The screen deck is where a plant’s throughput is won or lost, and the material behind the screening media has as much bearing on that outcome as the aperture size or weave type. Screen Products supplies screening media across every standard material type, from high carbon spring steel and stainless steel woven wire through to polyurethane-bound harp screens, rubber wear panels and polyurethane perforated panels.
This guide covers each of the five material groups Screen Products supplies in turn, High-Tensile Steel, Stainless Steel, Polyurethane, Rubber and Perforated Steel Plate, what each is built for and where it fits, before going into more depth on the choice between stainless steel and high carbon steel specifically, since that decision has the biggest bearing on cost and corrosion resistance for most screening applications.
High-Tensile Steel (High Carbon Spring Steel
Woven wire screens remain the most widely used screening media in mining, quarrying and aggregate processing, and High Carbon Spring Steel, sometimes referred to as high-tensile steel, is the standard wire material behind the majority of them. It’s the default, most economical choice wherever the process doesn’t specifically call for added corrosion resistance.
Weave Types
Screen Products supplies eight weave types in High Carbon Spring Steel, matched to the aperture-to-wire ratio: Plain Weave for the highest open area, Intermediate Weave for added rigidity, Lock Crimp Weave for coarse, high-impact apertures, Flat Top for sensitive products like washed aggregate, Slotted for flaky or blinding-prone materials, Harp (the basis of the EaziFlow range covered under Polyurethane), and Heavy Duty Welded Screen for primary screening and large-lump work. Custom configurations are available for non-standard apertures.
Hook Configuration
Screen selection also depends on hook configuration, since the vibrating screen’s specification determines the correct hook type. Screen Products supplies Plain 45°, 45° Metal Edge, Double Fold Metal Edge, C-Shape Weld On, Plain C-Shape and C-Shape Metal Edge hooks across all wire materials. Hooks are available across the full range, from High Carbon Spring Steel through to stainless steel. Fitting the wrong hook type results in poor screen tensioning and fitment, and can shorten screen life under vibration.
Mobile Screens and Screen Cloth
Screen Products also maintains a mobile screening database covering screen cloth requirements across leading mobile screening brands and models, matched to OEM specifications. This confirms exact fitment, correct tensioning and the right aperture for a specific mobile unit, reducing installation time and fitment errors.
Stainless Steel
Where the mineral being screened or contaminants present require corrosion resistance, Screen Products supplies the same weave range in stainless steel rather than High Carbon Spring Steel. Stainless Steel 304 is specified for moisture or mild corrosive environments, and Stainless Steel 316 for more aggressive or chemically demanding environments. Other stainless grades are available on request.
Stainless steel screens use the same eight weave types and the same hook configurations as High Carbon Spring Steel, so moving to stainless for corrosion resistance doesn’t mean changing the rest of the screen’s specification.
Polyurethane
A traditional harp screen uses thin wire to bind the screen together, and once these binding wires wear, the entire screen tends to fail prematurely.
EaziFlow Screens
EaziFlow Screens use polyurethane wear bands instead of wire binding, giving far greater abrasion resistance and strength. They come in Square Harp Weave (2mm aperture and above) and Tri Harp Weave (1.1mm and above), with reinforced bands cast along the hook edges where wear is highest.
Polyurethane Panels
Standalone polyurethane panels offer an abrasion, impact and corrosion-resistant alternative to metal screens, lighter and quieter, in standard sizes from 305 x 305mm to 610 x 610mm. Poly Wedge and Poly Wire combination panels add a wedge wire or wire insert to the frame, and High-Frequency Mats handle very small apertures on most Derrick screens.
Support and Wear Accessories
Screen Products also supplies the polyurethane hardware that keeps a deck running: Capping/Nosing and Polyurethane-Coated Clamping Plates for wear and chemical resistance, plus Pins and Sleeves, Side Liners, Brackets and Wedges, and Clip Rails for fastening and positioning panels.
Rubber
Where the application calls for rubber rather than polyurethane, Screen Products manufactures PU and rubber mats to each client’s specific requirements, with hook edge or bolt-down fixing and a wide range of aperture types.
Nosing Rubber
Screen Products also supplies Nosing Rubber, a buffer between the screen and the stringer frame (camber bars) in place of the polyurethane option covered above, in short leg and long leg profiles supplied in 30m rolls.
Rubber Mats
High-Frequency Rubber Mats extend the same fine-screening range covered under Polyurethane above into a rubber construction, and wire combination mats are also available where a rubber deck needs the added strength of a wire insert.
Perforated Steel Plate
Screen Products does not supply a standalone perforated steel plate. The equivalent in the range is the Poly Perf panel, a polyurethane frame built around a perforated insert instead of the wedge wire or wire insert used in Poly Wedge and Poly Wire, supplied in the same standard sizes and fixing methods, with the same abrasion, impact and corrosion resistance as the rest of the polyurethane range. Where a solid perforated steel surface is specifically required, this is worth confirming directly with Screen Products’ technical team.
