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Abrasion Resistance - Ability of material or cable to resist surface wear.
Alternating Current - An electric current that continually reverses its direction giving a definite plus and minus wave form at fixed intervals.
Alternating Current Resistance - The resistance offered by any circuit to the flow of alternating current.
Ambient Temperature - Any all encompassing temperature within a given area.
American Wire Gage (AWG) - The standard system used for designating wire diameter. Also referred to as the Brown and Sharpe (B&S) wire gage.
Ampacity – The maximum current an insulated conductor or cable can continuously carry without exceeding its temperature rating .
Ampere: The unit of current. One ampere is the current flowing through one ohm of resistance at one volt potential.
Anneal - To subject to heat with subsequent cooling. When annealing copper; the act of softening the metal by means of heat to render it less brittle.
ASA: Abbreviation for American Standards Association. Former name of ANSI.
ASCII: Abbreviation for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
ASTM - Abbreviation for American Society for Testing and Materials.
ASME: Abbreviation for American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Attenuation: Power loss in an electrical system. In Cables, generally expressed in dB per unit length.
AWG - Abbreviation for American Wire Gage, a standard system used for designating wire diameter. Also referred to as the Brown and Sharpe (B&S) wire gage.
AWM: Designation for appliance wiring material.
Balanced Circuit: A circuit so arranged that the impressed voltages on each conductor of the pair are equal in magnitude but opposite in polarity with respect to ground.
Binder - A helically applied tape or thread used for holding assembled cable components in place until additional manufacturing operations are performed.
Breakdown (Puncture) - A disruptive discharge through insulation due to failure under electrostatic stress.
Breakdown Voltage - The voltage at which the insulation between two conductors, or a conductor and ground will break down.
Bunch Stranding - A method of stranding where a single conductor is formed from any number of wires twisted together in the same direction, such that all strands have the same lay length, but no specific geometric arrangement.
Butt Joint - A splice or connection formed by placing the ends of two conductors together and joining them by welding, brazing or soldering.
Cable: A group of individually insulated conductors in twisted or parallel configuration under common sheath.
Cabling: The twisting together of two or more insulated conductors to form an element.
CAD/CAM: Abbreviation for Computer Aided Design, Computer Aided Manufacturing
Cable Core - A cable core is the portion of an insulated cable lying under the protective covering or coverings.
Cable Filler - The material used in multiple conductor cables to occupy the spaces formed by the assembly of components, thus forming a core of the desired shape.
Capacitance - That property of a system of conductors and dielectrics which permits the storage of electricity when potential difference exists between the conductors.
Capacitance, Direct: The capacitance measured directly from conductor to conductor through a single insulating layer.
Capacitance, Mutual: The capacitance between two conductors with all other conductors, including shield, short circuited to ground.
Capacitive Coupling - Electrical interaction between two conductors caused by the capacitance between them.
CATV: An acronym for Community Antenna Television.
Certified Test Report (CTR): A report providing actual test data on a cable. Tests are normally run by a Quality Control Department, which shows that the product being shipped conforms to test specifications.
Characteristic Impedance: The impedance that, when connected to the output terminals of a transmission line of any length, makes the line appear infinitely long. The ration of voltage to current at every point along a transmission line on which there are no standing waves.
Capillary Action - The phenomenon of liquid rising in a small interstice due to surface tension.
Charging Current - The current produced when a d-c voltage is first applied to conductors of an unterminated cable. It is caused by the capacitive reactance of the cable, and decreases exponentially with time.
Circular Mil - A unit of area equal to the area of a circle whose diameter is 1 mil (0.001 inch). Used chiefly in specifying cross-sectional areas of round conductors.
Coaxial Cable: A cable consisting of two cylindrical conductors with a common axis, separated by a dielectric.
Coating - A material applied to the surface of a conductor to prevent environmental deterioration, facilitate soldering or improve electrical performance.
Cold Joint - A soldered joint made with insufficient heat.
Color Code - A color system for circuit identification by use of solid colors tracers, braids surface Printing, etc.
Composite Cable: A cable containing more than one gauge size or a variety of circuit types, e.g. pairs, triples, quads, coaxial, etc.
Compound: An insulation or jacketing material made by mixing two or more ingredients.
Compact Stranded Conductor - A unidirectional or conventional concentric conductor manufactured to a specified diameter, approximately 8 to 10% below the nominal diameter of a noncompact conductor of the same cross-sectional area.
