dwg AVX-1803 · Products
Every micron engineered. Every millisecond protected.
A wedge wire screen is a screening surface built from triangular profile wire welded at every crossing onto support rods that run underneath it. The flat top face of each wire forms one edge of a continuous slot, and because the profile tapers away below the surface, the slot widens downstream. A particle that passes the opening therefore keeps going instead of wedging in it. That geometry is why a wedge wire screen holds its capacity in service: the open area stays defined by the slot rather than by what has lodged in it, as long as the slot faces the flow and the surface is cleaned at the interval the duty demands.
Also known as: profile wire screen · V-wire screen · continuous slot screen · slotted screen panel · sieve bend screen · wedge wire panel
A screen that blinds is not a screen. Perforated plate and woven cloth both present a straight-walled opening, and a particle the size of that opening stays in it. Capacity drops, differential pressure climbs, and someone spends a shift backwashing or knocking through a panel that was fine last week. Wedge wire takes the straight wall out: the slot is the narrowest point on the whole section, and everything behind it is wider.
We supply wedge wire screens as flat panels, curved sieve bends, cylinders, baskets and conical sections, with the slot running across or along the flow. Send the slot width you need, the medium, the open area you are working with today, and how the screen is carried or clamped. If the drawing exists we work from it; if it does not, we draw it.
Two decisions usually get made too late: slot direction and support rod pitch. Slots across the flow shear material off the stream and keep a sieve bend working. Slots along the flow drain and dewater with less resistance. Rod pitch decides what the panel carries — too coarse and the surface deflects under a raking arm or a differential, too fine and you pay in open area you never get back. Both are settled before anything is made, together with the frame, edge bars and mounting detail.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| 0.05–15 mm (standard range); the fine end is profile-dependent and confirmed per application | |
| 1.0–3.7 mm × 1.8–6.3 mm (common profiles; others on request) | |
| typically 10–75 mm, set by load and span | |
| = slot ÷ (slot + profile width); ≈ 1 % to over 80 % across the ranges above | |
| across or along the flow; slot widens downstream | |
| commonly up to approx. 1,500 × 6,000 mm; larger surfaces built up from panels | |
| commonly approx. 50–1,200 mm; larger diameters in segmented sections | |
| flat panels, curved sieve bends, cylinders, baskets, conical sections | |
| 304, 316L, Duplex; higher alloys on request |
Values shown are standard industry ranges for wedge wire screens, not a commitment. The exact specification — slot width, profile size, rod pitch, open area, form and alloy — is confirmed per application after technical review of your process and mounting data.
Slot width is the rating, and it does not translate from a mesh count carried over from a woven screen. A slot retains in one direction only: a flake or a fibre that a square aperture stops can pass a slot of the same nominal width edge-on. Give us the cut point — the smallest particle you must hold and the largest you are content to let through — and a particle size distribution if one exists.
Across the flow, each slot edge shears a layer off the stream and the surface keeps itself clear. Along the flow, resistance drops and drainage improves. Form follows the same logic — flat panel, curved bend, cylinder, basket or cone. Tell us how the medium arrives at the surface, not only what the old part looked like.
The rods carry the panel. Too coarse a pitch and the surface deflects under a raking arm, a pressure differential or a foot; too fine and open area disappears into steel. Send the span, the mounting, the differential pressure and any mechanical contact with the surface — the pitch is a consequence of those numbers.
304 covers benign duty; 316L covers most process water, food and beverage service. Chlorides, seawater, sour service and higher design temperatures move the choice to Duplex or a higher alloy. State the medium, its concentration and the design temperature — the alloy follows from those, not from preference.
Standard in 304 and 316L. Also supplied in Duplex and, for chloride, sour or high-temperature duty, in higher alloys such as 904L, Inconel and Hastelloy. Frames, edge bars and support rods are matched to the screen alloy unless the specification says otherwise. Availability and lead time for the higher alloys are confirmed at quotation.
Because the opening is the narrowest point and nothing behind it is tighter. In a drilled hole the wall is parallel, so a particle the size of the hole jams and stays. In a wedge wire slot the profile falls away below the surface, so the same particle either does not enter or passes straight through. Blinding is not abolished — sticky, fibrous and greasy material still needs cleaning — but the mechanism that traps sized particles is gone.
Start from the cut point: the smallest particle you must retain and the largest you are content to pass. Then look at shape. A slot retains in one direction only, so fibres and flakes can turn edge-on and go through an opening that would stop them in a square mesh. A sieve analysis is the fastest way to get this right; a photograph of the material is better than nothing.
Across the flow for sieve bends and anywhere the stream itself has to keep the surface clear — each slot edge shears a layer off the flow. Along the flow for drainage, dewatering and static retention, where low resistance and free run-off matter more. If a raking or brushing arm sweeps the surface, run the slots in the direction the arm travels, so the blade lies across the wire tops instead of along a slot it can drop into.
Yes. Measure the chord and the arc, or the radius and the included angle, and add the slot width plus the way the panel is clamped top and bottom. If the existing screen is worn, its slot has usually opened up — take the target slot from the original drawing where you can, not from the panel coming out.
It follows from the geometry, not from a catalogue: open area = slot ÷ (slot + profile width). A 0.5 mm slot on a 3.0 mm profile gives about 14 %; a 3 mm slot on the same profile gives 50 %; a wide dewatering slot on a slim profile passes 80 %. A narrow slot on a wide profile therefore gives little open area — and carries more load for it. Open area, strength and slot width form one triangle: fix two and the third follows. Send the slot width and the load and you get the exact figure instead of a band.
304 for benign duty, 316L for most process water, food and beverage service. Chlorides, seawater, sour gas or higher design temperatures usually move the choice to Duplex or a higher alloy. Send the medium, its concentration and the design temperature and you get an alloy back with the reason attached.
Both, plus conical sections. A cylinder can be built with the slot running around it or along it, and with the rods inside or outside depending on which face has to stay smooth. Say whether the flow runs in-to-out or out-to-in: that decides which way the slot has to widen, and getting it backwards turns a self-clearing screen into a filter cake holder.
Slot width, panel dimensions or the arc for a sieve bend, the form (flat, curved, cylinder, basket, cone), flow direction, medium and design temperature, and how the screen is carried or clamped. A sketch of the frame helps; a drawing of the existing screen helps more. Availability and lead time are confirmed at quotation.
RFQ
Share your specs, a sketch or a worn-out sample. Our engineers reply within two business days with a practical proposal.
Support chat
Business hours Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00 Netherlands time (CET/CEST) · personal response within two business days. Urgent breakdown? Say so and we arrange what is needed.