Glossary of Vibratory Screening Terms
This glossary covers every key term in vibratory screening — from basic equipment types and screen materials to advanced performance metrics and regulatory standards. Each term links to a dedicated page with a full explanation.
Screen Types & Materials
304 stainless steel is an austenitic chromium-nickel alloy containing approximately 18% chromium and 8% nickel, making it the most widely used stai...
316 stainless steel is an austenitic chromium-nickel-molybdenum alloy containing approximately 16% chromium, 10% nickel, and 2-3% molybdenum, provi...
A brass screen is a woven wire screen cloth made from copper-zinc alloy wire (typically 65-70% copper, 30-35% zinc), used in vibratory screeners wh...
A carbon steel screen is a woven wire screen cloth made from unalloyed or low-alloy carbon steel wire, used in vibratory screeners for non-corrosiv...
A Hastelloy screen is a woven wire screen cloth made from Hastelloy nickel-based superalloy wire, used in vibratory screeners for applications invo...
A hook strip screen is a vibratory screener replacement screen with formed metal hooks along its perimeter edge that engage with corresponding slot...
A Monel screen is a woven wire screen cloth made from Monel nickel-copper alloy wire — typically Monel 400 (67% nickel, 30% copper) — used in v...
A nylon screen is a woven mesh screen cloth made from polyamide (PA) monofilament or multifilament yarn, used in vibratory screeners to eliminate m...
A phosphor bronze screen is a woven wire screen cloth made from copper-tin-phosphorus alloy wire (typically 94-96% copper, 4-6% tin, 0.1-0.35% phos...
A polyester screen is a woven mesh screen cloth made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) monofilament yarn, used in vibratory screeners for metal...
A polypropylene screen is a woven mesh screen cloth made from polypropylene (PP) monofilament yarn, used in vibratory screeners for applications re...
A polyurethane screen is a screening surface made from cast or molded polyurethane elastomer, used in vibratory screening applications where extrem...
A pre-tensioned screen is a replacement screen assembly in which woven wire cloth or other screen media is factory-bonded to a rigid frame ring und...
A PTFE screen is a woven wire or synthetic screen cloth coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), or a screen woven entirely from PTFE monofila...
A rubber screen is a screening surface made from molded natural or synthetic rubber panels with precision-cut apertures, used in vibratory screener...
A screen frame is the rigid circular or rectangular ring that holds the screen cloth in tension inside a vibratory separator, serving as both the m...
A titanium screen is a woven wire screen cloth made from commercially pure titanium (Grade 1 or Grade 2) or titanium alloy wire, used in vibratory ...
A wedge wire screen is a screening surface made from V-shaped (triangular) profile wire that is continuously welded to perpendicular support rods, ...
An electroformed screen is a precision screening surface manufactured by electrodeposition of metal (typically nickel) onto a patterned mandrel, pr...
An end-tension screen is a vibratory screener screen panel that is clamped and tensioned at its two opposing ends using mechanical tensioning devic...
An Inconel screen is a woven wire screen cloth made from Inconel nickel-chromium superalloy wire, used in vibratory screeners for high-temperature ...
Bolting cloth is a fine-mesh woven fabric — traditionally silk and now predominantly nylon, polyester, or stainless steel — used for precision ...
Perforated plate is a sheet metal screen media with punched or drilled holes in a regular pattern, used in vibratory screeners for coarse scalping ...
Screen cloth (also called screen media) is the filtering surface material installed in a vibratory screener or separator that determines the separa...
Sintered mesh is a multi-layer screen media made by bonding two or more layers of woven wire mesh together through a high-temperature sintering (di...
T430 stainless steel is a ferritic chromium stainless steel containing approximately 16-18% chromium and no nickel, used as woven wire screen cloth...
Woven wire cloth is screen media manufactured by interlacing metal wires in a loom pattern to create a sheet of uniform openings, and is the most w...
Weave Patterns & Construction
A micron (micrometer, symbol μm) is a unit of length equal to one millionth of a meter (1 μm = 0.001 mm), used in vibratory screening to specify ...
An aperture is the clear opening between adjacent wires in a woven wire screen, measured as the distance from the inside edge of one wire to the in...
