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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

Penton

A chlorinated polyether that offers good resistance to acids, alkalis and solvents up to 120°C.

Percent Elongation

A measurement used in the wiredrawing operation to indicate the level of annealing. It is the original length of specimen divided by the specimen length at tensile failure, expressed in percent.

Percent Plating

Quantity of plating on a conductor expressed as a percentage by weight; thus, for the same percentage, as the conductor diameter increases, so does the thickness of the plating.

Percentage Conductivity

1) Con­ductivity of a material expressed as a percentage of the conductivity of copper. 2) The ratio of conductance between the phase conductor and the neutral in power cables.

Percentage Reduction

The reduction in the cross-sectional area of a wire, expressed as a ratio before and after deformation. This term can be used to represent the amount of change through a single wiredrawing die, from start to finish in a multi-hole process, or as an estimation of the material ductility (when measuring the necking encountered during tensile testing and comparing it to the original wire diameter).

Perchlorethylene

A substance that causes water to evaporate more quickly and is therefore used after cleaning processes on small parts and threads.

Perfluoroalkoxy

A fluorocarbon resin that offers excellent electrical characteristics, high temperature resistance, chemical inertness and flame resistance. It has a 250°C operating temperature and can be used with all stranded copper conductors.

Period

The minimum interval during which the same characteristics of a recurring phenomenon appear.

Periodicity

1) The character of having a period. 2) The uniformly spaced variations in the insulation diameter of a transmission cable that result in reflections of a signal, when its wavelength or a multiple thereof is equal to the distance between two diameter variations.

Permeability

1) Magnetic permeability, a measure of a material’s ability to alter the magnetic field around it, defined as the ratio of the magnetic induction to the intensity of the magnetizing field. 2) The ability of a porous material to permit pressurized gas or liquid passing through it, e.g., in a mold, the porosity of foundry sands and the ability of trapped gases to escape through the sand. 3) A parameter for ranking ease of liquid or gas to flow through a barrier.

Permittivity

The ratio of the capacitance of a condenser with dielectric between the electrodes to the capacitance of the same condenser when air is between the electrodes. Also called Dielectric Constant and Specific Inductive Capacity (SIC).

Peroxide

1) Hydrogen peroxide, H2O2. 2) A chemical added to XLP (polyethylene) to initiate the cross-linking process.

Peroxide Curing Systems

Curing technique for peroxide-based crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) compounds. There are three basic systems: steam cured, nitrogen cured and pressurized liquid continuous vulcanization. All of these methods are based on using heat to cause a peroxide to decompose into a reactive radical and thus to initiate the cure cycle.

Petrol Wire

Wire insulated to withstand immersion in gas and oil. Usually thermoplastic (with or without nylon jacket).

Petroleum Jelly

A paste obtained from petroleum. It can be used as a filler for sub­scribers’ telephone cable to prevent ingress of water. The filling takes place layer by layer as the cable is built up. It is compatible with polyethylene insulation, does not drain at highest cable temperatures, does not become stiff at low temperatures to affect cable flexibility, does not materially affect electrical performance of the cable, does not impede jointing and is low-cost.

PF

Designation for 1) Picofarad. 2) Power Factor.

PF Wire

Designation for a type of fluorinated ethylene propylene insulated wire.

PFA

Designation for Perfluoroalkoxy.

Pfd

Designation for paraffinned electric wire.

PFF

Designation for a type of fluorinated ethylene propylene insulated wire. The terms PGF and PGFF are also used.
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