Metal Terminology

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TERMS DESCRIPTION
STANDARD MILL FINISH Refers to the surface texture (or finish) of metal after it exits a rolling mill, extrusion die, or drawing processes, including sheet, bar, plate, or structural shapes. This texture is usually rough and lacks lustre.
WALL THICKNESS The thickness of the material.
PROOF STRESS The load per unit area that a structure can withstand without being permanently deformed by more than a specified amount.
TENSILE STRENGTH The resistance of a material to longitudinal stress, measured by the minimum amount of longitudinal stress required to break the material.
HARDNESS The ability of the metal to resist plastic deformation
ELONGATION A mechanical property of metal that is the degree to which a material may be bent, stretched, or compressed before it ruptures. It is a point between tensile strength and yield strength and is expressed as a percentage of the original length.
DENSITY The volumetric mass density of the metal is its mass per unit volume.
MELTING POINT The minimum temperature at which the metal melts or fuses.
THERMAL EXPANSION Is the tendency of the material to change in shape, area, and volume in response to a change in temperature, through heat transfer.
MODULUS OF ELASTICITY Is a number that measures the materials resistance to being deformed elastically when a force is applied to it.
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY The degree to which the material conducts electricity, calculated as the ratio of the current density in the material to the electric field which causes the flow of current.
ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY Is an intrinsic property that quantifies how strongly the material opposes the flow of electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allows the flow of electric current.
MACHINABILITY Refers to the ease with which a metal can be cut permitting the removal of the material with a satisfactory finish.
WORKABILITY - COLD Is the strengthening of a metal by plastic deformation.
WELDABILITY - GAS Refers to the ease with which a metal can be permanently joined using a gas welding application.
WELDABILITY - ARC Refers to the ease with which a metal can be permanently joined using an arc welding application.
WELDABILITY - RESISTANCE Refers to the ease with which a metal can be permanently joined using an electrical resistance welding process such as spot and seam welding.
BRAZING Is a metal-joining process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal.
ERW Electric Resistance Welding refers to a welding process such as spot or seam welding, whereby the weld is generated by the electrical resistance of the materials combined with the time and the force used to hold the materials together during welding. ERW extrusions have a noticeable weld seam.
CDS Cold Drawn Seamless refers to how the material is passed through a die at room temperature and exhibits a clean (seamless) surface finish with increased mechanical properties, improved machining characteristics and a precise and uniform diameter.