| Bending Angle | (english) A 'V-shaped' piece of angle iron attached to the rear of the coil car in the Strip Steel, which is used to help the operator put bends into the front end of a coil. |
| Bending Strength | (english) Upper limit of normal stress of a beam at which fracture or excessive plastic deformation occurs. |
| Beryllium Copper | (english) An alloy of copper and 2-3% beryllium with optionally fractional percentages of nickel or cobalt. Alloys of this series show remarkable age-hardening properties and an ultimate hardness of about 400 Brinell (Rockwell C43). Because of such hardness and good electrical conductivity, beryllium-copper is used in electrical switches, springs, etc. |
| Bevel | (english) Angle formed between the prepared edge of the end of tube and a plane perpendicular to the surface. Standard pipe bevel is 30 degrees. |
| Billet | (english) (1) A semi-finished section hot rolled from a metal ingot, with a rectangular cross section usually ranging from 16 to 36 in., the width being less than twice the thickness. Where the cross section exceeds 36 in., the term “bloom” is properly but not universally used. Sizes smaller than 16 in. are usually termed “bars”; a solid semi-finished round or square product which has been hot worked by forging, rolling, or extrusion. (2) A semi-finished, cogged, hot rolled or continuous-cast metal product of uniform section, usually rectangular with radiused corners. Billets are relatively larger than bars. |
| Binary Alloy | (english) An alloy containing two elements, apart from minor impurities, as brass containing the two elements copper and zinc. |
| Bismuth | (english) Chemical symbol Bi. A soft, course cystalline heavy metal with a silvery white color and pinkish tinge; usually produced as a by-product of copper,leaad and other metals. Has a thermal conductivity lower than all other metals except mercury. Used as alloying agent but leading use is in pharmaceuticals. |
| Bit, Tool (cutter) | (english) A hardened steel bar or plate that is shaped accordidng to the operation to be performed and the material to be machined. |
| Black Oil Tempered Spring Steel Strip (Scaleless Blue) | (english) A flat cold rolled usually .70/.80 medium high carbon steel strip, blue-black in color, which has been quenched in oil and drawn to desired hardness. While it looks and acts much like blue tempered spring steel and carries a Rockwell hardness of C44/47, it has not been polished and is lower in carbon content. Used for less exacting requirements than clock spring steel, such as snaps, lock springs, hold down springs, trap springs, etc. It will take a more severe bend before fracture than will clock spring, but it does not have the same degree of spring-back. |
| Black Plate | (english) A light weight or a thin uncoated steel sheet or strip so called because of its dark oxide coloring prior to pickling. It is manufactured by two different processes. (1) Form sheet bar on single stand sheet mills or sheet mills in tandem. This method is now almost obsolete. (2) On modern, high speed continuous tandem cold reduction mills from coiled hot rolled pickled wide strip into ribbon wound coils to finished gage. Sizes range from 12 to 32 in width, and in thicknesses from 55 lbs. to 275 lbs. base box weight. It is used either as is for stampings, or may be enameled or painted or tin or terne coated. |