Wire And Cable Glossary Of Terms | A

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | #



A

Asbestos insulated, 200°C dry location, only for leads within apparatus or within raceway to apparatus.

A.C.

Alternating Current (a.c.). Current in which the charge-flow periodically reverses and is represented by: I = Iº cos (2 f %2B ^) where, I is the current, Iº is the amplitude, f the frequency, the phase angle.

AA

Aluminum Association

AA-1350

Electrical-grade, commercially pure aluminum.

AA-8000

Electrical-grade aluminum alloy conductor material.

AA-8176

The AA-8000 Series aluminum alloy developed and used by Southwire Company.

AAAC

All Aluminum Alloy Conductor, usually used to refer to 6201 aluminum alloy.

AAC

All Aluminum Conductor

AAR

Association of American Railroads

AASC

Aluminum All Stranded Conductors

Abrasion Resistance

Ability of a wire, cable or material to resist surface wear.

AC

Armored Cable, 2,3 or 4 conductor, #14 to # 1 AWG, 600 volt rated or less, dry locations only, used in accordance with N.E.C. Article #320

AC90

Armoured Cable, 90° C rated, dry locations

ACAR

Aluminum Conductor Alloy Reinforced

Accelerated Aging

A test that attempts to duplicate long-time environmental aging in comparatively short time spans.

Accelerator

A chemical additive which hastens a chemical reaction under specific conditions.

ACIC

Armoured Control and Instrumentation Cable, can have various temperature and voltage ratings

ACM

designation for Aluminum Conductor Material (8000 series of aluminum alloys)

ACSR

Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced

ACT

A multiple conductor thermoplastic insulated cable with steel spiralled interlocking armour. The armour has the appearance of flexible conduit.

Activator

A chemical additive used to initiate the chemical reaction in a specific chemical mixture.

ACWU

Armored Cable, Wet rated, direct burial (U)

Adhesive-Bonded

Cables bonded by adding an adhesive coating to the surface of the cable components, then joining and curing the adhesive to form a cable. See Bonded Cables.

Adjacent Conductor

Any conductor next to another conductor either in the same multi-conductor cable or in adjacent layers.

Admittance

The measure of the ease with which an alternative current flows in a circuit. The reciprocal of impedance.

Aerial Cable

A cable suspended in the air on poles or other overhead structure.

AF

Single conductor asbestos insulated fixture wire 150°C.

Aging

The change in properties of a material with time under specific conditions.

AIA

Impregnated asbestos with braid, application same as for type AI and open wiring.

Air Core Cable

A cable in which the interstices in the cable core are not filled with a moisture barrier

Aircraft Wire

An electrical wire primarily designed for extreme conditions (temperature, altitude, solvents, fuels, etc.) of airborne equipment.

Al

The chemical symbol for aluminum.

Alligator Clip

A mechanical device shaped like alligator jaws, used as a temporary connection on the end of interconnection wire.

Alloy

A metal formed by combining two or more different metals to obtain desirable properties.

ALS

A type of cable consisting of insulated conductors enclosed in a continuous, closely fitting aluminum tube.

Alternating Current

An electric current that continually reverses its direction giving a definite plus and minus wave form at fixed intervals.

Aluminum-Steel Conductor

A composite conductor made up of a combination of aluminum and steel wires.

Alumoweld®

A thick aluminum coating molded on a high strength steel core used for its strength, conductive and weight characteristics. An aluminum clad steel wire. *United States Alumoweld Company

Ambient Temperature

The temperature of a medium (gas or liquid) surrounding an object.

American Wire Gauge (AWG)

The standard system used for designating wire diameter. The lower the AWG number, the larger the diameter. Also called the Brown and Sharpe (B&S) Wire Gauge.

Ampacity

See Current-Carrying Capacity.

Ampere

The unit of current. One ampere is the current flowing through one ohm of resistance at one volt potential.

Ampere’s Law

The magnetic intensity at any point near a current-carrying conductor can be computed on the assumption that each infinitesimal length of the conductor produces at the point of an infinitesimal magnetic density. The resulting magnetic intensity at the point is the vector sum of the contributions of all the elements of the conductor.

Analog

Transmission data densities by continuously variable quantities.

Anneal

The process of controlled heating and cooling of a metal. In a wire and cable products, copper and aluminum are annealed to increase flexibility while maintaining adequate strength.

Annular Conductor

A number of wires stranded in three reversed concentric layers around a core.

Annunciator

signal and bell wire, low voltage, generally PVC insulated

ANSI X12

Is the official designation of the U.S. national standards body for the development and maintenance of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards. The group was founded in 1979, and is an accredited standards committee under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The acronym stands for "American National Standards Institute Accredited Standards Committee X12", with the designation of X12 being a sequential designator assigned by ANSI at the time of accreditation with no other significance.

Anti-Oxidant

A substance which prevents or slows down oxidation of material exposed to air.

Appliance Wire and Cable

A classification covering insulated wire and cable for internal wiring of appliances and equipment.

Arc Resistance

The time required for an arc to establish a conductive path in a material.

Armor

The outer-most layer of a cable applied for mechanical protection usually consisting of layer(s) of metallic tape, braid, or served wires.

Armored Cable

A cable provided with a wrapping of metal for mechanical protection.

AS2

A specification about how to transport data securely and reliably over the Internet. Security is achieved by using digital certificates and encryption.

ASC

Aluminum Stranded Conductors

ASLC

Airport Series Lighting Cable – 5000 volt, 90° C wet rated, for airport runways etc.

ASME

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

ASTA

United Kingdom approval agency.

ASTM

The American Society for Testing and Materials, a non-profit industry-wide organization which publishes standards, methods of test, recommended practices, definitions and other related material.

Attenuation

Power loss in an electrical system. In cables, generally expressed in db per unit length, usually 100 ft.

Audio Frequency

The range of frequencies audible to the human ear, usually 20-20,000 Hz.

AVA

Asbestos and varnished Cambric insulated, 110°C dry locations.

AVB

Asbestos and varnished Cambric insulated, 90°C dry locations.

AVL

Asbestos and varnished Cambric uninsulated, 110°C dry location lead sheathed.

AWAC

A cable consisting of a composite of aluminum strands and aluminum clad strands.

AWM

UL designation for appliance wiring material.

AZ

A thin coating of some metal part (usually steel or iron) with aluminum by electroplating.