A crimp is a controlled bend or corrugation formed into wire before or during weaving that locks wire intersections in place, maintains consistent ...
Dutch weave is a wire cloth weaving pattern in which the warp (lengthwise) wires are larger in diameter than the weft (crosswise) wires and are spa...
Flat top weave is a woven wire screen construction in which the crimps are formed on one side of the mesh only, producing a smooth, flat screening ...
Intercrimp (also called lock crimp) is a wire screen crimping pattern in which extra crimps are formed in the wire between each weaving intersectio...
Mesh size is the number of openings per linear inch in a woven wire screen, counted from the center of one wire to a point exactly one inch away.
Open area percentage is the proportion of a woven wire screen's total surface that consists of open space (apertures) rather than wire, expressed a...
Plain weave is a wire cloth weaving pattern in which each warp wire alternates passing over and under each successive weft wire, creating the simpl...
Pre-crimped wire is wire that has been bent or corrugated at precise, evenly spaced intervals before it is woven into screen cloth, ensuring unifor...
Square mesh is a woven wire cloth pattern in which the warp and weft wires are spaced equally, creating uniform square openings that provide the mo...
Ton Cap weave (also called tonnage cap or capacity weave) is a wire cloth weave pattern that uses thinner weft wires than warp wires to increase op...
Twill weave is a wire cloth weaving pattern in which each wire passes over two and under two adjacent wires, creating a diagonal rib pattern that a...
Ty-Rod weave is a specialized wire cloth construction where heavy support rods are woven at regular intervals through lighter screening wires, dram...
Tyler Mesh is a historical screen sizing standard developed by the W.S.
US Standard Mesh is the sieve numbering system defined by ASTM E11 that designates woven wire screen cloth by the number of openings per linear inc...
Wire diameter is the thickness of the individual wires used to weave a screen cloth, measured in millimeters or inches, and directly determines the...
Wire diameter ratio is the ratio of the wire thickness (d) to the aperture opening size (w) in a woven wire screen, expressed as d/w, which determi...
Screening Equipment
A bag dump station is a material handling device where operators manually open and empty bags of powder or granular material into a hopper, typical...
A centrifugal sifter is a high-speed rotary screening machine that uses a helical paddle or blade assembly spinning inside a cylindrical screen to ...
A check screener (also called a safety screener or guard screener) is a vibratory screening unit positioned at a critical point in a production lin...
A classifier is a screening machine configured with multiple screen decks of progressively finer mesh to separate a single feed stream into three o...
A dewatering screen is a vibratory screening machine specifically designed to remove water or other liquids from solid material by conveying a wet ...
A gyratory sifter is a low-profile screening machine that uses a horizontal gyratory motion to gently convey material across multiple screen decks,...
A linear vibratory screen is a screening machine that generates straight-line (linear) vibratory motion to convey material in one direction across ...
A magnetic separator is an equipment device that uses permanent magnets or electromagnets to attract and remove ferrous metal contaminants — iron...
A metal detector in industrial processing is an inline inspection device that uses electromagnetic fields to detect the presence of ferrous, non-fe...
Rectangular Vibratory Screener
A rectangular vibratory screener is a box-shaped screening machine that uses linear or elliptical vibration to convey material along a flat or incl...
A RoTap sieve shaker is a standardized laboratory instrument that agitates a stack of test sieves using a combination of rotary and tapping motions...
A round vibratory separator is a circular screening machine that uses a vertically mounted vibratory motor to generate a three-dimensional gyratory...
A scalper is a vibratory screening machine designed to remove large oversize material, contaminants, or debris from a bulk material stream before f...
A sifter is a screening machine designed specifically for separating fine particles from coarser material, typically used for quality control, cont...
A trommel screen is a rotating cylindrical drum fitted with perforated plate or woven wire mesh that separates materials by size as the tumbling ac...
A tumbler screen (also called a tumbler screener or tumbler sifter) is a screening machine that replicates the gentle motion of hand sieving throug...
A vibratory screener is a piece of industrial equipment that uses controlled vibration generated by an counterweight motor to separate bulk mate...
A vibratory separator is an industrial machine that uses controlled vibration to divide bulk materials into two or more fractions by particle size,...
