Wire And Cable Glossary Of Terms | A
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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.