You may have come across words such as high tensile or mild steel nettings and barbed wire. In this blog post, we will focus on explaining the difference between the latter. Also, where can you use barbed wire and nettings made out of either high tensile or mild steel.
What is the difference between high tensile and mild steel?
High tensile barbed wire is made of higher carbon steel. Its carbon content is approximately 0.28%. Consequently, increased carbon content allows the wire to be stronger and reduces elongation. It is has a much higher breaking strain when compared to the mild steel wire (low carbon wire).
Low carbon steel or mild steel, on the other hand, has a lower carbon content, approximately 0.05–0.25%. Hence, it is highly formable and ductile.
Where can we use high tensile barbed wire?
As high tensile netting contains more carbon than standard mild steel, it stays tighter for longer. Hence, making it a better choice for stock-proof fencing. Its additional strength, compared to mild steel nettings, provides an advantage for places that require a higher-security and more versatile fencing.
High tensile wire has a much higher breaking strain and is also more elastic, allowing it to be used with much wider fence post spacings compared to mild steel wire.
For the reasons above, many contractors prefer high tensile barbed wire. However, the ones wishing to install high tensile nettings without the help of a contractor should be aware that when unrolled, high tensile wire is more springy. Thus, making it harder to install without suitable fencing tools.
Having proper fencing tools will allow pulling the high tensile wire netting harder, making it much tighter between the fencing posts, allowing the netting to stay tighter for much longer.
Where can we use mild steel wire?
Due to the properties of mild steel that make the wire and nettings made out of it more formable, they are also easier to install if you do not have the equipment to handle high tensile wires. Thus, you can see mild steel (low carbon) barbed wire around smaller farms. The possible reason is that to pull the netting very tight, it requires pricy fencing clams. Therefore, smaller farms tend not to pull the barbed wire too hard. Hence, mild steel barbed wire is a better choice for them.
Mild steel is suitable for shorter fencing or patching up an existing damaged fence. Besides wire products such as barbed wire, mild steel can also be used for automobile body parts and plates.
Interested in the high or mild barbed wire fencing?
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