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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.


 

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

Welding, Flash Butt

Resistance welding in which the components are brought together after the voltage has been applied so that sparking and local arcing take place for a predetermined amount of time, heating the contact areas progressively and burning off portions of them. The whole surface is thus brought up to the welding temperature, and a force is applied, joining the parts together to make the weld. Flash welding will usually result in a higher weld strength with a much smaller flash or upset burr.

Welding, Fusion

Any welding process in which the weld is made without mechanical pressure.

Welding, Jig

A fabricated fixture to hold parts, e.g., wires, in a precise location during a welding operation.

Welding, Projection

Resistance welding in which one or more areas of contact, in the form of projections, are made in the components before welding and in which a number of welds may thus be made simultaneously by means of projection welding dies. Current and pressure are auto­matically concentrated at the welding points and the electrodes are designed to only transfer the current and pressure as opposed to spot welding, where the necessary con­centration is obtained by special shaping of the electrodes; cross wire welding is therefore an example of projection welding.

Welding, Resistance

Welding by a heavy current passed for a certain period through two or more metal components squeezed together by a substantial pressure. Heat is generated by the electrical resistance of the work pieces to the passage of this current and they are forged together to form a weld without the addition of filler metal.

Welding, Series

This term applies to welding wire joints in a product such as a fabric or screen. The current is allowed to flow through approximately one half of the wire joints via a copper back-up block and through the balance of wires in contact to complete the circuit. This enables every pair of welds to be com­pleted for only a little more than the current required when direct welding single joints.

Welding, Spot

Welding a closely defined spot. This is accomplished by holding together the parts to be welded together under mechanical pressure between two electrodes, through which a current is passed for a pre-set period.

Welds

Connections between two parts. A typical example is the joining of ends of two coils together by butt-welding the leading end of a second coil with the trailing end of the first coil.

Wet Drawing

See Wiredrawing, Wet.

Wet Location

An installation directly buried in the earth, exposed to the weather, or in an area subject to saturation with water or other liquids at any time.

Wet Storage Stain

A white film, often known as “white rust,” which forms on zinc and on galvanized surfaces after exposure to moisture. The film is a mixture of zinc carbonate and zinc hydroxide. Chromate treatments help counter it but tend to discolor the surface, producing a greenish-yellow film.

Wet-Drawn Wire

For steel products, the term refers to wire drawn with a liquid lubricant, usually with a light viscosity oil but often with a water-base fluid. One of the main objectives is to obtain a bright polished finish. Such wire may not necessarily be wet drawn from the “soft” condition to finished size. According to the tensile requirements in the finished wire, the gap that may exist between the size at which the wire is heat-treated and the size at which wet drawing can commence has to be bridged by dry drawing. Any soap or similar deposits on the wire must then be removed during the preparations before the final wet drawing. For nonferrous products, almost all wires are drawn wet starting with rod breakdown to the smallest fine wire, most aluminum is drawn with an oil while others are drawn with water base fluids.

Wettability

1) The ability of a material to absorb moisture. 2) The ability of a fluid to spread over the surface upon which it is applied, to “wet” it with a uniform film.

Wetting Agent

A product added to a process solution to change the fluid’s surface tension that allows the fluid to spread over the surface upon which it is in contact, and enhance the action of the base fluid in which the wetting agent is added.

Wheatstone Bridge

See Bridge.

Wheel-and-Belt Casting

A type of casting mechanism for continuous casting operations where the mold is created by a groove in a casting wheel sealed over with a steel band belt.

White Annealing

A heat treatment process carried out on pickled steel with the objective of eliminating the hydrogen that has entered the steel during the pickling operation and thus removing any tendency to hydrogen embrittlement. See Wire, Bright Annealed.

White Metal

1) A general term covering alloys that are based on tin, lead or antimony, such as bearing, type and Babbitt metals. 2) A copper matte of about 77% Cu obtained from the smelting of sulfide copper ores.

White Vitriol

See Vitriol.

White-Rust

See Wet Storage Stain.

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