AISI - American Iron and Steel Institute. Click here if you would like to visit the AISI website.

Anchor (grating) - A device by which grating is attached to its supports.

Anti-dazzle - Refers to the process of reducing the glare of light: e.g. anti-dazzle screen on a highway that reduces the glare of headlights from oncomming traffic in the opposing lane.

ASTM - American Society For Testing Material. An organization for issuing standard specifications on materials, including metals and alloys.

Austenitic- Stainless steel with non-magnetic properties. Austenitic stainless steel is very resistance to corrosion due to its nickel content and higher levels of chromium. Austenitic stainless steels are hardened and strengthened through cold working rather than heat treatment and ductility is excellent. The two most common grades are 304 and 316.

Band - A flat bar welded to the end of a grating panel, or along the line of a cutout, and extending neither above nor below the bearing bars.

Bolting Cloth (wire cloth) - A group of industrial wire cloth specs of stainless steel or monel with plain square mesh pattern. Wire diameter is lighter than Mill Grade. Typically high percentage of open area.

Bond (expanded metal) - The intersection of two strands in an expanded metal sheet.

Bond Shearing - Cutting sheets to size so that the holes are closed along the margins. Bond shearing is restricted by the spacing of the openings in the sheet (see random shearing).

Brinell Hardness Test - A standard method of measuring the hardness of materials. The smooth surface of the metal is subjected to indentation by a hardened steel ball under pressure. The diameter of the indentation in the material surface is then measured by a microscope and the hardness value is read from a chart or determined by a prescribed formula.

Calender (wire cloth) - To pass wire cloth through a pair of rollers to reduce thickness or flatten intersections of wires and provide a smooth surface. Also called rolled.

Camber - A slight bow which can occur during manufacturing and results in an out-of-square condition.

Class 1 - Cold Rolled Sheet and coil rated as Class 1 is intended for exposed applications where surface appearance is primary.

Class 2 - Cold Rolled Sheet and coil rated as Class 2 is mainly used for unexposed applications and can have more surface blemishes.

Clear Span (Grating) - Clear span is the distance between the grating's supporting members measured from the inside point of one support to the inside point of the next support. Said a different way: clear span is the unsupported section of the grating. Clear span is a critical factor in determing a grating’s load characteristics.

Cold Rolled Steel - Cold rolling is applied to lighter gauge (7 gauge or lighter) hot-rolled steel sheets or coils to reduce the thickness of the material. This process not only results in improved gauge tolerances, but also in a smooth, attractive appearance. Cold rolled steel is generally free of rust or scale and is easy to work.

Cold Working - Changing the structure and shape of steel by applying stress at low temperature.

Commercial Quality Steel - Steel with a carbon limit at 0.15 max. A Standard Quality Carbon Steel Sheet. The characteristics of commercial quality steel are defined by the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM).

Coarse Mesh (wire cloth) - Wire cloth with mesh count of less than 30x30.

Count (mesh cloth) - The number of openings per linear inch, measured from the center of any wire.

Cross Wire (wire cloth) - The wires in wire cloth that run parallel to the width (i.e., the short side of the roll or sheet). opposite of line wire.

Deflection (grating) - The amount of “give” or sag the grating undergoes under a given weight load. The standard acceptable deflection for most bar gratings is 1/4 inch.

Dialectric - A dialectric is a material that acts as an insulator between two electrically charged bodies.

Drawing - Mechanically forming metal by tension through or in a die.

Drawing Quality - (DQ) Flat-rolled products produced from either deep drawing rimmed steel or extra deep drawing aluminum killed steels. Special rolling and processing operations aid in producing a product that can withstand extreme pressing, drawing or forming, etc., without creating defects. The characteristics of drawing quality steel are defined by the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM).

Ductility - The ability of a material to be stretched into a new shape without it breaking.

Electro-Galvanized - An electrical plating process applied to carbon steel that results in a thin evenly distributed coating of zinc over all exposed carbon steel surfaces.

Expanded Metal - A metal sheet that is simultaneously slit and stretched into a rigid, non-raveling open mesh.

Expanded Metal Grating - A sheet or plate expanded into a structural open grating ideal for catwalk and platform application. Certain expanded metal grating products can be flattened.

Fill Wire (wire cloth) - The wires in wire cloth that run parallel to the width (i.e., the short side of the roll or sheet). opposite of line wire.

Flattened Expanded Metal -Standard expanded metal that has been passed through a cold roll mill. Bonds and strands are turned down to produce a smooth surface.

Gripmesh - An adaptation of regular expanded metal. It features teethlike projections that provide an anti-slip surface when used in platforms or ramps.

Grip Tight^TM - An aluminum oxide coating applied over a metal's surface to provide slip resistance.

Hot Rolled Steel - Hot rolled products are rougher in appearance and more difficult to work than ones that are cold rolled, but are satisfactory for many uses. Heavier items, such as 3/16 inch and 1/4 inch plate are made of lower-cost, hot rolled steel.