Wiredrawing

The process of pulling wire at room temperature (cold) through a die that has a smaller opening, which reduces the cross-sectional area to a re­quired size. Since the wire is deformed plastically in the die because of the pull exerted on it and the taper of the die, there is a limit to the reduction which can be made at one die, according to the amount of pull the wire can withstand without breaking. The physical properties of all metals are altered by cold drawing, so that the end properties required are obtained by matching the drawing program to the state of the initial material and the rate at which this is changed by cold work. In addi­tion, the desired properties can be induced by heat-treatment after part or all of the drawing is completed.