A three dimensional homogeneous equivalent model to analyze the thermal behavior of open volumetric receivers made of staggered stack plain-weave wire meshes is presented. The main boundary conditions, optical and geometrical parameters, assumptions and methodology are described. Then, the model is compared with available literature data in a 3D simulation accounting for the inhomogeneous concentrated solar flux profile of the experiments. A parametric study is conducted to study the thermal behavior of different absorbers submitted to a homogeneous concentrated solar flux and to analyze the influence of the heat transfer coefficient and penetration depth. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.