Glossary of Automotive Terms

Letter B – Dictionary of Automotive Terms

B

Symbol for susceptance in an AC circuit (unit is the siemens; measured by the negative of the reactive component of the admittance
Symbol for magnetic flux density in a magnetic circuit (unit is the tesla; 1T=1 Wbm^-2=1 Vsm^-2).

B+: An abbreviation for Battery positive voltage used to designate positive voltage at aor near the battery level.

BA: An abbreviation for British Association which is a term used to describe a series of fine, small diameter threads for electrical and precision equipment.

Babbitt

An Alloy of tin, copper, and antimony having good antifriction properties. Used as a facing for bearings.

See

Babbitt’s metal

Babbitt metal

See

Babbitt’s metal: A bearing alloy originally patented by Isaac Babbitt, composed of 50 parts tin, five antimony, and one copper. Addition of lead greatly extends range of service. Composition varies widely, with tin 5-90%, copper 1.5-6%, antimony 7-10%, lead 5-48.5%.

Babysitter: Colloquial term for a co-signer or co-buyer on an automobile purchase contract.

Babcock and Wilcox boiler: A water-tube boiler consisting in its simplest form of a horizontal drum from which is suspended a pair of headers carrying between them an inclined bank of straight tubes.

Babo’s law: The vapor pressure of a liquid is lowered when a non-volatile substance is dissolved in it, by an amount proportional to the concentration of the solution.

Baby: A small incandescent spotlight used in film and television production.

Baby seat: Baby Seat

A specially designed seating device (which is not generally standard equipment) to hold safely very young children (usually under the weight of 10 kilograms).

BAC

Abbreviation for Blood Alcohol Content
Abbreviation for bypass air control system
Abbreviation for Bypass air control valve

Back

A large vat used in various industries, such as dyeing, soap-making, and brewing. Also spelled beck

See

Back ampere-turns: That part of the armature ampere-turns which produces a direct demagnetizing effect on the main poles. Also called demagnetizing ampere-turns

Back annealing

Controlling the softening of a fully work hardened metal so as to produce the desired degree of temper by partial recrystallization.

See

Back axle: The rear axle.

Back axle ratio

See

Final drive ratio

Back band: The outside member of a door or window casing.

Backbone

The major long-distance, multi-channel link in a telecommunication network, from which smaller links branch off

See

Backbone frame

Backbone chassis

See

Backbone frame

Backbone frame

Backbone Frame

A vehicle frame, having the cross-section of a rectangular box, that runs along the center of the vehicle and occupies the space between the seats.
- This box generally divides at the front, running along each side of the gearbox and engine up to a crossmember to which the front suspension pieces are attached.
- At the rear a similar triangular frame encloses the final-drive housing and provides attaching points for the rear suspension.
- Lightness combined with high Torsional rigidity are features of this frame design, made famous by Colin Chapman with the Lotus Elan.
In a motorcycle, a frame which uses the engine as a structural member.

See

Tubular backbone frame

Backbone network: A high-capacity computer network that links together other networks of lower capacity. Fiber optic cables are often used to form these links.

Back coupling

Any form of coupling which permits the transfer of energy from the output circuit of an amplifier to its input circuit.

See

Feedback

Back diode

See

Backward diode

Back edging: A method of cutting a tile or brick by chipping away the biscuit below the glazed face, the front itself being scribed.

Back EMF: The EMF which arises in an inductance (because of rate of change of current), in an electric motor (because of flux cutting) or in a primary cell (because of polarization), or in a secondary cell (when being charged). Also called counter EMF

Back-emf cells: Cells connected into an electric circuit in such a way that their emf opposes the flow of current in the circuit.

Back emission: Emission of electrons from the anode.

Back end: When the dealer sends a vehicle purchase contract to the bank for financing, the dealer is given an extra bonus (the back end) from the bank for choosing this bank.

Backfill: Materials used to replace previously excavated material.

Backfire

Passage of unburned fuel mixture into the exhaust system where it is ignited and causes an explosion (backfire) prematurely.
Sometimes Ignition takes place in the intake manifold by a flame from a cylinder because the intake valve leaks. Burning of the fuel mixture in the intake manifold may be caused by faulty timing, crossed plug wires, leaky intake valve, etc.
A welding term referring to a short pop of the torch flame followed by extinguishing of the flame or continued burning of the gasses.

Backfiring: Repeated backfires in the exhaust or the cylinders.

Backfitting: Making changes to nuclear (and other) plants already designed or built, e.g., to cater to changes in safety criteria.

Back-flap hinge: A hinge in two square leaves, screwed to the face of a door which is too thin to permit the use of a butt hinge.

Backflow scavenging

See

Loop scavenging

Backflushing

Pushing fluid in a direction opposite of normal flow. This is done for cleaning the engine’s cooling system.

See

Flushing the cooling system

Back focus: The distance between the rear surface of a lens and the image of an object at infinity.

Back gear: A speed-reducing gear fitted to the headstock of a belt-driven metal-turning lathe. It consists of a simple layshaft, which may be brought into gear with the coned pulley and mandrel when required.

Background: Extraneous signals arising from any cause which might be confused with the required measurements, e.g., in electrical measurements of nuclear phenomena and of radioactivity, it would include counts emanating from amplifier noise, cosmic rays and insulator leakage.

Background job

A task having a low priority within a multiprogramming system.

See

Job queue

Background noise: Extraneous noise contaminating sound measurements and which cannot be separated from wanted signals. For example residual output from microphones, pickups, lines giving a signal-to-noise ratio. Also called ground noise

Background radiation: Radiation coming from sources other than that being observed.

Background video: (BGV) A technique for overlaying video on previously recorded depth multiplex audio. Also called video on sound (VOS).

Backhand welding

Welding in the direction opposite to the direction that the gas flame is pointing. Also called backward welding.

See

Forehand welding

Back Haul

After an outbound shipment has been delivered, the truck will return empty. In order to generate more revenue, the dispatcher may find a shipment for the return which is the back haul.
Movement in the direction of lighter traffic flow when traffic generally is heavier in the opposite direction.
To move a shipment back over part of a route already traveled.

Backheating: Excess heating of a cathode due to bombardment by high-energy electrons returning to the cathode. In magnetrons, it may be sufficient to keep the cathode at operating temperature without external heating.

Backing

Some material placed on the root side of a weld to aid control of penetration.
Light-absorbent layer on the rear surface of photographic film or plate to reduce unwanted exposure
A meterological term describing the changing of a wind in a counter-clockwise direction.
See
- Veering

See

Steel backing

Backing boards: Wedge-shaped wooden boards between which an unbound book is held in the lyingpress, while the joints are being formed for attaching the case.

Backing pad: A rubber disc which is secured to a spindle which in turn is attached to a drill or other tool which rotates the spindle. An abrasive disc or polishing disc is secured to the backing pad.

Backing plate

Backing plate

The part of a drum brake to which the wheel cylinder(s) and the brake shoes are attached.
A pressed steel plate upon which the brake shoes, wheel cylinder, and anchor pin are mounted.

See

Brake backing plate

Backing-up

Printing on the second side of a sheet.
Backing a letterpress printing plate to required height.

Back-kick: The violent reversal of an internal-combustion engine during starting due to a Backfire

Backlash

The amount of play or clearance between two parts. In the case of gears, it refers to how much one gear can be moved back and forth without moving the gear into which it is meshed.
Mechanical deficiency in a tuning control, with a difference in dial reading between clockwise and counterclockwise rotation.
Property of most regenerative and oscillator circuits, by which oscillation is maintained with a smaller positive feedback than is required for inception.
Movement (if any) of the chain along the pitch line of the sprocket when the direction of chain travel is reversed.

Backlight

The rear window of a vehicle. Most people call it a rear window and erroneously think of backlight as the taillight.
The light source (often a cold cathode discharge in a flat fluorescent envelope) used in some light-modulating flat panel displays such as those based on LCD

Backlight compensation: (BLC) The opening of the iris to correctly expose a backlit subject which would otherwise be a silhouette

Backlight defogging system: Heated rear window

Backlight heater: Heated rear window

Back lighting: Lighting illuminating the subject from behind, opposite the camera, often to provide rim light or halo effects.

Back lobe: Lobe of polar diagram for antenna, microphone, etc. which points in the reverse direction to that required.

Backlocking: Holding a signal lever partially restored until completion of a predetermined sequence of operation.

Backmatter: The items which follow the main text of a book, i.e., appendices, notes, glossary, bibliography, index. The UK term is end matter

Back observation: An observation made with instrument on station just left. Also called back sight

Back panel

The panel of the body shell set underneath the trunk lid. It is sometimes referred to as the rear valance if the area below the trunk lid consists of only a single panel that extends down to the bottom of the body; in many designs, however, the rear valance is a separate horizontal panel that extends from the rear bumper area downward. The British term is rear panel

See

Lower Back Panel

Backplate: British term for Brake backing plate

Back-porch effect: The prolonging of the collector current in a transistor for a brief time after the input signal (particularly if large) has decreased to zero.

Back pressure

The resistance to the flow of exhaust gases through the exhaust system. By rerouting the exhaust gases for noise suppression, a muffler causes back pressure, but a straight pipe alone causes only minimal back pressure. Some engines require back pressure, so that removing the exhaust system will cause internal damage.
Pressure in low side of refrigerating systems; also called suction pressure or low-side pressure.
The pressure opposing the motion of the piston of an engine on its exhaust stroke.
The exhaust pressure of a turbine. Increased by clogged or defective exhaust system.
Pressure against which a fluid or gas is flowing, resulting from friction in lines, restrictions in pipes, valves, pressure in vessel to which fluid is flowing, hydrostatic head, or other impediment that causes resistance to fluid flow.

See

Back pressure modulated

See

Negative back pressure modulated valve

Back pressure modulated valve

See

Negative back pressure modulated valve

Backpressure Transducer EGR Valve

See

Integral Backpressure Transducer EGR Valve

Back Pressure Transducer Valve

See

Exhaust Back Pressure Transducer Valve

Back-pressure turbine: A steam turbine from which the whole of the exhaust steam, at a suitable pressure, is taken for heating purposes.

Back pressure valve

See

Negative back pressure valve

Backpressure variable transducer: (BVT) a system combining a ported EGR valve and a backpressure variable Transducer to control emissions of NOx

Back projection

Projection of a picture, from film, transparency, or video, on to a translucent screen to be viewed from the opposite side,
A form of motion picture composite photography in which the projected picture forms the background to action taking place in front of it, both being photographed together.

Back rake: In a lathe tool, the inclination of the top surface or face to a plane parallel to the base of the tool.

Backrest: The back (upright) part of the seat against which your back reclines.

Back scatter: The deflection of radiation or particles by scattering through angles greater than 90° with reference to the original direction of travel.

Back-seat

An air conditioning term which means to rotate a service valve counterclockwise all the way down until the valve is back-seated. When referring to a stem type service valve, the term has a more specific meaning-in the back-seated position, the valve outlet to the system is open and the service port in the valve is closed (its normal operating position).
The seating behind the front passenger and/or driver

Back-seat driver: A person who is not physically in control of the vehicle, but who gives driving instruction to the driver, usually in an obnoxious manner.

Back seating: Fluid opening or closing such as a gauge opening to seat the joint where the valve stem goes through the valve body.

Back sight

See

Back observation

Backspacing: Process which maintains synchronization when video recording is stopped and started. The tape being rolled back for roughly one second at the end of a recorded segment then switched into play to compare and synchronize the control track pulses with the incoming synchronization pulses before recording begins again.

Back-step welding: Welding small sections of a joint in a direction opposite the direction that the weld as a whole is progressing.

Backstop: The structure of a relay which limits the travel of the armature away from the pole-piece or core.

Back-to-back: Parallel connection of valves, with the anode of one connected to the cathode of the other, or transistors in parallel in opposite directions, to allow control of AC current without rectification.

Back up: To go in reverse.

Back up alarm: An annoying loud beeping which is repeatedly sounded when a vehicle (usually a large truck) is placed in reverse. It is designed to warn pedestrians behind the vehicle. The British term is reversing warning signal

Back up light: A white light which is located at the rear of the vehicle and is illuminated when the transmission is placed in reverse. The British term is reversing light

Back-voltage

Voltage which opposes the current when the current in an inductive circuit changes and the magnetic field cuts the conductors.

See

Self-induction back-voltage

Backward busying: Applying busy condition at the incoming end of a trunk or junction (usually during testing or fault-clearance) to indicate at outgoing end that circuit must not be used.

Backward diode: One with characteristic of reverse shape to normal. Also called AU diode or back diode

Backward hold: A method of interlocking the links of a switching chain by originating a locking condition in the final link and extending it successively backwards to each of the preceding links

Backward lead

See

Backward shift

Backward shift: Movement of the brushes of a commutating machine around the commutator, from the neutral position, and in a direction opposite to that of the rotation of the commutator, so that the brushes short-circuit zero emf conductors when the load current, through armature reaction, results in a rotation of the neutral axis of the air-gap flux. Shifting the brushes in this way reduces sparking on the commutator. Also called backward lead

Backward signaling: Signaling from the called to the calling end of a circuit.

Backward-wave tube: General term for a family of microwave traveling-wave tubes in which energy on a slow-wave circuit or structure, linked closely to the electron beam, flows in the opposite direction to the electrons. They can be used as stable, low-noise amplifiers or as oscillators, as the latter, they can be easily tuned over a wide frequency range by altering he beam voltage.

Backward welding

See

Backhand welding

Backwater: Water, containing fine fibers, loading and other additives, removed in the forming section of a paper or board-making machine. It is generally re-used within the system or clarified in a saveall to recover suspended matter.

Backyard mechanic: A person, whether qualified or not, who repairs his own vehicle or those of others and works in his own property.

BAC level: Abbreviation for Blood Alcohol Content level

Badge

An emblem with a manufacturer’s name and/or logo on a plate to identify a model or component.

See

Badge engineering: When a manufacturer sells two identical vehicles but the model names are different, he is badge engineering. For example, General Motors may sell a vehicle as a Chevrolet or a Pontiac where the only difference is the model name, logo, and more or less chrome or other minor alterations.

Badging: The act of a manufacturer in Badge engineering

Baffle

Baffle Baffle

An obstruction (e.g., plate, vane, wall) in a tank or container used to slow down or divert the flow of gases, liquids, sound, etc. They are found in the fuel tank, crankcase, muffler, and radiator.
Extended surface surrounding a diaphragm of a sound source (loudspeaker) so that an acoustic short-circuit is prevented.
Any device to impede or divide a fluid flow in a tank to reduce sloshing of liquid.
Plates fitted between cylinders of air-cooled engines to assist cooling.
Internal structure or electrode, with no external connection, used in gas-filled tubes to control the discharge or its decay.
An object placed in an Appliance to change the direction of or retard the flow of gas, air, gas-air mixtures, or flue (exhaust) gases.
A wall or partition inside a liquid tank that inhibits the flow of fluids reducing the slosh effect that liquid tankers experience.

See

Baffle loudspeaker: An open-diaphragm loudspeaker, in which the radiation of sound power is enhanced by surrounding it with a large plane baffle, generally of wood.

Baffle plate

A metal plate that acts as a Baffle.
A plate used to prevent the movement of a fluid in the direction which it would normally follow, and to direct it into the desired path.
Plate inserted into waveguide to produce change in mode of transmission.

See

Directional Baffle Plate

Bag

See

Bag drop: A location where your supplies have been cached. In randonneuring events of 1200 km, you can pre-arrange to have a bag of extra clothes and other supplies waiting for you at a prescribed control (i.e., checkpoint). Also called a drop.

Bagger: A motorcycle equipped with saddlebags and other touring amenities.; Chevrolet made a bagger in 1964 that is very stylish.

Bag molding: Use of a flexible membrane (the bag) to exert pressure, usually about one atmosphere, on a thermosetting composite laminate or sandwich component while it is curing at ambient temperature in an open mold. Pressure can be generated either by evacuating the inside of the bag (vacuum bag molding) or by pressurizing its outer surface (pressure bag molding).

Bag pump: A form of bellows pump, in which the valved disk taking the place of the bucket is connected to the base of the barrel by an elastic bag, distended at intervals by rings.

Bail: The spring-wire loop used to secure the cover on most Master cylinder reservoirs.

Bailey bridge: A temporary bridge made by assembling portable prefabricated panels. A nose is projected over rollers across the stream, being followed by the bridge proper, with roadway. Also used over pontoons.

Baily furnace: An electric-resistance furnace in which the resistance material is crushed coke placed between carbon electrodes; used for heating ingots and bars in rolling mills, for annealing, etc.

Bainite: A microstructural product formed in steels when cooled from the austenite state at rates or transformation temperatures intermediate between those which form pearlite martensite, i.e., between about 800 and 500° K. It is an acicular structure of supersaturated ferrite containing particles of carbide, the dispersions of the latter depending on the formation temperature. Its hardness is intermediate between that of pearlite and martensite and exhibits mechanical properties similar to those of tempered martensite in a steel of the same carbon content.

Bait

See

Bear bait

Baize: A lightweight woollen felt used to cover pool tables and bulletin boards.

Bake: A process of drying or curing paint by using heat.

Baked core

A dry sand core baked in the oven to render it hard and to fix its shape.

See

Core sand

Baked images: The technique of heating a printing plate (mainly lithographic) to harden the printing image and thus increase the image’s resistance to wear, hence lengthening the run expectancy on the press.

Bakelite: The trademark for a synthetic thermosetting plastic resin used in electrical parts because it is a good insulator. The name comes from its inventor, L. H. Baekeland, 1863-1944.

Bakeoff: A term borrowed from food contests where a manufacturer’s design teams compete by displaying their clay model proposals for evaluation.

Bake-out: Preliminary heating of components of a vacuum device to release absorbed gases.

Baking finish: Paint that requires baking in order to dry.

Baking temperature: The temperature at which a varnish or paint must be baked to develop desired final properties of strength and hardness.

Balance

The state in which weight is evenly distributed.
The action of applying weights or drilling holes in something to establish even weight distribution so that vibration is reduced.
Adjustment of sources of sound in studios so that the final transmission adheres to an artistic standard.
Said to be obtained in bridge measurements when the various impedances forming the arms of the bridge have been adjusted, so that no current flows through the detector.

Balance bar: The heavy beam by which a canal-lock gate may be swung on its Pintle, and which partially balances the outer end of the gate.

Balance box: A box, filled with heavy material, used to counterbalance the weight of the jib and load of a crane of the cantilever type.

Balance control: A switching device on a stereo radio which adjusts the amount of sound coming from the left and right speakers or from the front and rear speakers.

Balance-crane: A crane with two arms, one having counterpoise arrangements to balance the load taken by the other.

Balanced amplifier: One in which there are two identical signal-handling branches operating in phase opposition, with input and output connections balanced to ground.

Balanced-armature pick-up: A pick-up in which the reproducing needle is held by a screw in a magnetic arm, which is pivoted so that its motion diverts magnetic flux from one arm of a magnetic circuit to another, thereby inducing emf in coils on these arms.

Balanced circuit: For AC and DC, a circuit which is balanced to ground potential, i.e., the two conductors are at equal and opposite potentials with reference to ground at every instant.

Balanced crankshaft: A crankshaft with extended reinforcements to form counterbalancing or act as a vibration damper.

Balanced current: A term used, in connection with polyphase circuits, to denote currents which are equal to all the phases. Also applied to DC three-wire systems.

Balanced draft: A system of air-supply to a boiler furnace, in which one fan forces air through the grate, while a second, situated in the uptake, exhausts the flue gases. The pressure in the furnace is thus kept atmospheric, i.e., is balanced.

Balanced draught: A system of air-supply to a boiler furnace, in which one fan forces air through the grate, while a second, situated in the uptake, exhausts the flue gases. The pressure in the furnace is thus kept atmospheric, i.e., is balanced.

Balanced engine: An engine in which all the reciprocating parts such as pistons and connecting rods are adjusted to exactly the same weight.

Balance disc: A disc-shaped device in a centrifugal pump which is attached to the pump shaft. The disc lifts when a force is applied to the underside of the disc allowing pressure to leak past until the axial forces are balanced.

Balanced laminate: Symmetrical laminated material in which the sequence of laminae above the center plane is the mirror image of that below it.

Balanced line: A line in which the impedances to ground of the two conductors are, or are made to be, equal. Also called balanced system

Balanced load: A load connected to a polyphase system, or to a single-phase or DC three-wire system, in such a way that the currents taken from each phase, or from each side of the system, are equal and at equal power factors.

Balanced mixer: A mixer, which may be made of discrete components or formed in stripline or waveguide, in which the local oscillator breakthrough in the output is minimized and certain harmonics suppressed. The contribution of local oscillator noise to the receiver’s overall performance is also reduced by such a mixer.

Balanced modulator: A modulator in which the carrier and modulating signal are combined in such a way that the output contains the two sidebands but not the carrier. Used in color television to modulate subcarriers, and in suppressed-carrier communication systems.

Balanced network: A network arranged for insertion into a Balanced circuit and therefore symmetrical electrically about the mid-points of its input and output pairs of terminals.

Balanced-pair cable: A cable with two conductors forming a loop circuit, the wires being electrically balanced to each other and ground (shield), e.g., an open-wire antenna feeder.

Balanced pedal: In an organ console, the foot-operated plate, pivoted so that it stays in any position, for remote control of the shutter of the chambers in which ranks of organ pipes are situated; it also serves for bringing in all the stops in a graded series.

Balanced protective system: A form of protective system for electric transmission lines and now widely used domestically in which the current entering the line or apparatus is balanced against that leaving it. Any fault, such as a short circuit to ground, upsets this balance and energizes a relay which trips the faulty circuit. Also called differential protective system or colloquially, ground leak relay or ground trip.

Balanced system

See

Balanced line

Balanced terminator: A two-terminal load in which both terminals present the same impedance to ground.

Balanced voltage: A term used, in connection with polyphase circuits, to denote voltage which are equal to all the phases. Also applied to DC three-wire systems.

Balanced weave: A weave in which the length of free yarn between the intersections is the same as the warp and weft directions and on both sides of the fabric.

Balance gate: A flood gate which revolves about a vertical shaft near its center, and which may be made either self-opening or self-closing as the current sets in or out by giving a preponderating area to one leaf of the gate.

Balance patch: A factory installed patch used to bring a new tire within quality control balance tolerances before distribution and sale. It is placed inside the Tire casing and looks much like a nail hole repair patch.

Balance pipe: A tube which joins two or more carburetors to even out the flow difference.

Balance piston

See

Dummy piston

Balancer

A device used on polyphase or three-wire systems to equalize the voltages between the phases or the sides of the system, when unbalanced loads are being delivered.

See

Balancer transformer: An autotransformer connected across the outer conductors of an ac three-wire system, the neutral wire being connected to an intermediate tapping.

Balance shaft: An engine will normally vibrate because of the up-and-down motion of the pistons which turn a crankshaft in one direction. A balance shaft rotates (often in the opposite direction) so that its vibration cancels some of the vibration of the engine. Sometimes an engine will have two balance shafts turning in opposite directions located on either side of the crankshaft.

Balance valve

See

Spool balance valve

Balance weight

A lead weight attached to the rim of a wheel.
Small weights threaded on radial arms on the movement of an indicating instrument, so adjusted that the pointer gives the same indication whatever the orientation of the instrument.
A weight used to counterbalance some part of a machine, e.g., weights applied to a crankshaft to minimize or neutralize the inertia forces due to reciprocating and rotating masses of the engine.
See
- Wheel weight

Balancing

Dismantling engine and reassembling it to exact Specifications and tolerances. This process may help to improve engine performance, smoothness, and reliability. Sometimes called Blueprinting.
See
- Balanced engine
Keeping wheels in balance.
In color reproduction, control of the levels of the three color components to achieve a satisfactory picture without obvious color bias, esp. in the representation of neutral grey tones.
The process of adjusting a traverse, i.e., applying corrections to the different survey lines and bearings so as to eliminate the closing error.

See

Balancing antenna: Auxiliary reception antenna which responds to interfering but not to the wanted signals. The interfering signals thus picked up are balanced against those picked up by the main antenna, leaving signals more free from interference.

Balancing machine

A machine for testing the extent to which a revolving part is out of balance, and to determine the weight and position of the masses to be added, or removed, to obtain balance.

See

Wheel balancer

Balancing speed

See

Free-running speed

Balancing weight

See

Wheel weight

Bald tire: A tire on which the tread is all worn away. A Slick also has no tread, but this is done deliberately for racing purposes.

Balk: The material between two excavations. Also called baulk.

Balking

See

Crawling

balkring — Click image to supersize balk ring

Balk ring: A friction-regulated Pawl or plunger used to make the engagement of gears easier. British spelling is baulk ring

Ball

A sphere usually made of metal when used in automotive applications.
A US highway traffic engineering term for a circular traffic light in green, amber, or red.

See

Ball and nut

See

Recirculating ball and nut steering

Ball-and-nut steering

See

Recirculating ball steering

Ball and ramp: A clutch release mechanism (used in motorcycles) made of two stamped plates with three or four ramps. As one plate is rotated by the clutch cable, the balls climb the ramps, forcing the plates apart. This movement disengages the clutch.

Ball and socket

See

Ball joint

Ball-and-socket head: Camera mounting allowing universal movement in rotation and tilt before fixing by clamping usually fitted to the top of tripod.

Ball-and-socket joint

A joint between two rods, permitting considerable relative angular movement in any plane. A ball formed on the end of one rod is embraced by a spherical cup on the other. Used in light control systems (e.g., in connecting a pair of bell-cranks which operate in planes at right angles) and in the steering mechanism of motor vehicles, in which both ball and cups are of case-hardened metals. Heavier examples allow a large base plate to be placed under a supporting column in a jack-up pontoon or modified as bridge bearings to allow some articulation.

See

Ball joint

Ball and spring

See

Detent ball and spring

Ballast

Any liquid or solid weight (gravel, stone, or metal) placed in a ship to change the trim, increase the draft, or to regulate the stability.
A layer of broken stone, gravel, or other material deposited above the formation level of road or railway; it serves as foundation for road-metal or permanent-way respectively.
Sandy gravel used as a coarse aggregate in making concrete.

See

Ballast ignition system: An ignition system which uses a Ballast resistor connected in series with the coil primary winding and which is bypassed when the starter is engaged so that the spark is more efficient under cold weather starting.

Ballasting: The addition of Liquid or Dry weight inside the tire to act as a counterbalance, to increase traction, reduce wheel spin, and dampen out bounce.

Ballast lamp: Normal incandescent lamp used as a ballast resistor, current limiter, alarm, or to stabilize a discharge lamp.

Ballast resistance: A term used in railway signaling to denote the resistance between the two track rails across the Ballast on which the track is laid. If allowed to fall too low, it will have the effect of shunting the signal from a trains’s wheels.

