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The Book of Terms

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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

Flash Baking

A quick means of baking after pickling and liming that uses a rapidly cir­culated hot-air current. Prin­cipally employed for rods and larger wire sizes.

Flash Rusting

A thin coating of iron oxide appearing on pickled steel surfaces that are allowed to dry after pickling or after rinsing.

Flashover

1) A disruptive discharge around or over the surface of a solid or liquid insulator. 2) Complete involvement of an area when a spot fire causes the area to reach critical temperature.

Flat Bars

This includes all rectangular bars, except squares, 5.16 mm (13/64 in.) and over in specified thickness, not over 152 mm (6 in.) in specified width.

Flat Braid

A woven braid of tinned copper strands rolled flat at time of manufacture to a specified width. It is generally used as a high current conductor at low voltages.

Flat Cable

A cable with two smooth or corrugated but essentially flat surfaces.

Flat Conductor

A wire having a rectangular cross section (as opposed to round or square conductors) with a width-to-thickness ratio of arbitrarily 5 to 1 or greater.

Flat Jacket

A parallel conductor configuration that is usually restricted to vinyl jackets. The outer jacket does not fuse with the primary insulation, a condition that would make impossible the stripping of the jacket without damage to the individual wire coverings. While opaque jackets are generally specified, transparent materials are available which allow the color-coded wires to be seen throughout the cable length.

Flat Pass Design

A term used for rolling shaped wire with un-grooved rolls.

Flat Product

A rectangular or square solid section of relatively great length in proportion to thickness.

Flat Transmission Cable

See Transmission Cable.

Flat Under Carpet Cable

A cable containing one or more cores, each formed of a group of wires, the diameters of the wires being sufficiently small to afford flexibility.

Flat Wire

Flat product up to and including 4.77 mm (0.188 in.) thick, and up to and including 31.75 mm (1.25 in.) wide, with all surfaces rolled or drawn, without previously having been slit, sheared or sawed. It may be furnished either in straight lengths or in coils or on spools and reels.

Flattened Wire

Round wire that has been flattened by passing through rolls. Close thickness tolerance is easily main­tained, but if width tolerance is important or the edges are to be other than rounded, edge-rolling units and an adequate pre-straightening unit are needed. The initial diameter needed to obtain a particular flat size can be roughly determined by adding the width and thickness of the flat and dividing by two.

Flaw Detector

A device (often Eddy Current or ultrasonic) that is generally located on a continuous casting rolling mill line after the last mill stand or on a rod breakdown machine to inspect the rod or wire in-line. It will reveal typical defects such as cracks, surface inclusions, slivers and overlaps before coiling or subsequent drawing operations.

Flex Life

The time of heat aging that an insulating material can withstand before failure when bent around a specific radius (used to evaluate thermal endurance). Also, ability of a conductor, wire or cable to withstand repeated bending.

Flexibility

The ease with which a cable may be bent without sustaining damage.

Flexibilizer

An additive that makes a resin or rubber more flexible. Also called a plasticizer.

Flexible

That quality of a cable component that allows for bending under the influence of outside force (as opposed to limpness, which is bending due to the cable’s own weight).

Flexible Cable

A cable containing one or more cores, each formed of a group of wires, the diameters of which are small enough to afford flexibility.
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