New welded wire fabric

numbering system explained

Though designations look cumbersome they make sense

Table I—Common stock styles of welded wire fabric

B ecause of the numerous
changes made during recent
years in the designations of welded
STYLE DESIGNATION | Steel Area, Approximate
square inches Weight,
wire fabric, some tips may be in or- New Designation Old Designation per foota pounds per 100
der on how to specify and order it (By W-number) (By Steel wire Gage) Longitudinal Transverse square feet6
for use in reinforcing concrete.
In 1970 the American Society for ROLLS
Testing and Materials changed from 6x6—W1.4xW1.4 6x6—10x10 .028 .028 21
the gage system to a numbering sys- 6x6—W2.0xW2.0 6x6—8x8 c .040 .040 29
tem designed to simplify use of wire 6x6—W2.9xW2.9 6x6—6x6 .058 .058 42
fabrics in concrete design. The more 6x6—W4.0xW4.0 6x6—4x4 .080 .080 58
rational numbering system relates 4x4—W1.4xW1.4 4x4—10x10 .042 .042 31
to the cross-sectional area of the 4x4—W2.0xW2.0 4x4—8x8c .060 .060 43
wire and involves a letter-number 4x4—W2.9xW2.9 4x4 6x6 .087 .087 62
combination. “W” designates 4x4—W4.0xW4.0 4x4—4x4 .120 .120 85
smooth wire and “D” designates de-
formed wire. The number following SHEETS
the letter gives the cross-sectional 6x6—W2.9xW2.9 6x6—6x6 .058 .058 42
area of the wire in hundredths of a 6x6—W4.0xW4.0 6x6—4x4 .080 .080 58
square inch. This system makes it 6x6—W5.5xW5.5 6x6—2x2d .110 .110 80
easy for the designer. For example, if 4x4—W4.0xW4.0 4x4—4x4 .120 .120 85
a steel cross-sectional area of 0.15
square inch per lineal foot is need- a To obtain square millimetres per metre multiply by 2117.
ed, it can be met with W5.0 wires on b To obtain kilograms per 100 square metre multiply by 4.883
4-inch centers wires per lineal foot, c Exact W-number size for 8 gage is W2.1.
each with a cross-sectional area of
d Exact W-number size for 2 gage is W5.4
0.05 square inch.
Welded wire fabric is designated
by two numbers and two letter- Table II Example of typical purchase order
number combinations. An example
is 6 by 8—W8.0 by W4.0. The first Side Overall
number gives the spacing in inches Item Quantity Style Width Overhangs Width Length
of the longitudinal wires, the second
1 1000Sheets 6x12—W16xW8 90” (+0”,+0”) 90” 20’—0”
gives the spacing of the transverse
wires. The first letter-number com- 2 150 Rolls 6x6—W4xW4 60” (+0”,+0”) 60” 150’—0”
bination gives the type and size of
3 500 Sheets 4x8—D10xD4 76” (+2”, +12”) 90” 17’—4”
the longitudinal wire, the second
designates the transverse wire. Thus, (Special end overhangs: 2” one end, 6” other end)
in the example the longitudinal
4 85 Rolls 2x8—W7.5xW3.0 93” (+0”, +1”) 94” 400’—0”
wires are 6 inches apart and the
transverse wires are 8 inches apart.
The wires are smooth and the cross- Table I compares the new desig- Fabric sizes
sectional areas are 0.08 square inch nations to the old gage designations End overhangs, unless otherwise
in the longitudinal direction and for the common stock sizes of weld- specified, are one-half of the trans-
0.04 square inch transversely. ed wire fabric. verse spacing. For instance, a 6 by 6
fabric would have a 3-inch overhang
on each end. The length of a fabric
roll or sheet is tip-to-tip length and
includes the end overhangs. Side
overlays will not be furnished unless
specified. The width of the fabric is
the center-to-center distance be-
tween the outside longitudinal
wires but includes side overhangs if
specified (tip-to-tip length of trans-
verse wires).
Normally, fabric sheets with a
width of 8.5 feet or less can be trans-
ported on a truck; this simplifies de-
livery and reduces costs. Widths for
rail shipment are generally limited
to 11.5 feet. In both cases the length
of sheets is limited to 40 feet.
Fabric is available in both rolls
and sheets. Lighter fabric is often
supplied in rolls, while heavier fab-
ric such as that used for pavement is
generally supplied as flat sheets.
Strength
Welded wire fabric is available
with either deformed or smooth
wires, as indicated earlier. Smooth
welded wire fabric has a yield
strength of 65,000 psi and deformed
fabric has a yield of 70,000 psi.
Smooth wire develops anchorage of
the steel at the welded intersections.
In the smooth fabric the smaller
wire should have a cross-sectional
area equal to at least 40 percent of
the area of the larger wire. With de-
formed fabric, anchorage is devel-
oped by virtue of the deformations
as well as at the welded intersection.
In deformed fabric the smaller wire
should have at least 35 percent of
the cross-sectional area of the larger
wire.
Ordering
Table I lists many of the common-
ly stocked items. In other instances
fabric is produced specifically for an
individual project. When specifying
nonstock items, the volume must be
sufficiently large to justify produc-
tion at an economical cost. General-
ly a minimum quantity of 20,000 to
40,000 pounds is required to justify
a special order involving a major
change, such as a change in longitu-
dinal wire size or spacing. The cost
of minor changes, such as size and
spacing of transverse wire, length of
side or end overhangs, or length
changes is considerably less. Mini-
mum quantity for minor changes is
usually between 4,000 and 10,000
pounds.
For maximum economy in the
cost of fabric, the use of a minimum
number of styles is suggested. Also,
use of fewer styles reduces on-site
costs since there are fewer pieces to
inventory and handle and there is
less chance for error.
An example of information need-
ed when ordering welded wire fab-
ric is shown in Table II.
PUBLICATION #C750454
Copyright © 1975, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved