Fabric Mesh Reinforcement

Summary

Fabric Mesh Reinforcement - Steel Fabric Reinforcement is made up of steel bars placed at regular centres in perpendicular directions to create a mesh of steel bars. These steel bars are typically 6 to 12mm in diameter and placed at between 100 and 400mm centres.

Technical Information

The size of bars and centre to centre distances vary depending upon local standards.

In the UK the standard sizes are covered by the table below.

Preferred Range of Standard Fabric Types

Fabric Reference	Longitudinal Wires			Transverse Wires			Mass (Kg/m²)
	Nominal wire size (mm)	Pitch (mm)	Area (mm²/m)	Nominal wire size (mm)	Pitch (mm)	Area (mm²/m)
Square Mesh
A393	10	200	393	10	200	393	6.16
A252	8	200	252	8	200	252	3.95
A193	7	200	193	7	200	193	3.02
A142	6	200	142	6	200	142	2.22
A98	5	200	98	5	200	98	1.54

Structural Mesh
B1131	12	100	1131	8	200	252	10.9
B785	10	100	785	8	200	252	8.14
B503	8	100	503	8	200	252	5.93
B385	7	100	385	7	200	193	4.53
B283	6	100	283	7	200	193	3.73
B196	5	100	196	7	200	193	3.05

Long Mesh
C785	10	100	785	6	400	70.8	6.72
C636	9	100	636	6	400	70.8	5.55
C503	8	100	503	5	400	49	4.34
C385	7	100	385	5	400	49	3.41
C283	6	100	283	5	400	49	2.61

Wrapping Mesh
D98	5	200	98	5	200	98	1.54
D49	2.5	100	49	2.5	100	49	0.77

Stock Sheet	Lenght 4.8m			Width 2.4m			Area 11.52m²

In ground supported slabs mesh reinforcement should be placed in the bottom of the slab between 50 and 40mm cover. Here the mesh provides and enhancement to the moment resistance of the slab.

The size of the mesh is dictated by the slab thickness and the moment capacity required (when placed in the bottom of the slab). The size of the mesh should be such that the cross sectional area of the mesh is between 0.1-0.125% of the total cross sectional area of the slab. For example in a 175mm thick slab the mesh size used in the UK would be A193.