Ballast resistor

(BAL RES)

A resistor inserted into a circuit to swamp or compensate changes, e.g., those arising through temperature fluctuations. One similarly used to swamp the negative resistance of an arc or gas discharge. Also called ballast tube.
A Resistor constructed of a special type wire, the properties of which tend to increase or decrease the voltage in direct proportion to the heat of the wire.

See

Barretter

Ballast tank: Water-tight containers at the bottom or sides of a ship which are filled with seawater for ballasting purpose.

Ballast tube

See

Ballast resistor

Ball bearing

An antifriction bearing consisting of an inner and outer Hardened steel Race (or Cage) separated by a series of hardened steel balls.

See

Ball bearing puller: A tool for removing a ball bearing from a shaft or from a housing.

Ball cage: A circular frame which holds the balls in place in a ball bearing.

Ball check valve: Valve assembly which permits flow of fluid in one direction only.

Ball-ended magnet: A permanent magnet, consisting of a steel wire with a steel ball attached to each end; this gives a close approximation to a unit pole.

Ball end hexagon screwdriver: A tool that looks like an Allen wrench except it has a small ball at the very end. This arrangement allows it to work at various angles.

Ballhead centrifugal: A pair of governor flyweights which are rotated by the engine.

Balling

A process that occurs in the cementite constituent of steels on prolonged annealing at 650°C – 700°C.
The operation of forming balls in a puddling furnace.

Ballistic circuit breaker: A very high-speed circuit breaker, in which the pressure produced by the fusing of an enclosed wire causes interruption of the circuit.

Ballistic galvanometer: A galvanometer with a long swing period; the deflection measures the electric charge in a current pulse or the time integral of a voltage pulse.

Ballistic method: A method of high-grade testing used in electrical engineering, a Ballistic galvanometer being used.

Ballistic pendulum: A heavy block suspended by strings so that its swings are restricted to one plane. If a bullet is fired into the block, the velocity of the bullet may be calculated from a measurement of the angle of swing of the pendulum.

Ballistics: The study of the dynamics of the path taken by an object moving under the influence of a gravitational field.

Ball joint

Ball Joint

A flexible Joint using a ball and Socket type of construction, used in Steering linkage setups, steering knuckle pivot supports, etc. Their flexibility helps to compensate for the changes in the wheel and steering when turning or hitting a bump on the road. There are usually upper and lower ball joints attached to the upper and lower A-arms. Some have a grease nipple to allow periodic lubrication.

See

Upper Ball Joint

Ball joint rocker arm: Ball Joint Rocker Arm

A Rocker arm used by GM that is mounted upon a ball-shaped device on the end of a Stud instead of being mounted around a shaft.

Ball joint separator: A tool for forcing out ball or tapered joints. One style is shaped like a two-prong fork with a wedge-shaped jaw which is struck with a hammer to separate the joint. Another style uses direct pressure from a screw or screw-activated lever action to split the joint.

Ball joint steering knuckle: Steering Knuckle

A steering knuckle that pivots on Ball joints instead of on a kingpin.

Ballonet: An air compartment in the envelope of an aerostat, used to adjust changes of volume in the filler gas.

Balloon

A general term for aircraft supported by buoyancy and not driven mechanically.

See

Balloon barrage: An anti-aircraft device consisting of suitably disposed tethered balloons

Balloon former: On rotary presses, an additional former mounted above the others, from which folded webs are gathered to make up the sections of multi-sectioned newspapers or magazines.

Ballooning of yarn: The shape taken up by yarns on the spinning or doubling machines.

Balloon tire: A type of low pressure tire which was first introduced in the 1920s. Its width and height were the same which gave it a rounded shape. This style was used on bicycles as well as automobiles.

Ballot: A vehicle brand of which the 2LS, 2LT, 2LTS, RH, RH2, and RH3 models with required application are classic cars.

Ballotini: Small, solid glass spheres or beads used as a filler for plastics and to increase reflectivity in paints and printing inks.

Ball-pane hammer: A fitter’s hammer, the head of which has a flat face at one end, and a smaller hemi-spherical face or pane at the other; used chiefly in riveting. Also called Ball pien hammer

Ball pien hammer: Ball Pein Hammer

A hammer with two ends on the head. One is round and the other is flat. They are best used for hammering and shaping metal. Also spelled ball peen

Ball peen hammer: A hammer with two ends on the head. One is round and the other is flat. They are best used for hammering and shaping metal. Also spelled ball pien

Ball race

The inner or outer steel ring forming one of the ball tracks of a ball bearing.
Commonly, the complete ball bearing

Ball sizing: Forcing a suitable ball through a hole to finish size it, usually part of a Broach with a series of spherical lands of increasing size arranged along it.

Ball socket: A recessed spherical well for receiving the ball in a Ball joint

Ball steering

See

Recirculating ball steering

Ball track

See

Ball bearing

Ball universal

See

Impact swivel ball universal joint

Ball universal joint

See

Impact swivel ball universal joint

Ball valve: A check valve in which a ball in a tube is used to control the flow of liquid.

Ball worm

See

Recirculating ball worm and nut

Ball worm and nut

See

Recirculating ball worm and nut

BALPA: Abbreviation for British Airline Pilots Association

BAL RES: Abbreviation for Ballast resistor

Bambi: Trucker slang for a deer (dead or alive) as in ‘There’s a Bambi on the side at the 43 yardstick.’

Banana: Banana

A colloquial term for the opening between the top of the steering-wheel rim and the hub through which the driver can see the instrument panel.

Banana bus: A colloquial term for an articulated bus

Banana plug: A single conductor plug which has a spring metal tip, in the shape of a banana. The corresponding socket or jack is termed a banana jack

Banbury mixer: Type of machine used for compounding rubber with vulcanizing ingredients and carbon black.

Band

Bands are like a metal belt which is in the shape of a circle where the two ends are close, but do not meet. They wrap around parts inside the transmission called drums. The drums house the gears and clutches and freewheel until a certain gear needs to be applied. When first gear needs to be applied, the drum for first gear is locked up by the application of the band. By locking up the drum, the gears now drive the wheels rather than freewheel inside the drum.

See

Band brake

A flexible band wrapped partially around the periphery of a wheel or drum. One end is anchored, and the braking force is applied to the other.

See

brake band

Band chain: Steel tape. More accurate than ordinary chain.

Band clutch: A Friction clutch in which a fabric-lined steel band is contracted on to the periphery of the driving member by engaging gear.

Band conveyor: An endless band passing over, and driven by, horizontal pulleys, thus forming a moving track which is used to convey loose material or small articles. Also called belt conveyor or conveyor belt

Band edge energy

The energy of the edge of the conduction band or valence band in a solid, measured with respect to some convenient reference or else used as the reference level for other energy states.

See

Band theory of solids

Band gap: The range of energies which correspond with those values which are forbidden for delocalized states, according to the Band theory of solids. Localized states such as those associated with ionized dopants, impurity atoms, or crystal imperfections exist in the gap. The generation of pairs of electrons and holes requires quanta of at least the energy of the band gap. Direct recombination likewise furnishes quanta with energies at least equal to the band gap.

Band ignitor tube: A valve of mercury pool type in which the control electrode is a metal band outside the glass envelope. Also called capacitron

Banding

A structural feature of wrought metallic materials revealed by etching, resulting from microstructural segregates and constitutional differences within the grain structure becoming drawn out in the direction of working.
Defect in videotape recording heads causing visible horizontal bands in the picture.
A plastic or metal strapping used to secure a product to a pallet or skid.

Banding machine: A device used to surround a metal band around freight or secure it to a pallet.

Band-pass filter: Filter which freely passes currents having frequencies within specified nominal limits, and highly attenuates currents with frequencies outside these limits.

Band radio

See

Citizens band radio

Band-rejection filter

See

Band-stop filter

Bands

See

Band

Bandsaw: A narrow endless strip of saw-blading running over and driven by pulleys, as a belt; the strip passes a work table placed normal to the straight part of the blade. The workpiece is forced against the blade and intricate shapes can be cut. Also used for cutting animal carcases in butchery.

Band spectrum: Molecular optical spectrum consisting of numerous very closely spaced lines which are spread through a limited band of frequencies.

Band-spreading

Use of a relatively small tuning capacitor in parallel with the main tuning capacitor of a radio receiver, so that fine tuning control can be done with the smaller; useful when the frequency band is crowded.
Mechanical means, like reduction gearing, to achieve the same result.

Band-stop filter: Filter which attenuates signals having frequencies within a certain range or band, while freely passing those outside this range. Also called band-rejection filter

Band theory of solids: For atoms brought together to form a crystalline solid, their outermost electrons are influenced by a periodic potential function, so that their possible energies form bands of allowed values separated by bands of forbidden values (in contrast to the discrete energy states of an isolated atom). These electrons are not localized or associated with any particular atom in the solid. This band structure is of fundamental importance in explaining the properties of metals, semiconductors, and insulators.

Bandwidth

The range of audio frequencies that an audio component (radio) can handle.
The width, or spread, of the range of frequencies used for a given purpose, e.g., the width of individual channels allotted to speech or to television transmissions.
The space occupied in the frequency domain by signals of a specified nature, e.g., telephone quality speech, broadcast-quality stereophonic music, television, radar transmission, etc.

B & S: Abbreviation for Bore and Stroke which describes the width of a cylinder hole and the distance that the piston moves each time.

B & S gage: Abbreviation for Brown and Sharpe. A standard measure of wire diameter.

B & S gauge: Abbreviation for Brown and Sharpe. A standard measure of wire diameter.

Banger

A colloquial term used to express the cylinders in an engine. Often used with a number such as Six banger.
See
- Four banger
- Six Banger
A British colloquial term for beater (an older, cheaper, well-worn car which is still usable).
One who fakes an accident.
See
- Car banger

Banger racing: A competition of speed on small racing tracks where older cars are driven as fast as they can go and where bumping other racing cars is permitted (encouraged??).

Banging

See

Car banging

Banjo

Besides being a musical instrument, this is a Fitting which is shaped like a banjo. It has round end that is doughnut shaped with a tube coming out from one side. It is usually used to transfer fluid from the center hole of the round end and out the lateral tube.
A drum-shaped central part of an axle casing containing the differential.

Banjo axle: The commonest form of rear-axle casing in which the provision of the differential casing in the center produces a resemblance to a banjo with two necks.

Banjo fitting: A type of hydraulic fitting, shaped like a banjo, through which a hollow bolt passes, allowing fluid transfer from a hydraulic line to a hydraulic component.

Banjo rear axle housing: A rear axle housing from which the differential unit may be removed while the housing remains in place on the vehicle. The housing is solid from side to side. Compare Split rear axle housing

Bank

A number of similar pieces of equipment grouped in line and connected, e.g., a bank of engine cylinders, coke ovens, or transformers.

See

Cylinder bank

Banked boiler: A boiler furnace in which the rate of combustion is purposely reduced to a very low rate for a period during which the demand for steam has ceased by e.g., covering the fire with slack or fine coal or banking up. Also called banked fire.

Banked fire

See

Banked boiler

Banking

The slope of a track from the wall to the Apron, generally measured in the corners.
Angular displacement of the wings of an aircraft about the longitudinal axis, to assist turning. In other words, tipping the plane so that one wing drops while the other rises.
Process of suspending operation in a smelter by feeding fuel into the furnace only until as much metal and slag as possible have been removed, after which all air inlets are closed.

Banquette

A raised footway inside a bridge parapet.
A ledge on the face of a cutting.

See

Berm

Baquet

French for bath tub to describe an old vehicle with two rows of seats, no doors, roof, or windshield. Also called touring car

See

Phaeton

Bar

A unit of pressure. One bar equals 100 kilopascals (10⁵Pa) or 750.07mm of mercury at 0°C and latitude 45° or about 14.5 psi.
A rod.
A pivoted bar, parallel to a running rail, which being depressed by the wheels of a train, is capable of holding points or giving information about a train’s position
Material of uniform cross-section, which may be cast, rolled, or extruded.

Barach: The author and compiler of this dictionary at mythiccar.com

Bar-and-yoke: Method of magnetic testing in which the sample is in the form of a bar, clamped into a yoke of relatively large cross-section, which forms a low reluctance return path for the flux.

Barathea: Woven fabric used for coats and suits and made from silk, worsted, or man-made fibers. Characteristic surface appearance arising from the twill or broken-rib weave used in its manufacture.

Barba’s law: Law concerned with the plastic deformation of metal test pieces when strained to fracture in a tensile test; it states that test pieces of identical size deform in a similar manner.

Barbershop: Trucker slang for a low overpass where a large truck might clip its top if the truck’s clearance is higher than the height of the overpass.

Barchetta: An old style streamlined sports car devoted to racing. Distinctive because it had no doors or roof; but had either one or two separate seats. The name was also adopted by Fiat, Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and other manufactuers of modern sports cars

Bar clamp

Bar Clamp

A tool with a stationary head and a sliding foot for clamping purposes.

See

Locking bar clamp

Bar Code: UPC markings of a series of black bars that identify a product. The code can be scanned to reveal its unique part number for more efficient entry into a computer database.

Bare

Something slightly smaller than the specified dimension.
A unit without the attaching hardware

Bare conductor: A conductor not continuously covered with insulation, but supported intermittently by insulators, e.g., bus-bars and overhead lines.

Bare electrodes: Electrodes used in welding that are not coated with a basic slag-forming substance.

Bar ends: Bar Ends

Short handlebar Add-on extensions which are attached to the ends of a Mountain bike handlebar to add another riding position.

Bar end shifter: Bar End Shifter

A bicycle gear shifter that is inserted into each of the ends of a handlebar.

Bare pavement: A road condition where the pavement is visible and substantially free of snow and ice following plowing, scraping, or other means

Bare shell: The shell of a car body in which all parts have been removed including doors, hood, and trunk lid.

Barge

A flat-bottomed boat for carrying cargo or bunker oil, usually pulled by tugs.

See

Tank-barge

Barge carriers: Ships designed to carry barges.

Bar generator: Source of pulse signals, giving a bar pattern for testing TV cathode-ray tubes.

Bar keel

See

Keelson

Barkhausen effect: The phenomenon of discontinuous changes in the magnetization of a magnetic material while the magnetizing field is smoothly varied. It is the consequence of sudden changes in the domain structure as domain walls overcome various pinning defects and to a lesser extent as domain orientations discontinuously rotate away from preferred crystal areas H. G. Barkhausen (in 1919) detected voltage pulses induced in coils surrounding a magnetic sample as it was magnetized. Analogous ultrasonic emissions are also associated with the magnetization of magnetostrictive materials. The character of Barkhausen emissions is strongly dependent on microstructure and stress.

Barkhause-Kurz oscillator: Oscillator with a triode valve having its grid more positive than the anode. Electrons oscillate about the grid before reaching the anode. Output frequency depends on the transit time of electrons through the tube.

Bar lathe: A small lathe of which the bed consists of a single bar of circular, triangular, or rectangular section.

Barlow lens: A plano-convex lens between the objective and eye-piece of a telescope to increase the magnification by increasing the effective focal length.

Bar magnet: A straight bar-shaped permanent magnet, with a Pole at each end.

Bar mill: A rolling mill with grooved rolls, for producing round, square, or other forms of bar iron of small section.

Barn

Unit of effective cross-sectional area of nucleus equal to 10^-28m². So called because it was pointed out that although one barn is a very small unit of area, to an elementary particle the size of an atom which could capture it is ‘as big as a barn door.’

See

Cross-section

Barnacle: A small marine growth which attaches vessel’s hull and will reduce its speed.

Barn door: Pair of adjustable flaps on a studio lamp for controlling the light.

Barney: A soft cover to reduce noise from a film camera.

BARO

Abbreviation for Barometric Pressure
Abbreviation for Barometric pressure sensor.
Abbreviation for Barometric absolute pressure sensor

Barouche: Barouche

A carriage where the driver sat in an open front seat while the passengers sat in two rows facing each other within the enclosed cabin much like a small stage coach. Only the rear passenger seat was protected by a folding cover.

Barograph: A recording Barometer, usually of the aneroid type, in which variations of atmospheric pressure cause movement of a pen which traces a line on a clockwork driven revolving drum.

Barometer

An instrument used for the measurement of atmospheric pressure. The Mercury barometer is preferable if the highest accuracy of readings is important, but where compactness has to be considered, the Aneroid barometer is often used.

See

Altimeter

Barometric absolute pressure sensor

(BARO or BP)

A sensor that provides ambient atmospheric pressure information.
Sends a variable voltage signal to the computer which varies in accord with atmospheric pressure, allowing adjustment of the spark advance, EGR flow, and air/fuel ratio as a function of altitude.

Also called a Barometric pressure sensor

Barometric and manifold absolute pressure sensor: (BMAP) A housing containing both BP and MAP sensors.

Barometric corrections: Necessary corrections to the readings of a mercury barometer for index error, temperature, latitude, and height.

Barometric error: The error in the time of swing of a pendulum due to change of air pressure. Though small, it is sometimes avoided in clocks by causing the pendulum to swing in an atmosphere of constant (low) pressure.

Barometric pressure: (BP) The pressure of the atmosphere as read by a barometer. Expressed in millibars (See Bar), the height of a column of mercury, or (SI) in hectopascals (SI units).

Barometric pressure sensor: (BARO or BP) A sensor found in the engine management system which detects the ambient barometric pressure so that precise fuel mixture can be maintained at different altitudes.

Barometric tendency: The rate of change of atmospheric pressure with time. The change of pressure during the previous three hours.

Barostat: A device which maintains constant atmospheric pressure in a closed volume, e.g., the input and output pressure of fuel metering device of a gas turbine to compensate for atmospheric pressure variation with altitude.

Barrage

See

Balloon barrage

Barrage balloon: A small captive kite balloon, the cable of which is intended to destroy low-flying aircraft.

Barred code: Any dialed code that automatic exchange apparatus is printed to reject by connecting the caller no further than number unobtainable tone.

Barrel

A hollow, usually cylindrical, machine part, often revolving, sometimes with wall apertures
The Air horn in the carburetor. In particular, it is that part where the Throttle valve is located. If a carburetor has four openings with a throttle valve in each, it is called a four-barrel carburetor.
See
- Carburetor barrel
- Four barrel carburetor
Another name for the Carburetor barrel, cylinder, Cylinder barrel, Four barrel, Polishing barrel, and Single barrel.
To travel fast as in We barreled down the highway well above the speed limit.
The main cylinder in which molten polymer is prepared for extrusion or injection into molds.
See
- Injection molding
(bbl) A capacity of 42 US gallons (35 imperial gallons or 159.1 litres) frequently used as a unit in the oil industry.
A round drum

Barrel cam: A cylindrical cam with circumferential or end track.

Barrel carburetor

See

Barrel distortion: Curvilinear distortion of an optical or electronic image in which horizontal and vertical straight lines appear barrel-shaped, bowed outwards. Also called positive distortion.

Barrel etcher: A device usually used to oxidize and thereby strip away hardened photoresist materials during semiconductor processing. In it a batch of wafers is exposed to a low-pressure oxygen plasma.

Barrel hopper: A machine for unscrambling, orienting and feeding small components during a manufacturing process, in which a revolving barrel tumbles the components on to a sloping, vibrating feeding blade.

Barrel Nut: An internally threaded screw with a slotted head.

Barrel plating: Electroplating of many small items by placing them in a perforated barrel revolving in a vat filled with an appropriate plating solution. The barrel is made the cathode in the cell and the articles tumble against each other during rotation, continually touching at different places, and so become uniformly coated with the electrodeposit.

Barrel shape: A drum defect caused by excessive wear at the center of the friction surface.

Barrel tappet: A hollow rocker arm shaped like a barrel.

Barrel temperatures

Temperatures at which an extrusion or injection molding barrel is kept, usually rising to a peak at the nozzle. The range is determined by the polymer type and its melt viscosity.

See

Injection molding

Barrel Truck: Barrel truck

A hand cart (i.e., dolly) designed to move drums or barrels. Also called Barrel wheeler

Barrel-type crankcase

A gasoline-engine crankcase so constructed that the crankshaft must be removed from one end; in more normal construction the crankcase is split.

See

Split crankcase

Barrel wear: A type of brake drum wear in which the center of the friction surface is worn more than the edges

Barrel Wheeler

See

Barrel truck

Barretter: Iron-wire resistor mounted in a glass bulb containing hydrogen, and having a temperature variation so arranged that the change of resistance ensures that the current in the circuit in which it is connected remains substantially constant over a wide range of voltage. Also called ballast tube

Barricade

A temporary structure designed to warn vehicles that the road or a portion of the road is no longer usable.

See

Barrier

In transformers, the solid insulating material which provides the main insulation, apart from the oil.
The refractory material intended to localize or direct any arc which may arise on the operation of a circuit breaker.

See

Barrier cream: A special cream which is applied to your hands before working on a greasy engine. When the job is over, you can wash your hands and easily remove the grease stains. Also called invisible glove or silicon glove

Barrier effect: The effect produced by coating metal to shield it from corrosion.

Barrier layer

In semiconductor junctions, the depletion layer
In an optical fiber cable, an intermediate layer of glass between the low refractive index core and the high refractive index cladding.
In general a layer placed so as to inhibit interdiffusion of heat, matter, etc.

Barrier paint: A primer which is used on bare metal to prevent corrosion.

Barring gear: An arrangement for moving heavy electrical plant, using manpower. Rotating machines and transformers are equipped with wheels and movement is possible by inserting crowbars at suitable points and levering the equipment.

Barring motor: A small motor which can be temporarily connected, by a gear or clutch, to a large machine to turn it slowly for adjustment or inspection.

Bar roof

See

T bar roof

Bars

See

Bar suspension

A method of mounting the motor on an electrically propelled vehicle. One side of the motor is supported on the driving axle and the other side by a spring-suspended bar lying transversely across the truck. Also called yoke suspension.

See

Torsion bar suspension

Bar-type current transformer: A Current transformer in which the primary consists of a single conductor that passes centrally through the iron core upon which the secondary is wound.

Bar winding: An armature winding for an electric machine whose conductors are formed of copper bars.

Bar-wound armature: An armature with large sectioned conductors which are insulated and fixed in position and connected, in contrast with former-wound conductors which are sufficiently thin to be inserted, after shaping in a suitable jig.

Barye

See

Microbar

BAS: Abbreviation for Belt Alternator Starter — a Hybrid vehicle system from GM

Base

The lowest supporting part of an upright member.
The bottom layer or coating in a series of paint coats.
The major ingredient, other than pigments and filler, that make up the non-volatile portion of an adhesive, coating, or sealing compound.
The region between the emitter and collector of a transistor, into which minority carriers are injected. It is essentially the control electrode of the transistor.
The part of an electron tube which has pins, leads, or terminals through which connections are made to the internal electrodes.
The thin flexible support on which a photographic emulsion or magnetic coating is carried.
A layer of specified material of specified thickness placed below the road surface.

See

Base and clear system: Paint finish which is made up of a colored base coat (usually a metallic finish) and clear lacquer coat.

Base circle: As applied to the camshaft the lowest spot on the cam, the area of the cam directly opposite the lobe or nose. No lift is produced by the base circle. Also called Cam heel

Base coat: The first coat in a paint system. It is either the undercoat or primer or a colored coat which is covered by clear lacquer.

Base gasket: The Gasket directly below the cylinder and between the cylinder and crankcase. Also called cylinder gasket.

Base grease

See

Lithium base grease

Base idle: The idle speed determined by the throttle lever setting on the carburetor or throttle body while the idle speed control (ISC) motor, or any other computer-controlled idle speed control device, is fully retracted and disconnected.

Base interest rate: The interest paid on the usage of the vehicle during a lease. It is the cost of a lease before factoring in discounts, fees, and penalties and is not directly comparable to the APR for a loan. Lowering the base interest rate is one of the methods manufacturers use to subsidize leases. The phrase money factor measures the same cost and can be converted into a base interest rate. For example, to convert a money factor of 0.00276 into an approximate base interest rate would multiply the money factor by 24. The result would be 0.0662 or 6.6%.

Baseline: A fore-and-aft reference line at the upper surface of the flat plate keel at the centerline for flush shell plated vessels. Vertical dimensions are measured from a horizontal plane through the baseline, often called the molded baseline.

Base material: Any material (metal or plastic) which needs to be coated.

Base metal

Metal that is under a coating or that needs to be coated.
Metal to be welded, cut, or brazed.

Base model: The least expensive vehicle with the least amount of features as standard equipment. It has the smallest engine and often manual transmission as well as few power equipment. Base models constitute only a small percentage of the cars sold. Sometimes called a stripper or stripped down unit.

Baseplate

A strong metal plate which is the main support for something.

See

Distributor baseplate

Base rim

See

Base rim taper

See

Flat base rim taper

Base Year

See

Auto Pact Base Year

Basher: A small studio lamp placed close to or on the camera mounting.

Basic ignition setting: The ignition setting on a non-running engine according to the specifications. After the engine is running, the timing can be set more accurately.

Basic ignition timing: The ignition timing on a non-running engine according to the specifications. After the engine is running, the timing can be set more accurately.

Basic loading: The limiting mechanical load, per unit length, on an overhead line conductor.

Basic price: The price of a vehicle without including any optional accessories, taxes, delivery charges, etc.

Basic process

A steel-making process, either Bessemer, open-hearth, or electric, in which the furnace is lined with a basic refractory, a slag rich in lime being formed, enabling phosphorus to be removed.

See

Acid process

Basic six: The group of instruments essential for the flight handling of an aircraft and consisting of the airspeed indicator, vertical speed indicator, altimeter, heading indicator, gyro horizon, and turn and bank indicator.

Basic slag: Furnace slag rich in phosphorus (as calcium phosphate) which, with silicate and lime, is produced in steel making, and ground and sold for agricultural fertilizer.

Basic speed: The speed which an electric motor develops at rated voltage with rated load applied

Basic steel: Steel which has reacted with a basic lining or additive to produce a phosphorus-rich slag and a low-phosphorus steel.

Basic T: A layout of flight instruments standardized for aircraft instrument panels in which four of the essential instrument panels in which four of the essential instruments are arranged in the form of a T. The pitch and roll attitude display is located at the junction of the T flanked by airspeed on the left and attitude on the right. The vertical bar portion of the T is taken up by directional information.

Basic timing: The ignition timing on a non-running engine according to the specifications. After the engine is running, the timing can be set more accurately.

Basic weight: The weight of the structure (wing, body, tail unit, and landing gear) of an aircraft, plus the propulsion system and the airframe services and equipment (mechanical systems, avionics, fuel tanks, and pipes). Includes residual oil and undrainable fuel but no operational equipment or payload.

Basin

See

Basing Point: A specified municipality or location within that municipality that a shipping company determines is on their route. The costs of shipping to that point is laid out in its rate book. However, if the delivery is to a nearby point, the rate is first calculated to the basing point and then a cost is added to the nearby point (if it is farther away) or subtracted (if it is before the basing point).