Concentricity - In a wire or cable, the measurement of the location of the center of the conductor with respect to the geometric center of the circular insulation.
Concentric - lay Conductor - Conductor constructed with a central core surrounded by one or more layers of helically laid wires. Several types are as follows:
Compact round conductor - A conductor constructed with a central core surrounded by one or more layers of helically laid wires and formed into final shape by rolling, drawing, or other means.
Unilay conductor - conductor constructed with a central core surrounded by more than one layer of helically laid wires, all layers having a common length and direction of lay.
Conductivity - A term used in describing the capability of a material to carry an electrical charge. Usually expressed as a percentage of copper conductivity -- copper being one hundred (100%) percent. Conductivity is expressed for a standard configuration of conductor.
Conductor - A wire or combination of wires not insulated from one another, suitable for carrying an electric current.
Conductor Core - The center strand or member about which one of more layers of wires or members are laid helically to form a concentric-lay or rope-lay conductor.
Cord: A small, flexible insulated cable.
Core - Any portion of a cable over which some other cable component, such as a shield, jacket, sheath or armor, is applied.
Corona - A luminous discharge due to ionization of the gas surrounding a conductor around which exists a voltage gradient exceeding a certain critical value.
Corona Resistance - The time that insulation will withstand a specified level field-intensified ionization that does not result in the immediate complete breakdown of the insulation. Also called voltage endurance.
Corona Test - A test to determine the ability of a cable to withstand the formation of corona under an increasing applied voltage, and to extinguish corona when a corona-producing voltage is reduced.
Corrosion: The deterioration of a material by chemical reaction or galvanic action.
Cross Sectional Area - The area of the cut surface of an object cut at right angles to the length of the object.
Cross Sectional Area of a Conductor - The sum of cross sectional areas of all the individual wires composing the conductor. It is generally expressed in circular mils.
Current-carrying Capacity - The maximum current an insulated conductor or cable can continuously carry without exceeding its temperature rating. It is also called ampacity.
Density - The weight per unit volume of a substance.
Dielectric Constant - That property (K) of an insulating material which is the ratio of the parallel capacitance (C) of a given configuration of electrodes with the material as the dielectric, to the capacitance of the same electrode configuration with a vacuum as the dielectric.
Dielectric Strength - The voltage which an insulating material can withstand before breakdown occurs, usually expressed as a voltage gradient (such as volts per mil).
Direct Current: (DC): An electric current which flows in one direction.
Direction of Lay - The lateral direction, designated as left-hand or right-hand, in which the wires of a member or units of a conductor run over the top of the member or conductor as they recede from an observer looking along the axis of the member or conductor.
Drawing - In the manufacture of wire, pulling the metal through a die or series of dies for reduction of diameter to specified size.
EIA: Abbreviation for Electronic Industries Association.
Eccentricity - A measure of the lack of coincidence of longitudinal axes of a circular cross-sectional wire and its surrounding circular cross-sectional insulation. It is expressed as the percentage ratio of the distance between wire and insulation centers to the difference between wire and insulation radii.
Elastomer - A material that at room temperature returns rapidly to approximately its initial dimensions and shape after substantial deformation by a weak stress and release of the stress.
Elongation - The fractional increase in length of a material stressed in tension.
Electromagnetic: Pertaining to the combined electric and magnetic fields associated with movements of electrons through conductors.
Electromotive Force (EMF): Pressure or voltage. The force which causes current to flow in a circuit.
Electrostatic: Pertaining to the static electricity or electricity at rest. A constant intensity electric charge.
Embossing - A means of marker identification by means of thermal indentation leaving raised lettering on the sheath material of cable.
Extrusion - The process of continuously forcing either a plastic or elastomer and a conductor or core through a die, thereby applying an insulation or jacket to the conductor or core.
Flammability: The measure of the material's ability to support combustion.
Flexibility: That quality of a cable or cable component which allows for bending under the influence of outside force, as opposed to limpness which is bending due to the cable's own weight.
Flexing Test - Any test to determine the ability of a cable to withstand repeated bending and twisting.
Flex Life - The number of bends or twists, of specified type, that a cable will withstand before failure.
Flexibility: That quality of a cable or cable component which allows for bending under the influence of outside force, as opposed to limpness which is bending due to the cable's own weight.
Frequency: Refers to the number of cycles per second of an AC signal or an RF signal.
Gauge: A term used to denote the physical size of a wire.
