Characteristics and Uses of Diamond Plate Metal

 

When you are working a lot with industrial materials, it helps to understand the different types of materials that are available and what they are used for. You will likely be working with a lot of different kinds of expanded sheet metal with just about any industrial job, so getting to know the different types could end up doing you a lot of good. One common type of metal plate is known as the diamond plate. If you haven’t dealt with this type of plate before, you might get mislead at first by the name. To understand the metal better, it helps to understand more about the characteristics and uses of this particular plate.

Characteristics

Despite its very strong properties, a diamond plate is not actually made out of diamonds. In fact, it often consists or either aluminum, stainless steel, or just plain steel. It actually gets its name from the design on it. There is usually a consistent pattern of either raised or pressed hatch marks that form a diamond shape on the surface of the metal. The making of this metal is fairly simple: it is usually done through hot-rolling. The expanded sheet metal is rolled through some hot-roller presses that should have complementary male and female dies on it. This then presses the shape (or rather, embosses) into the metal. With hot-rolling, you can actually make more than just the diamond pattern in the sheet metal. This can be used for just about any embossing shape that you desire.

Uses

These types of plates have many different uses, but are often put to work as a safety feature in various locations. The embossed pattern of raised hatches takes what was once a smooth surface and makes it rougher. This means that should you step on the metal plate, you are more likely to keep your feet as opposed to slipping or falling. Thus you will find that these plates are seen in a lot of places, including catwalks and stairs. You may have even run into them in freight elevators or on factory floors. Even many emergency vehicles, such as ambulances and fire trucks, use these types of plates as flooring to help keep traction when things happen to get slippery. Although you might not find these kinds of plates in normal, residential floors, it is not uncommon to see them in commercial buildings and industrial settings.

When you work with industrial materials, it helps to understand your materials. Take a diamond plate, for instance. These plates are used in all kinds of areas, including catwalks, stairs, freight elevators, factory floors, and emergency response vehicles. To really understand the materials that you work with, it helps to know more about their characteristics and uses. These particular plates are formed through hot-rolling sheet metal through embossing dies. It ends up creating hatch marks in a diamond shape, which help create traction on an otherwise smooth surface. You are quite likely to notice these plates even more now that you know more about their characteristics and uses. The next step is to learn about other common sheet metals and plates in an industrial setting. It’s time to get to it.

Edward Molovinsky is an experienced construction worker by day and avid blogger by night.