Neural networking

, the Welsh knitted wire design and manufacturing company, has teamed up with

to improve mesh design using neural networking techniques.

The neural network model is an intelligent software that allows KnitMesh Technologies to predict the performance of knitted mesh components. According to KnitMesh, use of the software will reduce development costs and lead times, while ensuring optimal design during production of new parts.

The two-year research programme will focus on development of the neural network model to advance the design of knitted mesh for a variety of specifications.

Peter Evans, KnitMesh Technologies’ general manager, said: ‘Combining our manufacturing expertise with the university’s academic capabilities will enable us to create new mesh products to meet the most challenging of design criteria.

‘The use of a neural network will bring advanced engineering techniques to the mesh development process, and enable us to develop solutions that meet the widest range of weight, cost and performance objectives in extremely short lead times.’

In addition to its collaboration with Liverpool University, KnitMesh has invested in a compression testing machine, advanced flow-test facilities and fatigue test equipment that can reportedly test mesh solutions in temperatures of up to 1000°C over millions of cycles.

Knitted wire mesh is a metal, ceramic or synthetic wire knitted into a mesh of interlocking loops used for exhaust components and systems, sound attenuation, vibration and shock suppression, electromagnetic and radio frequency interference shielding (acting as a Faraday cage), filtration and scouring.