EXPLOSION-INHIBITING ARTICLES OF MANUFACTURE

Articles of manufacture formed of an apertured sheet material, the sheet material being provided with at least one row of a plurality of polygonal apertures, at least one of said polygonal apertures being irregular with respect to at least one adjacent polygonal aperture, and having physical characteristics comprising; i) a surface area per unit volume of application of at least about 2,000 times the contact surface of flammable fluids contained in a containing vessel, ii) a heat conductivity of at least about 0.025 Cal/cm-sec. Preferably, the inner peripheral length of at least one of said apertures is unequal to the inner peripheral length of at least one adjacent aperture. Further, the article preferably has a compressive yield of not more than about 10 percent.