Easily Calculate Screen Mesh Strength The Asada Mesh “Strength Index”
- Screen Printing
- Technical Information-04
In screen printing, the principle is to set up the gap between the mask and the substrate (called snap-off distance), and to consecutively “peel off” using the tensile strength of the screen mesh. When printing, the screen mesh will eventually deteriorate based on the number of shots, so we highly recommend choosing the strongest applicable mesh.Peel-off, print accuracy, and mask life span all hugely depend on the strength of the mesh, therefore it is the most important thing to take into consideration.
Screen Mesh Strength and The Strength Index
Screen mesh strength is calculated by multiplying together three measurements: wire strength, wire cross-section area, and mesh count.
The Asada Mesh “Strength Index” is based on how well mesh performs when compared with our basic screen printing mesh– the 28 micron wire diameter, 325 mesh.※1
We split wire strength into three categories: “BS Standard”, “MS Medium Strength” (1.3 times stronger than BS), and “HS High Strength” (three times stronger than BS)
- The best performing stainless steel mesh used in screen printing is the BS-325/28 mesh, is set at the standard strength of 1.0.
Compared to BS-325/28, MS-400/23 has 1.3 times the wire strength, 0.675 times the wire cross-section area, and 1.23 times the wire count. By multiplying these figures, you get the total strength index measurements of 1.08x.
More on products with different strengths here
Aiming for Steady Printing
All Asada Mesh products are ranked on the Strength Index.By adjusting the tension and snap-off distance of any mesh with a strength index of over 1.0, it is possible to perfectly print over 20,000 shots.
Screen mesh generally decreases in strength as the wire count goes up, therefore care is especially needed when printing fine lines.
