Standard Specification for Steel Welded Wire Fabric, Plain, for Concrete Reinforcement AASHTO DESIGNATION: M 55M/M 55-94 1. SCOPE 1.1 This specification covers welded wire fabric to be used for the reinforce- iment of concrete 1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard, 2, REFERENCED DOCUMENTS 2.4 AASHTO Standards: ™M 32M/M32__Cold-Drawn Steel Wire for Con- crete Reinforcement 22. ASTM Standards: ‘A700 Recommended Prac- tices for Packaging. Marking, and Loading Methods for Stee! Products for Domes- tic Shipment 23° Miluary Standards: MIL-STD-129 Marking for Shipment and Storage MIL‘STD-163. Steet Mill Produets Prepara- tion for Shipment and Storage 2A. Federal Standard: Fed, Std. No. 123 Marking for Shipment (Civil Agencies) 3. TERMINOLOGY 3.1 Description of Terms Specific to this Standard: 3ubd Convoluted Wire—when wire for welded fabric is formed into a sinus- ‘oidal wave shape, it is commonly re- ferred to as convoluted wire, The wire is used in the manufacture of cages for (ASTM DESIGNATION: A 185-902) ‘cenain applications of concrete pipe reinforcing, 31.2 Welded Wire Fabric—as used within the scope and intent ofthis speci- fication, designates a material composed ‘of cold-drawn steel wire. as°drawn or galvanized. fabricated into sheets or rolls, by the process of electric resistance weld- ing. The finished material shall consist ‘essentially ofa series of longitudinal and tansverse wires arranged substantially at right angles to each other. and welded together at points of intersection. 4. ORDERING INFORMATION 4.1. Orders for material to this speci- fication should include the following information: 4.1.1 Quantity (mass or square area), 4.1.2 Name of material (welded wire fabric for concrete reinforcement). 4.1.3 Wire spacing and sizes 414 Exclusion of oversteeling. if required (See Section 9.4.2), 4.1.5 Length and width of sheets or rolls, 4.1.6 Packaging (see Section 16), and 4.1.7 AASHTO Designation and year of issue. NOTE 1—A typical ordenng description 1s a follows: 930 m? welded wire fabric for concrete reinforcement, 100 x 300-WIS W6, in fat shee, 2.4 m wide X 6.1 m Jong. in secured lifts. wo AASHTO M 55M. [10000 welded wire fabric for concrete reinforcement 4% 12 WIS W6 in flat sheets 96 in, wide % 240 in. long, in secured Iifts, to AASHTO M 55) 5, MATERIALS 5.1. The wire used inthe manufacture ‘of welded wire fabrics shall conform to ‘AASHTO M 32M. ‘5.2 Welded wise fabric shall be fur- ished either in flat shees. or in rolls, 4 specified by the purchaser. 6. MANUFACTURE 6.1. The wires shall be assembled by automatic machines or by other suitable ‘mechanical means which will assure ac- curate spacing and alignment of all mem- bers of the finished fabric. 62° Longiudinal and transverse ‘members shall be securely connected at every intersection by a process of electr- cabresistance welding which employs the principle of fusion combined with pressure 63 Wire of proper grade and quality when fabricated in the manner herein “Tequired shall result in a strong, service: able mesh-type product having substan- tially square or rectangular openings. It shall be fabricated and finished in a workmanlike manner, shall be free from injurious defects, and shall conform to this specification. NOTE 2—A variation of manufacturing includes the application of one or more lng tudinal convoluted wires a one edge of fare for Sonere pipe reinforcing cages. This shape allows the cape ends 10 be expanded toa larger diameter to accommodate the bell shaped ends of concrete pipe 7. MECHANICAL PROPERTY REQUIREMENTS 714 Tensile—Wire forthe production ‘of welded wire fabric is described inM 55M SPECIFICATIONS FOR MATERIALS 31 AASHTO M 32M. Tensile tests may be ‘mace-on wire-cut from the welded wire fabric and tested either across or between the welds: no less than 50 percent shall be across the welds, Tensile tests across the weld shall have the welded joint located approximately at the center of the wire being tested and the cross wire forming the welded joint shall extend approximately 25 mm (1 in.) beyond each side of the welded joint NOTE 3—Tensile, eduction of area, and ‘bend testing are normally done at the time the wire is drawn. The manufacturer's finished product sill mus satisfy the mechanical prop- bres when tested after fabrication. 