An air classifier is a particle separation device that uses controlled airflow to separate dry materials by size, shape, or density, dividing a fee...
An ultrasonic sieve is a vibratory screening machine equipped with an ultrasonic deblinding system that applies high-frequency vibration (typically...
Check screening is a quality-control screening operation positioned after a processing step to verify that finished product meets particle size spe...
Screening Process & Performance
A separation curve (also called a partition curve, Tromp curve, or classification curve) is a graphical representation showing the probability that...
Blinding is the partial or complete blockage of screen openings on a vibratory screener caused by near-size particles lodging in the apertures , mo...
Carry-Over in Vibratory Screening
Carry-over in vibratory screening is the undesired passage of undersize particles into the oversize discharge stream, representing material that sh...
Conveying Velocity in Vibratory Screening
Conveying velocity is the speed at which material travels across the screen surface of a vibratory screener, measured in feet per minute (ft/min) o...
Cut Point in Vibratory Screening
Cut point (also called cut size or separation point) is the target particle size at which a vibratory screener divides material into oversize and u...
De-blinding refers to the methods, devices, and techniques used to prevent or clear blocked screen openings ( blinding ) on a vibratory screener, e...
De-dusting is a screening operation that removes fine dust and undersized particles from a bulk product to improve product quality, reduce dust haz...
Dewatering is a screening process that removes free water or liquid from wet solids using a vibratory screen, reducing the moisture content of the ...
Effective screening area is the actual usable portion of a vibratory screener's total screen surface that actively participates in material separat...
Feed Rate in Vibratory Screening
Feed rate in vibratory screening is the rate at which material is introduced to the screener, measured in pounds per hour (lbs/hr) or tons per hour...
Grading (also called classification) is the screening process of separating bulk material into two or more defined particle size fractions using on...
Liquid-solid separation is a screening process that removes suspended solid particles from a liquid stream using a vibratory screen, producing a cl...
Material bed depth is the thickness of the material layer on a vibratory screener's screen surface during operation, measured in inches or millimet...
Near-size particles are particles with dimensions within approximately 75% to 125% of the screen aperture size, making them the most difficult frac...
Oversize (also called overs or tails) is the fraction of material that is too large to pass through the screen aperture on a vibratory screener , r...
Pegging is a form of screen blinding in which particles become wedged point-first in screen openings, standing upright like pegs and reducing the e...
Plugging is a form of screen blinding in which near-size particles become lodged within screen openings, stuck partway through the aperture and blo...
Residence Time in Vibratory Screening
Residence time in vibratory screening is the duration that material spends on the screen surface from the point of feed introduction to the point o...
Scalping is a screening operation that removes oversized particles, contaminants, or foreign objects from a bulk material stream, typically as the ...
Screen loading is the weight of material per unit of screen area on a vibratory screener, typically expressed in pounds per square foot (lbs/sq ft)...
Screening efficiency is the percentage of undersize material in the feed that actually passes through the screen during vibratory separation, expre...
Stratification is the process by which vibratory motion causes particles in a material bed to rearrange by size, with fine particles migrating down...
Throughput (also called capacity) is the amount of material a vibratory screener can process per unit of time, typically expressed in pounds per ho...
Ultrasonic deblinding is a de-blinding technology that applies high-frequency ultrasonic vibration (typically 33–40 kHz) directly to the screen m...
Undersize (also called fines or throughs) is the fraction of material that is small enough to pass through the screen aperture on a vibratory scree...
Particle Size & Measurement
A hygroscopic material is a substance that readily absorbs moisture from the surrounding atmosphere, causing changes in particle behavior such as c...
A test sieve is a standardized laboratory instrument consisting of a woven wire mesh or electroformed screen mounted in a rigid metal frame, manufa...
An abrasive material is a hard, sharp-edged substance that causes accelerated wear on vibratory screener components, particularly screen cloth , fr...
The angle of repose is the steepest angle at which a pile of granular material remains stable without sliding, measured from the horizontal base to...
Bulk density is the mass of a bulk material per unit volume, including the air spaces between particles, typically expressed in pounds per cubic fo...
D10 and D90 are particle size distribution metrics where D10 is the particle diameter below which 10% of the sample mass falls and D90 is the diame...
