Download Glossary

Glossary of Copper Fabrication Terms
1. Abrasive: Used in abrasive waterjet cutting, but also used for grinding, polishing, superfinishing and more. The most common type of abrasive used in waterjet cutting is garnet.
Other options include emery, cubic boron nitride, silicon carbide, and more 1.
2. Air Terminal (Lightning): Connects and supports a Lightning Rod. Designed to provide
protection to structures against physical damage from lightning strikes2.
3. Alloy: A substance with metallic properties made up of two or more elements, where at
least one of which is metal; partial or complete solid solution of copper with one or more
alloying elements such as zinc, tin, nickel aluminum or silicon 3.
4. Alpha: The name of a phase or a certain range of copper alloys which contains one or more
alloying elements dissolved in copper, the phase being a homogeneous, solid solution3
5. Annealing: The process involving the heating and cooling of a metal to induce softening,
improve machinability, and reduce internal stresses; a form of heat treating3
6. Beta: The name of a second phase in the internal structure of certain copper alloys,
generally harder and less ductile than the alpha phase. The beta phase renders the alloy
more ductile when hot and less ductile when cold3.
7. Busbar: rigid, high conductivity copper electrical conductor or tubular or solid section. Also
spelled bus bar3.
8. C11000: A copper alloy for high current applications; electrolytic tough pitch (ETP) copper,
used in most electric current carrying applications. 99.9% pure copper with 100% electrical
conductivity. Conductivity, corrosion resistance and ductility makes it very versatile; anneal
resistant. Also written C1104.
9. C114500: A copper Aaloy for high current applications. Also written C1454.
http://www.fedtech.com/resources/industry-key-terms.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_rod
3 http://olinbrass.com/resources/glossary-terms
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen-free_copper
1
2
10. Cable Assemblies: cable harness, also known as a wire harness, cable assembly, wiring
assembly or wiring loom, is an assembly of cables or wires (Continue to next page)
which transmit signals or electrical power. The cables are bound together by straps, cable
ties, cable lacing, sleeves, electrical tape, conduit, a weave of extruded string, or a
combination thereof5.
11. CDA: The Copper Development Association Inc. is the market development, engineering
and information services arm of the copper industry, chartered to enhance and expand
markets for copper and its alloys in North America. Abbreviation for “Copper Development
Association, Inc. is CDA.”3
12. Cold Cutting (Cold Working): The process of changing form or cross-section of a piece of
metal at a temperature below the softening or recrystallization point, but commonly at or
about room temperature. It includes rolling, drawing, pressing and stretching.3
Cutting: The procedure of bringing a product to desired dimensions by such operations as
slitting, shearing, sawing, and blanking. As applied to surface finishing--cutting through or
removing the surface of a metal with a buffing wheel and suitable abrasive compound
usually coarser than that used for buffing3.
13. Computer Numerical Control Machining: A process used in manufacturing that involves the
use of computers to control machine tools; lathes, mills, routers and grinders CNC
Machining is the process by which material is removed from a piece of material with
Computer Numerical Control (CNC) equipment that cuts away unwanted material. Also
known as CNC Machining.6
14. CNC Manufacturing: CNC automation also allows for more flexibility in the way parts are
held in the manufacturing process and the time required to set up the machine to produce
different components6.
15. Copper: A ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is
soft and malleable; a freshly exposed surface has a reddish-orange color. It is used as a
conductor of heat and electricity, a building material, and a constituent of various metal
alloys. Machining of copper is possible, although it is usually necessary to use an alloy for
intricate parts to get good machinability characteristics. Also known as “The Red Metal”.7
16. Corrosion: Chemical or electrochemical deterioration of a metal or alloy3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_assemblies
http://www.thomasnet.com/about/cnc-machining-45330503.html
7 http://www.windmade-products.com/glossary/
5
6
17. Ductility: The property of a metal that permits permanent deformation before fracture by
stress in tension3.
18. Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM): A process occurring in water that uses electricity to
spark or discharge from an electrode to the material, with cutting times measured in inches
or fractions of inches per hour8.
19. Electrical Contractor: is a business person or firm that performs specialized construction
work related to the design, installation, and maintenance of electrical system9
20. Electrostatic fluidized bed coating; application uses the same fluidizing technique
and the conventional fluidized bed dip process but with much less powder depth in
the bed. An electrostatic charging medium is placed inside the bed so that the
powder material becomes charged as the fluidizing air lifts it up. Charged particles of
powder move upward and form a cloud of charged powder above the fluid bed.
When a grounded part is passed through the charged cloud the particles will be
attracted to its surface. The parts are not preheated as they are for the conventional
fluidized bed dip process. Also known as powder coating10.
21. Electroless nickel plating: An autocatalytic chemical technique used to deposit a layer of
nickel-phosphorus or nickel-boron alloy on a solid work piece, such as metal or plastic11.
