Metal Glossary

Designed to be a quick reference guide for customers, the Cashmores glossary provides definitions of the latest metal industry terms.

Metal Glossary

Designed to be a quick reference guide for customers, the Cashmores glossary provides definitions of the latest metal industry terms.

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Electrode Reaction

A chemical half or partial reaction that occurs at an electrode surface. It is called a half or partial reaction as only either the oxidation or the reduction part of the overall cell reaction occurs at any one electrode.
Electrolyte

An electrically conducting medium, such as a salt solution or a molten salt through which an electric current is transported by ions.
Electrolytic Polishing

An electrochemical method of imparting brilliance to the surface of a metal. The work-piece is made the anode and by careful selection of electrolyte and processing parameters a thin, uniform, surface layer is removed. It may be regarded as the opposite of electro plating.
Element

A pure chemical substance that consists of just one type of atom as defined by its atomic number (the number of protons in its nucleus). Elements combine to make compounds, e.g. Copper Sulphate which contains Copper, Sulphur and Oxygen. An Alloy, e.g. Brass, is a solid solution of two or more elements.
Extrusion

The process in which a preheated billet is constrained within a strong container in a press and then pushed by a ram through a shaped die. The product, or extrusion, has the shape of the die along its whole length. Although some simple shapes are extruded in Stainless Steel, this process is most commonly used for Aluminium.
Fatigue

The localised, progressive and permanent damage or structural change that occurs to a material subjected to repeated, fluctuating, loads that are lower, often much lower, than the static yield strength of the material. Good design is the key to minimising or mitigating fatigue problems.
Ferrite

A body centred cubic (BCC) phase found in most carbon and low alloy steels. It is magnetic and is why most steels themselves are magnetic. It transforms above 760°C into the non-magnetic, face centred cubic (FCC) phase austenite.
Ferritic Stainless Steels

Ferritic stainless steels are iron chromium alloys that contain a minimum of around 10.5% Chromium. They have a body centred cubic (BCC) ferrite microstructure. They contain little or no Nickel and hence are less expensive than austenitic stainless steels. They generally have somewhat better mechanical properties than the austenitic grades but have inferior corrosion resistance except, importantly, they do have superior stress corrosion cracking resistance.
Free Machining Stainless Steels

Many standard compositions of stainless also have a “free machining” variant with enhanced machinability. This is achieved by adding small amounts of certain alloying elements to the steel during melting. These added elements produce inclusions in the microstructure that act as chip breakers and can also lubricate the cutting action, increasing cutting speeds by approximately 75% on stainless steel. Sulphur is particularly good for heavy machining because of the large and fairly continuous inclusions. Selenium additions have also been used, especially in the USA, but are not available from European suppliers. Unfortunately addition of these elements has a negative effect on other properties, notably Corrosion Resistance in the case of added Sulphur. For this reason the more recently developed IMA grades are preferred.
Related Terms: IMA – Improved Machinability Alloy
General Corrosion

Corrosion in which the whole exposed surface is attacked by the corrosive medium at a broadly uniform rate. All corrosion is deleterious but general corrosion is more predictable and may be readily monitored and so managed. This is in contrast to the localised forms of attack such as pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion, inter-granular corrosion and stress corrosion cracking where the attack in very localised and can be intense causing unexpected, premature, failure.
Related Terms: Crevice Corrosion, Inter-granular Corrosion, Pitting Corrosion, Stress Corrosion Cracking
Grain Size
A measure of the area or volume of grains (crystals) in polycrystalline material. Grain size is reported in a number of ways:-
- Number of grains per unit of area or volume,
- Average diameter,
- As a grain size number derived from area measurements and comparison with a standard chart.
Grain Structure

The shape, size, distribution and disposition of metal crystals and their crystal structure within a solid metal or alloy.

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Metal Glossary

Metal Glossary

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