Issue 78

D. D. Joshi et alii, Fracture and Structural Integrity, 78 (2026) 315-345; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.78-19

S TAINLESS S TEEL W IRE M ESH (SWM) FOR STRUCTURAL STRENGTHENING his section discusses the application of steel wire mesh for structural strengthening. Various types of steel wire mesh such as stainless-steel expanded metal sheet mesh, high-strength steel wire mesh, welded wire mesh and galvanized steel mesh etc., have been employed by researchers to enhance the performance of structural elements. Stainless-steel Wire Mesh (SSWM) is locally available material, which comes in a roll form. A typical roll of SSWM and its microscopic view are shown in Fig. 5. SSWM offers several advantages such as weave stability, control over unweaving and surface area, extreme precision, excellent abrasion resistance and a consistent appearance. It is manufactured using a weaving process, where stainless-steel wires are interlaced at right angle to form the mesh. T

(a) Roll of SSWM

(b) A view of SSWM sample under Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM)

(c) Dimensions of SS wires and mesh opening

(d) Close view of mesh opening

Figure 5: Roll of SSWM and its microscopic view.

As presented in Fig. 5, the microscopic view of SSWM illustrates its orthogonal grid configuration. The longitudinal and transverse wires are uniformly arranged, forming nearly square openings. The annotated dimensions indicate key geometric parameters such as wire diameter, clear spacing between adjacent wires and center-to-center spacing, for one representative SSWM variant. The orthogonal configuration governs the mechanical interlocking and confinement efficiency of the mesh. The surface morphology of the wires appears relatively rough with minor irregularities, which can enhance the bond when the mesh is bonded to the concrete surface using epoxy adhesive. SSWM is commercially available in several variants, distinguished by two primary parameters, namely, (i) the gauge of the wire, which indicates its diameter and (ii) the number of wires per inch. Based on these parameters, commonly available SSWM variants include 8×23, 10×25, 18×27, 20×27, 26×30, 30×30, 30×32, 40×32, 40×36, 50×34, 100×42 and 400×49, among others. The designation A×B represents a stainless-steel wire mesh containing “A” number of wires per inch in both the orthogonal directions, fabricated using wires of gauge “B” [54]. Typical market rates indicate that the material cost of SSWM is lower than that of FRP sheets. Although the overall cost of a strengthening system depends on factors such as material grade, configuration, thickness/GSM and epoxy selection, SSWM-based strengthening can be considered a more

336