Sheep mesh possesses high strength, corrosion resistance, strong weld joints, precise mesh size, and structural stability, characteristics that directly impact livestock safety, survival rates, farm lifespan, and subsequent maintenance costs. Our company has established a standardized quality control system that ensures every process is inspectable, every batch is traceable, and every indicator is quantifiable, from raw material intake to finished product delivery. This minimizes common quality issues such as incomplete welds, weld cracks, substandard wire diameter, mesh size deviations, uneven coatings, and rust/corrosion.
The base material of Sheep Mesh primarily consists of low-carbon steel wire, hot-dip galvanized steel wire, electro-galvanized steel wire, and high-zinc alloy steel wire. The quality of raw materials directly determines the product's strength, toughness, and corrosion resistance, making it the first line of defense in quality control.
The process involves reviewing the steel mill's qualifications, production licenses, and material quality assurance certificates, requiring material chemical composition reports and mechanical property reports. Quarterly on-site audits and sample inspections are conducted on long-term cooperative suppliers, and the use of recycled materials, low-purity iron wire, and non-standard inferior steel wire is prohibited.
The appearance and dimensions of the steel wire are inspected using a digital micrometer at multiple points to ensure that the wire diameter tolerance is controlled within ±0.03mm, and that there are no cracks, burrs, oil stains, rust, flattening, or bending. The wires should be neatly arranged, without tangled wires, broken ends, or joints.
Material and mechanical properties are randomly inspected. The tensile strength of standard Q195/Q235 steel wire must reach 350–550MPa to ensure toughness and prevent brittle fracture during drawing and welding. The zinc coating on hot-dip galvanized wire is typically required to be 60g/m²–120g/m². Winding and bending tests are conducted to ensure that the zinc layer does not peel or flake.
Pretreatment is a crucial process affecting the adhesion and rust prevention of the Sheep Mesh coating. It mainly includes straightening, cutting, degreasing, rust removal, phosphating, and passivation.
Wire Straightening: Straightness error ≤ 1mm/m, length cutting tolerance ±1mm. Monitoring ensures a smooth cut, free of burrs and flattening, preventing over-straightening that could harden the wire and reduce its toughness.
Degreasing and Cleaning: Alkaline degreasing temperature, concentration, and time are automatically controlled. Water washing is monitored to ensure the surface is free of oil and residual chemicals. The water film rupture test is used; uniform water adhesion on the surface indicates合格 (qualified).
Rust Removal and Surface Activation: Rust removal grade reaches Sa2.5 or higher, with no oxide scale, floating rust, or impurities on the surface, preventing over-etching that could lead to thinning of the wire and reduced strength.
Phosphating and Passivation: The phosphating film is uniform, dense, and without exposed substrate, improving the adhesion between the coating and the metal. Passivation ensures short-term rust prevention and avoids rust re-entry during transport.
Sheep mesh manufacturing processes are mainly divided into two categories: welded wire mesh forming and crimped weaving forming. The forming quality determines the strength, impact resistance, and deformation resistance of the mesh.
Welded type quality control: Welded sheep fence mesh features a flat surface, robust structure, resistance to deformation, and strong protective properties, making it a mainstream product for ranches in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. The machine employs a fully automatic CNC resistance welding machine, which monitors welding current, voltage, welding time, and pressure in real time. It automatically alarms for any abnormalities to prevent incomplete welds, missed welds, and detachment. Parameters are consistent across batches to ensure stability. Weld strength tensile testing is ≥ 600N–800N, and incomplete welds, detachment, burn-through, weld beads, and burrs are not permitted. A group of welds is randomly selected every 30 minutes for destructive tensile testing. Welds must have uniform fusion, no cracks, and no oxidation or blackening.
Woven type quality monitoring: Woven sheep nets are primarily used for flexible fencing, mountain enclosures, and slope protection. They emphasize toughness and tensile strength. The crimped weave ensures secure locking points, preventing slippage and deformation. The warp and weft threads are tightly interwoven, with no loosening or skipped threads. The mesh size is highly consistent and uniform.
After forming, the sheep mesh requires secondary processing including leveling, cutting, trimming, frame pressing, and bending. Strict monitoring of dimensions and appearance is essential. Mesh leveling is monitored using heavy-duty leveling machines, ensuring a flatness error of ≤ 1mm/m, with no waves, twists, or warping. Cutting and sizing are done using CNC cutting, ensuring precise lengths, neat cuts, no burrs, and no loose threads. Batch product dimensional consistency is ≥ 99.5%. Edge trimming ensures no sharp burrs to prevent injury to livestock and installers. Edges are securely bound, preventing loose ends and fraying. For heavy-duty sheep fences, reinforcing ribs can be added to improve impact resistance. Frames and irregularly shaped parts have bending angles of 90°±0.5°. Welded frames are free of false welds and deformation. Installation holes are precisely positioned with a hole spacing tolerance of ±0.5mm.
Common surface treatments for Sheep Mesh include electro-galvanizing, hot-dip galvanizing, PE dip coating, PVC coating, and gray powder coating. The coating quality directly determines rust resistance, weather resistance, service life, and appearance consistency.
Hot-dip galvanizing coating quality monitoring: The hot-dip galvanizing temperature is controlled at 450℃±5℃. Excessive temperature leads to excessive zinc dross and brittle steel wire; insufficient temperature results in insufficient zinc coating and poor adhesion.
Zinc coating amount monitoring: Standard 60g/m²–100g/m², high-corrosion outdoor type 100g/m²–200g/m². Multiple points are tested for each batch using a zinc coating thickness gauge, and a third-party salt spray test report is issued.
Zinc coating appearance monitoring: Smooth surface, no drips, no zinc nodules, no uncoated areas, no blackening, no exposed iron, no peeling, no cracks or flaking after a 180° bend.