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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Flaring Test
Drift Test

A test for the weld integrity of a welded tube, usually carried out to BS1139. All batches of Scaffolding Tube undergo this test.
Related Terms: Scaffolding Tube
Flash Annealing

Annealing of a work-piece by rapid heating and a short dwell time at the appropriate temperature.
Flatness

The property of having a horizontal surface without any slope, tilt, or curvature, i.e. that of a flat plane. In practice a perfectly flat surface is probably unobtainable so there will be a flatness tolerance.
Related Terms: Flatness Tolerance
Flatness Tolerance

A three-dimensional geometric tolerance that controls how much a product surface can deviate from a flat plane. The permitted deviation will depend upon the thickness of the sheet or plate varying between 0.2% and 0.5% of its width and length, usually measured over a 1 metre length.
Floating Mandrel

A tapered mandrel that is inserted into the hollow extrusion billet. It is not attached to the extrusion ram so is left free to centre itself in a hollow billet as it moves forward through the die as the ram advances and extrusion proceeds. The resulting product tapers slightly in wall thickness along the length.
Related Terms: Fixed Mandrel
Foil
Cooking Foil, Kitchen Foil, Tin Foil

Cold rolled aluminium flat product less than 250 microns in thickness. Usage includes kitchen foil (cooking foil) and foil trays for food. Kitchen Foil is often incorrectly referred to as Tin Foil.
Forging

Hot working using a forge with shaped tools that ‘hammers’ the work-piece into a predetermined shape.
Fracture Test
Charpy Test, Impact Test, Izod Test

A test in which the test piece is notched and broken. The fracture surface examined to assess grain structure and freedom from defects. Also used to determine toughness, often at varying temperatures to establish at what reduced temperature the material becomes brittle.
Free Machining Alloy (FMA)

An alloy designed to give, when machined, small broken chips, lower power consumption, better surface finish and/or longer tool life. Chemical composition and microstructure both influence this property.
Fretting
Traffic Marks

Abrasions, usually dark in colour, resulting from relative movement, or rubbing, between contacting metal surfaces during transit.
Full Heat Treatment

For alloys in the 2xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx and 8xxx series this is the heat treatment cycle consisting of solution treatment followed by artificial age hardening.
Gauge Length

In a tensile test this is the prescribed part of the cylindrical or prismatic portion of the test piece on which elongation is measured at any moment during the test. In particular, a distinction should be made between the following: ~ The original gauge length, i.e. the gauge length before the test is started. ~ The final gauge length – The gauge length after the test is completed and the test piece has fractured. The broken pieces are carefully fitted together to lie in a straight line so that it can be measured.

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Metal Glossary

Metal Glossary

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