D50 (also written as d50 or D 50 ) is the median particle size of a material, defined as the particle diameter at which 50% of the sample mass is s...
Friability is the tendency of particles to break, chip, or crumble during handling and processing, including vibratory screening.
Moisture content in vibratory screening is the percentage of water present in the material being processed, typically expressed as a weight percent...
Particle size distribution (PSD) is a measurement that describes the range of particle sizes present in a bulk material, typically expressed as the...
Sieve analysis is a laboratory test method for determining the particle size distribution of a granular or powdered material by passing it through ...
Vibration & Motion
Vibratory Motor / Motion Generator
A motion generator (also called a vibratory motor) is the electromechanical drive unit that creates the controlled vibration pattern in a vibratory...
Amplitude in Vibratory Screening
Amplitude in vibratory screening is the maximum displacement (throw) of the screen surface from its rest position during each vibration cycle, typi...
Circular Motion in Vibratory Screening
Circular motion (also called gyratory motion) is the vibration pattern produced by round vibratory separators in which a single vertical-shaft moto...
Critical speed is the motor RPM at which a vibratory screener's operating frequency matches its natural frequency , triggering resonance and produc...
Counterweights are adjustable off-center masses mounted on the top and bottom of a vibratory screener's motor shaft that generate the controlled...
Elliptical Motion in Vibratory Screening
Elliptical motion in vibratory screening is an oval or egg-shaped vibration pattern used in tumbler screeners and certain specialty separators, pro...
Frequency in Vibratory Screening
Frequency in vibratory screening is the number of vibration cycles per unit of time at which the vibratory motor rotates and the screen surface osc...
G-Force in Vibratory Screening
G-force in vibratory screening is the gravitational force multiple generated by the screener's vibrating motor, typically ranging from 3G to 7G, th...
Lead angle is the angular offset between the top and bottom counterweights on a vibratory separator motor, which controls the ratio of horizonta...
Linear Motion in Vibratory Screening
Linear motion in vibratory screening is a straight-line vibration pattern generated by dual counter-rotating motors on a rectangular screener, movi...
Natural frequency is the inherent vibration frequency at which a vibratory screener system will oscillate when disturbed and released, determined b...
Resonance in Vibratory Screening
Resonance in vibratory screening is a destructive operating condition that occurs when the screener's motor speed matches the system's natural freq...
Vibration isolation in vibratory screening is the use of springs, rubber mounts, or air bags to decouple the screener's vibrating mass from its sup...
Components & Parts
A ball deck (also called a ball tray or bouncing ball tray) is a perforated plate mounted directly beneath the screen cloth in a vibratory separato...
A clamp ring is a circular fastening ring used to secure screen frames , gaskets , and separator body sections together on a round vibratory separa...
A deck is a single screen level within a vibratory screener or separator , consisting of a frame that holds a tensioned woven wire screen cloth at ...
A discharge spout is the outlet port on a vibratory separator through which separated material exits the machine, with each screen deck having its ...
The feed inlet is the opening at the top of a vibratory separator through which raw material enters the machine, designed to distribute material ev...
A flex connector (also called a flexible sleeve or flex boot) is a flexible coupling made of silicone, rubber, or fabric installed between the vibr...
A material certificate (also called a mill certificate, mill test report, or material test report) is a document issued by a metal manufacturer or ...
A separator gasket is a compressible sealing ring placed between the body sections, screen frames , and clamp rings of a vibratory separator to cre...
Clean-In-Place (CIP) is an automated cleaning method that circulates cleaning solutions through a vibratory screener without disassembly, removing ...
Fatigue life is the total number of stress cycles (vibration cycles) that a screen wire can endure before developing a fatigue crack and failing.
Passivation is a chemical treatment process that enhances the corrosion resistance of stainless steel by removing free iron from the surface and pr...
Springs and spools are the vibration isolation and support components mounted between the vibratory separator body and its base frame, allowing the...
Work hardening (also called strain hardening or cold working) is the strengthening of metal wire through plastic deformation during the wire drawin...
Industry Standards & Compliance
3-A Sanitary Standards are voluntary industry standards that define hygienic design criteria for food, beverage, and pharmaceutical processing equi...