Basket case: An old car which probably does not run. Often many engine and transmission parts have been removed and are either missing or stored in the trunk or a basket

Basket coil: Coil with criss-cross layers, so designed to minimize self-capacitance.

Bass boost: Amplifier circuit adjustment which regulates the attenuation of the lowest frequencies in the audio scale, usually to offset the progressive loss toward low frequencies.

Bass compensation: Differential attenuation introduced into a sound-reproducing system when the loudness of the reproduction is reduced below normal, to compensate for the diminishing sensitivity of the ear toward the lowest frequencies reproduced.

Bass frequency: A frequency close to the lower limit in an audio-frequency signal or a channel for such, e.g., below 250 Hz.

Bastard: Something that is irregular, in between, or unusual.

Bastard file: Bastard File

A file (a tool) which has a coarse cut (as opposed to a finishing file). It is one cut finer than a coarse file. Files are classed as coarse, second cut, and smooth, from coarsest to finest. Thus, a bastard file is a cut in between a coarse and a second cut. The word bastard functions here in its meaning as irregular or neither coarse nor second cut.

Bastard thread: A screw-thread which does not conform to any recognized standard dimensions.

Bastard title: The fly page before the full title page of a book. Often wrongly called a half-title

Bat

A lump or collection of something.
Abbreviation for Battery

See

fiberglass

Batch

A number of things which are produced as a group.
A mixture of natural and synthetic rubber with other material such as fillers, chemicals, and vulcanizing agents in the production of tires.
The mixture of raw materials from which glass is produced in the furnace. A proportion of cullet is either added to the mixture, or placed in the furnace previous to the charge. Also called charge.

Batch box

See

Gauge box

Batch furnace: A furnace in which the charge is placed and heated to the requisite temperature. The furnace may be maintained at the operating temperature, or heated and cooled with the charge. Distinguished from Continuous furnace

Batch mill: Cylindrical grinding mill into which a quantity of material for precise grinding treatment is charged and worked until finished.

Batch number: A number which may be added to a serial number to identify when the product was manufactured. In this way, when a problem occurs to some products of the same batch, action can be taken to correct or replace others from the same batch.

Batch Picking: A process in a warehouse or parts department where the picker selects several units of each product at one time to fill several orders and then distributes them to each order in a staging or packing location.

Batch process: Any process or manufacture in which operations are completely carried out on specific quantities or a limited number of articles, as contrasted to continuous or mass-production. In semiconductor manufacture, one in which several wafers are treated simultaneously as distinct from stages in which wafers are processed singly.

Bateau: French term for boat for a boattail shape of the rear of early race cars because it looked like the prow of a boat (upside down).

Bath

A tub into which something is immersed.
A liquid solution used for cleaning, plating, or maintaining a specified temperature.

See

Bath air

See

Oil bath air cleaner

Bath air cleaner

See

Oil bath air cleaner

Bath lubrication: A method of lubrication in which the part to be lubricated, such as a chain or gearwheel, dips into an oil-bath.

BA thread

See

British Association screw-thread

Bath Suspension

See

Oil Bath Suspension

Bathtub: Bodywork resembling an upside-down bathtub used on the rear of some Triumph motorcycles. It was introduced in 1957 and dropped in the early 1960s. It was also used on Nash cars of the 50’s.

Bathtub combustion chamber

Click image to supersize
Bathtub combustion chamber

The volume in the cylinder above the piston that is shaped like an inverted bathtub with the valves in the bottom of the tub. Since all the valves can be arranged in a single row, the valve-operating camshaft and/or rocker gear are simple to design and operate. The long, oval shape of the bathtub controls excessive turbulence, and the flat areas where the piston comes right up to the head surface supply the squish needed to swirl the mixture. The wide cylinders and short piston strokes in modern engines make it possible to use large valves with bathtub heads for efficient gas flow.

See

Battens

Long strips of wood used in the mold loft for fairing lines
Wooden protective strips in cargo holds

See

Batter level: A form of clinometer for finding the slope of cuttings and embankments

Battery

Click image to supersize
Battery

An electrochemical device with one or more cells for producing direct-current electricity by converting chemical energy. A Primary Cell delivers electric current as a result of an electrochemical reaction that is not efficiently reversible, so the cell cannot be recharged efficiently. A Secondary Cell is an electrolytic cell for generating electric energy, in which the cell after being discharged may be restored to a charged condition by sending a current through it in the direction opposite to that of the discharging current. The typical automotive lead-acid battery supplies the source of power for cranking the engine and also provides the necessary electrical energy for the ignition system. In addition, it can (for a limited time) furnish current when the electrical demands of the vehicle exceed the alternator or generator output. Also called the storage battery.

Battery acid: Electrolyte (usually sulfuric acid) in each of the battery cells.

Battery acid tester: Battery Tester

A hydrometer for checking the strength of the acid mixture in each cell of a battery. Fluid is sucked into the instrument by squeezing and releasing the bulb. The scale measures the acid.

Battery and coil ignition system: An ignition system with a battery as the source of primary ignition current.

Battery booster: A motor-generator set used for giving an extra voltage, to enable a battery to be charged from a circuit of a voltage equal to the normal voltage of the battery.

Battery brush: Battery Brush

A specially designed brush set which cleans the outside terminals of the battery post as well as the inside of the battery cable so that good contact is made.

Battery cable: Heavy gage wires used to connect the battery to the vehicle’s electrical system.

Battery cap: Small caps which seal each battery cell.

Battery capacity: The amp-hour capacity.

Battery cell: Individual compartments in a battery which is filled with electrolyte. Six-volt batteries have three cells, 12-volt batteries have six cells.

Battery case: The box made of polypropylene holding several chambers (cells) which have lead plates and filled with electrolyte.

Battery charge: The condition or state of the amount of electricity in a battery.

Battery charge indicator: An instrument which shows the state of charge in a battery.

Battery charger: Click image to supersize
Battery Charger

An electric device which is plugged into an electrical outlet (e.g., 110 volt AC) and connected to the two terminals of the battery to restore the state of charge in the battery. One of leads coming from the charger is red and the other is black. The red lead is clamped on the positive post of the battery while the other is clamped on the frame of the vehicle.

Battery charging: The process of renewing the battery by passing an electric current through the battery in a reverse direction.

Battery charging station: With the advent of electric cars, there needs to be places where their batteries can be recharged periodically — thus is born the battery charging station. Also called a charging point.

Battery clamp: A hold down device which secures the battery from moving around.

Battery coil ignition: High-tension supply for spark plugs in automobiles, in which the interruption of a primary current from a battery induces a high secondary emf in another winding on the same magnetic circuit, the high tension being distributed in synchronism with the contact-breaker in the primary circuit.

Battery compartment: A place in the vehicle where the battery is located. In cars and trucks it may be found under the hood (usually toward the front), under one of the seats, or in the trunk. In motorcycles it is found in the middle of the bike, under the seat.

Battery condition

See

Battery charge

Battery connector: A plug on battery-powered vehicles to connect the batteries to the Charging station

Battery Council International: A group which makes decisions related to battery composition and disposal.

Battery cover: The top of the Battery case. It has several holes (covered with caps) for access to the battery cells.

Battery cut-out: An automatic switch for disconnecting a battery during its charge, if the voltage of the charging circuit falls below that of the battery.

Battery discharge controller: A device on a vehicle which is driven by an electrical motor. It triggers a warning indicator when the battery power drops below a certain level.

Battery discharge indicator: An instrument on a vehicle which is driven by an electrical motor which indicates the percentage of the maximum charge of the battery.

Battery earth: British term for Battery strap or Ground strap

Battery filler: A device with a long hollow tube with a rubber bulb at one end. It is used for inserting into a container of Battery acid and sucking up the acid, then inserting into the battery cell to fill it. However, motorcycle batteries arrive from the manufacturer with no electrolyte (battery acid). Battery acid comes in a large plastic container with a rubber hose to which a metering clamp is attached. The container is usually placed on a higher shelf so that it is fed into the battery by gravity and regulated by the metering clamp.

Battery fill line: A horizontal line on the side of a translucent battery case which indicates the level to which you fill it with electrolyte. Usually there are two lines indicating a minimum level and maximum level.

Battery fluid

See

Battery acid

Battery hold down clamp

See

Battery clamp

Battery ignition: Any system where the battery supplies the initial voltage to power the starter motor and fire the spark plugs.

Battery ignition system

See

Battery ignition

Battery is dead: The battery does not have enough electrical power to start the car.

Battery is flat: The battery does not have enough electrical power to start the car.

Battery load tester: Battery Load Tester

An instrument which is applied to the terminals of a battery. When first installed, the battery voltage appears on the dial. By pressing a switch, the voltage is channeled through a series of resistors. While a battery may indicates 12 volts or more without a load, it may not meet the amperage for which it is rated when under load.

Battery Manufacturers

See

Association Of American Battery Manufacturers

Battery master switch: A control which cuts power from the battery to the other components of the vehicle. Used to disable a vehicle so that thieves have a harder time stealing the vehicle.

Battery positive voltage: (B+) A term used to designate positive voltage at or near the battery level.

Battery post: The terminal on a battery to which the cable is attached. Older automobile batteries used a round post which stood up from the top of the battery. To avoid confusion, the positive post has a larger diameter than the negative. On newer batteries the post may or may not be abandoned in favor of a terminal on the side of the battery. On motorcycle batteries, the posts are usually flat with a hole for bolting the cables to them.

Battery powered electrical system: An electrical system having a lead-acid battery as a source of power. The battery is recharged by a charging system using either a generator or alternator.

Battery regulating switch: A switch to regulate the number of cells connected in a series in a battery.

Battery spear: A special form of spike used to connect a voltmeter to the plates of the accumulator cells for battery-testing under load. The voltmeter incorporates a low resistance in shunt which simulates a heavy load on the battery, thus testing its work capability. The heavy current passed for this purpose necessitates special heavy duty battery connectors.

Battery state indicator

See

Battery charge indicator

Battery strap

A wire cable or braided wire strap to transfer electricity. It can be found between the engine block and the chassis because the engine is isolated from the chassis by rubber mounts. Also called ground strap.
A rubber strap with metal hooks at each end and is used to secure a battery in place, especially on motorcycles.

See

Ground wire

Battery supported CDI: Capacitive discharge ignition system which uses a battery to supply primary ignition current.

Battery terminal

A Battery post on the top of the battery or a lug with a hole on the side of the battery.
The clamp at the end of a battery cable.

Battery tester

Battery Tester

A voltage meter or hydrometer for checking the state of charge of a battery.
An instrument for checking the condition of the battery cells

See

Battery acid tester

Battery traction: An electric-traction system in which the current is obtained from batteries (accumulators) on the vehicles.

Battery tray: A metal or plastic on which the battery sits.

Battery vehicle

See

Battery traction

Baudelot cooler: Heat exchanger in which water flows by gravity over the outside of the tubes or plates.

Baudot code: Code in which five equal-length bits represent one character; sometimes used for teleprinters where one start and one stop element are added to each group of five bits.

Baulk

See

Balk

Baulk ring: British spelling for Balk ring

Bay

Unit of racks designed to accommodate numbers of standard-sized panels, e.g., repeaters or logical units.
An area in the warehouse designated by markings on the columns or floor.
Unit of horizontally extended antenna, e.g., between masts.

See

Engine bay

Bayonet bulb

See

Bayonet cap

Bayonet cap

Bayonet Cap

(BC) A cylindrical base of an electric bulb, usually with two pins projecting on either side, which engage in J-shaped slots to lock the bulb securely in its socket.

See

Bayonet fitting

An engineering fastening similar to a Bayonet cap

See

Bayonet socket

Bayonet holder

See

Bayonet cap

Bayonet socket: A socket for receiving a Bayonet cap. It has two slots on either side (usually J-shaped) to accommodate the bulb’s pins.

Bay Storage: A designated area in warehouse or parts department used for storage.

B/b: Abbreviation for bottom bracket

B-battery: A battery once widely used for supplying power for the anode current of valves. Also called anode battery. The UK term is High-tension battery

BBC: Abbreviation for Bumper to Back of Cab — the distance from a truck’s front bumper to the back of its cab.

BBDC: Abbreviation for Before bottom dead center

bbl: Abbreviation for Barrel, as in 4-bbl carburetor or as a unit of measurement.

BC

Abbreviation for Bayonet cap
Abbreviation for Blower Control

BCDD: Abbreviation for Boost-controlled deceleration device

BCI: Abbreviation for Battery Council International.

B-class insulation: A class of insulating material which will withstand temperatures up to 130°C

BCM

Abbreviation for Body computer module
Abbreviation for Body Control Module

BDC: Abbreviation for Bottom dead center

B-Dolly: A fifth wheel mounted on one or more axles that are permanently attached and extend off the rear of a semitrailer, most commonly used on flatbeds or tank trailers.

BDV: Abbreviation for Breakdown voltage

Beach cruiser: A bicycle that is designed for casual and comfortable road riding and that features a relaxed frame, fat 26-inch tires, a wide saddle, a wide handlebar, and rubber pedals

Beaching gear: Floatable, detachable, temporary trolleys which enable a seaplane to be run on and off the shore or slipway.

Beach marks

Fracture surface markings associated with fatigue crack propagation.

See

Fractography

Beach wagon: A woodie station wagon

Beacon

System of visual lights indicating fixed features, e.g., masts, reefs.
A radio-beacon, which can be of any frequency but is usually very high frequency, and can be omni-directional or of directional beam type.
Vertical fan marker beacons are radio beams used to identify particular spots in control zones and on approach patterns.
A non-directional beacon (NDB) is a transmitter, the bearing of which can be determined only by an aircraft equipped for direction finding.

Bead

The portion of a tire which fits onto the rim of the wheel. On a Tubeless tire, the contact of the bead with the rim seals the air into the tire. Bead heel, bead sole, and bead toe form a foot-like shape.
A small ball-like particle used in bead blasting or in some catalytic converters.
In welding, it is the appearance of the finished weld. It describes the neatness of the ripples formed by the metal while it was in a semi liquid state.
A formed, often ornamental molding, usually pliable, sometimes fitted as a sealer like welting between two exterior body panels; e.g., between the fenders and body.
Flexible welting used to trim vehicle upholstery.

See

Bead base: The part of the tire bead which is in contact with the rim bead seat.

Bead blaster

A cleaning device for removing paint and contaminants from an object.

See

Bead blasting

Bead blasting: A cleaning process which uses glass beads which are forced by air pressure against the object to be cleaned. This system removes paint and contaminants from objects which are awkwardly shaped.

Bead breaker: A device used to remove a tire from its rim by releasing the tension the bead has upon the rim.

Bead-coil: The part which keeps the tire on the wheel rim.

Bead core: The ring of steel wires in the bead of the tire. Also called Bead wires

Beaded edge: The edge of a body panel or upholstery panel wrapped around a wire or other stiffening item. Also called Rolled bead

Beaded edge tire: An older form of high-pressure tire with projecting beads.

Beader: A power tool for forming beads on the edges of body panels.

Bead expander: A device used in the mounting of tubeless tires to prevent inflation air from escaping and bring the tire beads against the tapered bead seat area (rim).

Bead heel: The portion of the tire bead in contact with the rim flange.

Beading

The action of forming a step in the middle of a panel (not at the edge) which creates a shallow indentation to reinforce the panel.
A formed, often ornamental molding, usually pliable, sometimes fitted as a sealer like welting located between two exterior body panels; e.g., between fenders and body.
Welting used to trim car upholstery.

See

Fender beading

Bead lock

See

Tire bead lock

Bead movement

Movement of the bead on the rim caused by improper inflation, excessive loading, improper design, improper seating, or improper rim or tire size. Also called bead rocking.

See

Bead unseating

Bead point: A feathered rubber extension of the bead toe used where a flap is not required; protects the tube from chafing between bead toes and rim base.

Beads

See

Lubricate beads

Bead seat

The portion of the wheel rim below the rim flange providing radial support to the bead of the tire.

See

Bead seat mat: A seat cover made of a network of wood beads.

Bead seats

See

Contre pente on both bead seats

Bead seat taper

See

Rim bead seat taper

Bead seat diameter: The measurement of tire diameter, at the bead heel, where it seats on the rim. It is marked on the tire sidewall following Section width.

Bead separation: A situation where the bead comes off the wheel rim.

Bead tire

See

Dual bead tire

Bead toe: The bottom portion of the tire bead in contact with the rim bead seat.

Bead unseating

Shifting of the tire bead from its seat on the wheel rim which often leads to the removal of the tire.

See

Bead movement

Bead wires: Steel wires wound around the circumference and placed in the beads. Their tension prevents the beads from lifting over the rim flanges. Also called Bead core

Beak

See

Bird’s Beak

Beak iron

The pointed, or horn=shaped, end of a blacksmith’s anvil, used in forging rings, bends, etc.
A T-shaped stake, similarly shaped, fitting in the hardy hole of the anvil. Also called beck iron, bickern, bick iron.

Beam

A projection of light. A collimated, or approximately unidirectional, flow of electromagnetic radiation (radio, light, X-rays), or of particles (atoms, electrons, molecules). The angular beam width is defined by the half-intensity points.
See
A supporting bar. A bar or member which is loaded transversely, predominantly in bending
See
The width of a ship. Also called breadth.
A wooden or metal cylinder having large flanges at each end. Warp yarns are wound on the beam from cones or cheeses correctly arranged for inserting into the loom or warp-knitting machine. Beams are also used to furnish thread during lace making.

Beam antenna: Generally, any antenna which has focus or direction. Most commonly used to describe short-wave or very high-frequency antennas, rather than microwave antennas which are almost invariably directional.

Beam axle

A rigid or dead axle which supports the non-driven wheels.

See

Axle

Beam compasses: An instrument for describing large arcs. It consists of a beam of wood or metal carrying two beam heads, adjustable for position along the beam, and serving as the marking points of the compasses. Also called trammels

Beam control

See

Automatic beam control

Beam-coupling coefficient: The ratio of the ac signal current produced to the DC beam current in beam coupling

Beam current: That portion of the gun current in cathode-ray tube which passes through the aperture in the anode and impinges on the fluorescent screen.

Beam-engine: A form of construction used in early steam-engines, now obsolete. The vertical steam-cylinder acted at one end of a pivoted beam, the work load being connected to the other.

Beam-forming electrode: Electrode to which a potential is applied to concentrate the electron stream into one or more beams. Used in beam tetrodes and cathode-ray tubes.

Beam hole: Hole in shield of reactor, or that around a cyclotron, for extracting a beam of neutrons or γ-rays or to insert equipment or samples for irradiation.

Beam headlight

See

Sealed beam headlight

Beam indicator

A light on the instrument panel which comes on when the high beams are activated. Also called High beam indicator

See

Beam knee: Bracket between a deck beam and frame.

Beam lead: An integrated circuit bonding option for high-frequency applications in which material is etched clear of part of the metallization layer to provide a short beam of metal (usually gold). The chip is then inverted and the beam is bonded direct to conducting tracks.

Beam optimizer

See

Automatic beam control

Beam relay: An electromagnetic relay in which the contacts are mounted on a balanced beam with energizing coils acting on each end and tending to tilt it one way or the other.

Beam rider: System in which a guided missile maintains and returns to a course of maximum signal on a radio beam.

Beam setting

See

Headlight beam setting

Beam splitter: Optical device for dividing a light beam into two or more paths. In particular, a prism system in a camera to produce three color-separation images from a single objective lens.

Beam Suspension

See

Walking Beam Suspension

Beam tetrode: Tetrode having an additional pair of plates, normally connected internally to the cathode, so designed as to concentrate the electron beam between the screen grid and anode, and thus reduce secondary emission effects.

Beam unit

See

Sealed beam unit

Bear

To turn, as in the expression, When you get to the corner, bear right.
Trucker slang for a highway patrol police officer named for Smokey the Bear because they both wore similar hats.

Bear bait: Trucker slang for a leader in a group of trucks as in ‘Looks like Swift is the bear bait tonight’ where bear refers to a police officer (i.e., Smokey the Bear).

Bear cave: Trucker slang for a police station on the highway (also called a zoo) as in The bear cave is empty tonight so watch out.

Bearding: Picture defect in which dark image areas spread into adjacent light areas

Beard protective system: A form of balanced protective system in which the current entering the winding of an alternator is balanced against that leaving it by passing the conductor at the two ends around the core of a single current transformer, in opposite directions, so that there is normally no flux in the transformer core.

Bearer: The physical medium and set of protocols used to carry useful traffic as opposed to those used merely for the control signals that set up and maintain the link.

Bearing

The area of a unit in which the contacting surface of a revolving part rests in order to minimize wear and friction between two surfaces.
The horizontal angle between any survey line and a given reference direction
Angle of direction in horizontal plane in degrees from true north, e.g., of an arriving radio wave as determined by a direction-finding system. Also azimuth.
An antifriction reducing device that is usually found between two moving parts. The Babbitt bearings found between the Connecting rod and the crankshaft are lubricated and cushioned with oil, and the front wheel bearings must be repacked with Grease at regular intervals. Bearings can be ball or roller type.

Bearing assembly: When more than one load needs to be supported, several bearings are used making up the bearing assembly. For instance, a crankshaft may have two bearings (one at each end) as well as a few more in the middle.

Bearing attachment

See

Split bearing attachment

Bearing block: The two halves of metal which encase a bearing.

Bearing cage

See

Ball cage

Bearing cap: A rigid, semicircular part which encloses and holds the outer shell of a shell bearing.

Bearing clearance: The amount of space left between a shaft and the bearing surface, this space is for lubricating oil to enter.

Bearing cone

A Tapered roller bearing.
The inner race in an adjustable axial or radial ball bearing.

Bearing crush: The additional height which is purposely manufactured into each bearing half to ensure complete contact of the bearing back with the housing bore when the engine is assembled.

Bearing cup

Retainers, held in place by bolts and nuts, that hold the bearings in place. Also called Bearing shell.
The bearing Race that curves around the outside of a ring of Ball bearings and works in conjunction with a Cone.
The outer race for a ball or roller bearing.

Bearing current: A stray current, induced by magnetic flux linking the shaft of an electrical machine, that flows between the shaft and bearings and may injure the bearing surfaces.

Bearing face: The bottom part of a nut or bolt head which clamps down on the surface of the part it is securing.

Bearing housing: The cavity into which the bearing fits.

Bearing knock: The noise created by movement of a part in a loose or worn bearing.

Bearing material: The metal layer which forms the surface of the wear part of the bearing.

Bearing metals: Metals (alloys) used for that part of a bearing which is in contact with the Journal; e.g., bronze or white metal, used on account of their low coefficient of friction when used with a steel shaft.

Bearing pile: A column which is sunk or driven into the ground to support a vertical load by transmitting it to a firm foundation lower down, or by consolidating the soil so that its bearing power is increased. Formerly of timber but now mor usually reinforced concrete or steel.

Bearing preload: Amount of static pressure exerted on a bearing or a set of bearings. The preload is usually adjusted by a threaded collar or shims.

Bearing puller

Bearing puller

A tool used to remove bearings from a shaft by pulling them off. It has two or more arms which circle around the back side of the bearing and a center post which butts up against the end of the shaft. As the center post is screwed down, the arms pull the bearing toward the end of the shaft.

See

Ball bearing puller

Bearing race

In ball or roller bearings, it is one of the two steel rings on either side of the ball or roller.
The inner or outer ring that provides the smooth, hard contact surface for the balls or rollers in a bearing.

Bearings: Supports provided to locate a revolving or reciprocating shaft.

Bearing scraper: A small, triangular tool that looks like a file without teeth. Used for deburring and chamfering the edges of camshaft bearings.

Bearing Seals

See

Wheel Bearing Seals

Bearing separator: Bearing separator

A tool used to separate double bearings or close-fitting gears when a conventional Bearing puller cannot be used

Bearing shell: One of a pair of thin semicircular steel cups lined with an alloy such as copper-lead or lead-indium, which together enclose a shaft or other rotating member, and are held in a circular housing which can be divided into two halves.

Bearing spacer: On a bicycle or motorcycle, a piece of tubing used between the wheel bearing inner races to prevent unwanted bearing preload as the axle is tightened.

Bearing spin: A type of bearing failure in which a lack of lubrication overheats the bearing until it seizes on the shaft, shears its locking lip, and rotates in the housing or block.

Bearing spread

A purposely manufactured small extra distance across the parting faces of the bearing half, in excess of the actual diameter of the housing bore. Thus the diameter is slightly greater than the housing into which a shell bearing is being placed. Thus the bearing is forced into place to reduce its movement.

See

Interference fit

Bearing support

See

Main bearing support

Bearing surface

The area of the bearing that is in actual contact with the shaft or other supporting member.
The part of a fastener such as the washer face of a nut or under the head of a machine screw that actually comes in contact with the part it fastens.

Bearing tang: A notch or lip on a bearing shell used to correctly locate the bearing during assembly.

Bearing wall: The supporting or abutment wall of a bridge or arch.

Bear in the air: Trucker slang for an overhead highway patrol as in ‘Slow down Roadrunner you got a bear in the air past the next rest area.’

Bear meat: Trucker slang for a speeding truck without a radar detector as in ‘That gearjamming large car is bear meat.’

Bear report: Trucker slang for asking for the location of the cops as in ‘Can I get a bear report there Covenant.’

Beast: A vehicle which performs very well.

Beat: Periodic variation in the amplitude of a summation wave containing two sinusoidal components of nearly equal frequencies.

Beater

An old or collectible vehicle that is in Driveable condition, but looks terrible inside and out, and probably is missing many original parts. Often used to describe a vehicle that is past the easy Restoration stage but still contains many good driving miles. It is also a term for urban combat car and is usually used in conjunction with the word winter, as in winter beater, which is a vehicle that is so far gone, it is sacrificed to the salt covered roads of winter. It is a disposable collectible that is driven until it disintegrates. In other words, it looks as if someone had been beating it for quite a while. British term is Banger.
A device for hitting something.
A vat containing a heavy cylindrical roll (beater roll), fitted with bars, parallel to the Journal, which rotates against a fixed set of bars (bedplate). The paper fibers in suspension in water pass between these bars in preparation for sheet making.
High-speed revolving shaft having arms equipped with blades or pins. These beat out the heavy impurities in matted raw fibers in opening and Scutching processes.

See

Panel beater

Beat frequency: Generally, the difference frequency produced by the intermodulation of two frequencies. Specifically, the intermediate frequency in a superhet receiver.

Beat-frequency oscillator (BFO): The frequency changing stage of a superhet radio receiver.

