Open panels of stainless flat bars held apart by cross bars, used for floors, walkways, platforms, stair treads and drain covers where water, chemicals or hygiene rule out galvanized steel. They let light, air and liquid through, are slip-resistant when serrated, and need no coating.
A bar grating has flat 'bearing bars' set on edge, which carry the load across the span, and lighter cross bars or rods that hold them upright and at a fixed pitch. The two are joined either by forge welding (electrical resistance welding under high pressure at every crossing) or by press-locking, where notched cross bars are pressed into slotted bearing bars. Welded grating is stiffer and is the industrial norm; press-locked grating has a cleaner look and is often used in architecture.
Stainless grating is used where galvanized carbon steel would not last or would contaminate: wastewater and desalination plants, food and beverage factories, chemical plants, offshore platforms and coastal promenades. Because it is not coated, it can be cut and welded on site without repairing a zinc layer, but cut edges should be cleaned and passivated so they do not rust from embedded iron. After fabrication, stainless gratings are usually pickled to remove heat tint from the welds.
Load capacity depends on the bearing bar depth and thickness, the pitch and the span; makers publish load tables for uniformly distributed and point loads, and walkways are usually designed for a deflection limit such as span/200 or 10 mm. Serrated bearing bars improve slip resistance on wet or oily floors. Panels are banded with an edge flat bar and fixed with clips or welded to the support steel.
In the GCC, stainless gratings are specified for water and sewage treatment works, desalination plants, food factories and coastal structures; 316 is the usual grade outdoors near the sea. Most is fabricated by regional grating makers from imported flat bar or imported as finished panels from China, India and Europe.
A grating is ordered by bearing bar size (depth × thickness), bearing bar pitch, cross bar pitch, type (welded or press-locked, plain or serrated), panel size, banding, grade and finish. European meshes are written bearing pitch × cross pitch, for example 34 × 38 mm; US designations such as 19-W-4 give the bearing bar spacing in sixteenths of an inch, W for welded, and the cross bar spacing in inches.
| Region | Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | DIN 24537-1 DIN |
Gratings as flooring elements — metallic gratings: types, dimensions and load-bearing requirements |
| UK | BS 4592-1 BSI |
Industrial type flooring and stair treads — metal open bar gratings |
| USA | ANSI/NAAMM MBG 531 | Metal bar grating manual — types, designations and load tables |
| International | ISO 14122-2 ISO |
Safety of machinery — permanent means of access to machinery: working platforms and walkways |
| Europe | EN 1433 CEN-CENELEC |
Drainage channels for vehicular and pedestrian areas — load classes A15 to F900, also used for stainless drain gratings |
Grade equivalents and the standards bodies: Steel grades & standards
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