Expanded metal and perforated metal are becoming more and more popular with engineers and designers of architecture as decorative sheets in residences, modern facilities and constructions.

Expanded Metal is made from sheets of solid metal that are uniformly slit and stretched to create diamond-shaped openings. As expanded metal is made, each row of diamond-shaped openings is offset from the next. This product is called standard expanded metal. The sheet can be rolled to produce flattened expanded metal.

The lightweight properties and open area percentages of Expanded Metal allow it to be easily formed for a variety of energy saving applications, such as light diffusers, screens, grilles and filters. Expanded Metal is also manufactured in heavy gauges for applications such as walkways, ramps and catwalks of all types.

Common, in-stock sheet sizes for Standard Expanded Metal include (second dimension is the LWD, available size varies by material type):

· 48 x 24 inches
· 48 x 48 inches
· 36 x 96 inches
· 48 x 96 inches
· 48 x 120 inches
· 60 x 96 inches
· 60 x 120 inches
· 72 x 96 inches
· 72 x 120 inches
· 72 x 144 inches
· 96 x 36 inches
· 96 x 48 inches
· 96 x 120 inches

Expanded metal is an extraordinarily versatile material - one with thousands of uses. It comes in four basic types, and it has four primary areas of application.

Basic types are raised (or standard), ?attened, Gridwalk, and architectural (or decorative) meshes. The major areas of use are for enclosure, protection, support and decoration.

Expanded metal products are produced from solid sheets or plates of carbon, galvanized and stainless steel, as well as aluminium and a variety of alloys of copper, nickel, silver, titanium and other metals.

In an expanding process, the sheet or plate is simultaneously slit and stretched longitudinally - expanding
the slits into diamond-shaped holes of uniform size, shape and regularity.

No metal is lost in the expanding process. Moreover, the final product is stronger per kilogram and lighter per metre than the original sheet or plate. The strands and knuckle of the diamond-shaped trusses form an angle to the original plane of the sheet, adding strength and rigidity.

Because it is made from a solid sheet of metal, it can never unravel. The slender metal strands forming the opendiamonds permit light, heat, air, liquid and sound to pass through - yet present a virtually impenetrable barrier to intruders. Even if cut at one or more points, the remaining strand intersections continue to hold.

Expanded ?

A range of materials are expanded on site from platinum to a fine guaze for jewellery to 6mm plates of steel for offshore walkways. Plastics, Aluminium, copper, brass, stainless steel, in fact any ductile metal can all be expanded in a range of material thickness and to a broad choice of patterns to suit specific applications.