CThru Mesh™ is CThru Metals’ signature expanded metal foil solution engineered for high-performance and precision across industries like aerospace, energy, electronics, and more. We manufacture this advanced metal foil using the highest quality materials and custom technology, allowing new mesh patterns to be created in-house to your exact specifications.

The result is an expanded metal foil with exceptional electrical conductivity, lightweight strength, and structural integrity. Formed from a single continuous sheet of metal, CThru Mesh provides robust support while still permitting air, water, and light to pass through.

This innovative metal foil outperforms conventional meshes like woven wire or perforated sheet in conductivity, strength, stability, and even minimizes material waste – making it the go-to expanded metal foil for precision applications that demand the best.

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Why Choose CThru Mesh™ Expanded Metal Foil?

CThru Mesh™ expanded metal foil is state-of-the-art material tailored for performance. Here’s what sets our expanded metal foil apart from generic alternatives and traditional metal foils:

Superior Electrical Conductivity:

CThru Mesh is manufactured as one continuous metal piece, providing a uniform, unbroken conductive path (unlike woven wire meshes that have numerous contact points). This gives our expanded metal foil excellent and consistent electrical conductivity, allowing engineers to rely on CThru Mesh for precision applications like EMI/RFI shielding, battery electrodes, and fuel cells where dependable electrical performance is critical.

High Strength-to-Weight Ratio:

The expanded mesh structure offers outstanding strength and structural integrity while adding minimal weight. This high strength-to-weight ratio is ideal for lightweight systems such as aircraft components and wind turbine blades. For example, CThru Mesh™ foil can be embedded into composite materials to safely dissipate lightning strikes, protecting carbon fiber structures without weighing them down.

Range of Materials:

CThru Mesh™ expanded metal foil can be manufactured from a variety of metals to suit different environments. Common options include copper, nickel, titanium, aluminum, and stainless steel, with specialty materials like Monel (nickel alloy), brass, phosphor bronze, and silver. See full list of materials. This broad material selection means you can get the ideal metal foil properties (conductivity, corrosion resistance, weight, etc.) for your project.

Greater Efficiency, Less Waste:

Expanded metal foil is a highly efficient material choice compared to alternatives like perforated sheet. Because the foil is slit and stretched (not punched), no material is wasted as scrap – the mesh is made from a continuous sheet with zero cut-out pieces. This yields cost and sustainability benefits, maximizing material usage.

In fact, manufacturers often see significant material savings (sometimes up to 50% less material needed) when switching from traditional woven wire mesh to expanded metal foil.

Custom-Engineered:

Every aspect of CThru Mesh™ can be tailored to your specifications. We can fine-tune parameters such as strand width, diamond opening size, open area, overall thickness, and even pattern shape to meet your exact design requirements. Our CNC-controlled process ensures you get the exact expanded metal foil configuration your application demands – no compromises.

Trusted for Critical Applications:

CThru Mesh™ expanded metal foil has beeb battle-tested in demanding industries and is trusted by engineers for its performance and quality. From aerospace and defense (e.g. lightning strike protection on aircraft composites) to automotive and electronics (EMI shielding gaskets, antennas), from renewable energy systems (battery current collectors, fuel cell components) to industrial filtration, CThru Mesh delivers reliable results.

Leading companies in these sectors choose our expanded metal foil to meet stringent requirements for conductivity, durability, and precision – knowing that CThru Metals is an ISO-certified partner committed to excellence.

Ready to see how CThru Mesh™ can elevate your project? Contact our team to discuss your application or request a custom quote and let us help you get started.

How Is Expanded Metal Foil Made?

The manufacturing of expanded metal foil involves a precise, controlled process to create a uniform mesh tailored to your specifications. At CThru Metals, we slit and stretch solid metal foil using advanced expanding equipment, transforming a solid sheet into a mesh with consistent openings throughout. The entire expansion process is CNC-controlled and closely monitored for accuracy and repeatability. By expanding a solid metal foil into mesh (rather than weaving wires or punching holes), we produce a material with no welded joints or weak points. Here’s how it works:

Step one: Sheet Loading. A coil or sheet of raw metal foil (in copper, aluminum, titanium, etc.) is fed into our expanded metal machine.
Step two: Slitting & Stretching. The foil is simultaneously slit and stretched in the machine according to the specified strand width, thickness, and pattern. This creates the characteristic diamond-shaped openings in one continuous step. The process is compatible with a wide range of materials – from soft metals like aluminum and copper to tougher metals like nickel and steel, or even conductive polymers – all expanded with precision
Step three: Rewinding. As the expanded metal mesh exits the machine, it is carefully re-wound into a roll. Winding the mesh onto coils makes it easy to handle, ship, and later incorporate into your manufacturing process or product assembly.

CThru Mesh™ Specs at a Glance

CThru Mesh™ expanded metal foil is available in an array of standard configurations, and we can also custom-engineer specs as needed. For instance, we can work with ultra-thin foils down to about 0.001” (25 microns) thickness, and our expansion patterns range from very fine meshes to larger openings. Below is a quick overview of key specifications:

Specification	Standard Range
Diamond Opening Size	0.030″ – 0.500″
Thickness (Foil Gauge)	0.001″ – 0.016″
Opening Density (per sq. inch)	25 – 5,000 openings

Diamond opening size refers to the short dimension of the diamond-shaped opening in the mesh, which can be as small as 0.030″ or as large as 0.500″. The opening density (number of openings per square inch) inversely correlates with opening size – finer meshes have thousands of openings, while coarse meshes have only a few dozen.

Mesh density can vary from about 25 up to 5,000 openings per square inch, allowing us to create everything from coarser grids to incredibly fine micro mesh. We also accommodate various material thicknesses from ultra-thin 0.001” foils (25 microns) up to around 0.016”, giving you a broad spectrum of micro metal material options to meet your design requirements. Learn more about what makes expanded metal foil unique in our eBook.

Ready to Innovate with Expanded Metal Foil? Contact Us Today

CThru Metals isn’t just a supplier – we’re a partner in innovation. With over 30 years of experience in the metal fabrication industry and ISO 9001:2015 & AS9100D certifications to our name, we have the expertise and quality systems to ensure your project’s success. Our team prides itself on customer-focused service, quick response times, and on-time delivery performance.

We also offer in-house engineering support to help you optimize your expanded metal foil design for manufacturability and performance. When you work with CThru Metals, you can expect precision-engineered products, fast turnaround thanks to our advanced production capabilities, and a commitment to superior quality from start to finish.

We’ve helped clients in aerospace, automotive, energy and other industries push the boundaries of what’s possible with expanded metal foil – now it’s your turn.

Ready to bring your ideas to life with the industry’s best expanded metal foil? Reach out to our experts to explore how CThru Mesh™ can meet your needs.

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CThru Mesh™: Expanded Metal Foil