Beating

The subjective difference tone when two sound waves of nearly equal frequencies are simultaneously applied to one ear. It appears as a regular increase and decrease of the combined intensity.
Process for partially breaking down the cell-wall structure of cellulose fibers in water before forming paper sheet.
Process for removing heavy impurities from matted, raw natural textile fibers in the opening and Scutching process.
The spare threads available during the weaving of wool to replace missing warp threads in the mending process.

See

Beating spoon

See

Spring beating spoon

Beating-up: The process in weaving by which the newly inserted weft thread is pushed against the edge of the woven fabric.

Beauty

See

Bottom

Beauty side of wheel: The side of the wheel that is exposed to the exterior of the vehicle rather than the side that is attached to the axle. Also called Wheel face.

Beaver cloth: Heavy woollen woven overcoating simulating the lustrous nap of the skin of the beaver by milling and raising the fibers, butting them level and laying them in the same direction.

Beavertail: A hinged (usually hydraulic) ramp on the end of a flatbed trailer enabling vehicles or heavy equipment to drive onto the trailer.

Beavertail antenna: An antenna producing a broad, flat, radar beam.

Be back: A prospective buyer who has been in the dealership before, but has returned for more information or is ready to buy.

Bechgaard salt: (TMTSF)₂X where X is an inorganic anion such as (PF₆)-, (AlO₄)-, (ReO₄-, and TMTSF is the tetramethyl selenium derivative of TTF (tetrathiofulvalene). These salts are organic electrical conductors.

Beck

See

Back

Beck iron

See

Beak iron

Beck hydrometer: Hydrometer for measuring the relative density of liquids less dense than water. Graduated in degrees Beck, where °Beck=200(1-rel.d.)

Beckmann apparatus: Apparatus used for measuring the freezing and boiling points of solutions.

Beckmann thermometer: A limited range mercury thermometer with a large bulb. It is used to measure small changes of temperature with great precision. Its mean range can be altered by moving mercury from a reservoir in or out of the bulb.

Becquerel: (Bq) SI unit of radioactivity; one becquerel is the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one nucleus decays per second. Replaces the curie 1Bq=2.7×10^-11Ci. It is a very small unit and commonly used with the standard SI prefixes, a gigabecquerel (Gbq or 10⁹Bq) being often needed.

Bed

Any flat surface used as a support.

See

Bedbuggers: Trucker slang for moving companies as in ‘Bedbuggers on the side of the road.’

Bedding-in: The process of accurately fitting a bearing to its shaft by scraping the former until contact occurs uniformly over the surface.

Bedding-in oil: British term for Break-in oil

Bed in: British term for Break-in

Bedplate

A cast-iron or fabricated steel base, to which the frame of an engine or other machine is attached.
The lower part of an engine which rests on the foundation.

Bed X-Tender: Bed X-Tender

An apparatus attached to a truck bed which allows longer items to be secured in place

Beefed-up

Colloquial term for making something stronger.
Colloquial term for modifying or improving something so it will work faster or more efficiently. Similar to Souped up

Beema: Colloquial term for BMW.

Beemer: Colloquial term for BMW.

Beetle

A machine consisting of a row of wooden or metal hammers, which fall on a roll of damp cloth as it revolves. The operation closes the spaces between the warp and the weft yarns, and imparts a soft glossy finish to cotton and linen.
Colloquial term for the original rear-engined Volkswagen.

See

Split-window Beetle

Before bottom dead center: (BBDC) As the crankshaft rotates, it brings the piston down to a place just before it reaches Bottom dead center.

Before top dead center: (BTDC) As the crankshaft rotates, it pushes the piston up to a place just before the top of its movement.

Before upper dead center: (BUDC) As the crankshaft rotates, it pushes the piston up to a place just before the top of its movement.

Beginning Inventory: The list of the number of all products and their value which is determined at the beginning of a period.

Bell

A device mounted on a bicycle and used to warn pedestrians and other bikes of your approach. A hollow metallic vessel with a flared mouth which, when struck, vibrates with a fundamental frequency determined by parameters such as its mass and dimensions.
A component that is shaped like half a ball or egg.

See

Bell center punch: A center punch whose point is automatically located centrally on the end of circular work by a sliding hollow conical guide.

Bell chuck: An attachment to a lathe (i.e., chuck) shaped like a bell or cup that is screwed to a mandrel and can grip bits. Also called Cup chuck

Bell-crank lever: A lever consisting of two arms generally at right angles, with a common fulcrum at their junction.

Bell housing: Bell housing

Sometimes called Clutch housing. The metal covering around the Flywheel and clutch (of a manual transmission) or Torque converter assembly (of an automatic transmission).

Bell metal: High tin bronze, containing up to 30% tin and some zinc and lead. Used in casting bells.

Bell mouth: Bell-shaped air intake attached to some carburetors.

Bellmouth: A form of brake drum distortion in which the open edge of the drum has a large diameter than the closed edge.

Bell-mouthed: Said of a hole or bore when its diameter gradually increases toward one or both open ends, the bore profile in section being curved. Usually a manufacturing fault.

Bellows

A sealed, accordion-type chamber (gas filled or vacuum) which expands and contracts in accordance with temperature changes or provides a seal during movement of parts. Used as an air conditioning control device on many systems.
The flexible connection between parts of a camera or enlarger, necessarily light-tight, to permit delicate adjustments, usually of focusing.
corrugated cylindrical container which moves as pressures change, or provides a seal during movement of parts

See

Air bellows

Bellows seal

Method of sealing the valve stem. The ends of the sealing material are fastened to the bonnet and to the stem. Seal expands and contracts wit the stem level.
An expanding diaphragm used as a seal between the master cylinder reservoir and the reservoir cover. It prevents air from contacting the fluid, yet it allows the fluid to change in volume.

Bells and whistles: A colloquial term for a myriad of options provided on a vehicle as in the expression, ‘My car isn’t the standard model because it has all the bells and whistles.’

Bell-type furnace: A portable inverted furnace or heated cover operated in conjunction with a series of bases upon which the work is to be heated can be loaded and then left to cool after heat treatment. Used chiefly for bright annealing of non-ferrous metals and bright-hardening of steels.

Belly Bin: Boxes attached under the floor of a trailer which can carry cargo, but more often carry spare parts or dunnage.

Belly Dump: A hopper bottom trailer, both empty their load from underneath via gravity.

Bellypan: A sheetmetal plate attached to the bottom of a vehicle body to protect the engine and its components as well as to provide better aerodynamics.

Belly Trailer

See

Possum Belly Trailer

Belt

A reinforcing band, normally textile, fiberglass, or steel, which runs around the circumference of a tire and strengthens the tread area.
See
- Cog belt
A circular band which is used to transfer power from one component to another. For instance, a Fan belt is used to transfer power from the engine to the Alternator, Water pump, and air conditioner compressor.
See
An attaching strap.
See

Belt Alternator Starter: (BAS) A Hybrid vehicle system from GM

Belt anchor: The point where the end of the seat belt is attached.

Belt anchorage

The point where the end of the seat belt is attached.

See

Seat belt anchorage

Belt conveyor

See

Band conveyor

Belt drive: In order to transmit power from a source to a destination, some kind of connection is needed. A bicycle, for instance, uses a chain drive to transmit the power from pedaling action to the rear wheel. A belt drive uses a leather or rubber belt to transfer power from one pulley to another thus increasing or decreasing the speed of rotation of the driven pulley through mechanical advantage. For instance the alternator is rotated by a belt (sometimes called the fan belt) which is driven by a shaft which is directly attached to the crankshaft. Some motorcycle models (like Harley Davidson and Honda) have a belt drive to transmit power to the rear wheels. Since a belt drive requires no lubrication (in contrast with chain drive) it is one of the cleanest final drive systems.

Belt-drive system: A final-drive system that uses a cogged belt and two sprockets to transmit the power to the rear wheel. The belt performs the same function as a conventional chain.

Belted bias tire: A tire which uses both cross-ply and radial-ply patterns with added belts (such as used on radial-ply tires) on diagonal body plies (as in cross-ply tires). As a result the tire has stiffer sidewalls than tires with just straight radial plies.

Belted piston: A piston with a continuous steel band cast into the Skirt below the rings for controlling skirt Expansion.

Belted radial tire

See

Steel belted radial tire

Belted tire

A tire with a stabilizing belt of two or more plies of steel, fiberglass, etc., running circumferentially around the tire between the carcass and the tread rubber. The carcass can be either radial or bias ply.

See

Belt end: The part of the seat belt which has the bracket which is attached to the floor pan. Some cars attach this end to the car seat itself.

Belt fork: Two parallel prongs attached at right angles to a sliding rod, used to slide a flat belt from a fast to a loose pulley and vice versa. Also called belt striker.

Belt highway: A ring road. A road enabling traffic to bypass a town.

Belting: A general term descriptive of materials from which driving belts are made, e.g., leather, cotton, balata, woven hair, plastics, etc.

Belt line: The horizontal line that runs around the body of the vehicle just below the bottom of the glass panel greenhouse (i.e., windows). The British term is waistline

Beltline: The horizontal line that runs around the body of the vehicle just below the bottom of the glass panel greenhouse. The British term is waistline

Belt mounting

See

Belt anchor

Belt pulley

See

Timing belt pulley

Belt retractor: A device which automatically pulls the seat belt back into its reel.

Belts

See

Integrated safety belts

Belt sander: Belt sander

A power sanding tool with a rotating belt of sandpaper

Belt slack: The looseness of a belt (either the drive type belt or a seat belt)

Belt slip: When a drive belt is not as tight as it should be, it will slip on the pulley and thus will not transmit power. If a driven pulley is seized, the belt will also slip.

Belt striker

See

Belt fork

Belt system

See

Seat-integrated belt system

Belt tensioner

A device consisting of an idler pulley which is usually located between the drive and driven pulleys. It can be adjusted to increase the tension on the belt.

See

Belt transmission

See

Belt up: A British term for Buckle up

Belt warning light

See

Seat belt warning light

Belt webbing: Strong fabric material used for seat belts

Bench

A workbench.
A test bed for studying or repairing an engine.
Fixed rails with adjustable and slidable supports for a waveguide system.

See

Bench bleeding: A procedure used to bleed the air from a new or rebuilt master cylinder before installation in a vehicle.

Bench grinder: Bench grinder

A power tool mounted on a workbench with one or two grinding wheels

Bench seat

A front seat which runs from the left door to the right door. The alternative is Bucket seats.

See

Split bench seat

Bench test: A determination of the power output of an engine when it is mounted on a test bed. Also it can be checked for oil leaks, fuel consumption, emission levels, etc.

Bench vise: Bench vise

A vise which is mounted on a workbench

Bench work

Work executed at the bench with hand tools or small machines, as distinct from that done at the machines.
Small molds made on a bench in the foundry.

Bend

To form into a curved or angular shape.
A curved length of tubing or conduit used to connect the ends of two adjacent straight lengths which are at an angle to one another.
Alteration of direction of a rigid or flexible waveguide. It is E or minor when electric vector is in plane of arc of bending and H or major when at right angles to this. Also called corner

See

Bender

See

Bending

See

Lower bending die

Bending die

See

Lower bending die

Bending moment: At any transverse section of a beam, the algebraic sum of the moments of all the forces to either side of the section.

Bending moment diagram: Diagram representing the variation of bending moment along a beam. It is a graph of bending moment (y-axis) against distance along the beam axis (x-axis).

Bending pliers: Pliers with flat, smooth jaws used to hold sheet metal in place.

Bending rolls

A large machine used to give curvature to plates. It usually has three rolls with axes arranged in a triangle so that adjusting one relative to the others forms a curve on a strip or sheet of metal passed between them.

See

Press brake

Bending Slab: Heavy cast iron perforated thick plate arranged to form a large floor on which frames, etc., are bent.

Bending spring: Coil spring which is placed on inside or outside of tubing to keep it from collapsing while bending it.

Bending strength: The ability of metal to resist bending (i.e., Bending moment). Also called flexural strength.

Bending test

A test made on a beam to determine its deflection and strength under bending load. The most usual forms are symmetrical three-point and symmetrical four-point bending, the advantage of the latter being that a constant bending moment is imposed between the two central loading points. Also called flexural test.
A forge test in which flat bars etc. are bent through 180° as a test of ductility.

Bending wave: Wave observed on thin plates and bars. The motion is perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Important for sound radiation from walls and enclosures.

Bendix

See

Bendix drive

See

Bendix type starter drive

Bendix screw: A helical screw on the shaft of a starter motor.

Bendix starter

A starter motor with a Bendix drive

See

Pre-engaged Bendix Starter

Bendix type starter drive: A self-engaging Starter drive gear, the gear moves into engagement when the starter starts spinning and automatically disengages when the starter stops. Also called Inertia drive

Bend test

See

Free bend test

Bendy bus: A colloquial term for an articulated bus

Benefits

See

Employee benefits

Bent

Colloquial term for a Recumbent bicycle
The vertical portion of a bridge that supports the beams. A bridge bent is located out of the waterway; a pier is located in the waterway.

Bent Bolt: A cylindrical rod having a thread at one end and the other end bent to some desired conformation; also a bent cylindrical rod having threads at both ends.

Bentley: Click image for books on
Bentley

A vehicle brand of which the 1919-1945 models are classic cars. The 1946-67 models are milestone cars.

Bent-tail carrier: A lathe carrier having a bent shank projection into, and engaged by, a slot in the driving plate or chuck.

Benz

A vehicle brand of which the 1925-26, 10/30,11/40, 16/50, and 16/50 Sport models with required application are classic cars.

See

Mercedes-Benz

Benzene: (C₆H₆) An aromatic hydrocarbon which is a colorless, volatile, flammable liquid. It is present in small proportion in some crude oils and made commercially from petroleum by the catalytic reforming of naphthenes in petroleum naphtha. Also made from coal in the manufacture of coke. Used as a solvent in the manufacture of detergents, synthetic fibers, petrochemicals, and as a component of high-octane gasoline.

Benzol: A by-product of manufacture of coke. Sometimes it is used as an engine fuel. Has good anti-knock properties.

Berber: A carpet square hand-woven by North Africans from hand-spun yarns from the natural colored wool of local sheep. Commonly misused to describe machine-made carpets considered to have a similar appearance.

Beretta: Click image for books on
Chevrolet Beretta

A model of automobile manufactured by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1986-96.

Bergstrom’s method: A method of assessing the stresses in concrete pavements with particular reference to aerodrome runways and taxing tracks.

Berlina: Click image for books on
Berlina

A model of automobile from Alfa-Romeo

Berline

A World War I term describing a closed luxury vehicle with small windows. The passengers were able to see out; but it was difficult to see in thus maintaining their privacy
A two-door sedan

Berm

A horizontal ledge on the side of an embankment or cutting, to intercept earth rolling down the slopes, or to add strength to the construction. Also called bench
A low earth fill constructed in the path of flowing water to divert its direction, or constructed to act as a counterweight beside the road fill to reduce the risk of foundation failure (buttress).

Berm ditch: A channel cut along a berm to drain off excess water.

Bernoulli’s Theorem

In a stream of liquid, the sum of elevation head, pressure head, and velocity remains constant along any line of flow provided no work is done by or upon liquid on course of its flow; decreases in proportion to energy lost in flow.
The law that for a non-viscous, incompressible fluid in steady flow, the sum of the pressure and kinetic energies per unit volume is constant at any point. It is a fundamental law of fluid mechanics.

Berth

A place for a ship
A place to sleep
A bunk
A specified small section of the hull structure

Bertone: Bertone

An Italian automobile manufacturer noted for creative design. Usually called Gruppo Bertone. Includes X1/9 (1988).

Beryllides: Compounds of other metals with beryllium

Beryllium bronze: A copper-base alloy containing w.25% of beryllium. Develops great hardness (i.e., 300-400 Brinell) after quenching from 800°C followed by heating to 300°C.

Bessemer converter: Large barrel-shaped tilting furnace, charged while fairly vertical with molten metal, and ‘blown’ by air introduced below through tuyères. Discharged by tilting. Now obsolete but replaced by variety of similar shaped but smaller vessels operating in slightly different ways and using oxygen in place of air.

Bessemer pig iron: Pig iron which has been dephosphorized in Bessemer converter lined with basic refractory material.

Bessemer process: Process in which impurities are removed from molten metal or matte by blowing air through molten charge in Bessemer converter. Used to remove carbon and phosphorus from steel, sulfur and iron from copper matte.

Best selected copper: Metal of a lower purity than high-conductivity copper. Generally contains over 99.75% copper. Compare Casting copper.

Beta brass

Copper-zinc alloys, containing 46-49% zinc, which consists (at room temperature) of the intermediate constituents (or intermetallic compound) known as β.

See

Brass

Beta decay: Radioactive disintegration with the emission of an electron or positron accompanied by an uncharged antineutrino or neutrino. The mass number of the nucleus remains unchanged but the atomic number is increased by one or decreased by one depending on whether an electron or positron is emitted.

Beta detector: A radiation detector specially designed to measure β-radiation.

Beta disintegration

See

Beta decay

Beta disintegration energy: For electron (βa) emission it is the sum of the energies of the particles, the neutrino and the recoil atom. For positron (β⁺) emission there is in addition the energy of the rest masses of two electrons.

Beta-iron: Iron in the temperature range 750°C – 860°C, in which a change from the magnetic (alpha) state to the paramagnetic occurs at about 760°C. With carbon in solution the transition is lowered toward 720°C, and when cooling Recalescence is more marked.

Beta particle: An electron or positron emitted in beta decay from a radioactive isotope. Also called β-particle

Beta radiation: Beta particles emitted from a radioactive source

Beta rays: Streams of Beta particles

Beta-ray spectrometer: Spectrometer which determines the spectral distribution of energies of β-particles from radioactive substances or secondary electrons.

Beta thickness gauge: Instrument measuring thickness, based on absorption and backscattering (reflection) by material or sample being measured of β-particles from a radioactive source.

Betatopic: Said of atoms differing in atomic number by one unit. One atom can be considered as ejecting an electron (beta particle) to produce the other one.

Betatron: Machine used to accelerate electrons to energies of up to 300MeV in pulsed output. The electrons move in an orbit or constant radius between the poles of an electromagnet, and a rapidly alternating magnetic field provides the means of acceleration.

Beta value: In fusion, the ratio of the outward pressure exerted by the plasma to the inward pressure which the magnetic field is capable of exerting. Also called plasma beta

Béton: French, originally for lime concrete, now for any kind of concrete.

Béton armé: French for Reinforced concrete

BET surface area: Surface area of a powder calculated from gas adsorption data, by the method devised by Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller.

Betts process: An electrolytic process for refining lead after drossing. The electrolyte is a solution of lead silica fluoride and hydrofluorsilicic acid, and both contain some gelatine. Impurities are all more noble metals than lead and remain on the anode. Gold and silver are recovered from anode sponge.

Better half: Trucker slang for a husband or wife as in ‘I sure do miss my better half.’

Between duals

See

Kissing between duals

Between perpendiculars (BP)

A naval term describing the length between the forward perpendicular and after perpendicular (after side of sternpost)

See

Length between perpendiculars

Between wheel spacer: An obsolete circular metal plate having a bolt hole circle and center bore and fitting between the faces of disc wheels to provide additional dual clearance.

Bevatron: A synchrotron at Berkeley, US, which gives a beam of 6.4 GeV protons.

Bevel

The angle that one surface makes with another when they are not at right angles.
A small slant, usually describing a flat washer which is square and thicker on one side than the other
The angle between the flanges of a frame or other member.
To chamfer

See

Bevel differential

A differential which has bevel gears for its main elements. This allows the input and output shafts to be at right angles to one another.

See

Spur differential

Bevel drive shaft: A shaft with a Bevel gear at one end or both ends. It is used primarily for driving an overhead camshaft.

Bevel gear

A gear shaped like the wide end (frustum) of a Cone, used to transmit motion through an angle. They are found in differentials.
A system of toothed wheels connecting shafts whose axes are at an angle to one another but in the same plane.

See

Spiral bevel gear.

Bevel gear drive: A transmission which is used to drive one or more shafts which do not line up with the output shaft. Also called Bevel gear transmission

Bevel gear transmission: A transmission which is used to drive one or more shafts which do not line up with the output shaft. Also called Bevel gear drive

Bevel joint: A piston ring gap in which the two ends of the ring are tapered.

Beverage holder: A circular clip located on the center Console, door panel, or instrument panel which is designed to hold a cup or bottle. Also called Cup holder

Bezel

The crimped edge of metal that secures the glass face to an instrument. A bezel can be either decorative or functional. Some bezels are threaded and secure switches and control Buttons to the dash, Console, or Steering column.
A small indicator light (e.g., for direction signal lights) on instrument panel.
A grooved ring holding the glass of a watch or an instrument dial.

B-flange: A type of Passenger car wheel

BFO: Abbreviation for Beat-frequency oscillator

BG: Abbreviation for Birmingham gauge

BGA: Abbreviation for British Gliding Association

BGV: Abbreviation for Background video

B(H) curve

See

Magnetic materials

B-H curve

See

Magnetic materials

B/H curve

See

Magnetic materials

Bhd: Abbreviation for Bulkhead

B(H) loop

See

B-H loop

See

B/H loop

See

BHN: Abbreviation for Brinell hardness number, obtained in the Brinell hardness test. Preferred term is now H_B after the hardness number. Obtained by forcing a round steel ball into the surface of the object to be tested under a known load and subsequently measuring the diameter of the indentation so produced.

BHP

Abbreviation for Brake horsepower.

See

BHS: Abbreviation for Bimetal heat sensor

Bias

The acute angle at which the cords in the tire fabric intersect the circumferential centerline of the finished tire.
The application of a potential difference across, or electric currents through, an electronic device to set an operating condition upon which signals are superimposed.

See

Bias belted tire: Bias Belted Tire

A type of tire construction in which there are bias plies as well as a belt of steel or synthetic (rayon, nylon, or fiberglass) cords between the carcass and the tread. The belt Overlaps the bias plies and wraps around the circumference. The cords and belt cross each other at Bias angles.

Bias current: Non-signal current supplied to electrode of semiconductor device, magnetic amplifier, tape recorder, etc. to control operation at optimal working point.

Biased

See

Spring-biased

Biased protective system: A modification of a balanced protective system, in which the amount of out-of-balance necessary to produce relay operation is increased as the current in the circuit being protected is increased.

Biased result: In observations, sampling, etc., introduction of a systematic error through some malfunction of instrument or weakness in method used, so that error accumulates in a series of measurements.

Biasing: Polarization of a recording head in magnetic tape recording, to improve linearity of amplitude response, using DC or using AC much higher than the maximum audio-frequency to be reproduced.

Biasing transformer: A special form of transformer used in one form of biased protective system

Bias ply tire: A tire having two or more carcass plies arranged in a criss-cross manner and diagonally to the beads and travels approximately 1/3 the distance around the circumference before attaching to the other bead. Each cord in the next ply is arranged in the same manner, but in the opposite direction. Also called a conventional tire or cross-ply tire

Bias tire

Bias tire

A type of tire construction in which the tire cords or plies run diagonally from bead to bead. Generally in passenger cars, there are two plies of fabric. In a P185/80D13 tire, the D indicates a bias-ply tire. Sometimes called a conventional tire.

See

Belted bias tire

Bib

A leather or vinyl covering for the front of a vehicle.

See

Tank bib

Bib-cock: A draw-off tap for water-supply, consisting of a plug-cock having a downward curved extension for discharge.

Bib-valve: A draw-off tap of the kind used for domestic water-supply; closed by screwing down a rubber washered disk on to a seating in the valve body.

Bickern

See

Beak iron

Bick iron

See

Beak iron

Bicomposites

Composite materials which occur in and are made by living organisms, such as bone, leather.
Composite materials which replace the function of living tissues or organs in mass, such as carbon fiber/epoxy resin artificial limbs.

Biconical horn: Two flat cones apex to apex, for radiating uniformly in horizontal directions when driven from a co-axial line.

Biconvex: Said of a lens which is convex on both surfaces.

Bicycle

Bicycle Bicycle

A two-wheel non-motorized vehicle in which the two wheels are not side-by-side but in line. Also called bike. A rider is a cyclist, while a biker is a motorcycle rider.

See

Bicycle Association

See

National Off-Road Bicycle Association

Bicycle carrier: Bicycle carrier

A device which is attached to the rear bumper or to the roof of a vehicle to carry a bicycle.

Bicycle frame: Bicycle frame

The diamond shaped basic section of a bicycle to which the components are added

Bicycle lock: Bicycle lock

A horseshoe-shaped metal locking device which will reach around a small pole (e.g., parking meter) and the frame of a bicycle.

Bicycle moto cross

(BMX)

A type of racing done on a closed dirt track over obstacles, usually on 20- or 24-inch wheels bikes with one gear.
A type of bicycle used in BMX races

BID: Abbreviation for breakerless inductive discharge ignition system

Bi-directional microphone: Microphone which is most sensitive in both directions along one axis

Bi-directional waveform: Waveform which shows reversal of polarity; a bi-directional pulse generator produces both positive and negative pulses.

Bifilar pendulum

See

Bifilar suspension

Bifilar resistor: Resistor formed by winding a resistor with a hairpin-shaped length of resistance wire, thus reducing the total inductance.

Bifilar suspension: The suspension of a body by two parallel vertical wires or threads which give a considerable controlling torque.

Bi-fuel Vehicle: A motor vehicle with two separate fuel systems designed to run on either an alternative fuel, gasoline or diesel, using only one fuel at a time (i.e., not a mixture of the fuels). Each fuel is stored in a separate tank. Bi-fuel vehicles are referred to as dual-fuel vehicles in the CAA and EPACT.

Bifurcated rivet: A rivet with a split shank, used for holding together sheets of light material; it is closed by opening and tapping down the two halves of the shank.

Big-block

See

Big-block engine

Big-block engine: A large V-8 engine produced in the ’60s and ’70s. It typically has a cast-iron block and head and is fed by a carburetor. Contrasts with Small-block engine. Although both engines were of the same displacement, the big-block engine was larger in overall size than the small-block engine. Thus, as vehicles grew smaller and more equipment was stuffed into the engine bay, the small-block engine was favored over its larger brother.

Big Cowl and Chassis Bus Type: A type of bus depicting non-school bus coaches mounted on a truck-based, flat back cowl (medium- or heavy-duty truck hood and fender assembly).

Big end

The end of the connecting rod which fits around the crankpin.
The part of the connecting rod which is attached to the crankshaft

Big-end bearing

See

Big-end bearing

Big-end bearing: Click image to supersize
Big-end bearing

The bearing in the end of the Connecting rod that attaches to the crankshaft

Big-end bolt

One of the bolts attaching the Big-end cap to the connecting rod.

See

Connecting-rod bolt

Big-end cap: The detachable end of the connecting rod which fits on the crankpin.

Big Jim: A colloquial term for a device for opening door locks. It is a flexible metal strip about an inch wide and very thin and has a J-shaped end. It is inserted between the door window and the door frame to trigger the latch.

