ALTERNATE APPLICATION FOR WEDGEWIRE GRATING
A wedge wire screen, as the name suggests is a screen made out of wedge wire. A screen is something that shelters, protects, or hides. It maybe ornamental or plain. It maybe a front, back or side, a top or even a bottom! Wedge wire screens may also be used for the purpose of filtration or separating one material from another – more on this later…
WONDEROUS WEDGEWIRE
Lets talk about wedge-wire first. As the name suggests, a wedge wire is a stainless-steel wire, shaped like a wedge. That’s right, if you turn it over and look at it from the side, wedge wire profiles look triangular or v-shaped. The triangular shape can be controlled, and a number of profiles can be cast out. The length or the ‘head-size’of the triangular top can be varied across a range of sizes. The depth or the height of the triangle can vary as well. As a result many permutations and combinations are possible in just the profile itself.
WEDGEWIRE SCREEN APPLICATIONS
Lets come back to wedge wire screens and see how they are made. To make a wedge wire screen, the wedge wire is continually wound around a set of support rods to make a wedge wire sheet or wedge wire mesh. The support rods, can be made in a range of shapes and size too. Both Wedge wire and support rods can be cast out in two grades of steel – 304 and 316. Functional requirements and exposure environment are key factors that determine the grade of steel used. To elaborate, 304 is an economical and practical choice for most environments. In contrast, 316 is more expensive, but is chloride-resistant. In either case, wedge wire screens are corrosion resistant, rust free, maintenance free.
Next, we need to know how far apart or close the wedge wire needs to be? How should the opening size be controlled? Do things need to be kept in/out. What needs to be kept in/out? Is it light or sound, liquid or solid, living or dead matter? Wear life, strength, cost, thickness are all the different factors that control, the opening size of the aperture in your wedge wire screen. The profile sections and the opening aperture, determines the appearance, functional and material performance of the screen.
Because of the huge potential for customisation, wedge wire screens are useful in primary industries such as agriculture, aquaculture, milling, architecture, mining and so on. In agriculture and aquaculture, wedge wires screens are used for food processing, germination, milling, hatchery screens, fish diversion panels, animal compartmentation etc. Architecturally, they can be used for floors, decking, surface drainage and grating. For filtration and dewatering applications, cross flow sieves can be made in wedge-wire mesh.
WEDGEWIRE SCREEN PANELS BY PAIGE STAINLESS FABRICATIONS
At Paige Stainless steel we offer you a range of services to custom build your wedge wire screen. To ensure your final product is fit-for-purpose, we have a team of builders, designers, engineers, CAD drafting system, to assist you at every stage of the design, manufacturing and installation process. We invite you to try us out for your next product, if it needs to be manufactured with integrity, strength and quality.
Contact us to discuss your custom wedgewire needs.