22. Engineers: A professional practitioner of engineering; they design materials, structures and
systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety and
cost12.
23. Fabrication: The building of metal structures by cutting, bending, fabricating and
assembling processes7.
24. Facilities Manager: A person who is in charge of maintaining the service level implemented
by a company and supervising employees in charge of maintaining features associated with
the facility12.
http://www.fedtech.com/resources/industry-key-terms.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_contractor
10 http://www.specialchem4coatings.com/tc/powder-coatings/?id=electrofluidized
11 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroless_nickel_plating
12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer
8
9
25. Flexible bonding: 2K power mix – polyurethane; Used in various high and low voltage
electric appliances to be used for flexible connectors or grounding; conductive ratio high
and anti-fatigue ability is strong13.
26. Flexbraid: Flexible electrical copper braided connectors for high voltage and ground strap
applications. Also known as flexible bonding straps, flexible bonding connectors, ground
braids and braids13.
27. Galvanizing: The process of coating steel with zinc to create a surface that is highly resistant
to corrosion14
28. Ground Bar Kit: A thick copper bar with the associated insulators, steel mounting brackets,
bolts & lock washers in a single package. Ground bar kits are used in telecom room and
other installations to provide a central ground-point for equipment. The ground bar kit
provides a common grounding point for connecting grounds from telecommunications
equipment, computers, and other data center equipment3.
29. HAAS Milling Machine: The first-ever, fully automatic, programmable collet indexer – a
device used to position parts for machining with very high accuracy15.
30. HSS (High-Strength Steels): A broad category of steel products commonly having yield
strength in excess of 40,000 psi.14
31. Insulator: Standoff electrical insulators provide a barrier where internal electric charges do
not flow freely, and which therefore does not conduct an electric current, under the
influence of an electric field. Made up of plastic or ceramic materials, then UV coated, with
mechanical connections. Storm Copper is one of the largest distributors in the US of
insulators used in grounding applications.16
32. Laminated busbar: (lamination) a multilayer conductor, which by means of construction
provides a flexible or ridged low inductance electrical connection3.
33. Metric copper: Flat rolled copper bars in metric sizes14
34. Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM): A company the makes products or components
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/202242491/Flexible_bonding_wire.html
http://www.thefabricator.com/glossary/g
15 http://www.haascnc.com/about_history.asp
16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulator
13
14
that are purchased by another business and retailed under that purchasing company’s
brand name.
OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured a fully finished product17.
35. Plating: A surface covering in which a metal is deposited on a conductive surface. Typical
plating options are Tin, Bright Tin, Matte Tin, Silver, Lead, Nickel and Electroless nickel 14.
36. Powder Coating: A type of coating that is applied as a free-flowing, dry powder; does not
require a solvent to keep the binder and filler parts in a liquid suspension form. Also
known in manufacturing applications as Electrostatic fluidized bed7.
37. Punch: Generally the upper member of a tool set which cuts or forms the top side a
product; process of putting holes into a piece of sheet metal using a die or punch, Also
known as Punching8.
38. Punch press: A type of machine press used to cut holes in material. It can be small and
manually operated and hold one simple die set, or be very large, CNC operated, with a
multi-station turret and hold a much larger and complex die set7
39. RFQ = request for quote: A RFQ is issued when an organization wants to buy something and
chooses to make the specifications available to other companies so they can submit
competitive bids18.
40. Shearing: The cutting action in a straight line to separate metal by two moving blades; a
machine with blades or rotary disks for cutting sheets, plates or bars of metal 19.
41. Shunts: A device that allows electric current to pass around another point in the circuit by
creating a low resistance path20.
42. Stainless Steel: Group of corrosion resisting steels containing a minimum 10% chromium
and in which varying amounts of nickel, molybdenum, titanium, niobium as well as other
elements may be present.; Also known as inbox steel, is a steel alloy with a minimum of
10.5% chromium content by mass. Stainless steel does not readily corrode, rust or stain
with water as ordinary steel does. It is also called corrosion-resistant steel (CRES) when the
alloy type and grade are not detailed, particularly in the aviation industry. Stainless steel is
used where both the properties of steel and resistance to corrosion are required 7.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_equipment_manufacturer
http://catalystconsultingpartners.com/glossary.html
19 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shearing%20machine
20 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunt_%28electrical%29
17
18
43. Storm Pro Store: An e-commerce environment where electrical contractors, facility
managers, tradesman and other power professionals can purchase electrical component
parts directly from manufactured by Storm Copper Components, L.L.C.
44. Superalloys: Strong alloys that are incredibly tough to machine, many are nickel-based
metals.8
45. Water jet cutter: An industrial tool capable of cutting a wide variety of materials using a
very high-pressure jet of water, or a mixture of water and an abrasive substance; preferred
method when materials being cut are sensitive to high temperatures generated by other
methods.8