Statistical characterisation of expanded metal mesh strand, to propose a correlation between properties of parent material and finish product, EMM

Abstract

The use of steel plate shear walls (SPSW) for the design of structures under low seismic intensity results in very thin infill SPSW panels. Construction of such structures is infeasible, mainly due to the difficulty in connecting the infill to the boundary members. Thus, a designer is compelled to use a thicker infill section which in turn leads to heavier boundary elements. In order to overcome this constraint of design, a new type of infill panel using Expanded Metal Mesh (EMM) is studied as an alternative in place of a solid infill SPSW panel. Available codes on expanded metal mesh specify requirements of workmanship, quality control, etc. but neither recommend the strength of expanded metal mesh as a whole nor the strength of its components. Thus, it is necessary to perform extensive tests to extract the strength of expanded metal mesh as a whole in terms of the strength of its components and to come out with a correlation between the strength of the parent material (material from which EMM is manufactured) and that of the finished product (EMM). This paper a) presents the statistical characterization of EMM strands, b) recommends nominal design values for basic mechanical properties and c) proposes the correlation between the strength of the parent material and that of EMM strand.