Harness: An arrangement of wires and cables, usually with many breakouts, which have been tied together or pulled into a rubber or plastic sheath, used to interconnect electric circuits.
Heat Resistance - Ability of a substance to maintain physical and chemical identity and chemical identity and electrical integrity under specified temperature conditions.
Heat Shock - A test to determine stability of a material by sudden exposure to a high temperature for a short period of time.
Helix - A spiral winding.
Hertz - (Abbrev. H) A term rapidly replacing cycles-per-second as an indication of frequency.
High Voltage Time Test - A high-voltage time test is an accelerated life test on a cable sample in which voltage is the factor increased.
Hook-Up-Wire: A single insulated conductor used for low current, low voltage (usually under 1000 volts) applications within enclosed electronic equipment.
Hygroscopic - Attracting or absorbing moisture from the ambient atmosphere.
IEC: Abbreviation for International Electrotechnical Commission.
IEEE: Abbreviation for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Impact Strength: A test for determining the mechanical punishment a cable can withstand without physical or electrical breakdown by impacting with a given weight, dropped a given distance, in a controlled environment.
Impedance: The total opposition that a circuit offers to the flow of alternating current or any other varying current at a particular frequency. It is a combination of resistance (R) and reactance (X), measured in ohms.
Inductance: The property of a circuit or circuit element that opposes a change in current flow, thus causing current changes to lag behind voltage changes. It is measured in henrys.
Inductive Coupling: Crosstalk resulting from the action of the electromagnetic field of one conductor on the other.
Insulation: A material having high resistance to the flow of electric current.
Insulation Resistance (I.R.): That resistance offered by an insulation to an impressed DC voltage, tending to produce a leakage current through the insulation.
Insulation Thickness: The wall thickness of the applied insulation.
Interaxial Spacing: (1) Center to center conductor spacing in paired wire or (2) center to center spacing between conductors in a flat cable.
Interconnecting Cable: The wiring between modules, between units, or the larger portions of a system.
ICEA - Insulated Cable Engineers Association (Formerly lPCEA). An Association of Engineers of most cable manufacturers.
ISA: Abbreviation for Instrument Society of America
ISO: Abbreviation for International Standards Organization.
ISI : Indian Standard Institution
Irradiation - The exposure of a material to high energy emissions. In insulations for the purpose of favorably altering the molecular structure. Excessive exposure can be detrimental to the physical and electrical properties.
Jacket - A material covering over a wire insulation or an assembly of components, usually an extruded plastic or elastomer.
Jumper - A short length of conductor used to make a connection between terminals, around a break in a circuit, or around an instrument.
Laminated Tape: A tape consisting of two or more layers of different materials bonded together.
Lap Splice - A permanent joint formed in a short overlapping region of two parallel conductors or tapes. Also called parallel splice.
Lay - The distance along a cable occupied by one complete helix of a strand or conductor. The direction of lay (left or right hand) is the direction of the helix looking away from an observer. Also to arrange the wires or members of a conductor either by twisting them or by forming them into one or more layers helically applied.
Length of Lay - The axial length of one turn of the helix of a wire or member.
Leakage Current: The undesirable flow of current through or over the surface of an insulation.
Local Area Network (LAN): A baseband or broadband interactive bi-directional communication system for voice, video or data use on a common cable medium.
Longitudinal Shrinkage: A term generally applied to shrink products denoting the discrete axial length lost through heating in order to obtain the recovered diameter.
Loop Resistance: The total resistance of two conductors measured round trip from on end.
Marker Tape - A narrow strip of fabric, paper or plastic laid longitudinally within a cable; it bears printed information such as the specification to which the cable was made and the name of the cable's manufacturer.
NEMA Standards - Property values adopted as standard by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.
Nominal - Name or identifying value of a measurable property by which a conductor or component or property of a conductor is identified, and to which tolerances are applied.
NYLON - A strong polyamide polymer used for wire, cable jacketing, fillers and rope
OFHC: Abbreviation for oxygen-free, high conductivity copper. It has no residual deoxidant, 99.5% minimum copper content and an average annealed conductivity of 101%.
Ohm: Unit of resistance such that a constant current of one ampere produces a force of one volt.
OSHA: Abbreviation for Occupational Safety and Health Act. Specifically the Williams-Steiger law passed in 1970 covering all factors relating to safety in places of employment.
Outgassing: Percentage of a gas released during the combustion of insulation or jacketing material.