72° Reduction of Area—The rup- tured section of the tensile specimen is ‘measured 0 determine this property. In the case of a specimen which has been tested across a weld, the measurement shall be made only when rupture has occurred at sufficient distance from the cemter of a weld to permit an accurate measurement of the fractured section. ‘The wire shall meet the minimum redue- tion of area requirements of AASHTO M 32M. 73. Bend Test—The wire shall with stand the bend test as described in AASHTO M 32M and shall be per- formed on a specimen taken from be- tween the welds. TA Weld Shear Sirengih—The weid shear strength between longitudinal and transverse wires shall be tested as de- seribed in Section 8. The minimum aver- age shear value in Newtons, shall not be less than 241, multiplied by the nomi- nal area in square millimeters (in pounds- force shall not be less than 35000, multiplied by the nominal area of the larger wire in square inches), where the smaller wire is not less than size WI.2 and has an area of 40 percent or more of the area of the larger wire. Typical examples of the 40 percent or more wire size differential area as follows: errr Size No, W20 Size No. WIS Size No. WI0 74.1 Fabric having a relationship of longitudinal and transverse wires other than those covered in Section 7.4 shall not be subject to the weld shear requirement. 74.2. Weld shear tests for determina- tion of conformance to the requirements of Section 7.4 shall be conducted using. a fixture as described in Section 8. 743 Four welds selected at random from the specimen described in Section 112 shall be tested for weld shear strength. The transverse wire of each test specimen shall extend approximately 25 ‘mm (1 in.) on each side of the longitudi- ‘al wire. The longitudinal wire of each test specimen shall be of such length below the transverse wire so as to be adequately engaged by the grips of the testing machine. It shal be of such length above the transverse wire that its end shall be above the center line of the upper bearing of the testing device. 744 The material shall be deemed to conform to the requirements for weld shear strength if the average of the four samples complies with the value stipu- lated in Section 7.4, Ifthe average fails to ‘meet the prescribed value. all the welds across the specimen shall then be tested. ‘The fabric will be acceptable if the aver- age of all weld shear test values across the specimen meets the prescribed mini- mum value. 8, WELD SHEAR TEST APPARATUS AND METHODS 8.1 As the welds in welded wire fab- ric contribute o the bonding and anchor- age value of the wires in concrete, itis imperative thatthe weld acceptance tests ‘be made in a jig that will stress the weld in a manner similar to which itis stressed. in concrete. In order to accomplish this the vertical wire in the jig must be siressed in an axis close to its center line. Also the horizontal wire must be hheld closely to the vertical wire. and in the same relative position. so as to pre- vent rotation of the horizontal wire. ‘When the fabric is designed with disfer- cent wire sizes. the larger diameter wire is the “Vertical wire” when tested (see Figure 1). 8.2 Figure 1 shows the details of a 7 aed roving wowing compete dimensions othe esting Jig may be obaned am ASTM Hea (iater: Request Ajuct #12 C1800, typical testing jig together with two anvils which make it possible to test welds for wire up to 16 mm Cy in.) in diameter. This testing jig can be used in ‘most tension testing machines and should be hung ina ball and socket arrangement atthe center of the machine. This. o a similarly effective fixture designed on the same principle, is acceptable 83. Test specimens should be in- sented through the notch in the anvil using the smallest notch available in which the vertical wire will fit loosely. The vertical wire shall bein contact with the surface of the fee rotating rollers while the horizontal wire shall be sup- pored by the anvil on each side of the slot. The bottom jaws of the testing ma- chine shall grip the lower end of the ‘vertical wire andthe load shall be applied ata rte of stressing not to exceed 650 MPa/min (100000 psi/min). 9, DIMENSIONS, MASS, AND PERMISSIBLE VARIATIONS 9.1 Width—The width of fabric shall be considered to be the center-to-ceater distance between outside longitudinal wires, The permissible variation shal not exceed 13 mm (‘Vs in.) greater or less than the specified width. la case-the width of flat sheets or rolls is specified as the overall width \ip-o-tip length of cross wires), the width shall not vary more than + 25 mm (+ | in.) from the specified width 92 Length—The overall length of flat sheets, measured on any wire. may vary © 25 mm (= 1 in) or 1 percent whichever is greater. 