Element, chemical symbol Se. A gray metal chemically similar to tellurium. Excellent conductor of electricity. Obtained as a by-product of the electrolytic refining of copper. Used chiefly in photoelectric cells, rectifiers and other electronic devices, and as a pigment for glass and ceramics. Selenium is added to steel to enhance machinability. It combines with manganese sulfide inclusions to modify their shape to be more globular.

Process used to cure neoprene and rubber jacketed wires and cables. The process makes a dense, tough, durable jacket.

Compression cables in which a lead sheath is ex­truded over the diaphragm provided by the polythene or thin lead sheath covering each core. The pressurizing gas is contained between the outer casing and the impermeable diaphragm.

A pressure cable in which the container for the pressure medium is an impervious flexible metal sheath, reinforced if necessary, which is factory-assembled with the cable core.

The characteristics of a material whose flame is extinguished after the igniting flame is removed.

See Air-Hardening Steel.

A cable consisting of one or more insulated conductors with another independent length of material that supports the assemblage and which may or may not form a part of the electrical circuit.

Any assemblage of conductors that incorporates a steel rope or steel sheath for added tensile strength, thus enabling it to be suspended between widely spaced supports.

A rope in which the wires are arranged parallel to each other and sewn with yarn to keep them together and keep out moisture.

Any shape that approaches a hollow section, but does not have a fully enclosed void.

A jacket with a sufficiently low resistance so that its outer surface can be kept at substantially ground potential by a grounded conductor in contact with it at frequent intervals.

A material used for power cable shields rated for a voltage of 5,000 volts or higher. The shielding (as screening) originally developed with fiber tapes impregnated with conducting carbon. This material has the ability to carry a high percentage of carbon loading and still remain extrudable. The contained carbon is the conducting medium.

Tape made of semi-conducting material such as nylon, conductive polyethylene and conductive polyvinyl chloride are wrapped around the insulation just beneath the braid to act as a clinging semi-conductive surface. This semi-­conductive surface will not rub against the insulation and thereby will not generate a static charge. The tape has such resistance that when applied between two elements of a cable, the adjacent surfaces of the two elements maintain substantially the same potential.

A non-conductive material made slightly conductive by the addition of a specified sum of conductive material. In the wire industry, a material possessing electrical conductivity that falls somewhere between that of conductors and insulators. Usually made by adding carbon particles to an insulator (e.g., conductor shield and insulation shield).

This technology, which became outdated when continuous casting displaced ingot pouring, was a rolling mill function that compensated for the problem of a large billet forming a coil so quickly that the subsequent operations could not keep up with the mill’s output. Breakdown was accomplished on a three-high roughing mill followed by several paired straightaway stands next to a repeater and a finishing stand. This method had the advantage of reducing the stock section by free rolling in the three-high to a section suitable for continuous rolling at moderate finishing speeds.

Partially processed metals shapes (sheet, plate, bar, rod, wire, extrusions and foil in the case of aluminum).

First stage of metal shapes (ingots, blooms, billets or slabs) later to be rolled or forged into semi-fabricated and, then, finished products.

See Semi-Closed Shape.

Steel partially deoxidized to permit evolution of sufficient carbon monoxide to offset solidification shrinkage.

A cable containing a flexible inner core and a relatively inflexible sheathing material, such as a metallic tube, but which can be bent for coiling or spooling and placing in a duct or cable run.