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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

Reel Drive

Drive mechanism that controls the rotation of the reel during various production processes. May also be referred to as a “lug.”

Reel Drum Diameter

The diameter of the drum (or hub or barrel) of the reel.

Reel Inertia

The characteristic of the momentum of the reel that must be controlled to account for the continual change in the amount of wire or cable size on a reel during a given process.

Reel Traverse

Width of space (or the axial dimension) between the inside faces of the flanges.

Reel Width

Overall width of reel, not the inside dimension. This is the largest dimension of a reel measured axially between its widest projections, which may include fastening hardware.

Reel, Braiding

A reel designed for braided products. They may have beaded edge flanges, which should be made from a tough steel specification to survive the application. These reels are naturally of lighter construction than those required for wiredrawing and stranding. Friction rings can be fitted, but in many cases these are attached to the machines. This type of reel is also suitable for general shop use and in some cases for longitudinal machines. Such reels are also commonly made of plastic (ABS and PS).

Reel, Collapsible

Reels specially con­structed so that the flanges can be easily removed or barrel-hinged to fold, thus providing considerable space savings for transport and storage.

Reel, Plastic

Reel manufactured by injection molding out of plastic materials, typically ABS, PS and PP. These are suitable for taking up from fine or very fine wire from drawing machines, where the product is required in its hard drawn state, as for enameling. Also useful for bunching take-up reels.

Reel, Stranding and Armoring

Reel designed to handle stranding and armored products. Usually, they are also suitable for wiredrawing and anneal­ing. They must be of very strong and rigid construction to stand up to high-speed working conditions and multiple use. This type of reel is often made complete with a steel friction ring.

Reel, Water Immersion

A reel designed for immersion in water while insulation tests are conducted. Reels for this application must have some form of corro­sion resistance. Reels are manufactured in aluminum alloy or in steel with the beaded edge type of flange (the same type as used for braiding pur­poses). Note: some manufacturers also do tank tests on wooden reels. See Reel, Braiding.

Referee Test

See Test, Referee.

Reference Edge

Edge of cable or conductor from which measurements are made. Sometimes indicated by a thread, identification stripe or printing. Conductors are usually identified by their sequential position from the reference edge, with the conductor numbered 1 closest to this edge. Sometimes called Index Edge.

Reference Junction

The junction of a thermocouple that is at a known reference temperature. Also known as the cold junction. It is usually located at the EMF measuring device.

Refine

To ensure proper elemental analysis and remove impurities from molten metal. For example, in magnesium melting practice, refining is the removal of magnesium oxide and other suspended matter by use of flux that wets the impurities and carries them to the bottom of the pot as sludge.

Refining Temperature

A temperature usually just higher than the transformation range, this is employed in the heat treatment of steel to refine the structure, in particular, the grain size.

Reflow Soldering

The process of connecting two solder-coated conductive surfaces by remelting of the solder to cause fusion.

Refractory

1) A material of very high melting point with properties that make it suitable for such uses as furnace linings and kiln construction. Ideally, any substance that is infusible at the highest temperature it may be required to withstand in service. 2) The quality of resisting heat.

Refractory Alloy

1) A heat-resistant alloy. 2) An alloy with an extremely high melting point. See Refractory Metal.

Refractory Metal

A metal with an extremely high melting point. In the broad sense, metals with melting points above the range of iron, cobalt and nickel.

Refrigerator Shelf Wire

Low carbon wire free from surface imperfections to give a smooth bright surface suitable for spot welding and plating. The larger wires are used for the border framework. For plastic-coated shelves, a clean drawn bright wire is used.
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