9.3 Overhang of the transverse wires shall not project beyond the centerline ofeach longitudinal edge wire more than a distance of 25 mm (Tis. unless other- wise specified. When transverse wires axe specified to project a specific length beyond the centerline of a longitudinal edge wire, the permissible variation shall not exceed 13 ram ('/ in.) greater or less than the specified length 94 The permissible variation in di- ameter of any wire in the finished fabric shall conform to the tolerances. pre- seribed for the wire before fabneation2 Vertical Horizonta FIGURE 1 Welded in AASHTO M 32M with the follow- ing exceptions: 94.1 Because of the mechanical charactenstis of fabricating welded wire fabric, the out-of-round requirements shall not apply. 9.4.2 Unless otherwise precluded by the purchaser, the manufscturer will be emitted to apply over-sized wire (not lunder-sized). The size differential shall rot exceed one “W" size increment on sizes W8 and smaller, and two “W" size increments on sizes larger than WS. A “W" size increment is a whole number increment, for example, WS to W6, or W5.4 to W64, etc, In all cases where such over-steeling is practiced, the pro- ducer shall identify the fabric with the style originally ordered. 95 The average spacing of wires shall be such thet the toral number of ‘SPECIFICATIONS FOR MATERIALS Wire 1 Wire, Section A-A Wire Fabric Weld Tester wires contained in a sheet or roll is equal to or greater than that determined by the specific spacing, but the center-to-center istance between individual members may vary not more than 64 mm ('is in.) from the specified spacing. It is un- Gerstood that sheets of fabric of the speci- fied length may not always contain an identical number of transverse wires and, therefore, may have various lengths of longitudinal overhang, 30, WORKMANSHIP, FINISH, AND APPEARANCE 10.1 Wire of proper grade and qual- ity, when fabricated in the manner herein required, shal result in a strong, service- able mesh-type product having substan- MSSM tially square or rectangular openings. Jt shall be fabricated and finished in 2 ‘workmanlike manner. as determined by vvisual inspection, and shall conform to this specification, Il. SAMPLING ALL Test specimens for testing me- chanical properties shall be obtained by ‘cutting from the-finished fabric 2 full ‘width section, of sufficient length to per- form testing described in Sections 7.1 and 7.2. 1.2. Test specimens for determining ‘weld shear properties shall be obtained by cutting from the finished fabric, a full width section of sufficient length to perform testing described in Section 7.4. 11.3 Measurements for conformance to dimensional characteristics shall be ‘made on full sheets or rolls. 114 If any test specimen exhibits ‘obvious imperfections, it may be dis- ‘carded and another specimen substitute. 12, NUMBER OF TESTS 12.1 One test for conformance to tensile strength and bend requirements shall be made for each 7000 m? (75000 2) of fabric or remaining fraction thereof, 12.2 One test for conformance to weld shear strength requirement shall be made for each 28000 m* (300000 ft?) or remaining fraction thereof. 13, INSPECTION AND TESTS 13.1 The inspector representing the purchaser shall have free entry at all times while work on the contract of the ‘purchaser is being performed to all pans Of the manufacturer's works that concem ‘the manufacture of the material ordered. ‘The manufacturer shall afford the inspec- tor all reasonable facilities to assure that the material is being furnished in accor- dance with this specification 132 Except for yield strength, all tests and inspections shall be made atthe place of manufacture prior to shipment, unless otherwise specified. Such testsMSSM spall be 50 conducted a not to interfere inecessarily with the operation of the ‘works. 133 Ifthe purchaser consider it d- sirable wo determine compliance with the yield strength requirements of AASHTO 32M. yield stength tests may be made ina recognized laboratory, o thet repre: Semtives may make the text a the mil, ‘Feuch tests do not interfere unnecessa- diy withthe mill operations. 134 For US. Government Procure sent Oniy—Except 2 otherwise speci fied in the contact, the contactor is responsible for the performance of all Inspection and test requirements speci fied herein. Except a otherwise specified in the contact the contractor may use his own or any other suitable facilites for the performance of the inspection and test requirements specified herein tnless disapproved by the purchaser at the time of purchase. The purchaser shal have the right to perform any of the inspections and tesis atthe same fre Guency a set forth in this specification ‘vere such inspections are deemed nec- essary f0 assure that material conforms to prescribed requirements. 