#; this has significant advantages, helping end users make potentially substantial savings.

Indeed, up to 50 per cent of raw material costs could be saved by using an expanded metal sheet rather than its perforated metal equivalent.

Introducing Experf

Many expanded metal solutions offer a cost-effective alternative to perforated metal. If you want to offer a high level of grip while allowing water to drain away, or snow and ice to break off, then expanded metal walkway and ramp meshes are robust and effective alternatives to perforated walkway panels, or perforated metal loading ramps.

Likewise, expanded metal architectural cladding can be used on buildings instead of perforated cladding panels &#; and this mesh cladding can create stunning visual and lighting effects while allowing good air flow.

Experf &#; designed and manufactured at our 25,000 sqm UK headquarters &#; is an expanded metal mesh which, given its special design, can be even more closely matched to a perforated metal equivalent in terms of open area, if that is required in specification.

For instance, a perforated metal pattern with a 3mm hole can be swapped with Experf NF, or Experf N665NF can be used as an alternative to a perforated metal sheet with a 5mm hole.

Experf is available in both stainless steel and pre-galvanised steel and a large range of hole sizes are available. It has an excellent strength ratio &#; as well as good acoustic properties.

And Experf can be used in a wide range of applications and environments, including:

• Air filtration
• Liquid filtration
• Architectural screens, cladding and decorative features
• Speaker grilles
• Acoustic attenuation
• Bee keeping trays

Want to find out more about our Experf solutions &#; and other alternatives to perforated metal? Contact our team today on +44 (0) 867 388 or .

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