SS316L Five-Layer Sintered Wire Mesh Filter
Five-layer SS316L sintered mesh laminate, 1.7 mm on 500 × 1000 mm sheet. Diffusion-bonded at 1200–1300 °C, −200 to 600 °C, back-pulse regenerable. Custom layer counts and cut formats.
Products Specifications
A five-layer diffusion-bonded SS316L laminate for duties where a single woven mesh is too weak and a sintered powder element is too restrictive. Five layers — protective, filter-control, dispersion, and two reinforcing — are stacked, spot-welded at the corners, and vacuum-sintered at 1200–1300 °C under hydrogen so the wires diffuse-bond into one rigid sheet. The standard build is 1.7 mm thick on a 500 × 1000 mm sheet and holds its aperture from −200 °C to 600 °C through acid, alkali, and back-pulse cleaning cycles.
1.Overview
Standard five-layer sintered mesh is the workhorse laminate of the sintered-mesh family. It is not a woven cloth with a backing screen, and it is not a powder element. It is five discrete wire meshes — each selected for a different job — stacked in a fixed order and bonded into a single sheet by vacuum diffusion sintering, so there is no adhesive, no intermediate binder phase, and no interface that can delaminate under pressure reversal.
The layer stack is what gives the laminate its behaviour. A coarse protective layer faces the upstream flow and takes the mechanical abuse. Behind it sits the filter control layer, the fine mesh that actually sets the retention rating — this is the layer you specify when you state a micron figure. A dispersion layer spreads the flow so the control layer loads across its whole area instead of plugging in one spot, and two reinforcing layers carry the tensile and burst load. Because the control layer is supported on both faces, it can be far finer than any single mesh that would have to survive the same differential pressure on its own.
The processing route matters as much as the stack. Sheets are corner spot-welded to hold registration, layered onto a pallet with a separator between each stack, and loaded into a vacuum furnace. The chamber is evacuated, then held at 1200–1300 °C under a hydrogen atmosphere at 39–41 Pa with 0.5–1.5 kg/cm² hydraulic load for 4–10 hours. Under those conditions the wire crossings diffusion-bond rather than simply touching, which is why the finished sheet behaves as a monolithic plate: it can be sheared, rolled, deep-drawn, and welded without the plies separating at the cut edge.
2.Key Specifications
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Material | SS316L standard; SS304 and SS316 available on request |
| Layer structure | 5-layer: protective layer + filter control layer + dispersion layer + 2 × reinforcing layer |
| Standard thickness | 1.7 mm |
| 6-layer option | 5-layer stack plus a 12-mesh screen → 3.5 mm, higher pressure rating |
| Standard sheet sizes | 500 × 1000 mm, 600 × 1200 mm, 1000 × 1200 mm; cut-to-size and custom formats on request |
| Filtration rating | Set by the filter control layer; quoted to your micron requirement and verified per build |
| Operating temperature | −200 °C to 600 °C continuous |
| Chemical envelope | Acid and alkali service; 316L gives the molybdenum-bearing pitting resistance that 304 lacks in chloride-bearing streams |
| Manufacturing technique | Layer stacking + corner spot welding + vacuum sintering at 1200–1300 °C under hydrogen, 0.5–1.5 kg/cm², 4–10 h hold |
| Fabrication | Shearing, laser / waterjet cutting, rolling, deep drawing, TIG and spot welding, punching, pleating |
| Cleaning / regeneration | Countercurrent water, filtrate back-flow, ultrasonic, melt-out, and bake-out; repeatable over a long service life |
| Custom options | Layer count (5 or 6), control-layer mesh count, sheet size, thickness, edge preparation, frame welding, disc / cartridge / cone conversion |
Full-sheet view of the SS316L five-layer sintered laminate after vacuum sintering and levelling. The surface shown is the coarse protective layer; the fine filter control layer sits beneath it and is not visible from this face. The sheet is supplied flat and can be sheared, rolled, or welded into discs, cones, cartridges, and pleated packs.
3.Key Features
Protective, control, dispersion, and two reinforcing layers each do a separate job, so the retention layer is mechanically supported from both faces instead of carrying the load alone.
Vacuum sintering at 1200–1300 °C fuses the wire crossings. There is no binder phase to outgas, extract, or soften, and no adhesive layer to fail on a pressure reversal.
The control layer is a defined mesh count rather than a stochastic pore network, so aperture distribution is repeatable sheet to sheet and does not drift between production lots.
Fully metallic construction covers cryogenic and high-temperature gas duties in the same material, including acid and alkali service that would attack a polymer or paper medium.
