| Blanking | (english) An early step in preparing flat-rolled steel for use by an end user. A blank is a section of sheet that has the same outer dimensions as a specified part (such as a car door or hood) but that has not yet been stamped. Steel processors may offer blanking for their customers to reduce their labor and transportation costs; excess steel can be trimmed prior to shipment. |
| Blister | (english) 1) Coating defect consisting of the formation of bubbles in a coating, which appear as hemispherical elevations. The blisters are hollow, and are usually caused by entrapped air or solvent. 2) A raised spot on the surface on the surface of metal due to expansion of gas which causes a subsurface metal separation such as inclusions and small laminations. |
| Block, Jo | (english) Shop name for a Johnnson gage block, a very accurate measuring device. |
| Blowhole | (english) A defect in a casting caused by trapped steam or gas. |
| Blush | (english) A coating defect consisting of the whitening of a cured film which results in a translucent or opaque appearance with accompanying loss of gloss. Blushing usually occurs during the pasteurization or steam processing of films which are undercured or water sensitive. |
| Boiler | (english) A closed vessel in which water, is transformed into steam at a given pressure and temperature under controlled conditions. |
| Boron (chemical symbol B) | (english) Element N. 5 of the periodic system. Atomic weight 10.82. It is gray in color, ignites at about 1112 (degrees) F. and burns with a brilliant green flame, but its melting point in a non-oxidizing atmosphere is about 4000 (degrees) F. Boron is used in steel in minute quantities for one purpose only- to increase the hardenability as in case hardening and to increase strength and hardness penetration. |
| Brale | (english) A diamond penetrator, conical in shape, used with a Rockwell hardness tester for hard metals. |
| Braze Welding | (english) A family of welding procedures where metals are joined by filler metal that has a melting temperature below the solidus of the parent metal, but above 840 (450 C). |
| Brinell Hardness Number | (english) The value of hardness of a metal on an arbitrary scale representing kg/mm2, determined by measuring the diameter of the impression made by a ball of given diameter applied under a known load. Values are expressed in Brinell Hardness Numbers, BHN |