14, REJECTION AND REHEARING 14.1 Material that does aot meet the requirements of this specification may be rejected. Unless otherwise specified, any rejection shall be reported 10 the ‘manufacturer within 5 days from the time of selection of test specimens. 14.2 Incase a specimen fails to meet the tension or bend test, the material shall not be rejected until two additional specimens taken from other wires in the same sheet or roll have been tested. The ‘material shall be considered as meeting. the specification in respect to any pre- scribed tensile property, provided the tested average for the three specimens, including the specimen originally tested, is equal to or exceeds the required mini- ‘mum for the particular property in ques tion, and provided further that none of the three specimens develops less than 80 percent of the required minimum for the tensile property in question. The ma- SPECIFICATIONS FOR MATERIALS terial shall be considered as meeting this specification in respect to bend test re- quirements, provided both additional specimens satisfactorily pass the pre- scribed bend test. 143 Any material that shows injuri- cous imperfections subsequent to its ac- ceptance at the manufacturer's works may be rejected and the manufacturer shall be promptly notified 14.4 Welded joints shal withstand normal shipping. and handling without becoming broken. but the presence of broken welds. regardless of cause, shall not constitute cause for rejection unless the number of broken welds per sheet exceeds | percent of the total number of joints in a sheet, or if the material is furnished in rolls, 1 percent of the cota number of joints in 14 m (150 ft) of fabric, and furthermore. provided sot ‘more than one-half the permissible maxi- ‘mum numberof broken welds are located on any one ire 145 In the event of rejection be cause of failure to mest the weld shear requirements, four additional specimens Shall be takea from four diferent sheets oF rolls and tested in accordance with Section 8. Ifthe average of all the weld shear tests performed does not meet the requirement, the material shall be rejected 146 In the event of rejection be- cause of failure to meet the requirements for dimensions, the amount of material rejected shall be limited to those individ val sheets or rolls which fail wo mect this specification 14.7 Rust surface seams. or surface irregularities will ot be cause for rejec- tion provided the minimum dimensions. cross-sectional area, and tensile proper- ties oF a hand wire-brushed test specimen ae not less than the requirements of this specification, 148 Rehearing—Rejected materials shall be preserved fora period of atleast two weeks from the date-of inspection, during which time the manufacturer ray sake claim for a rehearing and retesung 18. CERTIFICATION 15.1 If outside inspection is waived, ‘a manufacturer's certfioaion that the ‘material has been tested in accordance with and meets the reguirements of this specification sall be the basis of accep tance of the material, The certification shall include che specification number, year-date of issue and revision lever. if any. 18.2 This conformance is predicated ‘upon testing and acceptance of wire prior to fabrication. coupled with random shear testing during production. Because cof warehousing and stocking problems. no efforts are normally taken to supply actual test data on material shipped. If this is deemed essential, outside inspec- tion should be utilized > 16. PACKAGING AND MARKING 16.1 Unless otherwise specified. packaging, marking, and loading for shipment shail be in accordance with ASTM Practices A700, 16.2 When fabric is furnished in fat sheets it shail be assembled in bundles of convenient size containing not more than ISO sheets and securely fastened together. 16.3 When fabric is furnished in rolls, each roll shall be secured so as to prevent unwinding during shipping and handling. 164 Eacn bundle of fat sheets and each roll shall have attached thereto a suitable tag bearing the name of the man- ufacturer, description of the material ‘AASHTO M SSM. and such other infor mation as may be specified by the purchaser. 16.3 When specified in the contract fr order, and tor direct procurement by or direct to the U.S. Government, when Level A is specified. preservation. pack- ‘ging, and packing shall be in accordance with the Level A requirement of MIL- STD-163. 16.6 When specified in the contract or order, and ‘or the direct procurement by oF dizect shipment tothe U.S. Govern: ‘ment, marking for shipment, in addition to requiremeris specitied in the contract co order, shall be in accordance with MIL-STD-123 for U.S, military agencies ‘and in accordance with Fed. Std. No, 123 for U.S. Government civil agencies.