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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

Lossy Line

A cable having large attenuation per unit of length.

Lot

A finite quantity of a given product manufactured under production conditions that are considered uniform. Often used to describe a finite quantity of product submitted for inspection as a single group. For a bulk product (such as a chemical or powdered metal), the term “batch” is often used synonymously with lot.

Low Loss

Term applied to a dielectric material or cable that has a small amount of power loss over long lengths making it suitable for transmission of radio frequency.

Low Loss Dielectric

An insulating material, such as polyethylene, that has a relatively low dielectric loss making it suitable for transmission of radio frequency energy.

Low Noise Cable

A cable constructed in such a manner as to reduce to a minimum any signals generated by the motion of the cable components in respect to each other. Used to reduce the noise level in coaxial or microphone cable circuits.

Low Temperature Brittleness

A parameter used to describe the ability of an insulated or jacketed cable to withstand exceptionally cold temperatures.

Low Tension

Low voltage, as applied to ignition cable.

Low Viscosity Oils

Term used for lighter oils that have a low reading of viscosity. In aluminum wiredrawing, this usually refers to 30 to 60 SSU (1 to 10 centistokes).

Low Voltage

Defined by the National Electrical Code as 600V and less. AEIC, ICEA and UL generally define cables rated up to 2kV as low voltage.

Low-Carbon Steel

Steel wire having a carbon content of up to about 0.25 percent and generally between 0.04 and 0.16 percent, silicon from a trace to about 0.35 percent, and manganese between 0.3 and 0.9 percent. The sulfur and phosphorus contents should not usually be higher than 0.05 and .04 percent, respectively.

Low-Energy Lighting Cable

A two- or three-conductor cable for outdoor decorative, recreational, or safety lighting applications rated for 150V or less.

Low-Smoke, Zero-Halogen Flame Retardant

Materials used in cables to ensure they produce little or no smoke and no toxic gases during a fire. See Halogen and Halogen-Free.

Low-Voltage Wires

Insulated wires that will carry low voltage such as in doorbell or chime applications. Small diameter wires are referred to as bell wire and are usually 18 AWG to 20 AWG. Most often the voltage applied does not exceed 24V.

LS

Designation for Low Smoke. See Halogen and Halogen-Free.

LSI

Designation for Large Scale Integration.

Lubricant

Any substance that serves as a continuous film that through its presence reduces the friction between two surfaces in contact. Two distinctive forms of lubrication are principally employed in wiredrawing: dry soap powder lubricants and wet lubricants. Lubricants can be further classified into the following categories: rod coatings, dry soap powders (solid lubricants), oil-based liquid lubricants, grease-type lubricants and water-emulsifiable lubricants. It is customary to use rod coatings and dry lubricants to draw coarse ferrous wire. Oil-based and grease-type lubricants are generally used on the single-die drawing of rod and coarse ferrous wire. Water-emulsifiable-type lubricants are generally used to draw nonferrous wire and small diameter steel wire that may be coated with a nonferrous material such as copper. See Coolant.

Lubricant Carrier

An inorganic substance, such as lime, borax, silicates or phosphates, with which ferrous wires are coated to facilitate pick-up and retention of lubricant on the wire during drawing. See Bonderizing, Borax and Liming.

Lubricant, Water Emulsifiable

The five types of water-emulsified liquid lubricants include soap-fat lubricants, soluble oils, semi-synthetics, synthetics and micro-emulsions. These are primarily used for nonferrous wiredrawing applications. See Lubricant and Coolant.

Lubricity

Term used to evaluate the lubricating characteristics of a coolant as it is performing its function. These cover fatty oils to enhance extreme pressure characteristics, as well as typical barrier lubricating components, which offer resistance to welding and galling. Lubricity is one of the characteristics of a coolant, which allows it to protect machine components and the product from damaging friction.

Luders Lines

Surface markings resulting from localized flow that appear on some alloys after light forming. They lie approximately parallel to the direction of maximum shear stress (about 45° to the direction of applied stress), and appear as depressions when forming is in tension and as elevations when forming is in compression.

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