An ATEX rating is a European Union certification that indicates vibratory screening equipment is designed and constructed to operate safely in pote...
ASTM E11 is the Standard Specification for Woven Wire Test Sieve Cloth and Test Sieves, published by ASTM International, that defines the required ...
cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practice) refers to the FDA regulations that establish minimum requirements for the methods, facilities, and contr...
Combustible dust is any finely divided solid material that can form an explosible mixture when dispersed in air in the right concentration, present...
Corrosion resistance is a material's ability to resist degradation caused by chemical or electrochemical reaction with its environment.
FDA compliant means that vibratory screening equipment and its components meet the requirements established by the U.S.
FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) is a 2011 United States federal law that shifted FDA food safety oversight from reactive contamination respons...
GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices)
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are regulatory guidelines that ensure products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality sta...
HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) is a systematic food safety management approach that identifies, evaluates, and controls biolog...
ISO 3310 is the international standard for test sieves, published by the International Organization for Standardization, that specifies constructio...
Magnetic permeability is a measure of how strongly a material responds to an applied magnetic field, and is a critical specification for vibratory ...
NFPA 652 is the Standard on the Fundamentals of Combustible Dust, published by the National Fire Protection Association, that establishes baseline ...
Sanitary design is an equipment engineering approach that ensures vibratory screeners can be thoroughly cleaned, inspected, and maintained to preve...
USDA Approved indicates that vibratory screening equipment has been evaluated and accepted by the United States Department of Agriculture for use i...
Material Properties
Attrition in Vibratory Screening
Attrition in vibratory screening is the gradual wearing, chipping, or erosion of particle surfaces caused by repeated contact between particles and...
All Terms A–Z
3
A
- Bag Dump Station
- Ball Deck / Ball Tray
- Brass Screen
- Carbon Steel Screen
- Centrifugal Sifter
- Check Screener
- Clamp Ring
- Classifier
- Deck
- Dewatering Screen
- Discharge Spout
- Feed Inlet
- Flex Connector
- Gyratory Sifter
- Hastelloy Screen
- Hook Strip Screen
- Hygroscopic Material
- Linear Vibratory Screen
- Magnetic Separator
- Material Certificate
- Metal Detector
- Micron
- Monel Screen
- Nylon Screen
- Phosphor Bronze Screen
- Polyester Screen
- Polypropylene Screen
- Polyurethane Screen
- Pre-Tensioned Screen
- PTFE Screen
- Rectangular Vibratory Screener
- RoTap Sieve Shaker
- Round Vibratory Separator
- Rubber Screen
- Scalper
- Screen Frame
- Separation Curve
- Gasket
- Sifter
- Test Sieve
- Titanium Screen
- Trommel Screen
- Tumbler Screen
- Vibratory Motor / Motion Generator
- Vibratory Screener
- Vibratory Separator
- Wedge Wire Screen
- Amplitude in Vibratory Screening
- Abrasive Material
- Air Classifier
- Aperture
- ATEX Rating
- Electroformed Screen
- End-Tension Screen
- Inconel Screen
- Ultrasonic Sieve
- Angle of Repose
- ASTM E11
- Attrition in Vibratory Screening
B
C
- Carry-Over in Vibratory Screening
- cGMP
- Check Screening
- Circular Motion in Vibratory Screening
- Clean-In-Place (CIP)
- Combustible Dust
- Conveying Velocity in Vibratory Screening
- Corrosion Resistance
- Crimp in Wire Screens
- Critical Speed
- Cut Point in Vibratory Screening
D
E
F
- Fatigue Life
- FDA Compliant Mean
- Feed Rate in Vibratory Screening
- Flat Top Weave
- Frequency in Vibratory Screening
- Friability
- FSMA
G
H
I
L
M
N
O
P
- Particle Size Distribution
- Passivation
- Pegging
- Perforated Plate
- Plain Weave
- Plugging
- Pre-Crimped Wire
R
S
- Sanitary Design
- Scalping
- Screen Cloth / Screen Media
- Screen Loading
- Screening Efficiency
- Sieve Analysis
- Sintered Mesh
- Springs and Spools
- Square Mesh
- Stratification
T
U
V
W