Big rig: A large truck — usually a tractor-trailer unit.

Big/tall rubber: Trucker slang for 24 inch tires as in ‘I just bought new big rubber for my rig.’

Big three: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.

Big Twins: The engines in the larger Harley-Davidson bikes.

Bihexagon: A twelve-sided figure. Some nuts and bolt heads have twelve sides.

Bihexagonal: Having 12 sides.

Bihexagon socket: A tool socket which fits 12-sided nuts and bolts.

Bike

A two-wheel vehicle — either a bicycle or a motorcycle.

See

Bike crossing: Bike crossing

A place on the highway (usually marked by a sign) indicating a relatively safe place for a bicycle to cross to the other side. Motorists are advised that slow moving bicycles may be on the road.

Bike lane: A lane in the roadway designated by striping and pavement markings for the preferential or exclusive use of bicyclists.

Bike lock: Bike lock

A horseshoe-shaped metal locking device which will reach around a small pole (e.g., parking meter) and the frame of a bicycle.

Biker: A motorcycle rider. In contrast, a cyclist is a bicycle rider.

Bike Seat

See

BIL

Abbreviation for Bilimportorenes Landsforening (Norway).
Abbreviation for the Association of Swedish Automobile Manufacturers and Wholesalers — BIL deals with matters relating to automotive safety, automobile taxes, environmental protection, distribution, trade policy, traffic policy and Swedish and international regulations

Bilateral impedance: Any electrical or electromechanical device through which power can be transmitted in either direction.

Bilateral slit: A slit used in a spectrometer and consisting of two metal strips whose separation can be accurately adjusted.

Bilateral tolerance: A tolerance with dimensional limits above and below the basic size.

Bilge

A recess area fitted at the curved section between the bottom and the side into which water drains from holds or other spaces.
The curved part of the shell joining the bottom to the sides.
The space inside meaning #2, at the sides of the cellular double bottom, into which unwanted water drains.

Bilge Blocks: Supporting blocks used under the bilge for support during construction or dry docking.

Bilge bracket: A vertical transverse flat plate welded to the tank top or margin plate and to the frame in the area of the bilge.

Bilge keel: A long longitudinal fin fitted on the curved of a ship at the turn of the bilge to reduce rolling.

Bilge Pump: Pump for removing bilge water

Bilge strake: Shell plates at the bilge area.

Bilge Water: Water in the ship due to leaks, sweat, etc.

Bilge Well: A sump to which bilge water drains.

Billed Weight: The weight shown on a freight bill.

Billet

A section of a log split lengthwise as you would make firewood.
A small bar of iron or steel.
Semifinished solid product which has been hot-worked by extrusion, forging, and rolling. Smaller than a Bloom
A piece of timber which has three sides sawn and the fourth left round.

Billet mills: The rolling mills used in reducing steel ingots to billets. Also called billet rolls

Billet rolls

See

Billet mills

Billet split lens: A device used to produce interference fringes. The two halves of the lens are separated so that two images of a slit source provide the coherent sources.

Billing

See

Anniversary Billing

Bill of lading

(BOL) (BL) (B/L)

The cost or the paperwork describing the cost of a vehicle’s load or freight.
Itemized list of goods contained in a shipment
A contract between the shipper and the carrier that includes freight origin and destination, description, and weight.

Billy

See

Blue billy

Bi-met

See

Acl BI-MET

Bimetal: Two types of metal bonded into a strip and formed into a coil. Each type of metal has different thermal expansion characteristics, so the coil straightens when heated and coils up when cold. Bimetals are used mainly to open and close choke plates on carbureted vehicle.

Bimetal Coil

See

Temperature-Sensitive Bimetal Coil

Bimetal-fuse: A fuse element composed of two different metals, e.g., a copper wire coated with tin or lead.

Bimetal heat sensor: (BHS) A strip (usually coiled) consisting of two metals with different expansion characteristics. Bimetal strips are used in thermostatically controlled devices because they move or bend toward the metal that expands least when heat is applied.

Bimetallic brake drum: A drum with an aluminum outer drum cast around a preformed iron liner.

Bimetallic corrosion

When two different metals are attached to each other, some electrons tend to move from one metal to the other. This action happens especially when there is a little moisture between the two pieces.

See

Galvanic corrosion

Bimetallic sensor: Consists of a thermocouple (an arm made of two dissimilar metals with different rates of thermal expansion) that flexes in accordance with temperature changes. Used as a temperature sensor. Also called Bimetal sensor

Bimetallic strip: Bonded strip composed of two metals with differing thermal expansion coefficients; the strip deflects when one side of the strip expands more than the other. Used e.g., in thermal switches.

Bimetal sensor

A device that consists of a thermocouple, an arm made of two dissimilar metals with different rates of thermal expansion, that flexes in accordance with temperature changes. Used as a temperature sensor. Also called Bimetallic sensor

See

Air Cleaner Bi-metal Sensor

Bimirror: A pair of plane mirrors slightly inclined to one another. Used for the production of two coherent images in interference experiments.

Bimmer: Colloquial term for BMW

Bimorph: Unit in microphones and vibration detectors in which two piezoelectric plates are cemented together in such a way that application of potential difference causes one to contract and the other to expand, so the combination bends as in a Bimetallic strip

Bin

A four-sided structure that is mounted on a pallet. It might have a cover.

See

Belly Bin

Binary counter: Flip-flop or toggle circuit which gives one output pulse for two input pulses, thus dividing by two

Binary frequency shift keying: A digital Modulation scheme in which 1 and 0 are represented by switching the Carrier between two different frequencies. It is 3 dB less resistant to additive white Gaussian noise interference than Binary phase shift keying

Binary phase shift keying: A digital Modulation scheme in which 1 and 0 are represented by reversing the phase of the Carrier. It is 3 dB more resistant to additive white Gaussian Noise interference than Binary frequency shift keying

Binary system: An alloy formed by two metals, this is represented by the binary constitutional diagram for the system. In general, any two-component system.

Binary vapor-engine: A heat-engine using two separate working fluids, generally mercury vapor and steam, for the high- and low-temperature portions of the cycle respectively, thus enabling a large temperature range to be used, with improved thermal efficiency.

Binaural: Listening with two-ears, the result of which is a sense of directivity of the arrival of a sound wave. Said of a stereophonic system with two channels (matched) applying sound to a pair of ears separately, e.g., by earphones. The effect arises from relative phase delay between wavefronts at each ear.

Binder

Component used in the mix of carbon products, organic brake linings, sintered metals, tar macadam, etc. to impart cohesion to the body to be formed. The binder may have cold setting properties, or subsequently be heat-treated to give it permanent properties as part of the body or to remove it by volatilization.
The ingredient in a paint that holds or suspends the Pigmentparticles together.
A glue used to hold the various elements of a brake friction material together

See

Binders

Binder bolt

On a bicycle, the bolt used to fasten a stem inside a Steerer tube or a Seatpost inside a Seat tube. Some are quick-release type.

See

Seatpost Binder Bolt

Binder head: Obsolete term for a pan head screw.

Binders: Vehicle brakes.

Binding

The rubbing of brake shoes against the drum or of brake pads against the disc.
The strip material turned over along the edge of a carpet or mat.

See

Binding energy

Energy required to remove a particle from a system
Energy required to overcome forces of cohesion and disperse a solid into constituent atoms.
Of a nucleus, the energy which holds nuclear particles together.

See

Fusion

Binding Head: A screw or bolt with a rounded top surface and slightly tapered sides. The bearing surface is flat with annular undercut optional.

Bingham flow

See

Bingham solid

Bingham solid: Material which shows little tendency to flow until a critical stress is reached (e.g., toothpaste or modeling clay). Also called Bingham flow

Bingo cards: Trucker slang for the paper cards that hold trucking permits from different states as in ‘Better get your bingo cards out, they’re checkin’ em at the chicken coop.’

Binnacle: The cluster of instruments and switches mounted in a circular casing on or near the steering column.

Binoculars: A pair of telescopes for use with both eyes simultaneously. Essential components are an objective, an eyepiece and some system of prisms to invert and reverse the image.

Binomial array: A linear array in which the current amplitudes are proportional to the coefficients of a binomial expansion. Such an array has no side lobes.

Biochemical Conversion: The use of enzymes and catalysts to change biological substances chemically to produce energy products. For example, the digestion of organic wastes or sewage by microorganisms to produce methane is a biochemical process.

Biocide: A product which kills any fungus or microbes that may have contaminated Diesel fuel.

Biodegradable: A product which is capable of being decomposed by bacteria into harmless elements without danger to the environment.

Biodiesel

Diesel fuel made from animal or vegetable fats.
A biodegradable transportation fuel for use in diesel engines that is produced through transesterification of organically derived oils or fats. Biodiesel is used as a component of diesel fuel. In the future it may be used as a replacement for diesel.
The mono alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from renewable lipid feedstocks, such as vegetable oils and animal fats, for use in compression ignition (diesel) engines. Manufactured by transestrification of the organic feedstock by methanol.
Any liquid biofuel suitable as a diesel fuel substitute or diesel fuel additive or extender. Biodiesel fuels are typically made from oils such as soybeans, rapeseed, or sunflowers, or from animal tallow. Biodiesel can also be made from hydrocarbons derived from agricultural products such as rice hulls.

Biofuels: Liquid fuels and blending components produced from biomass (plant) feedstocks, used primarily for transportation.

Biogenic: Produced by biological processes of living organisms. Note EIA uses the term biogenic to refer only to organic nonfossil material of biological origin.

Biological half-life: Time interval required for half of a quantity of radioactive material absorbed by a living organism to be eliminated naturally.

Biological hole: A cavity within a nuclear reactor in which biological specimens are placed for irradiation experiments.

Biomass: Renewable organic nonfossil matter such as agricultural crops, crop-waste residues, wood, animal and municipal wastes, aquatic plants; fungal growth, etc., used for the production of energy.

Biomass gas: A medium Btu gas containing methane and carbon dioxide, resulting from the action of microorganisms on organic materials such as a landfill.

Biomass waste: Organic non-fossil material of biological origin that is a byproduct or a discarded product. Biomass waste includes municipal solid waste from biogenic sources, landfill gas, sludge waste, agricultural crop byproducts, straw, and other biomass solids, liquids, and gases; but excludes wood and wood-derived fuels (including black liquor), biofuels feedstock, biodiesel, and fuel ethanol. Note EIA biomass waste data also include energy crops grown specifically for energy production, which would not normally constitute waste.

Biot laws: Laws stating that the rotation produced by optically active media is proportional to the length of path, to the concentration (for solutions) and to the inverse square of the wavelength of the light.

Biot modulus: The heat transfer to a wall by a flowing medium, giving the ratio of heat transfer by convection to that by conduction. Defined as αθ/λ, where α is the heat transfer coefficient, λ is the thermal conductivity of medium, and θ is the characteristic length of apparatus.

Biot-Savart law: Expression for the intensity of magnetic flux density produced at a point a distance from a current-carrying conductor.

Bi-phase

See

Two-phase

Bi-phase shift keying

See

Aviation bi-phase shift keying

Biphenyl

See

Polychlorinated Biphenyl

Biplane: An aircraft or glider with two main supporting surfaces (two wings on each side) above one another.

Bipolar electrode: An electrode in an electroplating bath not connected to either the anode or cathode. Also called secondary electrode.

Bipolar plates: Conductive plate in a fuel cell stack that acts as an anode for one cell and a cathode for the adjacent cell. The plate may be made of metal or a conductive polymer (which may be a carbon-filled composite). The plate usually incorporates flow channels for the fluid feeds and may also contain conduits for heat transfer.

Bipolar transistor: A transistor that uses both positive and negative charge carriers. Both p-n-p and n-p-n types of bipolar transistor can be manufactured, as discrete devices, or for incorporation into integrated circuits.

Biprism: Two prisms of very acute angle placed side by side and used as a focusing aid on the screens of cameras.

Bird dog: A person who refers prospective customers to a particular dealership or salesman for a given fee or compensation.

Bird’s beak: In microelectronic fabrication; descriptive of the shape of that part of a silicon dioxide layer grown on a silicon wafer near the edge of a region which is protected from oxidation by a diffusion barrier.

Birdyback: Sending highway freight by air.

Birmingham gauge: (BG) Systems of designating the diameters of rods and wires by numbers. Obsolescent, being replaced by preferred metric dimensions.

Birmingham wire gauge: (BWG) Systems of designating the diameters of rods and wires by numbers. Obsolescent, being replaced by preferred metric dimensions.

Birox resistor: Resistor made from a thick film or bismuth ruthenate fired with a glass; noted for stability.

Bismuth spiral: Flat coil of bismuth wire used in magnetic flux measurements; the change of flux is measured by observing the change in resistance of the bismuth wire, which increases with increasing fields.

Bistable circuit: Valve or transistor circuit which has two stable states which can be decided by input signals, much used in counters and scalers.

Bisynchronous motor: A motor like an ordinary synchronous motor but running at twice synchronous speed.

Bit

A tool for boring or cutting which fits into a drill.
The tip of a screwdriver.

See

Bit adapter: A tool (like a screwdriver) with a hollow socket (instead of the blade) to accept a variety of bits.

Bite

A vehicle’s ability to adhere to the road (especially to a racing track).
The ability of a tool to secure itself to a fastener as in I want my wrench to get a good bite on that bolt.

See

Snake Bite

Bit error ratio: The rate at which erroneous Bits are received over a link, expressed as a proportion of the overall bit rate. In good systems the bit error ratio can be less than 1 in 10⁹.

Bits

See

Twisty bits

Bitt

A vertical post used in securing a line
A bollard

Bitter end: The inboard end of a ship’s anchor chain that is secured in the chain locker.

Bitter pattern: A pattern showing boundaries of magnetic domains on the surface of a magnetic material, formed by applying a colloidal suspension of a magnetic powder. The particles accumulate where the domain boundaries intersect the surface.

Bitumastic: An elastic cement used instead of paint to protect steel.

Bitumen: A naturally occurring viscous mixture, mainly of hydrocarbons heavier than Pentane, that may contain sulfur compounds and that, in its natural occurring viscous state, is not recoverable at a commercial rate through a well.

Bituminous paint: Black or dark colored tarry paint which contains bitumen. Used for the protection of exposed metal parts.

Bivet: Flexible bag for transporting fuel, often slung beneath a helicopter.

BL: Abbreviation for British Leyland

Black

Of parts of castings and forgings not finished by machining, the dark coating of iron-oxide retained by the surface.

See

Black and white checkered flag: A flag which is waved at the finishing line in races to indicate the winner.

Black body: A body which completely absorbs any heat or light radiation falling upon it. A black body maintained at a steady temperature is a full radiator at that temperature, since any black body remains in equilibrium with the radiation reaching and leaving it. Also called complete radiator

Black-body radiation: Radiation that would be radiated from an ideal Black body.

Black-body temperature: The temperature at which a Black body would emit the same radiation as is emitted by a given radiator at a given temperature. The black-body temperature of carbon-arc crater is about 3500°C, whereas its true temperature is about 4000°C

Black book: A popular listings of the current car prices, based on age, condition, and optional equipment; published in the Kelly Black Book.

Black box

A recording device which reveals conditions just prior to a crash.
A control unit. A self-contained unit of electronic circuitry; not necessarily black. It should produce a defined output for a defined input without the operator needing to know its contents. Also called brain box

Black burst: A signal without picture information

Black chromium plating: An electroplating deposit of a black chromium layer for decorative purposes.

Black copper: Impure metal, carrying some iron, lead, and sulfur. Produced from copper ores by blast furnace reduction.

Black crush: Tonal distortion in the picture whereby varying dark tones are all reproduced as black.

Blackening

See

Black flag: A flag which is colored black and is waved at a race. It indicates that the driver must return to his pit for consultation. It means that the driver has violated a serious racing rule such as spilling fluid on the track or was speeding on the pit road.

Black flag with orange circle: Black Flag With Orange Circle

As with the black flag for infractions, the black flag with orange circle means the driver must bring the car to the pits on the next lap. This flag indicates there is a serious mechanical problem with the car that can endanger the driver or others. Ignoring this black flag can bring severe penalties as it represents a dangerous situation.

Blackhawk

A vehicle brand of which pre-1948 models are classic cars.
Buick Blackhawk

A concept car produced by the Buick division of General Motors in 2005

Blackheart: A form of malleable iron, in which the core contains rosettes of graphite which appear as a dark area on fracture surfaces.

Blacking: Carbonaceous material applied as a powder or wash to the internal surfaces of a mold to protect the sand and improve the finish of the casting. Prepared in a blacking mill.

Blacking a tape: Preparing a blank tape for the recording a black burst signal which lays down the video tracks and control track

Black liquor: A byproduct of the paper production process, alkaline spent liquor, that can be used as a source of energy. Alkaline spent liquor is removed from the digesters in the process of chemically pulping wood. After evaporation, the residual black liquor is burned as a fuel in a recovery furnace that permits the recovery of certain basic chemicals.

Black metal: The structural, supporting inner sheetmetal of a body usually painted black.

Black Orion: Trade name for precursor to carbon fiber.

Black red heat: Temperature at which hot metal is just seen to glow in subdued daylight (about 540°C)

Black sand: A mixture of sand and powdered coal forming the floor of an iron foundry.

Blacksmith hammer: Blacksmith hammer

A special hammer for hitting and shaping heated iron.

Black smoke: Incompletely burned fuel in the exhaust indicating the fuel mixture is too rich.

Black start: A power source’s ability to power up from a cold shut down condition to fully operational status through a dedicated auxiliary power source that is totally independent of external systems.

Blackwall

Tires which do not have any white or red coloring.

See

Black and white flag: Black and white flag

The black and white flag is used in some series to indicate unsportsmanlike conduct. This is typically held motionless next to a pit board with the car number on it. The driver may be penalized when this flag is shown

Bladder: A hollow bag which can be inflated. In some instances, fuel tanks will become rusty inside. A possible cure is to install a bladder. This is done by Flushing out the rust chips, applying an acid solution to remove any oil/gas residue, and Coating the inside with a plastic Compound. When done correctly, this plastic Coating does not dissolve when it comes in contact with gasoline.

Blade

A straight narrow flat part like the end of a screwdriver or knife.
The part of a windshield wiper (Blade rubber) which contacts the windshield.
One of the vanes of a rotor or impeller.
The moving part of a knife-switch which carries the current and makes contact with the fixed jaws.

See

Blade activity factor: The capacity of a propeller blade for absorbing power, expressed as a non-dimensional function of the surface and by the formula where R is the diameter, and c is the blade chord at any radius r.

Blade angle: The angle between blade chord and plane of rotation at any radius. It is not constant because of the higher airspeed toward the tip, the incidence being progressively reduced to maintain optimum thrust. Change of blade angle from root to tip is called blade twist.

Blade Compressor

See

Blade connector: A plain metal tongue for forming electrical connections.

Bladed impeller: A rotating part of a centrifugal pump that has blades or vanes.

Blade judder: See wiper blade judder

Blade loading: The thrust of a helicopter rotor divided by the total area of the blades.

Blade rubber: The rubber strip that fits into the arm of a windshield wiper.

Blades

See

Fork blades

Blade shudder: See wiper blade shudder

Blade twist

See

Blade angle

Blank

The lacquer-coated disk ready for placing on a recording machine for making records with a stylus.
A piece of metal, shaped roughly to the required size, on which finishing processes are carried out.
A fastener where one or two stages of manufacturing have been performed, but the fastener has not been finished.
A door key or ignition key that has not been cut to fit the tumblers of a lock.

See

Blanket

Region of fertile material surrounding the core in a breeder reactor in which neutrons coming from the core breed more fissile fuel, e.g., uranium-233 from thorium.
The lithium surrounding a fusion reactor core within which fusion neutrons are slowed down, heat is transferred to a primary coolant and tritium is bred from lithium.

Blank flange: A disk, or solid flange, used to blank off the end of a pipe.

Blank groove: Unmodulated groove on disk recording.

Blanking

Blocking or disabling a circuit for a required interval of time.
Suppression of the picture information while the scanning spot of a cathode ray tube returns after each line, horizontal blanking, or after each field, vertical blanking, taking place during the blanking interval.

Blanking piece: A flat piece of metal which closes off a tube. Also called a blanking plate

Blanking plate: A flat piece of metal which closes off a tube. Also called a blanking piece

Blanking plug: A rubber stopper for filling in the holes of sheetmetal such as drain holes in the floorpan.

Blast

Air under pressure, blown into a furnace.

See

Blast cleaning

The removal of corrosion, dirt, paint, etc. by a blast of abrasive particles.

See

Blaster

See

Bead blaster

Blast freezer: Low-temperature evaporator which uses a fan to force air rapidly over the evaporator surface.

Blast furnace: Vertical shaft furnace into the top of which ore mineral or scrap metal, fuel, and slag-forming rock (Flux) is charged. Air, sometimes oxygen-enriched and pre-heated, is blown through from below and products are separately tapped (slag higher and metal lower). Used to smelt iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, and other minerals.

Blast horn

See

Ocean liner blast horn

Blasting

A marked increase in amplitude distortion due to overloading the capacity of some part of a sound-reproducing system; e.g., attempt to exceed 100% depth of modulation in a radio transmitter, or break of continuity in carbon granules in a carbon transmitter.
The operation of disintegrating rock etc. by boring a hole in it, filling with gunpowder or other explosive charge, and firing it.

See

Blasting fuse: Compound designed to burn at a regulated speed when closed in a tube, used to ignite detonator or explode blasting charge. Types include safety (slow) and detonating (instantaneous).

Blast main: The main blast air-pipes supplying air to a furnace

Blast pipe: Device located in the smoke-box of a steam locomotive used to improve the draft through the fire-tubes. Exhaust steam passing from the nozzle of the blast pipe reduces smoke-box pressure and induces the draft.

Blatthaller loudspeaker: First electrodynamically driven loudspeaker used for high-quality sound reproduction. It has a flat surface which is large compared to the wavelength of the radiated sound and it generates sound of high intensity.

Blavier’s test: A method of locating a fault on an electric cable; resistance measurements are taken with the far end of the cable free, and again with it grounded.

Blaze: Temporary survey mark, such as slash on tree trunk, to guide prospector or explorer

: Click image for books on
Blazer

A model of SUV produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1969 to 2005

BLC: Abbreviation for Backlight compensation

Bleed

To remove air bubbles from hydraulic lines and components of a system.
See
To reduce the air pressure in tires that have been run, warmed up, and thus increased from their starting pressure — an action which should be avoided.

Bleed down: The collapse of a hydraulic lifter as oil drains out.

Bleeder

The valve or screw used to vent the air out of a liquid-filled system.

See

Bleeder jar: A glass or transparent plastic container used to detect the escape of air while bleeding brakes

Bleeder nipple

See

Bleeder screw

Bleeder resistor: Resistor placed across secondary of transformer to regulate its response curve, esp. when the transformer is not loaded with a proper terminating resistance. One placed in a power supply or rectifier circuit to control its regulation.

Bleeder screw

A hollow screw used to open a bleeder valve to allow fluid and air bubbles from a system like the brake system during a bleeding process.
A small hollow screw or valve found at drum brake wheel cylinders, in disc brake calipers, and adjacent to the outlet ports of some master cylinders. It is opened to release pressure and bleed air and fluid from the hydraulic system after reconditioning or in the event air has gotten into the system.

See

Idle air bleed screw

Bleeder tank: A container that stores brake fluid under pressure. When connected to the master cylinder, the fluid is forced through the system and facilitates bleeding.

Bleeder tubes: Short curved pieces of tubing used in the bleeding of master cylinders.

Bleeder valve

A valve on a wheel cylinder, caliper, or other hydraulic component that is opened to purge or release air from the hydraulic system.
The device which vents air from the brake system.

Bleeder wrench: A tool used to open bleeder valves

Bleeding

The tapping of air from a gas turbine compressor to prevent surging.
The tapping of air from a gas turbine compressor to feed some other equipment, e.g., cabin pressurization or a de-icing system.
A paint defect in which a constituent in an underlying surface discolors subsequent coatings, prevented by applying a barrier coating.
A method of improving the thermal efficiency of a steam plant by withdrawing a small part of the steam from the higher-pressure stages of a turbine to heat the feed-water.
Removing undesirable entrapped air from a hydraulic (e.g., braking) system.
Diffusion of dye from an photographic image.
In fibers, yarns or fabrics of two or more colors, the running of the darker colors, and consequent staining of the lighter colors; during finishing, washing, or solvent cleaning.
The action of venting air from a liquid-filled (hydraulic) system.
Reducing the air pressure in tires that have been run, warmed up, and thus increased from their starting pressure — an action which should be avoided.
Slowly reducing the pressure of liquid or gas from a system or cylinder by slightly opening a valve
The separation of components of a dried adhesive, coating, or sealer film, resulting in an oil-like stain on the surfaces to be bonded, or on finishes
A lower (older or previous) color coming through a fresh Coat of paint.

See

Bleeding a system: Remove air bubbles from a brake system, a fuel injection system, or a cooling system so that they won’t impede the flow of liquid through that system.

Bleeding sequence: The order of bleeding brake system components

Bleeding the brakes: This refers to the removal of air from the hydraulic system, bleeder screws are loosened at each wheel cylinder, (one at a time) and brake fluid is forced from the master cylinder through the lines until all air is expelled.

Bleed Line

See

Oil Bleed Line

Bleed Passage

See

Oil Bleed Passage

Bleeds

See

Bleed screw

A screw used to release the air from a system like the brake system.

See

Bleed valve

A valve with small opening inside which permits a minimum fluid flow when the valve is closed.
The device which vents air from the brake system.

Blem: An abbreviation for Blemish tire.

Blemish: A tire with a slight imperfection in appearance that will not affect tire life or safety. Also called a blem.

Blender: A device for mixing two fuel oils to achieve a less viscous and more uniform fuel.

Blending

Mixing of two compatible fuels having different properties in order to produce an intermediate fuel

See

Motor Gasoline Blending

Blending components

See

Aviation Gasoline Blending Components
Motor gasoline blending components.

Blending plant: A facility that has no refining capability but is either capable of producing finished motor gasoline through mechanical blending or blends oxygenates with motor gasoline.

BLEU

Abbreviation for Blind Landing Experimental Unit operated by the Royal Aircraft Establishment which developed a fully automatic blind landing system.

See

Autothrottle

B-license: Commercial pilot’s license

Blind

See

Car blind

Blind bore cylinder: A cylinder which does not have a separate, detachable head. The cylinder and head are one unit, like a cup.

Blind counts: A method of inventory count that does not rely on the inventory database’s record of what is supposed to be in stock until after the whole inventory is counted.

Blind flying: The flying of an aircraft by a pilot who, because of darkness or poor visibility, must rely on the indication of instrument.

