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About Floor Gratings
Floor gratings are a common fixture in most industrial,
production and factory environments. Floor gratings material was first
used in the flooring of ship engine rooms towards the end of the 1940s.
Its use has since expanded and floor grating manufacturers produce floor
gratings for general buildings, production plants and manhole covers.
Floor gratings feature a textured surface created by holes in or texture
placed into the surface of the material. The percent of open area is
important in allowing the required amount of light, water, air and sound
to pass through the grating. Choose floor gratings when it is important
that liquids or debris not be collected on the flooring, easy installation
and fabrication is preferred and complex floor patterns and hard to fit
areas make solid floor installation difficult.
Floor grating manufacturers make floor gratings of various materials
including metals like steel and iron or fiberglass reinforced plastic.
Depending on the corrosive nature of the building’s environment
and needed load strength, floor gratings are manufactured in various
thicknesses and grip patterns. Both perforated and expanded metal fabrication
techniques are used to create the majority of floor gratings. The available
patterns of floor gratings vary from diamond shape to oval, and each
pattern has different inherent strength properties. The choice of pattern
of floor gratings is both practical and aesthetic. The most heavy duty
floor gratings are made out of welded or pressure-locked interlocking
bars. These fiberglass or metal bars provide a stable floor situation
that is less likely to bend or warp with extended use.
There are many, many types of floor gratings. Expanded metal grating
is either regular or flattened and made of carbon steel, aluminum, stainless
steel, pre- or hot-dipped galvanized steel, copper, silver, nickel and
ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Expanded metal grating is used in enclosures,
supports, protection (guards for machine and heaters, etc.), security
and decoration. Bar grating is either non-serrated or serrated for slip
resistance (i.e. the top surfaces of the bearing bars have been notched).
Safety grating is made of pre-galvanized steel, stainless steel and aluminum.
It can be assembled with clips. Different types of fiberglass grating
include pultruded, open-molded and compression molded. Conductive top
grating is light weight, slip resistant, has a long service life and
low installation cost and drains unwanted static electricity.
Floor grating manufacturers produce products that are most often used
for the implementation of increased traction and tread for workplace
safety. Often, floor gratings are required by regulation standards in
certain areas of a factory or warehouse, including areas near potential
fluid or lubrication leaks or as part of stairs and high walkways. These
floor gratings provide slip resistant areas and extra grip for vehicles
such as forklifts. Another common use for floor gratings would be for
the covering of an area which needs adequate drainage of fluids as in
the case of an industrial-sized refrigerator or freezer. Sometimes the
floor gratings are used as part of a buildings ventilation system, providing
free travel of air to areas, rather than strict foot grip safety.
Featured
Articles
http://www.metro-magazine.com/t_featpick.cfm?id=90507332
http://www.grandin.com/design/non.slip.flooring.html
Types of Floor Gratings
- has excellent corrosion resistance
under a variety of service conditions, light mass and high strength-to-weight
ratio.
- are floor gratings that are made with thicker metal
or fiberglass bars, which are either welded, pressure locked or riveted
together. They are used for stronger support purposes, such as stair
treads.
- is a durable, molded fiberglass floor product combining
slip resistant floor plates and molded grating.
- is lightweight, durable
and inexpensive, provides some traction and does not need special
equipment to be installed.
The openings range from 3/16” to 2”.
- have lightweight durability and an anti-corrosive
nature. Pultruded fiberglass has a higher load capacity than standard
molded fiberglass ( http://www.fiberglassfabricators.com ).
- are the norm in the floor grating world. The metals
used most often are stainless steel and iron, but aluminum is sometimes
used in lighter traffic and load situations.
- (http://www.perforated-metals.com ) is a type of
metal fabrication technique which punches holes of various sizes
and patterns
via a punching press. This type of metal is often used along
with expanded metal to create floor gratings.
- is never 100% plastic but is often reinforced with
fiberglass.
- offers the widest variety of load bearing
bar spacing and can be manufactured efficiently in small
quantities. Pressure
locked grating is one of the most versatile types of grating.
- have perforations and textured surfaces to prevent slipping and related accidents.
- consist of many parallel and perpendicular steel bars that can bear weight, but still allow air to pass.
- is formed by electrically fusing cross bars to steel
load bearing bars.
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