Overlap: The amount the trailing edge laps over the leading edge of a tape wrap.
Oxygen Index: Percentage of a gas released during the combustion of insulation or jacketing material.
Plastic Deformation: Change in dimensions under load that is not recovered when the load is removed.
Plastic - Any solid material employing organic matter of a high molecular weight as a principal constituent, which can be shaped by heat and pressure during manufacturing or processing into a finished article.
Plasticizer - A substance incorporated into a material to increase its workability or flexibility.
Polyester - A resin generally used as a thin film in tape form.
Polyethylene - A thermoplastic material composed of polymers of ethylene.
Polymer - A material formed by the chemical combination of monomers having either the same or different chemical composition.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) - A thermoplastic material composed of polymers of vinyl chloride, which may be rigid or elastomeric, depending on specific formulation.
Power Factor: The ratio of resistance to impedance. The ration of the actual power of an alternating current to apparent power. Mathematically, the cosine of the angle between the voltage applied and the current resulting.
Propagation: Delay time required for an electrical wave to travel between two points on a transmission line.
Pulling Eye: A device fastened to a cable to which a hook may be attached in order to pull the cable into or from a duct.
Pulse Cable: A type of coaxial cable constructed to transmit repeated high voltage pulses without degradation.
Resin: A synthetic organic material formed by the union (polymerization) of one or more monomers with one or more acids.
Resistance - Property of a conductor that opposed the current flow produced by a given difference of potential. The ohm is the practical unit of resistance.
S.W.G : Standard Wire Gauge
Secondary Insulation - Any extremely high resistance material which is placed over primary insulation to protect it from abrasion.
Sheath - The material, usually an extruded plastic or elastomer, applied outermost to a wire or cable. Very often referred to as a jacket, or an impervious metal covering usually lead.
Spark Test - A test designed to locate pin-holes in an insulated wire by application of an electrical potential across the material for a very short period of time while the wire is drawn through an electrode field.
Specific Dielectric Strength - The dielectric strength per millimeter of thickness of an insulating material.
Specific Gravity - The density (mass per unit volume) of any material divided by that of water at a standard temperature.
Specific Inductance Capacitance - That property of a dielectric material which determines how much electrostatic energy can be stored per unit volume when unit voltage is applied.
Specific Resistance - The resistance of a unit conductor having a length of one foot and across-sectional area of one circular mil.
Stabilizer - Any ingredient added to plastics to preserve their physical and chemical properties.
Strand - One of the wires of any stranded conductor.
Stranded Conductor - A conductor composed of a group of wires, usually twisted, or of any combination of such groups of wires.
Strand Lay - The distance of advance of one strand of a spirally stranded conductor, in one turn, measured axially.
Stress Cone - A conical section built up of insulating tapes or a pennant to relieve the stress at the terminal end of the cable.
Temperature Rating - The maximum temperature at which a given insulation or jacket may be safely maintained during continuous use, without incurring any thermally-induced deterioration.
Thermal Conductivity - Ability of material to conduct heat.
Thermoplastic - A classification of resin that can be readily softened and reformed by heating and be rehardened by cooling.
Tinned Wire - Copper wire that has been coated during manufacture with a layer of tin or solder to prevent corrosion or facilitate soldering.
Tolerance - A specified allowance for error from a standard or given dimension, weight or property.
Ultra Violet Degradation - The degradation caused by long time exposure of a material to sunlight or other ultraviolet rays containing radiation.
Volt - Unit of electromotive force. It is the difference of potential required to make a current of one ampere flow through resistance of one ohm.
Voltage Drop - The voltage developed between the terminals of a circuit component by the flow of current through the resistance or impedance of that part.
Voltage Rating - The maximum voltage at which a given cable or insulated conductor may be safely maintained during continuous use in a normal manner. It is also called working voltage.
Volume Resistivity: The electrical resistance between opposite faces of a one cm. cube of insulating material, commonly expressed in ohms-centimeter.
Water Absorption - The ratio of the weight of water absorbed by a given material under specified conditions, to the weight of that material when dry. It is generally expressed as a percentage.
Watt: A unit of electric power. The watt is the power required to do work at the rate of one joule per second.
Wave Length: The distance, measured in the direction of propagation, of a repetitive electrical pulse or waveform between two successive points.
Wire: A wire is a slender rod or filament of drawn metal.
Yield Strength - The lowest stress at which a material undergoes plastic deformation. Below this stress, the material is elastic; above it, visco |
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