Wire Mesh Characteristics
All Metal Construction
Wire mesh parts are made entirely of metal. They start as knitted wire which is then compressed into the desired shape. The density can be changed to achieve the desired spring rate, damping or load capacity. The benefits of all metal construction are:
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Extremely high and low temperature capability. Wire mesh exceeds the temperature limits of most other types of spring elements.
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Resistant to harsh environments. Wire mesh is resistant to fuels, oils, chemicals, water, salt, ozone, sunlight, dust, fire and vacuum.
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High load capability. Wire mesh can withstand greater load per unit area than most any other type of spring element.
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Flexible and forgiving. Wire mesh will conform to the surface conditions of the mating part. Loads are spread evenly across the surface. Stress concentration points are minimized.
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Long life. Wire mesh parts have proven their reliability in the harsh environments of aircraft engine mounts.
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Never bottoms out. As load increases, the stiffness increases. There is never a hard bottoming like a Belleville washer.
Non-linear Spring Rate
Load
Deflection
Wire mesh parts have a non-linear spring rate. When the load increases the incremental deflection decreases, causing a stiffening effect. This is useful for many reasons.
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They can withstand a greater force in a smaller space than any other type of product such as a coil spring or rubber.
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Users can change the spring rate by adjusting the installation force. For instance, in a bolted joint, the user would increase the bolt torque to compress the wire mesh part and increase the stiffness. Conversely, if the user wanted to decrease the stiffness, they would decrease the torque.
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The vibration response of a system can be fine tuned in-situ by changing the compression on the wire mesh part.
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Dynamic spring rates change when force and amplitude change.
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Wire mesh systems tend to avoid resonance. In a typical linear system, there is a single spring rate which generates resonant frequencies. However, in a wire mesh system, the spring rate is constantly changing as force and amplitude change. As resonances try to occur, the spring rate changes, which in turn shifts the system resonance away from the driving frequency.
High Damping
Wire mesh parts are highly damped. High damping is useful for many reasons.
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Higher damping will reduce the amplitude of vibration. A vibrating system will have resonant peaks. Sometimes it is difficult to avoid operating at or near those peaks. Damping will reduce the levels of vibration that get transmitted through the structure.
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High damping will reduce bounce. A system will stabilize faster with a highly damped system. This is what shock absorbers do for a car.
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High damping removes energy from the system.