Glossary of terms

Hot Rolled Rod

The method of manufacture. The cross sectional area of the round rod is reduced while the material is still hot. The surface finish is typically not as smooth as that for cold drawn wire and the diameter usually has a higher ovality than that for cold drawn wire.

Cold Drawn

The method of manufacture. The cross sectional area of the wire or thickness of the section is reduced without the use of heat.

Cold Rolled Flat Wire

Round wire rolled on 2 surfaces to leave naturally radiused edges.

Cold Rolled Section

Rolled round wire on 4 or more surfaces to control edges and radiused corners.

Spring Temper

Specific amount of cold work to give standard spring temper condition for a grade of material.

No 1 Temper

Specific amount of cold work to give standard No 1 temper condition of the wire, but less cold work than that for full spring temper (not standard condition for all alloys).

Special Temper

Manufactured to customer’s specified mechanical properties.

Coated

Wire coated with dry lubricant to aid auto coiling (e.g. spring coiling).

Clean

No coating on wire surface.

Annealed

Softened with heat treatment.

Ageing / Precipitation Hardening / Age Hardening

A condition achieved with heat treatment to increase the mechanical properties of the material (ie. Tensile strength / hardness etc). This process is typically carried out on the finished parts as forming aged wire may not be possible.

Heat Treatment After Forming

Standard heat treatments of finished parts are given and resulting mechanical properties are typical values. In most cases, different mechanical properties are achievable through a combination of cold work and heat treatment, please contact us to discuss your specific requirements.

We can carry out capability tests on samples to demonstrate our products ability to meet your requirements after final heat treatment and certify the results.

Tensile Strength

The tensile strength ranges given are typical ranges for each alloy for the specified standard condition of supply. Please be aware that as we manufacture these materials, tensile range can be altered to suit customer requirements.

Approx. Operating Temperatures

The operating temperatures stated on our data sheets are approximate values which depend on the design and operating conditions of the finished component / part.

Ship date

This is the date that the material will leave Alloy Wire, not the date of arrival at the customer’s dock.

If you require different mechanical properties to those stated, please contact us.