Characterization of the mechanical behavior of a twill dutch woven wire mesh

The mechanics of a woven wire mesh material are investigated to characterize the elasto--plastic behavior of this class of materials under tensile conditions. The study focuses on a representative 316L stainless steel (3161 SS) 325x2300 twill-dutch woven wire mesh typically used as a fine filtration media in applications such as water reclamation, air filtration, and as a key component in swab wands used in conjunction with explosive trace detection (Em) equipment. Mechanical experiments and a 3-D finite element model (FEM) are employed to study the macro-scale and meso-scale mechanical behavior of the woven wire mesh under uniaxial tensile conditions. A parametric study of the orientation dependence of the mechanical response of this material ~ been carried out, relating material properties such as elastic modulus, yield strength, etc. to material orientation. Ratcheting type tensile tests are also performed in a similar orientation study, and an elementary damage model is presented for the woven wire mesh based on continuum damage mechanics (CDM). The meso-scale behavior of the wire mesh is studied via the finite element method, and observations are made relating wire scale conditions to macro-scale material behavior