What is woven wire mesh?

Category: Technical Advice
Tags: meshblog

A woven wire mesh, also known as a woven wire cloth, is made by weaving wire strands in an overunder method or underover method to form different patterns with varying specifications. Some of the most common weave patterns are explained below.

Mesh weave pattern has a significant impact on which use cases it is suitable for. In general, square weaves are well suited for general-purpose applications, while dutch weaves are better suited for air and water filtration.

The size and material of woven wire mesh vary in addition to the weave. Various opening sizes are available, from just a few microns to several inches, as well as metals including aluminium, brass copper and mild steel.

We hope that this page explains woven mesh for you. This image shows a standard plain stainless steel woven wire mesh panel.

What Is The Difference Between Woven Wire Mesh & Welded Wire Mesh?

As the name suggests, The Mesh Company are specialists in all things wire mesh. Our group of companies has been a major supplier of woven and welded wire mesh since 1878. The oldest version of our company brochure makes for an interesting read.

Various types of wire mesh are available, including woven and welded versions, all of which offer unique advantages suitable for a variety of industrial applications.

The following are examples:

It is possible to manufacture various types of woven wire mesh, ranging from a fine woven mesh for micronic filtering applications to coarse woven meshes for fencing and security screens. The material is also more flexible, making it ideal for use with parts and products that have irregular or unusual contours. As the wires used to weave mesh can be far finer than those use to weld, it is common for woven mesh to be as fine as silk or cloth.

In comparison to woven wire mesh, welded wire mesh is stronger and more durable, making it suitable for use as a protective or barrier material. This type of mesh can be used in parts and products that require strict dimensional tolerances due to the welded wire strands, which provide the mesh with a more rigid and uniform appearance. Welded mesh is often used for fencing due to this rigidity.

Benefits Of Choosing Woven Wire Mesh

A number of advantages are provided by woven wire mesh when used in industrial and commercial applications, such as:

Huge range of options due to the limitless possibilities given by the weaving process. As an example, our standard woven stainless steel mesh ranges from 11.1mm hole all the way down to 0.26mm hole. This illustrates the multitudinous range of options that are are available to our customers.

Despite being subjected to shock, impact, and other stresses, woven wire mesh retains its structural integrity due to its interwoven and clinched construction.

The manufacture of woven wire mesh has been optimised by many manufacturers to reduce waste and increase productivity, which results in lower prices for customers. This is especially true for our group as we have so many years of experience in the production of this product.

A woven wire mesh provides better visibility, circulation, ventilation, and acoustics within a building due to the numerous openings that permit light, air, and sound to pass through relatively unobstructed.

The simplicity of cleaning and maintaining woven wire mesh results in a reduction in labour costs and time spent on such operations.

There is a wide range of patterns, materials, and sizes available in woven wire mesh, as indicated above. It is true that many manufacturers offer an extensive selection of standard options, but some manufacturers also offer custom solutions to meet the needs of customers with highly specific or unique requirements.

Popular Applications For Woven Wire Mesh

The versatility of woven wire mesh cannot be overstated. In addition to being used in a wide variety of industrial applications, it also finds use in the following areas:

RMI & EMI shielding

Rodent deterrent

Insect mesh

Filter mesh

Baskets

Providing fencing

Components for filtering and separating

Grates and grills

Safety handrails and guardrails

Screens for medical centrifuges

Racking

Inspecting screens

Stands and shelving

What Weave Types Are There?

The Mesh Company stock all of the following weave types:

Plain Weave – Plain weave woven wire mesh is used for the majority of wire mesh woven by The Mesh Company. Each warp wire crosses alternately above and below every weft wire and vice versa. Warp and weft wires are normally of the same diameter. This weave type is used for the majority of commercial applications and for filtration where a high flow rate is required.

Twill Weave – Throughout the fabric, weft wires alternate above and below successive pairs of warp wires. It is possible to use a heavier wire diameter in this weave than in a plain weave wire mesh with the same mesh count.

Dutch Weave – The dutch or ‘Hollander’ weave describes woven wire mesh in which the warp and weft wire diameters are different, as well as the number of meshes in the warp and weft directions. In the weaving process, the wires are driven much closer together, which results in a more densely compacted material. Most dutch weave wire mesh specifications are described in terms of mesh count per inch and aperture size in microns.

Twill Dutch Weave – In contrast to Plain Dutch Weave, there is a double layer of weft wires that are woven in a twill pattern. In addition to being “light tight”, this wire mesh has a very smooth surface and is extremely strong, but it has a limited flow rate. Often used in critical filtration applications under high pressure, this wire cloth is also known as Micromesh wire cloth.

What Is The Best Method For Cutting Wire Mesh?

We would recommend a range of cutting tools based on the thickness of the wire that we used to weave our various meshes.

Simply take the cutting tool required for the job and cut along the line of the aperture. Cutting across the wires will leave sharp edges and may reduce the structural integrity of the weave.

We would suggest:

- Using an angle grinder or guillotine to cut 11.1mm hole and 6.87mm hole mesh. Both of these mesh specifications are strong and not at all easy to cut.

- We would use tin snips to cut every other mesh size in our heavy duty section.

- Every mesh size in our coarse section should be cut with standard kitchen scissors.

Anything with smaller holes than that should be cut by hand, as you would with a fine fabric. We would use that method of cutting for every size in our fine and super fine sections.

Again, if you would rather we cut your mesh to size for you then please contact us with your requirement.

The Mesh Company: Woven Wire Mesh Specialists

The experts at The Mesh Company will happily assist you with all of your wire mesh requirements. In addition to manufacturing and distributing wire mesh, woven wire cloth, and welded mesh, we serve a wide range of industries, including aerospace, agriculture, automobile, construction, pharmaceuticals and many others.

And we stock a lot more than just stainless steel woven mesh and welded products. Through our site we offer a variety of metals including aluminium, brass copper and mild steel in many hole sizes and thicknesses.

We would be delighted to assist you with any upcoming wire mesh application or provide more information about our products and services. Please get in touch with our friendly team if you have any questions or concerns regarding wire mesh.

Check Out Our Recent Articles On All Things Mesh

As always, thank you for checking out our blog. We hope that this helps you with your project. We try to launch a couple of new blogs, articles, announcements and guides every week.

Eventually we will have covered everything there is to cover regarding the world of mesh.

Our goal for our blogs and help guides is to answer as many questions as possible to help to explain the possibilities of mesh to our customers.