Countercurrent water, filtrate back-flow, ultrasonic, melt-out, and bake-out all restore flow. The laminate is regenerated in place rather than replaced, which is the whole economic case against disposables.
Cuts, rolls, deep-draws, and welds with conventional shop equipment, so the same laminate converts into flat panels, discs, cones, cylinders, and pleated packs without a separate support cage.
4.Applications
Specified wherever a stream is hot, corrosive, or back-pulsed hard enough that a single woven mesh would deform and a disposable depth medium would become a waste-stream liability.
- Hydraulic and lube-oil precision filtration — fine filtration of hydraulic fluids and lubricating oils in machinery and mobile equipment, where the reinforcing plies take the pressure spikes of a cold start.
- Pharmaceutical filtration, washing, and drying — filter-dryer and Nutsche-style duties where the same surface filters the slurry, washes the cake, and dries it without a media change-out.
- Polymer melt filtration — filtration and purification of polymer melts in chemical fibre and film lines, at temperatures that rule out every non-metallic medium.
- Petrochemical high-temperature corrosive liquids — hot acid and alkali streams where 316L’s molybdenum content holds up and the laminate survives repeated back-pulse.
- Fluidisation plates and powder handling — gas distribution in fluidised beds and powder conveying, using the uniform open area to homogenise flow across the whole plate.
- Explosion-proof electrical enclosures — flame-arrestor and distribution elements that must hold a defined aperture under a pressure event without fragmenting.
5.Frequently Asked Questions
What does each of the five layers actually do?
The protective layer faces upstream flow and takes mechanical abuse. The filter control layer is the fine mesh that sets the retention rating — that is the number you specify. The dispersion layer spreads flow so the control layer loads evenly instead of plugging locally. Two reinforcing layers carry tensile and burst load. Because the control layer is supported on both faces, it can be much finer than a single unsupported mesh rated for the same pressure.
How is this different from a plain woven wire mesh or a sintered powder element?
A single woven mesh has to compromise: fine enough to filter means too weak to survive the ΔP. A sintered powder element is strong but has a tortuous pore path and a much higher clean ΔP at the same rating. The five-layer laminate decouples the two jobs — a fine control layer for retention, coarse reinforcing plies for strength — so you get the rating without paying the pressure penalty.
How do I specify the filtration rating?
Quote the micron retention you need and the differential pressure the element must survive; we select the control-layer mesh count and confirm whether the 5-layer or 6-layer build is appropriate. If your duty involves hard back-pulse or a high burst requirement, the 6-layer build at 3.5 mm is usually the safer call even when the 1.7 mm sheet would meet the retention figure.
Should I choose 304, 316, or 316L?
SS316L is the default for a reason: the molybdenum content gives pitting and crevice resistance that 304 does not have in chloride-bearing or acidic streams, and the low carbon version holds that corrosion resistance through the weld heat-affected zone. SS304 is a valid cost-down option for dry, non-chloride duties at moderate temperature. Tell us the stream chemistry and we will confirm the alloy.
How is the laminate cleaned and how long does it last?
Countercurrent water or filtrate back-flow handles routine fouling; ultrasonic cleaning, melt-out, and bake-out handle heavier organic or polymer loading. Because there is no binder phase, aggressive cleaning does not degrade the medium the way it degrades a resin-bonded depth filter. Service life is duty-dependent — replace when clean ΔP at design flow no longer recovers after a full cleaning cycle.
What custom options are available?
Layer count (5 or 6), control-layer mesh count, alloy (304 / 316 / 316L), sheet size and cut format, thickness, edge preparation, and conversion into finished shapes — discs, cones, cylinders, pleated packs, and welded frames or end caps. Custom laminates are quoted against your drawing; standard 500 × 1000 mm sheets ship from stock.
6.Order and Specification Notes
Standard part number 5L-SS316L-500X1000 ships from stock as a 1.7 mm, 500 × 1000 mm, five-layer SS316L sheet. For OEM and converter quantities, JIT supply agreements, cut-to-size programmes, and private-label packaging are available on annual contracts. When requesting a quotation please state stream chemistry, target retention rating, design flow rate, maximum differential pressure, operating temperature, and cleaning protocol so we can confirm the control-layer mesh count, alloy, and whether the 5-layer or 6-layer build is correct for your duty.
Need a five-layer sintered laminate for your duty? Send your stream chemistry, target retention, and ΔP ceiling to our applications team for a same-day quotation, or browse the full Metal Mesh range, related Metal Sintered Items, and Metal Filters for design context.
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