Blind flying instruments

A group of instruments, often on an individual central panel, essential for Blind flying. Commonly airspeed indicator, altimeter, vertical speed, turn-and-slip, artificial horizon, and directional gyro.

See

Blinding

Sprinkling small chippings of stone over a tar-dressed road surface.
Placing a thin layer of concrete over a foundation area before the structural concrete is placed.

Blind quarter

An unusually wide C-pillar enclosing the rear seat area.

See

Sail panel

Blind rivet: A type of rivet which can be clinched as well as placed by access to one side only of a structure. Usually based on a tubular or semitubular rivet design such as a Pop rivet, Chobert rivet, and Explosive rivet.

Blind Side: Right side of truck and trailer.

Blind spot

An area not visible from the driver’s seat. It is usually the area behind the rear quarter and not visible to the driver either through the windshield, side windows, or mirrors. When approaching another vehicle in a lane beside you, avoid being in its blind spot. Also do a shoulder check before switching lanes to check for vehicles in the blind spot.
Areas around a commercial vehicle that are not visible to the driver either through the windshield, side windows or mirrors.

See

Front-end blind spot.

Bling: Bright ornamentation (in chrome or gold plating) on a vehicle’s wheels, grill, moldings, trim and badges in order to give the impression of wealth and status.

Blinkie: Blinkie

A red taillight on a bicycle which has a switch which turns it to a steady light or a flashing (blinking) light

Blinking: Modification of a loran transmission, so that a fluctuation in display indicates incorrect operation.

Blip: Spot on cathode-ray tube screen indicating radar function.

Blister

A bubble on a paint surface.
A localized bubble on the surface of a tire, normally caused by a separation between plies or between surface rubber and a ply.
A raised area on the surface of solid metal produced by the emanation of gas from within the metal while it is hot and plastic.

Blister copper: An intermediate product in the manufacture of copper. It is produced in a converter, contains 98.4-99.5% copper, and is subsequently refined to give commercial varieties, e.g., tough pitch, deoxidized copper.

Blistering: The formation of bubbles on the paint surface.

Blister pack: Transparent, thin sheet of plastic thermoformed to cover product for display purposes. Also called bubble pack.

Blister steel: Wrought-iron bars impregnated with carbon by heating in charcoal. Before 1740 this was the only steel available, but is now obsolete.

BLM

Abbreviation for Block Learn Multiplier–a term replaced with Long Term Fuel Trim
Abbreviation for the Bureau of Land Management

BLMC: Abbreviation for British Leyland Motor Corporation

Bloch band

See

Band theory of solids

Block

Click image to supersize
Engine Block

That part of the engine containing the cylinders.
Rectangular, square or cylindrical deck spacer, often identified by its location within a pallet as corner block, end block, edge block, inner block, center block, or middle block.

Block brake

A vehicle brake in which a block of cast-iron is forced against the rim of the revolving wheel, either by hand-power, electromagnetic mechanism, or fluid-pressure acting on a piston.

See

Block Chain: An alternative name used by some manufacturers for bar-link chain or for certain styles of leaf chain.

Block clutch: A Friction clutch in which friction blocks or shoes are forced inward into the grooved rim of the driving member, or expanded into contact with the internal surface of a drum.

Block coefficient: The ratio of the underwater volume of a ship to the volume of a rectangular block with the same effective lengths, draft and beam.

Block deck: The cylinder head gasket surface.

Blocked impedance: The impedance of the input of a Transducer when the output load is infinite, e.g., when the mechanical system, as in a loudspeaker, is prevented from moving.

Block engine

See

Blocker ring: Blocker ring

A component in a synchromesh system which contains the internal cone. It separates the collar and gear, and prevents the dogs from engaging until all parts are precisely synchronized. When the shift fork engages the cones, the blocker ring shifts slightly so that its dogs prevent the sleeve from engaging the gear wheel. The shift lever resists any effort to push it into gear. When the speed of all three parts are synchronized, the blocker ring shifts again, allowing the sleeve to move forward and engage the aligned dogs on the blocker ring and gear.

Block heater

A devices which, during very cold weather, keeps the engine warm when the vehicle is not being used — thus making cold starts easier. The free end is plugged into 110 volt AC wall socket. It is especially important for starting diesel engines at very low temperatures.

See

Blocking

Cut-off of anode current in a valve because of the application of a high negative voltage to the grid; used in Gating or Blanking.
Tendency of polymer film to adhere to itself, a problem in manufacture. Inhibited with surface coating of an anti-blocking agent.
Wood or metal supports used to secure freight in place when loaded on a trailer.

Blocking capacitor: One in signal path to prevent DC continuity. Also called buffer capacitor

Blocking diode: A semiconductor connected in series with a solar cell or cells and a storage battery to keep the battery from discharging through the cell when there is no output or low output, from the solar cell.

Blocking ring

See

Balk ring

Block Pallet: A pallet with blocks between the pallet decks or beneath the top deck.

Blocks

See

Keel blocks

Block sanding: The process of using a wooden block wrapped in sandpaper to sand the material.

Block section: The length of track in a railway system that is limited by stop signals.

Block system: The system of controlling the movements of trains by signals and by independent communication between block posts, where the instruments indicating the position of trains, condition of the block sections, and controlling levers for signals, points, etc. are situated. It is absolute if one train alone is permitted within a block section, and permissive if trains are allowed to follow into a block section already occupied by a train.

Block time: The time elapsed from the moment an aircraft starts to leave its loading point to the moment when it comes to rest. It is an important factor in airline organization and scheduling. Also called chock-to-chock, buoy-to-buoy (seaplanes), flight time.

Blondin

See

Cable-way

Blood alcohol content: The amount of alcohol in the bloodstream as a result of drinking liquor.

Blood alcohol level: The amount of alcohol in the bloodstream as a result of drinking liquor.

Blood red heat: Dark red glow from heated metal, in temperature range 550°C – 630°C

Bloom

A surface film on rubber, caused by the migration to the surface of sulfur, wax, or other unreacted ingredients of the compound. It may be protective to the tire and detrimental only if appearance is a major factor.
Semifinished metal, rectangular in cross-section and for steel not more than twice as long as it is thick. Compare Billet
Surface film on glass, the thin dielectric layers vacuum deposited on a lens to alter its reflectance properties, hence blooming
The film of sulfites and sulfates formed on glass during the annealing process.
The film on glass caused by weathering. Obsolete.

Blooming

A formation of an undesired thin surface film or a milky white haze or mist on paintwork. It is caused when paint is applied during humid, cold conditions as moisture is trapped in the wet film.
Treatment of the glass-air surfaces of a lens with a deposit of magnesium fluoride or other substance, which reduces internal reflection and increase light transmission.
Spread of spot on cathode-ray tube phosphor due to excessive beam current.
Coating of dielectric surfaces to reduce reflection of electromagnetic waves.

Blooming mills: The rolling mills used in reducing steel ingots to blooms. Called cogging mills in the UK, and not always distinguished from billet (slab) mills.

Blow

To become defective either by leaking or burning through.
In a Bessemer converter, passage of air through molten charge.

See

Blow back

Because of a sticky valve or the intake valve closing late, some of the air-fuel mixture is blown back through the carburetor.
The return, at low speeds, of some of the induced mixture through the carburetor of a gasoline engine; due to the late closing of the intake valve during compression, or by worn or sticking valves.

Blowby: The Mixture of fuel-air which escapes past the piston rings and causes fumes that form acid and Sludge in the crankcase and smoking from the oil filer hole. Generally there is a loss of engine power. Most are removed through the PCV system.

Blow-by: The Mixture of fuel-air which is lost past the piston rings and causes fumes that form acid and Sludge in the crankcase and smoking from the oil filer hole. Generally there is a loss of engine power. Most are removed through the PCV system.

Blowdown

The escape of gases between the opening of the exhaust valve and the piston reaching bottom dead center, or in a two-stroke engine between exhaust port opening and transfer port opening.
The difference between the opening and closing pressures of a relief/safety valve.

Blowdown period: In a two-stroke engine, it is the time between the exhaust port opening and the transfer port opening which should be sufficiently long enough to allow time for the cylinder pressure to drop below the crankcase pressure, so that the exhaust gases can be expelled more easily.

Blower

Also called a supercharger or turbocharger. This is a pump which forces air into the cylinders at higher than atmospheric pressure. The increased pressure forces more air into the cylinders than what would be drawn in normally. In this way the engine can burn more fuel and thus produce more power. There are two main types of blowers the turbocharger, which uses some of the waste heat energy in the exhaust gases to drive a compressor and pump the air; and the belt-driven or shaft-driven supercharger which uses engine power to pump air.
A fan for an interior heating and ventilating system or even for an air-cooled engine.
A fan used to force air and/or gas under pressure.
A ring-shaped perforated pipe, encircling the top of the blast pipe in the smoke-box, to which steam is supplied while a steam engine is standing, the jets providing sufficient draft to keep the fire going.
See
- Cabin Blower
- Heater blower

Blower fan: An electric motor-driven fan which forces air through the evaporator and duct assembly, then forces the cooled air out of the duct work and circulates it through the vehicle passenger compartment.

Blower motor resistor: A device which regulates fan speed.

Blow gun: Blow gun

A paint spray gun with a wide nozzle which is fed by air pressure. It is used to blow out crevices in material that is otherwise hard to reach.

Blowhole: A gas-filled cavity in a solid metal. Usually formed by the trapping of bubbles of gas evolved during solidification, but may also be caused by steam generated at the mold surface, air entrapped by the incoming metal, or gas given off by inflammable mold dressing.

Blowing current: The current (DC or rms) which will cause a fuse link to melt.

Blowing engine: The combined steam-engine or gas-engine and large reciprocating air-blower for supplying air to a blast furnace.

Blowing horn: In early automobiles, a rubber bulb was attached to a long tube which ended in a reed (like a musical reed) attached to an horn shaped something like a bugle. When the bulb was pressed, air was sent down the tube, through the reed, and into the horn to make the noise. Blowing the horn was like blowing a musical horn. In modern vehicles electricity or compressed air causes the horn to blow.

Blowing-out: The operation of stopping down a blast furnace.

Blowlamp: A British term for Blow torch

Blow molding: Two-stage route for making hollow products, e.g., bottles, surfboards (when filled with foam). Extruded Parison is dropped into the split, female-only tool, and blown to shape by air pressure.

Blown

An engine equipped with a turbocharger or supercharger.
See
- Boost
An engine which is ruined. Usually the piston is Seized.
See
- Blown head gasket.

Blown casting: Casting spoiled by porosity

Blown engine: An engine which has suffered some internal damage and will need extensive repair or replacement.

Blown flap: A Flap, the efficiency of which is improved by blowing air or other gas over its upper surface to maintain attached airflow even at high angles of deflection.

Blown head gasket: A Gasket that has a break between the opening for the cylinder and an opening for the coolant. The coolant will leak into the combustion chamber. This condition can be diagnosed by a loss in coolant and white smoke out the exhaust.

Blowoff valve

Blowoff Valve

A one-way valve that opens to the atmosphere above a certain set pressure to relieve excessive internal pressure buildup; often used with a turbocharger installation to limit Boost pressure to the engine. Also called Pressure-relief valve.

See

Waste gate

Blow-off valve

See

Blowoff valve

Blow out

To clean a dirty or blocked pipe by blowing compressed air through it.
Sudden tire failure.

Blowout: A sudden rupturing of tire body, causing complete loss of air pressure which flattens the tire.

Blow-out: A sudden rupturing of tire body, causing complete loss of air pressure which flattens the tire.

Blowout coil

See

Magnetic blowout

Blowout magnet: A permanent or electromagnet used to extinguish more rapidly the arc (in a switch, etc.) caused by breaking an electric circuit.

Blow-over: A respray of doubtful quality, often poorly prepared and carelessly masked.

Blow pin: Device through which air is blown in final stage of Blow molding. Usually ascends into base of descending Parison

Blowpipe: Another term applied to the oxyacetylene torch.

Blow through: A turbocharger system in which the turbocharger blows air through the carburetor(s) or fuel injector(s), i.e., the air and fuel mixing occurs downstream from the turbocharger.

Blow torch: Blow Torch

A tool which is attached to a bottle of flammable gas. The gas is ignited to give an intense flame for brazing and soldering. The British term is blowlamp

Bluebird: Trucker slang for a Martin Truck company’s truck as in ‘Can I get a smokey report there Bluebird.’

Blue billy: The residue left after burning off the sulfur from iron sulfide ores.

Blue book: A listing of the current prices for used cars, based on age, condition, and Optional equipment; published in the Kelly Blue Book. Available at banks, loan offices, libraries, and insurance companies.

Blue brittleness: Embrittlement of medium and high carbon steels during tempering in the range of 205°C – 315°C, so named because the surface of the steel becomes coated with blue colored oxidation film.

Blue flag: Blue flag

The blue or passing flag has different meanings depending on how it is held and whether it is used during practice, qualifying, or racing. Generally when it is held motionless it is an indication to a driver that there is a faster car following closely behind, but not yet close enough for a pass. A waving flag generally indicates that the driver is about to be overtaken and should take care to permit the following vehicle a safe pass. Some drivers resist moving over for an over-taking car when they feel they are racing for position. Controversy can follow the use of the passing flag. Some tracks use a blue flag with a diagonal yellow stripe.

Blueing

See

Bluing

Blueing salts: Caustic solution of sodium nitrate, used hot to produce a blue oxide film on the surface of steel.

Blue metal: Condensed metallic fume resulting from distillation of zinc from its ore concentrates. Blue tint is due to slight surface-oxidation of the fine particles.

Blueprinting: Dismantling engine and reassembling it to exact Specifications and tolerances. This process may help to improve engine performance, smoothness, and reliability. Sometimes called Balancing.

Blue smoke: The color of the exhaust which indicates that oil is escaping into the combustion chamber and being burned. It is probably due to worn rings, valve seals, etc.

Bluing

The blue color that appears on chrome pipes when subject to intense heat. In some cases, it can be removed; but most often it is permanent.
The production of a blue oxide film on polished steel by heating in contact with saltpeter or wood ash, either to form a protective coating, or incidental to annealing

See

Dykem-type Metal Bluing

Blunt start

End of a threaded screw which is rounded or coned to facilitate insertion.
The removal of the partial thread at the entering end of thread.

Blushing: The formation of a whitish or misty appearance on the Finish color of the paint surface.

BMAP: Abbreviation for Barometric and manifold absolute pressure sensor

BMC: Abbreviation for British Motor Corporation

BMEP: Abbreviation for Brake mean effective pressure. The work accomplished during one engine cycle divided by the engine swept volume. It is essentially the engine torque normalized by the engine displacement. The word brake denotes the actual torque/power available at the engine flywheel as measured on a dynamometer. Thus, BMEP is a measure of the useful power output of the engine.

BMEWS: Abbreviation for ballistic missile early warning system. An over-the-horizon radar system for the detection of intercontinental ballistic missiles, with linked sites in the UK, Alaska, and Greenland.

BMW

Click image for books on
BMW

A German automobile and motorcycle manufacturer. Abbreviation for Bayerische Motoren Werke. A vehicle brand of which the pre-1948 models 327, 328, 327/328, and 335 are classic cars. The 507 models for 1957-59 are milestone cars. Modern automobile models include the following:

3 Series (1988-2008)
5 Series (1988-2008)
6 Series (1988-2007)
7 Series (1988-2007)
8 Series (1991-97)
Alpina B7 (2007)
M (2000-02)
M3 (1988-06)
M5 (1988-2007)
M6 (2006-07)
X3 (2004-07)
X5 (2000-07)
Z3 (1996-2002)
Z4 (2003-08)
Z4 M Series (2006-07)
Z8 (2000-03)

BMW roundel: BMW logo

The black, blue, and white BMW checkerboard logo.

BMX

See

Bicycle Moto Cross

BNFL

Abbreviation for British Nuclear Fuels. Organization involved in uranium enrichment, fabrication of fuel elements, reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel and production of plutonium. It also operates experimental reactors.

Board

A printed circuit board.

See

Board diagnostics

See

On board diagnostics

Board of Trade Unit: Obsolete unit of electrical energy, equal to one kilowatt-hour.

Boards

See

Backing boards

Board Spacing: See Deck Board Spacing.

Board Span: See Deck Board Span.

Board test: A test of a printed circuit board.

Boardwalk: Trucker slang for a bumpy road as in ‘I don’t run 78 often cause it’s a real boardwalk.’

Boat chock: A cradle or support for a lifeboat.

Boat Deck: A deck on which lifeboats are kept.

Boattail: The rear of a car body with a tapered V-shaped back end like the upside-down prow of a boat. A common streamline effect used in early race cars, such as the Barchetta and Auburn. Also called Bateau shape

Boat-tail

See

Boattail

Boat trailer: A trailer specially designed for carrying a boat.

BOB: Abbreviation for Break-out box

Bobbers: The custom bikes American riders built after WWII where the owners cut off (i.e., ‘bobbed’) much of the bodywork.

Bobbin: A flanged structure intended for the winding of a coil. Also called spool

Bobbin winding: A transformer winding in which all the turns are arranged on a bobbin instead of in the form of a disk. Generally used for the high-voltage windings of small transformers.

Bobtail

Bobtail truck

A large truck tractor without the trailer.
A Straight truck

Bob-weight

A weight used to counterbalance some moving part of a machine.

See

Balance weight

Bodge: A British term to describe work that is done poorly or with defective materials.

Bodily harm: Physical injury to a person caused by an accident.

Bodily injury: Physical injury to a person caused by an accident.

Body

The main portion of an automobile. Often it refers just to the outside shell.
The main part of a housing.
The shank of a bolt.
In welding, it refers to the main structural part of a regulator.
A term used in describing the thickness or consistency (viscosity) of an adhesive, coating, or sealer

Body alignment shim: Body Shim

A flat piece of metal with a slot used to insert at a bolt location to move a body panel slightly into its proper place.

Body and frame

See

Integral body and frame construction

Body and frame construction

See

Integral body and frame construction

Body assembly: The building up of the automobile body from its various components.

Body builder: A person who builds automobile bodies, i.e., Coachbuilder.

Body-colored

Something that is painted the same color as the body.

See

Color-coded

Body component: Any structural part that makes up the body of a vehicle.

Body computer module: (BCM) Key element of self-diagnostic system used to control vehicle functions based on monitored inputs.

Body construction: The manufacturer of a vehicle body.

Body diameter

See

Full body diameter

Body file

When patching hole in a body panel and filling it with body putty, a body file, which is a hand tool, is used for smoothing the putty to conform to the contour of the body.

See

Half-round body file

Body filler: A substance (often with the name Bondo®) which is a paste used to fill minor imperfections in a body panel. It hardens and is shaped to fit. It can also be painted to match the rest of the vehicle.

Body flange: A point on the body where two panels overlap, forming a small step.

Body framing: An assembly of the body components.

Body fuel injection

See

Throttle body fuel injection

Body glass: The windshield, backlight (rear window), and side windows of a vehicle.

Body hammer

A hammer with a large flat pounding surface for removing dents.

See

Body housing

See

Valve body housing

Body-in-white: In the process of building a vehicle, this is a body shell after everything is welded but before it is painted. Named because the original protective undercoat was white or light yellow.

Body injection

See

Throttle body fuel injection

Body jack: A hydraulic tool for pushing or pulling body panels into shape.

Body lead: An alloy of lead and tin which is used to fill dents and seems in a body panel to establish a smooth surface. When heated it flows easily to fill the imperfections.

Body-on restoration: Similar to a frame-off restoration except the shell stays on the frame and components are removed, restored, and replaced one by one thus allowing the owner to drive the vehicle periodically.

Body panel: The sheet metal that forms the outside body pieces.

Body plan

A drawing showing frame lines in elevation.
A drawing showing the forms of the various cross sections, the curvature of the deck lines at the side, and the projections, as straight lines of the waterlines, the buttock lines, transverse elevations and the diagonal lines.

Body putty: A malleable material designed to smooth on dented body areas, upon Hardening, the putty is dressed down and the area painted. Also called Bondo®.

Body rattle: A noise in the bodywork usually cased by loose parts, badly fitting doors, hood, fenders, or trunk lid.

Body repair: The act of bring corroded or damaged panels back to like-new condition

Body roll: The rocking or tilting motion of a vehicle when it goes around the corner.

Body sealer: A tar-like substance which is used to seal joints between panels

Body separator plate

See

Valve body separator plate

Body shell: The bare skeleton of a vehicle with all the wheels, doors, hood, trunk lid, etc. removed.

Body shop: A service outlet specializing in vehicle body repair work.

Body side molding: A protective stripe along each side of the vehicle running from the leading edge of the front fender, along the door panel(s) to the rear end of the back fender. It may be solid plastic or rubber attached directly to the panels while others are attached to a metal strip which in turn is attached to the panels.

Body spoon: A tool with a flat contoured working surface like a spoon. It is used to slap out dents and is sometimes used in place of a dolly when it is too difficult to reach behind the panel.

Body stripe: A decorative stripe applied to a motorcycle fuel tank or the outside of a car to enhance the appearance. Sometimes model names are also part of the stripes.

Body styling kit: An additional set of bolt-on parts (like spoilers, air dams, fender skirts, laker pipes, wings) which are intended to improve the looks, performance, and efficiency.

Body Sweeps: Long templates (usually made of wood, metal, or plastic) used for laying in different curvatures or radii to a full-sized drawing or clay model when designing a vehicle.

Body tub: The bare body shell (minus the doors, trunk lid, hood, fenders) which is lowered onto the chassis at the time of assembly.

Bodywork: The complete body structure mounted on the chassis of a vehicle with a separate chassis, and the complete sheet metal panel for unibody vehicles.

Bog: A hesitation usually experienced when starting out.

Bogey

A two-axle assembly at the rear of some trailers or tractors. Also called a tandem axle.

See

Bogie

Bogie

An assembly of four wheels on two axles with common suspension, usually on heavy commercial vehicles, trailers, and older Ski-Doos®
Assembly of two or more axles on a large truck, usually a pair in tandem
A small vehicle with a short wheelbase running on rails. Commonly used for the conveyance of coal or ore.
A British term for a four-wheel or six-wheel undercarriage of short wheelbase, which forms a pivoted support at one or both ends of a long rigid vehicle such as a locomotive or coach. Also called bogie truck. The US term is truck

Also spelled bogey

Bogie landing gear: A main landing gear carrying a pair or pairs of wheels in tandem and pivoted at the end of the shock strut or Oleo. This arrangement helps to spread the weight of an aircraft over a larger area and also allows the wheel size to be minimized for easier stowage after retraction.

Bogie truck

See

Bogie

Bogie wheel: One of the suspension wheels on an older Ski-Doo®.

Boil: The process of change from a liquid to a gas through the application of heat.

Boiler

Closed container in which a liquid may be heated and vaporized.
One of a wide range of pressure vessels in which water or other fluid is heated and then discharged, e.g., either as hot water for heating or as high-pressure steam for power generation.
A device for generating steam for power, processing, or heating purposes; or hot water for heating purposes or hot water supply. Heat from an external combustion source is transmitted to a fluid contained within the tubes found in the boiler shell. This fluid is delivered to an end-use at a desired pressure, temperature, and quality.

See

Boiler capacity: The weight of steam, usually expressed in kilograms or pounds per hour, which a boiler can evaporate when steaming at full load output.

Boiler Chocks: Blocks and braces to prevent the movement of boilers.

Boiler compositions: Chemicals introduced into boiler feed-water to inhibit scale-formation and corrosion, or to prevent priming or foaming. Examples are sodium compounds (such as soda ash), organic matter and barium compounds.

Boiler covering

See

Lagging

Boiler crowns: The upper rounded places of a boiler of the shell type

Boiler efficiency: The ratio of the heat supplied by a boiler in heating and evaporating the feed-water to the heat supplied to the boiler in the fuel. It may vary from 60 to 90%.

Boiler feed-water: The water pumped into a boiler for conversion into steam, usually consisting of condensed exhaust steam and makeup fresh water treated to remove air and impurities.

Boiler fittings and mountings

See

Boiler fuel: An energy source to produce heat that is transferred to the boiler vessel in order to generate steam or hot water. Fossil fuel is the primary energy source used to produce heat for boilers.

Boiler, high-pressure

See

High-pressure boiler

Boiler horsepower: Obsolete term for the equivalent of the heating capacity of 33,475 BTU/hr (9804 watts)

Boilermaker’s hammer: Hammer with ball or straight and cross panes; used for caulking, fullering, and scaling boilers.

Boiler plate: Mild steel plate, generally produced by the open-hearth process; used mainly for the shells and drums of steam-boilers. Latterly steel with a higher yield stress is frequently specified.

Boiler pressure: The pressure at which steam is generated in a boiler. It may vary from little over atmospheric pressure for heating purposes, to 1500 lb-in^-2 (10000 kNm^-2) and over for high-pressure turbines.

Boiler scale: A hard coating, chiefly calcium sulfate, deposited on the surfaces of plates and tubes in contact with the water in a steam boiler. If excessive, it leads to overheating of the metal and ultimate failure.

Boiler setting: The supporting structure on which a boiler rests; usually of brick for land boilers and of steel for marine boilers.

Boiler stays: Screwed rods or tubes provided to support the flat surfaces of a boiler against the bursting effect of internal pressure.

Boiler test

A hydraulic-pressure test applied to check watertightness under pressure greater than the working pressure.
An efficiency test carried out to determine evaporative capacity and the magnitude of losses.

Boiler trial: An efficiency test of a steam boiler, in which the weight of feed water and of fuel burnt are measured, and various sources of loss assessed.

Boiling: The very rapid conversion of a liquid into vapor by the violent evolution of bubbles. It occurs when the temperature reaches such a value that the saturated vapor pressure of the liquid equals the pressure of the atmosphere.

Boiling point

(bp)

The exact temperature at which a liquid begins to boil or changes to a gas or vapor (i.e., Vaporizes). The boiling point of a liquid decreases with increasing altitude, and increases with pressurization. The coolant in a modern radiator/coolant system can be as high as 127°C.
The temperature at which a liquid boils when exposed to the atmosphere. Since at the boiling point the saturated vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure of the atmosphere, the boiling point varies with pressure; it is usual, therefore, to state its value at the standard pressure of 101.325kNm^-2.
The temperature and pressure at which a liquid converts to a vapor. In physics, this point is defined as the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid is equal to the pressure of the atmosphere on the liquid, which is equal to 100°C at sea level (101.3 kPa).

See

Boiling temperature

Temperature at which a fluid changes from a liquid to a gas.

See

Boiling point

Boiling-water reactor: (BWR) Light water reactor in which the water is allowed to boil into steam which drives the turbines directly.

Bold-up: The application of retread or repair rubber.

Bollard

Any short upright post used to prevent vehicle access.
On a quay or vessel, a short post around which ropes are secured for purposes of mooring.

