Glossary Terms

Copper containing specified quantities of alloying elements added to obtain the necessary mechanical and physical properties.

Chemical or electrochemical reaction between a material, usually a metal, and its environment that produces a deterioration of the material and its properties.

Process in which a metal fractures prematurely under conditions of simultaneous corrosion and repeated cyclic loading at lower stress levels or fewer cycles than would be required in the absence of the corrosive environment.

Ability of an alloy or material to withstand rust and corrosion. These are properties fostered by nickel and chromium in alloys such as stainless steel.

Use of weights or mechanisms to balance a workpiece, grinding wheel, rotating tool or other device. Minimizes machining vibration and maximizes cutting force.

Tool, guided by a pilot, that expands a hole to a certain depth.

Enlarging one end of a drilled hole. The enlarged hole, which is concentric with the original hole, is flat on the bottom. Counterboring is used primarily to set bolt heads and nuts below the workpiece surface.

Tool that cuts a sloped depression at the top of a hole to permit a screw head or other object to rest flush with the surface of the workpiece.

Cutting a beveled edge at the entrance of a hole so a screw head sits flush with the workpiece surface.

Depressions formed on the face of a cutting tool caused by heat, pressure and the motion of chips moving across the tool’s surface.

Grinding operation in which the grinding wheel is slowly fed into the workpiece at sufficient depth of cut to accomplish in one pass what otherwise would require repeated passes. See grinding.

Method of producing intricate forms in a part by using a grinding wheel dressed to the shape of the form desired. See grinding.