Wiktionary
n. 1 (context dated English) An alloy that has expanded upon cooling 2 sheet metal that has been slit and stretched at right angles to the slits to form a lattice; used for making screens etc and for reinforcing concrete.
Wikipedia
Expanded metal is a form of metal stock made by shearing a metal plate in a press, so that the metal stretches, leaving diamond-shaped voids surrounded by interlinked bars of the metal. The most common method of manufacture is to simultaneously slit and stretch the material with one motion. It is often shortened to exmet. "Exmet", however, is a registered trademark in the US for expanded metal produced by Expanded Metal Company, Ltd. It is a large part of the metal industry and plays a key role in metal fabrication.
Expanded metal is used in:
- grates,
- in outdoor furniture (e.g. benches),
- fencing,
- installation of "heating floor" system;
- plastering (metal lath).
It is often used for guarding to prevent contact with hot surfaces or machinery.
Expanded metal is often used for architectural details and finds use in security applications such as in the walls of a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility because, in heavier grades, it is difficult to breach without heavy cutting equipment or explosives.
Usage examples of "expanded metal".
Carefully, he lifted the matched pad covering the tunnel mouth and moved the expanded metal grate inside the transformer station.
It shivered in its expanded metal frame, and the beads of moisture jumped.
Black beady eyes were looking at her through the expanded metal landing above her.
The windows are opaque plastic windows reinforced with expanded metal.
The fence there is three metres high and made of sharp expanded metal.
The table was expanded metal, aluminum plate turned into a cheap and easy-to-clean mesh-probably they used a high-pressure solvent hose to wash everything into that drain in the middle of a sunken spot over there in the floor.