See

Bitt

Bolometer: A device for measuring microwave or infrared energy, consisting of a temperature-dependent resistance used in a bridge circuit which gives an indication when incident energy heats the resistor. Used for indication when incident energy heats the resistor. Used for power measurement, standing-wave detectors and infrared search and guidance systems.

Bolster

A supporting brace.
The act of supporting.
A steel block which supports the lower part of the die in a pressing or punching machine.
The rocking steel frame by which the bogie supports the weight of a locomotive or other rolling stock (i.e., railway car).

See

Bolt

Bolt Bolt

A securing device upon which a nut is threaded. It usually has a nut-type head. It is usually measured not so much by the size of the wrench required to secure the bolt; but by the diameter of the threads, the thread pitch, the length of the bolt under the head, and the strength of the bolt. A bolt is similar to a machine screw except that a bolt is usually secured with a wrench instead of a screwdriver.

Bolt and nut

A pair of objects with matching screw threads. When either the bolt or the nut is turned, it moves with great force. Often used as fixing devices. The nut is the circular piece that looks like a ring with threads on the inside hole. The bolt is the shaft with threads.

See

Pivot bolt

Bolt Blank: A headed rod or bar intended for a subsequent threading operation.

Bolt body: The blank portion of the bolt or screw which is between the thread and the head.

Bolt Circle Diameter

See

Chainring Bolt Circle Diameter

Bolt cutter: Bolt cutter

A tool for severing a bolt when normally unscrewing a nut from the bolt is impossible or time-consuming.

Bolt End: A headless rod threaded at one end and assembled with a square nut, designed to be welded or otherwise fastened to a part or structure.

Bolt hole

The hole in metal through which a bolt must be inserted or screwed in place.

See

Wheel bolt hole

Bolt hole circle

See

Wheel bolt hole circle

Bolt mains

See

Bolt-making machine: A machine which forges bolts by forming a head on a round bar.

Bolt-on: Accessories which are easily secured to an automobile with just a few bolts rather than having to be welded in place. Usually done by the owner.

Bolt-on fender: A fender which is secured with bolts rather than being welded in place.

Bolt-on goodies: Accessories which are easily secured to an automobile, but are often for show rather than function.

Bolt-on kit: A group of parts available in one package which the owner can attach himself.

Bolt-on wing: British term for Bolt-on fender

Bomb: A vehicle which is in very poor shape, ‘The car is a bomb and not worth a nickel.’ In contrast, it can also mean a vehicle which has great acceleration, ‘The car flew down the track like a bomb.’

Bombardment: Process of directing a beam of neutrons or high-energy charged particles onto a target material in order to produce nuclear reactions.

Bomb calorimeter: An apparatus used for determining the calorific values of solid or liquid fuels. The bomb consists of a thick-walled, highly polished, steel vessel in which a weighed quantity of the fuel is electrically ignited in an atmosphere of compressed oxygen. The bomb is immersed in a known volume of water to which the combustion heat is transferred, and from the rise of temperature of which the calorific value is calculated.

Bomb sampler: Device for obtaining samples of dispersed particles at predetermined depths within a suspension, consisting of a closed cylindrical vessel with an automatic valve which opens when an extension tube hits the bottom of the suspension container. The sampler fills with suspension and then closes when the vessel is lifted.

Bond

A state of adhesion.
The act of connecting two components by means of a glue or adhesive or to cause them to adhere
The junction of the weld metal and the base metal
The grip exerted by one material on another.
The attachment between two surfaces that have been joined.
The adhesion between concrete and its reinforcing steel, due partly to the shrinkage of the concrete in setting and partly to the natural adhesion between the surface particles of steel and concrete.
Link between atoms, considered to be electrical and arising from the distribution of electrons around the nuclei of bonded atoms.
The adherence of snow or ice to the road surface, creating a composite that is stronger than the snow or ice itself

See

Bonded abrasive: A grinding part which is made of very hard particles which have been glued together to form a wheel, bar, rod, or cone used to wear down or smooth metal.

Bonded brake lining: Brake lining that is attached to the brake shoe by an adhesive rather than by Rivets.

Bonded lining

Brake lining cemented to shoes or bands with high-temperature adhesive and cured under pressure and heat resulting in the elimination for the need for attaching rivets.
A lining which attaches to the Lining table or backing plate with a high-temperature adhesive cured under heat and pressure.

See

Mold Bonded Linings

Bonded Warehouse

A government approved storage center and under bond or guarantee for observance of revenue laws.
A storage center for goods waiting until duty is paid or are released in some other proper manner.

Bonded wire: Enameled insulated wire coated with thin plastic; after forming a coil, it is heated by a current or in an oven or both for the plastic to set and the coil to attain a solid permanent form.

Bonding

The electrical interconnection of metallic parts of an aircraft normally at ground potential for the safe distribution of electrical charges and currents. Protects against charges due to precipitation, static and electrostatic induction due to lightning strikes. Reduces interference and provides a low-resistance electrical return path for current in ground-return systems.
Joining structural parts by adhesive. May be performed at high temperature and pressure.
See
- Adhesive bonding
- Panel bonding
An electrical connection between adjacent lengths of armoring or across a joint.
The interactions between individual atoms and molecules.
See
- Chemical bond

Bonding agent

A material which provides adhesion.
The cement used to secure Bonded linings to a brake shoe.

Bonding clip: A clip used in wiring systems to make connection between the grounded metal sheath of different parts of the wiring, in order to ensure continuity of the sheath

Bonding method: A procedure of joining two components with adhesive.

Bonding range: The time during which a satisfactory bond can be made. It is usually expressed in two numbers, the first number being the time in minutes one must wait after applying adhesive before trying to bond the surfaces, and the latter number being the longest drying period within which satisfactory bonds can be made, usually ten to 30 minutes after applying the adhesive.

Bond length: The minimum length of reinforcing bar required to be embedded in concrete to ensure that the bond develops the full stress in the bar.

Bondo®: A body putty manufactured by 3M

Bond strength

The force or strength necessary to break a bond between two adhering surfaces or materials.
The intermolecular forces which hold matter together, particularly closely continguous surfaces of neighboring media, e.g., liquid in contact with a solid.

Also called Adhesion.

Bone

See

Boned

See

T-boned

Bone line: A hard, raised longitudinal peak in the sheetmetal, usually along the side of the car body and sharper and higher than a character line

Boning-in: A survey term describing the process of locating and driving in pegs so that they are in line and have their tops also in line; carried out by sighting between a near and a far peg previously set in the gradient desired.

Boning-rods: T-shaped rods used, in sets of three, to facilitate the process of Boning-in, two of the rods are held on the near and far pegs to establish a line of sight between them in the desired gradient, while the third is used to fix intermediate pegs in line.

Bonk: A term used to describe a condition experienced when running out of energy while riding a bicycle or running.

Bonnet

British term for vehicle hood to cover the front engine bay.
A wire-netting cowl covering the top of a ventilating pipe or chimney.
A movable protecting cover or cap of the valve-box of a pump.
The cover plate of a valve chamber.
The hood of forge.

See

Auto bonnet

Bonnet badge: British term for Hood badge

Bonnet bump rubber: British term for Hood bump rubber

Bonnet bumper: British term for hood bumper or Hood bump rubber

Bonnet landing panel: British term for Hood landing panel

Bonnet liner: British term for Hood liner

Bonnet lock: British term for Hood lock

Bonnet pin: British term for Hood pin

Bonnet pin kit: British term for Hood pin kit

Bonnet release: British term for Hood release

Bonnet stay: British term for Hood rod

Bonnet support: British term for Hood rod

Bonnet tape: British term for Hood tape

Bonus

See

No-claims bonus

BOO: BOO Abbreviation for Brake On / Off Switch — which warns the PCM that brakes are applied

Booby Hatch: A watertight covering over a deck opening used for a stairway or ladder

Boogie: Trucker slang for top gear as in ‘I’ve got ‘er up in the boogie now’

Book

See

Boom

Enhanced reverberation or resonance in an enclosed space at low frequencies.
A long beam such as the top and bottom members of a built up girder.
The main jib of a crane.
A lifting mechanism. May be mounted on or as part of the cargo body of a truck. Booms are common on utility trucks or flatbeds.
A spar holding the lower part of a fore-and-aft sail.
A spar attached to a yard to lengthen it
A barrier of logs to prevent the passage of a vessel.
A line of floating timbers used to form a floating harbor.
A pole marking a channel.
A length of flexible tubing to contain an oil spillage.
A long movable arm to carry a microphone or lamp above the action in film or television shooting.

See

Cargo Boom

Booming

A noise caused by interruptions to the flow of air such as an open windows.
Low pitched resonance, especially in the exhaust.
Thumping sound coming from large stereo woofers.

Boom Rest: A support for a boom when the boom is not in use.

Boom Step: A socket for the end of a boom

Boost

The amount of positive pressure created in an Intake system above normal atmospheric pressure by a turbocharger or supercharger. Normal atmospheric pressure is 14.7 psi. A Blower providing 10 psi boost increases the pressure to 24.7 psi. Boost is sometimes measured in atmospheres where one atmosphere equals 14.7 psi. Thus 24.7 psi is about 1.7 atmospheres.
See
- On boost
- Off-boost
The action of Jump starting one battery from another.
To increase power, charge, or pressure, etc.; or to amplify volume, audio sound, etc.
See
- Bass boost

Boost-activated ignition retard: On a turbocharged engine, a system which retards the ignition timing when the intake manifold is under pressure, in order to reduce the chance of detonation.

Boost control: A device regulating reciprocating-engine manifold pressure so that supercharged engines are not over-stressed at low altitude.

Boost-controlled deceleration device: (BCDD) A valve that, during deceleration, is triggered into action by high intake manifold vacuum the BCDD valve allows an additional source of air and fuel to enter the intake manifold during deceleration to obtain a more burnable mixture.

Boost control cut-out

See

Boost control override

Boost control override: In a supercharged piston aero-engine fitted with Boost control, a device (sometimes lightly wire-locked so that its emergency use can be detected), which allows the normal maximum manifold pressure to be exceeded. Also called boost control cut-out

Boost control valve

See

Blowoff valve

Booster

A radio device which amplifies the signal or the audio output to the speakers. Because of its size it is mounted in the glovebox, under the instrument panel, in the center console, under the seat, or in the trunk.
A device incorporated in vehicle system (such as brakes and steering), to increase the pressure output or decrease amount of effort required to operate, or both.
A common term applied to the case of a compressor when used as the first stage in the cascade refrigerating system.
A rocket engine, or cluster of engines, forming part of a launch system, either the first stage or auxiliary stage, used to provide an initial thrust greater than the total lift-off weight. Also called booster rocket.

See

Booster amplifier: Amplifier used especially to compensate loss in mixers and volume-controls, so as to obviate reduction in signal-to-noise ratio.

Booster battery: A second battery used in commercial vehicles to give a little more power when starting.

Booster cable

See

Jumper cables

Booster coil: A secondary ignition coil which increases the intensity of the spark.

Booster Dolly: A dolly usually at the rear of a truck or LCV and uses hydraulics to shift some of the load weight onto the rear dolly axles

Booster fan: A fan for increasing the pressure of air or gas; used for restoring the pressure drop in transmission pipes, and for supplying air to furnaces

Booster holding position: The point at which a booster maintains a constant level of power assist

Booster pump: A pump which maintains positive pressure between the fuel tank and the engine, thus intensifying the flow. Any pump to increase the pressure of the liquid in some part of a pipe circuit.

Booster rocket

See

Booster

Booster seat: A recommended seat for children who have outgrown a child safety seats. Children who fit that description should be properly restrained in booster seats in the back seat until they are at least 8 years old or more than 145cm tall. A booster seat positions a child so a safety belt can fit correctly. Without a booster seat, a small child can be ejected from a vehicle in a crash.

Booster station: Station which rebroadcasts a received transmission directly on the same wavelength

Booster transformer: A transformer connected in series with a circuit to raise or lower the voltage of the circuit.

Booster vacuum runout point: The point at which a Vacuum booster is supplying the maximum amount of power assist possible. Any additional braking force must be applied at the brake pedal.

Booster venturi: A small venturi located immediately above and concentric with the main venturi in a carburetor. Boosters are designed to amplify the weak venturi vacuum signal that occurs during low airflow conditions.

Boost gauge

An instrument or meter which indicates Boost pressure
An instrument for measuring the manifold pressure of a supercharged aero-engine in relation to ambient atmosphere or in absolute terms. Also used for racing and other car sports.

Boosting

See

Start boosting

Boost pressure: Pressure in the intake system of a supercharged engine when the supercharger operates. See the first definition of Boost.

Boost regulator: Voltage conversion device used to raise the voltage in a DC system.

Boost sensor: A sensing device in a supercharger. It is located in the choke tube which sends a signal to the ignition control unit according to pressure conditions. In turn, the control unit adjusts the ignition timing for the best performance.

Boost transformer

See

Buck transformer

Boost valve: A valve in a hydraulic system which increases the pressure.

Boot

British term for a trunk.
The rubber or plastic cover located at either end of the spark plug cable to insulate the connections between the cable ends and the spark plug and distributor terminal. Always grasp the cable by the boot when removing it.
See
- Spark plug boot
A flexible rubber or plastic cover used over the open ends of the Master cylinder and wheel cylinder to keep out water and other foreign matter
The protective cover of the Ball joint that holds the Grease.
The cover that protects the suspension forks on a bicycle or motorcycle from dirt and grime.
See
- Dust boot
A protective cover surrounding the Constant velocity joint
See
- CV joint boot
A simple protective device (sometimes a piece of tube, tire, etc., cut to size) placed between the casing and tube. It offers temporary protection for the tube against pinching by an injury in the casing. It is not a repair of the injury and is unsafe to use.
A covering over the lowered convertible top. It may be flexible (canvas or vinyl) or rigid (fiberglass or metal). Also called a top boot
A Denver boot, which is a device which clamps on the wheels of a parked car to immobilize it. Also called a Heavy yellow boot.
A colloquial term for the action of going very fast as in, We were booting along as fast as the snowmobile would go.
To accelerate rapidly as in, When the light turns green, boot it.

See

Denver Boot

Booted: A vehicle which has been disabled by a Denver boot is said to be booted.

Booted version: British term for Trunk model

Booth

See

Boot handle: British term for Trunk handle

Bootlid: British term for Trunk lid

Boot puller

See

Spark plug boot puller

Boots

See

Boot

Boot spoiler: British term for Trunk spoiler

Bootstrap: A self-sustaining system in liquid rocket engines by which the main propellants are transferred by a turbo-pump which is driven by hot gases. In turn the gas generator is fed by propellants from the pump.

Bootstrap circuit: A feedback circuit in which part of the output is fed back across the input giving effectively infinite input impedance and unity gain. Often used to improve the linearity of a voltage sweep generator.

Bootstrapping

The technique of using bootstrap feedback.

See

Bootstrap circuit

Boot tapping: The demarcation line between the two main colors of a ship’s paintwork, at or near the water line.

Boral sheet: A composite made of boron carbide crystals dispersed in aluminum and also faced with aluminum. Used as a neutron absorber.

Border-pile: A pile driven to support the sides of a coffer-dam

Border shopping

See

Canadian cross border shopping

Bore

The area of a cylinder hole through which a piston travels back and forth
The diameter or width of the cylinder.
The internal walls of the cylinder.
The circular hole along the axis of a pipe or machine part.
As a verb, it means to cut a circular hole.
With the word full it means to go fast.

See

Bored

To increase the diameter of the cylinder.

See

Stroked.

Bore diameter: The diameter of the cylinders. It is usually measured in either inches or millimetres. When a cylinder is bored out because of scored walls, it is increased by ten thou of an inch (0.01′) or 0.25 mm.

Bore-stroke ratio: The relation between the diameter of the cylinder bore and the length of the stroke of the piston. If the stroke is longer than the cylinder bore diameter then the engine is called a Long stroke engine. If the stroke is shorter than the cylinder bore diameter then the engine is called a Short stroke engine. If the stroke is the same as the distance of the cylinder bore diameter then the engine is called a Square engine

Borgward: Click image for books on
Borgward

A German automobile manufacturer which began by Carl F. W. Borgward in 1921.

Boring

The process of machining a cylindrical hole, performed in a lathe, boring machine, or boring mill; for large holes, or when great accuracy is required, it is preferable to using a drill.
Renewing the cylinders by cutting them out to a specified size, a Boring bar is used to make the cut.

Boring bar

A machine with a stiff bar that has multiple cutting bits used to cut engine cylinders to a specific size. As used in garages, to cut worn cylinders to a new diameter or bearing bores in proper alignment with each other.
A bar clamped to the saddle of a lathe or driven by the spindle of a Boring machine, and carrying the Boring tool.

Boring machine: A machine on which boring operations are performed, comprising a head, carrying a driving-spindle, and a table to support the work.

Boring mill: A vertical boring machine in which the boring bar is fixed, the work being carried by the rotating table.

Boring tool: The cutting tool used in boring operations. It is held in a Boring bar

Born-Oppenheimer approximation: An approximation used in considering the electronic behavior of molecules. The problems of the electronic and nuclear motion are treated separately.

Boron chamber: Counter tube containing boron fluoride, or boron-covered electrodes, for the detection and counting of low-velocity neutrons, which eject α-particles from the isotope boron-10. Also called boron counter.

Boron counter

See

Boron chamber

Borrow pit: Excavation which provides material to serve as fill when required.

Borsic: Boron fiber coated with silicon carbide

Bosh: The tapering portion of a Blast furnace, between the largest diameter (at the bottom of the stack) and the smaller diameter (at the top of the hearth).

Boss

Boss Boss

An extension or strengthened section or projection (usually cylindrical) that holds the end of a pin or shaft. For example, the holes in the piston through which the Piston pin is placed would easily break the thin walls of the piston when under pressure. The area around the hole (on the inner side of the piston) are strengthened to prevent breakage. This area is the Piston boss.
The curved swelling portion of the ship’s hull around the propeller shaft.

See

Bosses: The raised ledges or platforms on a backing plate that support the brake shoes

Boss Frame: A hull frame which is bent for clearing propeller shaft tube boss

Bossing mallet: A hammer with a pear-shaped wooden head used for shaping and stretching metal over a sandbag or wooden block.

Boss Plate: A shell shaped plate covering the curved portion of the hull where the propeller shaft passes outboard.

Botch

A repair job which is very poorly done.
To do a repair job poorly.

Botched-up job: A colloquial term for a poor repair which will not be permanent.

Bottle

A cargo tank of a truck or trailer designed to carry liquefied or compressed gases. Examples include bottled gas, propane, and butane.

See

Bottle cage: Bottle cage

A water bottle holding bracket which is mounted to the frame of bike either with a clamp or by screws into a pair of braze-on nuts

Bottled gas: (LPG) Liquefied petroleum gas or Propane) gas compressed into strong metal portable tanks. The gas, when confined in the tank, under pressure, is in liquid form.

Bottle jack: Bottle jack

A hydraulic lifting device which is in the shape of a bottle

Bottleneck

A traffic situation where the road narrows to the point where traffic is excessively slowed.
Product congestion in a warehouse where it is difficult to obtain the proper shipment at the right time

Bottom

The lowest point.
To lower something.
To reach the end of its travel (i.e., bottom out).
To make contact with the road.

See

Bottom bracket

Bottom bracket

Bicycle component that is inserted into the bottom bracket shell. The bottom bracket consists of the crank axle (bottom bracket spindle), ball bearings, and (in older style bottom brackets) a fixed cup and an Adjustable cup. Crankarms are bolted to the bottom bracket.

See

Bottom bracket shell: The barrel shaped portion of the frame into which the bottom bracket is inserted. The seat tube, down tube, and chain stays are connected to the bottom bracket shell.

Bottom bracket spindle: The axle to which both of the crankarms are attached. The spindle length is measured in millimetres from one end of the spindle to the other.

Bottom dead center

(BDC) The lowest point of the piston and Connecting rod travel in a cylinder. In a horizontally opposed engine, it is sometimes called the Outer dead center. Opposite to Top dead center.

See

Bottom deck: Assembly of deck boards comprising the lower, load bearing surface of the pallet.

Bottom Diameter: The diameter of a circle measured between one toothgap and the opposite gap for a sprocket with even number of teeth.

Bottom Dump: Dry bulk truck bodies which empty their load by means of gravity alone through the bottom. Also called hopper-bottom or belly dump

Bottom dumps: Trailers that unload through bottom grates.

Bottom end

All the moving parts in the crankcase and their bearings.
The bottom part of the engine, where the crankshaft and usually the transmission resides
The lower range of engine revolutions.

Bottom end gasket kit

All the gaskets below the base gasket (crankcase gaskets and inspection cover gaskets) and all the O-rings and replaceable spacers in the bottom end of an engine.

See

Top end gasket kit.

Bottom Freight: Heavy freight that must be loaded on the trailer floor and not on top of other merchandise.

Bottom gear: The lowest gear in a transmission.

Bottoming

A situation where the suspension reaches the end of its travel.
A situation where the lowest part of the chassis touches the ground, especially on a bump.
The lowest layer of foundation material for a road or other engineering works including structures.

Bottoming cycle: A waste-heat recovery boiler recaptures the unused energy and uses it to produce steam to drive a steam turbine generator to produce electricity.

Bottoming tap

Tapping threads in a blind hole

See

Plug tap

Bottom out: To reach the end of its travel.

Bottoms

A term used in connection with the Orford process for nickel and copper which have separated as sulfides. When the mixed sulfides are fused with sodium sulfide, the nickel sulfide separates to the bottom. Hence bottoms as distinct from tops.
In reverberatory furnace, the heavier molten material at the bottom of pool.

Bottom tank

In a thermosyphon water-cooling system, this is the bottom radiator tank.

See

Boucherot circuit: An arrangement of inductances and capacitances, whereby a constant-circuit supply is obtained from a constant-voltage circuit.

Bouchon: A hollow plug or bushing inserted in watch or clock plates to form the pivot holes.

Bouguer law of absorption: Law stating that the intensity p of a parallel beam of monochromatic radiation entering an absorbing medium is decreased at a constant rate by each infinitesimally thin layer db, i.e., -dp/p = kdb where k is a constant that depends on the nature of the medium and on the wavelength

Boulevard: Trucker slang for interstate highway as in ‘Once we hit the boulevard we can put some miles behind us.’

Bounce

When referring to valves, it indicates a condition where the valve is not held tightly closed in the seat even though the camshaft has not opened it. Also called Flutter or Valve bounce
When referring to a distributor, it indicates a condition where the points make erratic contact when they should remain closed.
See
- Contact bounce
When referring to suspension, it indicates an up-and-down motion called Jounce and rebound. You can test it by pushing down and releasing a corner of a vehicle.
The action of a vehicle dealer who increases the sale price of the vehicle, interest rate, monthly payments, etc.

Bouncing-pin detonation meter: An apparatus for determining quantitatively the degree of detonation occurring in the cylinder of a gasoline engine; used for fuel testing.

Boundary

See

Buffet boundary

Boundary film: A film of one constituent of an alloy surrounding the crystals of another.

Boundary layer: The thin layer of fluid (air) adjacent to the surface in which viscous forces exert a noticeable influence on the motion of the fluid and in which the transition between still air and the body’s velocity occurs.

Boundary layer control

Modification of the airflow in the Boundary layer to increase lift and/or decrease drag by various means:

removal of the boundary layer by sucking through slots or porous surfaces
use of vortex generators to re-energize sluggish surface flow
ejection of high-speed air through slits
blowing, by propulsion efflux, over wing surfaces

Boundary layer noise: The noise occurring at high speeds due to the oscillations in the turbulent boundary layer at many frequencies and heard in cockpit and cabin.

Boundary lights: Lights defining the boundary of the landing area.

Boundary lubrication: A state of partial lubrication which may exist between two surfaces in the absence of a fluid oil film, due to the existence of adsorbed mono-molecular layers of lubricant on the surfaces.

Bound charge: The induced static charge which is bound by the presence of the charge of opposite polarity which induces it. Also, in a dielectric, the charge arising from polarization. Also called surface charge.

Bound electron

See

Bound electrons

Bound electrons: Electrons in the inner orbits around the nucleus of the atom, they are difficult to move out of orbit.

Bound state: Quantum mechanical state of a system in which the energy is discrete and the wavefunction is localized, e.g., that of an electron in an atom, where transitions between the bound states give rise to atomic spectral lines.

Bourdon gauge

See

Pressure gauge

Bourdon tube: A circular, hollow piece of thin metal tubing that is used in some instruments, pressure on the hollow section causes it to attempt to straighten, the free end then moves a Needle on the gauge face. Used in pressure gauges.

Bow

A sliding type of current collector, used on electric vehicles to collect the current from an overhead contact-wire. It consists of a bow-shaped contact strip, mounted on a hinged framework.
A flexible strip of whalebone or cane, the ends of which are drawn together to give tension to a thread or line which is given a single turn around a pulley of a pair of turns, drill, or mandrel. It is used as a sensitive drive for these tools and was used traditionally for the making of accurate holes, esp. for clock pivots.
The forward ‘pointed’ end of a vessel.

See

Bow compasses

See

Spring bow

Bowden cable: A wire control cable within a metal or rubber sheath and used for activating a valve, clutch, choke, or accelerator.

Bowden gauge: Form of pressure-sensitive Transducer

Bowden-Thomson protective system: A form of protective system for feeders, in which special cables, with the cores surrounded by metallic sheaths, are employed; a fault causes current to flow in the sheath and operate a relay to trip the circuit.

Bowditch’s rule: A rule for the adjustment of closed compass traverses, in which it may reasonably be assumed that angles and sides are equally liable to error in measurement. According to this rule, the correction in latitude (or departure) of any line = (Length of that line divided by Perimeter of traverse) times Total error in latitude (or departure)

Bowed: A bent shape in an arc.

Bowl

See

Bowl vent

(BV) Connects the float bowl to the carburetor’s air inlet. Depressurizes the fuel being pumped into the float bowl by the fuel pump and acts as a vapor separator by allowing vapors in the float bowl to escape into the carburetor air inlet. Bowl vents are cut at a 45-deg angle and face incoming air so that reference pressure remains the same regardless of airflow.

See

Bowl vent port: (BVP) The port in the carburetor which vents fumes and excess pressure from the float bowl to maintain atmospheric pressure.

Bow nut

See

Wing nut

Bow propeller: A ship’s propeller whose thrust can be directed at right angles to the ship’s axis, used in docking and maneuvering in a confined space. Angular thrust can also be provided to the stern.

Bows

See

Spring bow

Bowser: A tanker used for refueling military ground vehicles or airplanes.

Bowsprit: A spar projecting forward from the bow of a vessel used to attach sails and stays.

Bowstring bridge: An arched bridge in which the horizontal thrust on the arch is taken by a horizontal tie joining the two ends of the arch.

