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The Book of Terms

The Book of TermsThe WJI Book of Wire & Cable Terms: an interactive experience of learning and sharing
This book, written by industry volunteers and containing more than 5,000 entries, is an asset for newcomers to wire and cable.

At the same time, it also represents an opportunity for industry veterans to give back by either updating or adding to the more than 5,000 entries. This is an honor system process. Entries/updates must be non-commercial, and any deemed not to be so will be removed. Share your expertise as part of this legacy project to help those who will follow. Purchase a printed copy here.

   

 

All   0-9   A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Bright Dipped Finish

The finish that is obtained by final immersion of wire in a suitable oxidizing acid solution to give the true – or approximately true – color of the metal.

Bright Dipping of Copper

A bright golden color can be obtained for copper-zinc alloys by a half-minute immersion in a cold mixture of sulfuric and nitric acids, a typical solution being 30 percent nitric acid, 30 percent sulfuric acid and 40 percent water by volume. A more yellow color can be obtained by dipping brass in a solution of dilute sulfuric acid with either chromic acid or a dichromate addition.

Bright Finish After Dry Drawing

This type of finish can be accomplished on any wire by using any of a number of methods that help remove residual lubes in the final pass. The most common method is to flood the final pass die box on a multi-pass machine with solvent or some other type of cleaner that also has some lubricating properties to prevent die fatigue.

Bright Rope

Steel rope formed from wire that has not been coated.

Bright Wet Drawn

Broadly accepted to mean hard drawn steel wire with a surface free of copper coating. Originally used only for bright wire with no discoloration that had only been subjected to a small degree of wet drawing. Bright wire is also produced by coating with zinc phosphate and drawn through soluble oil with as much as 94 percent reduction in area, although the resulting gray appearance is not suitable if no discoloration is permitted.

Bright Wire

Steel wire that has been cold drawn and not subjected to any subsequent process of treatment.

Brinell Hardness Test

A test for determining the hardness of a material by forcing a hard steel carbide ball of specified diameter into the specially polished surface of the test material under a specified load for a standard length of time. The result is the value obtained by dividing the applied load in kilograms by the surface area of the resulting impression in sq mm.

Briquette

Pellets or bricks produced by compression of metal powders with or without the inclusion of nonmetallic constituents.

British Standard Wire Gauge

A modification of the Birmingham Wire Gauge and the legal standard of Great Britain for all wires. Also known as Standard Wire Gauge (SWG), New British Standard (NBS), English Legal Standard and Imperial Wire Guide.

British Standards

A list of the standards from the British Standards Institution that deal with alloy compositions, wire, wire products, cables and other matters of interest to the wire industry.

British Thermal Unit

Also BTU or BthU. A unit of heat in the English system. One BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water 1°F. One BTU also equals 1060 joule, the non-SI unit for energy, work, quantity of heat, and 0.29 watt.

Brittle Crack Propagation

A very sudden propagation of a crack with no absorption of energy except that stored elastically in the body. Microscopic examination may reveal some deformation even though it is not noticeable to the unaided eye.

Brittle Fracture

Separation of a solid accompanied by little or no macroscopic plastic deformation. Typically, brittle fracture occurs by rapid crack propagation with less expenditure of energy than for ductile fracture.

Brittle Point

The highest temperature at which a chilled strip of polymer will crack when it is held at one end and impacted at the other end.

Brittleness

Loss of ductility that is caused in steel wires by absorption of hydrogen formed during pickling or when worked between about 200 and 400°C (392 and 752°F) without subsequent annealing.

Broadband

In data transmission, the use of a carrier signal, rather than direct modulation, to carry several simultaneous channels.

Broadening

Rolling mill terminology that is used during the rolling and grooving process.

Broken Back

A band of transverse cracks along a drawn wire.

Broken Edges

Edges containing cracks, splits or tears.

Broken Surface

1) Myriad, minute cracks on the surface of the sheet running normal to the rolling direction and perpendicular to the sheet surface. 2) Surface fracturing, generally most pronounced at sharp corners of extrusions, with myriad, minute cracks on the surface of a drawn shape or tube normal to the direction of drawing.
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