Terminology

ACCESSORIES – Framing items can be made available from manufacturing sources. These same items can usually be procured locally at lesser cost.
ANTI – GLARE MESH – Refers to a special group of products used in highway median strips to lessen objectionable headlight glare from oncoming cars.
BARRIER MESH – This represents several flattened expanded metals used in drywall and plaster ceilings and walls as a security barrier to prevent penetration or access from room to room.
BOND – The point where adjacent strands intersect. The bond is always twice the width of the strand.
CAMBER – A slight bow which can occur during manufacturing and
results in an out-of-square condition.
CONCRETE REINFORCING – There are several expanded metal products designed specifically for use in many concrete applications, particularly in bank vaults and other very high security construction applications. These are used to provide construction cost savings and superior insurance premium savings. Catalogs, installation, recommendations and complete design support are available.
CSF – Price and weight of expanded metal are quoted as CSF hundredsquare feet.

DEBURRING – Most expanded metal products are processed through rotary steel brushes to remove burrs and rough edges. Exceptions: those products which are too light and might be distorted and grating.
DECORATIVE EXPANDED METAL is manufactured with unique shaped openings which possess great appeal for architects and designers.
DIAMOND OR OPENING – This is the description of the open area formed by strands and bonds. Normally the open area is diamond shaped.
DISTRIBUTION – Expanded metal products are readily available from
inventory maintained by your local Steel Service Center.
EXPANDED METAL is sheet simultaneously slit and stretched into a rigid, open mesh. It is readily available in carbon steel. Aluminum, stainless steel and galvanized steel can also be supplied.
EXPANDED METAL GRATING is sheet or plate expanded into astructural open grating ideal for catwalk and platform applications.
FABRICATION – Some fabrication services can be provided by the manufacturer. Quotations will be furnished promptly when drawings
are submitted.

LEVELING – All expanded metal products except grating are leveled
after having been expanded.
LWD OR LWO – Long way of diamond or long way of opening is the
dimension measured across the sheet in a direction parallel to the
largest dimension of the diamond.
MESH – This is the nominal distance from the mid-point of one bond
to the mid-point of the next bond measured across the SWD. Mesh
is expressed in inches.
MINE ROOF SHEETING – A light weight material easily placed and held by conventional bolts to mine roofs. This product serves to protect miners from falling material.

MINI-MESH EXPANDED METAL- is manufactured from light gauge metals with small openings and is ideally suited for use in grilles and antennas.
REFUSE BASKETS – We produce several types of light weight expanded metal refuse baskets. Catalogs are available.
SHEET SIZE – While expanded metal can be manufactured in many varying sheet sizes, practical limitations are such that it is wise to select sheet sizes shown in the catalog. Availability can be determined by contacting your Steel Service Center.
STAIR TREADS – Expanded metal grating stair treads are fabricatedusing grating, angles and bars. They are shipped ready for installation.
STRAND – The single metal strip which forms the border of the diamond, or opening. Strand width is the amount of material advanced for expanding as differed from strand thickness, which is the thickness of metal from which the expanded metal is produced.

STYLE – It is the approximate gauge or thickness of metal from which expanded metal is made. Usually, but not always, this conforms to manufacturer’s standard gauges. Style is expressed by a number. Grating is expressed in pounds per square foot.
SQUARENESS – Products are square within manufacturing toler-
ances. Should squareness be critical, sheets can be square sheared.
SQUARE-MESH – Expanded metal produced with a near equal strand width and strand thickness and a relatively square opening. This results in a symmetrical pattern which provides excellent reflective qualities for use in radar screens and antennas.
SWD OR SWO – Short way of diamond, or short way of opening, is the dimension measured across the sheet in a direction parallel to the smallest dimension of the diamond.
OPENING SIZE – The area enclosed by bonds and strands.
OVERALL THICKNESS – This is the finished thickness and often
determines the selection of framing members.
PERCENT OF OPEN AREA – These important relative percentages are used by designers to calculate the degree with which light or air can pass through a piece of expanded metal.
PITCH – The measurement from a point on one diamond to the same point on an adjacent diamond.
XM – Widely used abbreviation for Expanded Metal.

Expanded Metal