Bowstring suspension: A form of suspension for the overhead contact-wire of an electric-tramway system, in which the contact-wire is suspended from a short cross-wire attached to the bracket-arm of the pole.

Bow thrusters: A propeller at the bow of the ship, used during maneuvering to provide transverse thrust.

Bow wave: The wave disturbance emanating from the leading edge of an object moving through fluid, esp. the V-shaped surface wave associated with boats moving through water.

Bow wow: A vehicle in very bad shape. A dog.

Bow-wow: A vehicle in very bad shape. A dog.

Box

A description of a vehicle shape in which each section is a box. For instance in a sedan, the engine section is the front box, the passenger compartment is the middle box, and the trunk is the third box–thus a sedan is a three-box configuration. A station wagon or SUV is a two-box. A minivan is a one-box.
Colloquial term for a vehicle transmission.
See
- Crash gearbox
A term for an electrical or electronic device.
See
A silencer.
A colloquial term for a trailer or container for ocean carriers.
The enclosed cargo space of a truck or trailer.

See

Box annealing: Heating to soften work-hardened material by placing the work in a sealed box inside the furnace in order to exclude air. Also called close annealing.

Box baffle: Box, with or without apertures and damping, one side fitted with an open diaphragm loudspeaker unit, generally coil-driven.

Box chronometer: The marine chronometer. The chronometer is normally supported on gimbals, inside a wooden box with a hinged lid.

Box culvert: A culvert having a rectangular opening.

Boxed rod: A Connecting rod in which the I-beam section has been stiffened by welding plates on each side of the rod.

Boxer: A two-cylinder engine with the pistons opposing each other, resembling fists flying away from each other.

Boxer engine: A Horizontally opposed engine.

Box-frame motor: A traction motor in which the frame is cast in one piece instead of being split

Box member: A structural part made as a Box section

Box nut

See

Cap nut

Box-Out Repairs: Cracked areas of the pavement are milled out and filled with asphalt concrete. This type of repair may be performed on up to 20% of the pavement surface. A ‘train’ approach is used with a machine to mill out the broken areas, a grader and skid steer to remove the old material, a paving machine to place the new material, a roller for compaction, etc. Several days may be spent to perform this treatment on a mile of roadway. The work is often followed by the application of a surface treatment.

Box section: A closed panel structure of square cross section which is used to strengthen a vehicle’s underbody.

Box Section Construction: A construction formed of two U-channels joined together to create a long box. It is used in frames where greater strength is required than is provided by a U-channel.

Box spanner: A British term for a hollow tube with a socket at each end and two holes through which a bar can be inserted to turn the wrench. The bar is called a T-bar; but the British call it a Tommy bar

Box tool: A single-point cutting tool, set radially or tangentially, used in automatic screw machines and in capstan and turret lathes.

Box-type brush-holder

See

Brush-box

Box van: A British term for a Cube van with a large cargo box behind the driver’s cab.

Box wrench: A tool designed to secure or remove a bolt or nut. Each end of the wrench fits around the bolt head or nut. British term for ring spanner. In contrast, see Open end wrench.

Boxy: A derogatory description of a car that has square angles instead of smooth curved lines.

Boy

See

Low boy

Boyle’s Law: Law of physics which states that the volume of a gas varies as pressure varies, if temperature remains the same. Example, if absolute pressure is doubled on the quantity of gas, the volume is reduced one half. If the volume becomes doubled, the gas has its pressure reduced by half.

Boyle temperature: Temperature at which the second viral coefficient of a gas changes sign. Close to this temperature, Boyle’s law provides a good approximation to the equation of the state of the gas.

Boy racer: A low-cost car without much sophistication or performance; but it does have a very sleek and sporty appearance.

Boy’s camera: A camera for photographing lightning flashes, gyrating lenses separating the strokes.

Boy scouts: Trucker slang for State police as in ‘There’s a bunch of boyscouts waiting for you at the 157.’

BP

Abbreviation for Barometric pressure
Abbreviation for Barometric absolute pressure sensor
Abbreviation for Barometric pressure sensor
Abbreviation for Between perpendiculars
Abbreviation for Boiling point

BPA

Abbreviation for bypass air valve
Abbreviation for Bypass air solenoid
Abbreviation for British Parachute Association
Abbreviation for Mechanical Bypass Air

B-particle

See

Beta particle

BPCSV: Abbreviation for bypass control solenoid valve

B-pillar: B-pillar

The center body pillar on sedans. It connect the sills and provides roof support. Sometimes referred to as simply post, as in 1957 Chevy two-door post. On a true Hardtop design these pillars are missing, leaving uninterrupted glass area along the sides of the car. Also called B-post.

B pillar

See

B-post

B post

See

B-post.

B-post: B-post

The center body post on sedans. It connect the sills and provides roof support. Sometimes referred to as simply post, as in 1957 Chevy two-door post. On a true Hardtop design these pillars are missing, leaving uninterrupted glass area along the sides of the car. Also called B-pillar.

BPP: Abbreviation for Brake Pedal Position Switch

BPS

Abbreviation for Exhaust back pressure valve
Abbreviation for Back Pressure Sensor

BPT: Abbreviation for Back-Pressure Transducer

BPV

Abbreviation for Bypass valve
Abbreviation for Exhaust back pressure transducer valve

BPW: Abbreviation for Brake Pulse Width

Symbol for the SI unit of radioactivity.
See

Becquerel

BR: Abbreviation for Business Route — a road through the main part of a municipality.

Bra

Bra Bra

A protective cover, usually of leather or vinyl, which is mounted to the front of a vehicle to protect the finish from stones.

See

Stealth Bra

Brace

A support beam to give reinforcement between two objects.
A member connecting two nodes of a structure out of plane with the main members, for stiffening purposes. Depending on the applied loads it may be subject to tensile or compressive forces. Also called swaybrace.

See

Bracing

To stiffen something by using a Brace.
The staying or supporting rods or ties which are used in the construction or strengthening of a structure.
A Brace.
Wood or metal supports used to secure freight in place when loaded on a trailer.

See

Bracing wires: The wires used to support the wings of biplanes and the earlier monoplanes.

Bracket

A support device which is often a right-angled shape or triangle shape designed to support or mount something

See

Bracket arms: The transverse projecting arms on the poles, for supporting the overhead contact wire equipment for a tramway or railway system.

Bracket set

See

Chassis bracket set

Bracket shell

See

Bottom bracket shell

Bracket spindle

See

Bottom bracket spindle

Bracket Splined

See

Splined bottom bracket

Bracket Square Tapered

See

Square tapered bottom bracket

Braided hose: A rubber hose which is covered in a woven material or braided wire. Used for various hoses under the hood.

Brake

To slow down a vehicle.
The mechanism that converts motion (Kinetic energy) into heat energy through friction. The most common instance is found in the wheels of cars where the brake shoes or disc pads are designed to press against the Brake drum or Brake disc.

See

Brake actuator

A unit which converts hydraulic pressure, air pressure, vacuum, or electrical current or other forms of energy to a force which applies a brake.

See

Spring Type Brake Actuator

Brake actuator cam: A small cam that pivots in the brake backing plate and forces the brake shoes into the brake drum.

Brake adjuster

A device which moves the brake drum shoes closer to or further apart from the drum.
A device or mechanism used to set and maintain the proper clearance between the brake lining and drum.

Brake adjusting spanner: A British term for Brake wrench

Brake adjusting wrench: A tool used to adjust the brake shoes.

Brake anchor: A steel Stud or pin upon which one end of the brake shoes is either attached to or rests against. The anchor is firmly affixed to the backing plate.

Brake, anti-lock

See

Anti-lock brakes

Brake antiroll device

See

Brake anti-roll device

Brake anti-roll device: A unit installed in the brake system to hold Brake line pressure when the vehicle is stopped on an upgrade, when the vehicle is stopped on the upgrade and the brake pedal released, the anti-roll device will keep the brakes applied until either the clutch is released or as on some models, the accelerator is depressed.

Brake Application

See

Start Of Brake Application

Brake assembly: An assembly of the non-rotational components of a brake including its mechanism for development of friction forces.

Brake backing plate: Brake backing plate

A rigid metal (steel) plate, located inside the Brake drum, on which the wheel cylinder, brake shoes, and other brake parts are mounted. The braking force applied to the shoes is absorbed by the backing plate.

Brake balance

The ratio of front-to-rear braking force.
The split of braking power between the front and rear axles. Proper brake balance allows the driver to use the full braking ability at all four wheels when stopping the car.

Brake band

A band, faced with Brake lining, that encircles a Brake drum, it is used on several Parking brake installations. It differs from brake shoes in that brake shoes squeezes against the inside surface of a drum while a brake band squeezes against the outside surface of a drum.
A flexible circular metal band which surrounds a brake drum and contracts around it to create the friction necessary to stop the vehicle. The rubbing surface of a brake band is faced with a brake lining material.

Brake bias: The front/rear distribution of a vehicle’s braking power. For the shortest stopping distance, Brake bias should match the vehicle’s traction at each end during hard braking brake modulation — the process of varying pedal pressure to hold a vehicle’s brakes on the verge of Lockup. Ideally, the brakes will unlock with only a slight reduction in the pressure needed to lock them. Typically, however, a considerable pressure reduction is required.

Brake bleeder: A valve attached to each wheel brake. This valve can be opened and closed to allow air to be removed or bled from the Brake lines.

Brake bleeding

See

Bleeding the brakes

Brake block

A molded piece of friction material attached to shoes and pads to serve as the brake lining.

See

Brake pad

Brake booster

Brake booster

A mechanical device which attaches to the brake system to multiply the force the driver applies with his foot (or hand as in the case of a motorcycle). The device uses air, vacuum, or hydraulic fluid to accomplish this purpose. Sometimes called power assisted brakes, vacuum assisted brakes, hydraulically assisted brakes, or just Power brakes. In most cars, the Boost comes from engine Intake vacuum. In motorcycles it comes from hydraulic fluid.
A device using a supplementary power source to reduce pedal (or lever) force in a hydraulic brake system.
An arch (usually built from aluminum or carbon fiber) which attaches to the brake bosses of a bicycle in conjunction with the brake. The powerful braking force of V-Brakes or linear pull brakes can cause frames and forks to flex and waste energy which could have been applied to the rims. The booster acts as a brace to prevent frame flex induced during braking.

See

Brake boss: The brazed-on pivots attached to frames and forks for cantilever and V style brakes. Shift lever bosses are brazed-on pivots for down-tube-mounted shift levers. Most newer ‘road’ bicycles have the shifters mounted on the handlebars, so they use the old-style lever bosses as attachment points for housing stops.

Brake cable

A wire cable which activates the brakes. Used on motorcycles, trailers, and automobile parkbrakes.
A wound steel cable running from the brake levers of a bicycle to the brake calipers.

Brake cable housing: The outer, colored housing into which a brake cable is inserted.

Brake caliper

The component of a disc brake that converts hydraulic pressure into mechanical energy.
The device in a disc brake that converts hydraulic pressure back into the mechanical force used to apply the brake pads against the rotor.

See

calipers

Brake chamber: A unit in which a diaphragm converts pressure to mechanical force for actuating a brake.

Brake check: Trucker slang for jamming on your brakes in traffic as in ‘Watch out we’re doing a break check up ahead.’

Brake check valve

See

Check valve

Brake console

See

Parking brake console

Brake Control

See

Brake controller

See

Anti-lock brake controller

Brake cylinder

A cylinder containing a movable piston actuated by hydraulic pressure to push fluid through the lines and wheel cylinders and force the brake lining or pads against a drum or disc.
A unit in which a piston converts pressure to mechanical force for actuation of a brake.

See

Brake disc

The component of a disc brake that rotates with the wheel and is squeezed by the brake caliper and pads, which creates friction and converts the energy of the moving vehicle into heat.
The parallel-faced, circular, rotational member of a brake acted upon by the friction material.
A British term for Brake rotor.

See

Brake disc type

A braking system that instead of using the conventional Brake drum with internal brake shoes, uses a steel disc with caliper type lining application, when the brakes are applied, a section of lining on each side of the spinning disc is forced against the disc thus imparting a braking force. This type of brake is very resistant to Brake fade.

See

disc brake

Brake Distribution

See

Electronic Brake Distribution

Brake dive

The action of the front end of a vehicle as it dips down when the brakes are applied. Opposite to Squat.

See

Brake drag: Failure of the brakes to release completely when the driver’s foot is removed from the pedal.

Brake drum

Brake drum

A Cast iron or Aluminum Housing bolted to the wheel, that rotates around the brake shoes. When the shoes are expanded, they rub against the machined inner surface of the brake drum and exert a braking effect upon the wheel to slow or stop the vehicle. In some cases an external band surrounds the drum to reduce the motion of the wheel.
The rotating cylindrical component of a drum brake system on which the brake shoes act to slow or stop the vehicle.

See

Brake drum lathe: A machine to refinish the inside of a Brake drum.

Brake dust: The fine particles created as the brake linings wear down in normal use. Brake dust usually contains dangerous amounts of asbestos

Brake dynamometer: A device that measures the power and torque of an engine by restricting its speed (braking) so as to gauge its output

Brake effectiveness buildup: A temporary increase in brake effectiveness during a stop or Snub.

Brake efficiency: The retarding force expressed as a percentage of the total vehicle weight

Brake extension

See

Park brake extension

Brake fade

Reduction or loss in braking force due to loss of friction between brake shoes and Drum (or Brake pads and disc). Caused by heat buildup through repeated or prolonged brake application.
The partial or total loss of braking power that occurs when excessive heat reduces friction between the brake linings and the rotor or drum.

See

Brake failure: The total inability of the brakes to function. May be caused by worn out pads or shoes, broken hydraulic lines, broken cable or other linkage, non-functioning master cylinder, low or empty brake fluid reservoir, etc.

Brake feel: A discernible, to the driver, relationship between the amount of brake pedal pressure and the actual braking force being exerted. A special device is incorporated in Power brake installations to give the driver this feel.

Brake fluid

A special fluid used in Hydraulic brake systems to stop or slow the vehicle. Never use something else in place of regular fluid. Brake fluid must be resistant to heating, freezing, and thickening. There are four types of brake fluid on the market.

See

Silicone brake fluid

Brake fluid level indicator: A unit in a hydraulic brake system which indicates the amount of brake fluid.

Brake fluid level warning switch assembly: A unit used to actuate a warning device indicating a reservoir fluid level lower than a preset value.

Brake fluid reservoir: In an automobile, it is a translucent tank located in front of the master cylinder. It usually has two chambers containing brake fluid. In a motorcycle, it may be found on the handlebar (for the front brake) or near the back of the bike (for the rear brake).

Brake fluid warning light: Indicator light located in the instrument cluster used to indicate a problem in the brake hydraulic system.

Brake flushing: Cleaning the brake system by flushing with alcohol or brake fluid. This is done to remove water, dirt, old brake fluid, or any other contaminant. Flushing fluid is placed in the master cylinder and forced through the lines and wheel cylinders where it exits at the cylinder Bleed screws.

Brake gauge

See

Disc brake gauge

Brake handle: A hand-operated lever which, when actuated, causes the brake(s) to be applied.

Brake hood: Brake hood

A plastic, rubber, or leather covering mounted around the brake levers to keep out the dust and to provide a non-abrasive placement for the hands during cycling

Brake horsepower

(bhp) A measurement of the actual usable power (not calculated power) measured at the output shaft (usually the crankshaft) rather than at the driveshaft or the wheels. Thus none of the auxiliaries (gearbox, generator, alternator, differential, water pump, etc.) are attached. It is called the brake horsepower because the shaft power is usually measured by an absorption dynamometer or brake. This is not the brake on the vehicle’s wheels but a testing device applied to the shaft. This instrument is applied to stop or absorb the rotation of the output shaft and returns a value. One bhp = 746W or (approx) 3 bhp = 4kW.

See

Brake hose: A flexible high-pressure hose that is reinforced. It connects between the brake pipes and the brake assembly. It needs to be flexible because of the constant movement of the suspension.

Brake hose coupler: A separable mechanical connector for a brake hose between the towing and the towed vehicle.

Brake judder: A condition where the brake pads make intermittent contact because of a worn rotor. It sounds and feels like rapid vibration. It is also the normal condition in an ABS brake system when the brake is applied (often to the surprise of the driver) as the ABS system rapidly engages and disengages the pressure of the brake pads on the rotor.

Brake lathe

The machine used to resurface the friction surfaces of brake discs or drums.
A machine used to refinish brake drums and disc brake rotors.

Brake lever

Brake lever

A blade attached to the right side of a motorcycle handlebar which usually activates the front brake.
A device for activating the park brake.
A curved blade found on either side of a bicycle handlebar which activates the front or rear brakes.

See

Brake Lever Combo

See

Shifters brake Lever Combo

Brake lever strut

See

Parking brake lever strut

Brake light

A red light at the rear of the vehicle which is activated when the brakes are applied. Also called stop light.

See

Brake light switch: An electrical switch, operated either mechanically or hydraulically (depending on the car) causes the brake lights to come on when the brakes are activated.

Brake line

See

Brake lines

Brake lines

A system of hoses and metal tubes through which the brake fluid flows from the master cylinder to the brake calipers at each wheel. Cracks or breaks in these lines will cause the fluid to leak out and result in loss of brakes.
Small-diameter rigid steel tubing used to channel hydraulic pressure from the Master cylinder to the wheel cylinder or caliper in a brake system. May have either a double or ISO flaring at fittings.

Brake lining

A heat-resistant friction material (usually asbestos) that is attached to the brake shoe (either riveted or bonded). When the shoe is pressed against the Brake drum, the lining grabs the inside of the drum, which stops the vehicle and also prevents the drum and the shoe from wearing each other away.
A special friction material with which brake shoes or brake pads are lined. It withstands high temperatures and pressures. The molded material is either riveted or bonded to the brake shoe, with a suitable coefficient of friction for stopping a vehicle.

See

Brake lining wear sensor: A unit used to actuate a warning device indicating a brake lining thickness less than a preset value.

Brake lock

See

Steering wheel and brake lock

Brake magnet: A permanent magnet or electromagnet which produces a braking effect, either by inducing eddy currents in a moving conductor or by operating a mechanical brake by means of a solenoid.

Brake master cylinder: Click image to supersize
Brake master cylinder

The part of the Hydraulic brake system which stores the brake fluid. As the brake pedal is applied pressure is forced against a small movable piston in the master cylinder to push hydraulic fluid through the lines to the wheel cylinders and force the Brake linings against the Drum (in the case of drum brakes) or force the Brake pads against the disc (in the case of disc brakes).

Brake mean effective pressure

(BMEP)

The average pressure in the cylinders of an engine divided by its mechanical efficiency, i.e., the ratio of the power actually delivered at an output shaft to the power developed in the cylinders. It is used as an indication of torque.
That part of the Indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) developed in an engine cylinder output equal to the brake horsepower of the engine; the product of IMEP and mechanical efficiency.
The work accomplished during one engine cycle divided by the engine swept volume. It is essentially the engine torque normalized by the engine displacement. The word brake denotes the actual torque/power available at the engine flywheel as measured on a dynamometer. Thus, BMEP is a measure of the useful power output of the engine.

Brake Metering Valve: Click image to supersize
Brake metering valve

In order to insure that the back drum brakes apply at about the same time as the front discs and that the drum brakes do an equal amount of work during light stopping, a metering valve is placed in the line to the disc brakes. The metering valve prevents brake fluid movement to the discs until a specified number of psi has been built up in the system. By the time the system pressure reaches this point, the force of the heavy drum brake shoe retracting springs has been overcome, and the shoes are starting to contact the drum. The metering valve then opens and allows fluid pressure to apply the disc brakes. No residual pressure is maintained in the front disc system.

Brake pad

Automotive Brake pad

The friction material or lining which is secured to metal plates. They press against the Brake disc or rotor to enable the wheel to stop. They are to be distinguished from brake shoes which press against the inside of a Drum.
Bicycle Brake Pad

On a bicycle, brake pads are blocks of rubber-like material fastened to the end of the brake caliper; they press against the wheel rim when the brakes are applied. Also called brake block. Sometimes the term brake pad refers to both the pad and the metal backing.

See

Brake pads

See

brake pad

Brake pad wear indicator: A device which detects the thickness of the brake pad by using an L-shaped strap which will scrape against the disc when the pad thickness is below tolerance. Others use an electrical circuit in which a worn pad closes an electrical circuit that illuminates a light on the instrument panel.

Brake parachute: Parachute attached to the tail of some high-performance aircraft and streamed as a brake for landing. Sometimes a ribbon canopy is used for greater strength and on large aircraft a cluster of two or three is required to give sufficient area with convenient stowage. Also called landing parachute and parabrake.

Brake pedal

Click image to supersize
Brake pedal

A foot operated device which engages the brakes to stop or slow the rotation of the wheels.

See

Brake pipe

A steel pipe used to transmit the brake fluid.

See

Flexible brake pipe

Brake piston: On a motorcycle, pressure from the brake lever (when squeezed) forces the brake fluid to flow from the master cylinder down through the brake line and into the caliper. The pressure of the brake fluid causes the piston to push the brake pad to rub against the disc, thus stopping movement of the motorcycle.

Brake piston tool: Brake piston tool

A disk brake tool used to rotate the piston back into the caliper when replacing pads

Brake, power

See

Brake power assist

A device installed in a hydraulic brake system that reduces pedal effort.

See

Air Hydraulic Brake Power-assist Unit

Brake pressure modulator valve: (BPMV) A combined assembly of the electronic control unit and hydraulic control unit, used in some General Motors vehicles. Also called the Electro-Hydraulic Control Unit (EHCU).

Brake Pressure Type Check Valve

See

Residual Brake Pressure Type Check Valve

Brake puck

See

brake pads

Brake pucks

See

brake pads

Brake pulling: A situation where the vehicle moves to one side when the brakes are applied. It is usually due to uneven application of the brakes from side to side.

Brake, parking

See

Brake proportioning valve: Brake proportioning valve

A valve that limits braking force to the front or rear wheels, usually as a function of pedal effort or line pressure, loading of the vehicle or front-rear weight transfer, to prevent wheel locking and provide the most effective braking.

Brake retarder: An auxiliary energy conversion system used to supplement the Service brake unit on a moving vehicle.

Brake rod: A long rod which connects between the brake pedal and the brake actuating lever.

Brake rotor

The Brake disc which is attached to the wheel and is surrounded by a brake caliper.

See

Brakes, cantilever

See

Cantilever brakes

Brake servo: A device which multiplies the driver’s physical effort in applying the brakes by using manifold vacuum.

Brake servo unit

See

Brake servo

Brake shoe

Click image to supersize
Brake Shoe

That part of the brake system, located at the wheels, upon which the Brake lining is attached. There are usually two shoes (curved or arc-shaped pieces) in each wheel. When the wheel cylinders are actuated by hydraulic pressure they force the brake shoes apart and bring the lining into contact with the Brake drum. In this way the vehicle is slowed or stopped. On a bicycle, it is the metal part that holds a Brake pad and is bolted to the end of a brake caliper.
A crescent-shaped (for drum brakes) or a square/rectangular (for disc brakes) piece of metal faced with brake lining material and forced against the revolving drum or disc to create friction. In a disc brake system, the brake shoe may be called a brake pad.

See

Brake shoe grinder: A grinder used to grind brake shoe lining so that it will be square to and Concentric with the Brake drum.

Brake shoe heel: That end of the brake shoe closest to the Anchor bolt or pin.

Brake shoe hold-downs: Spring-loaded retainers that hold brake shoes against the backing plate.

Brake shoe return spring: A spring which is attached to the two brake shoes. After the brake is applied, this spring pulls the shoes away from the drum.

Brake shoes: The components of a drum brake assembly that are surfaced with brake lining and forced against the brake drum to generate friction.

Brake shoe toe: The free end of the shoe, it is not attached to or resting against an Anchor pin.

Brake shudder: A condition where the brake pads make intermittent contact because of a worn rotor. It sounds and feels like rapid vibration. It is also the normal condition in an ABS brake system when the brake is applied (often to the surprise of the driver) as the ABS system rapidly engages and disengages the pressure of the brake pads on the rotor.

Brake snub: The act of retarding a motor vehicle between two positive speed values by the use of a brake system

Brake snubbing time: Time elapsed during a brake snub from the start of brake application to the instant the lower speed value is reached.

Brake Specific Fuel Consumption: (BSFC) The ratio of the engine fuel consumption to the engine power output (as measured at the flywheel). BSFC has units of grams of fuel per kilowatt-hour (g/kWh) or pounds mass of fuel per brake horsepower-hour (lb/bhp-hr). BSFC is a measure of engine efficiency.

Brakes, power

See

Power brakes

Brake stopping distance: Distance traveled by a motor vehicle from the start of a brake application to the point at which the motor vehicle reaches a complete stop.

Brake stopping time: Time elapsed by a motor vehicle from the start of a brake application to the instant the motor vehicle reaches a complete stop

Brake Supply Line

See

Vacuum Brake Supply Line

Brakes V

See

V-brakes

Brake system

A system that uses hydraulic pressure to enable your vehicle to slow and stop safely. Consists of the master cylinder, Brake lines, and disc or drum brakes at each wheel.

See

Brake system actuation distance: The distance traveled between the start of brake application and the instant at which a specified brake system pressure is obtained

Brake system actuation time: The time elapsed between the start of brake application and the instant at which a specified brake system pressure is obtained

Brake system cleaner: A type of solvent designed exclusively for cleaning brake system components. It will not destroy plastic, rubber, or synthetic rubber components and it dries quickly, without leaving a residue.

Brake test: A testing procedure which determines the efficiency of a vehicle’s brakes in order to pass safety tests.

Brake thermal efficiency: The efficiency of an engine reckoned in terms of the brake horsepower; given by the ratio of the heat equivalent of the brake output to the heat supplied to the engine in the fuel or steam.

Brake thermo efficiency: The ratio of the useful power output of an engine to the fuel energy per unit time.

Brake torquing: A procedure generally used in performance tests to improve the off-the-line acceleration of a vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission. It is executed by firmly depressing the brake with the left foot, applying the throttle with the vehicle in gear to increase engine rpm, then releasing the brakes. Brake torquing is particularly effective with turbocharged cars because it helps overcome Turbo lag.

Brake Valve

See

Service Brake Valve

Brake warning light: An indicator light on the instrument panel which indicates problems such as low fluid level in the brake fluid reservoir, a malfunction in any of the hydraulic brake circuits, or excessive wear of the brake pads or shoes. It also illuminates when the parkbrake is applied. When the ignition is first started, the light will illuminate momentarily to show that the light is working.

Brake Warning Switch Assembly

See

Parking Brake Warning Switch Assembly

Brake wear indicator: Index grooves, tabs, or reference lines to indicate the amount of brake pad or lining that is still remaining or has been used up.

Brake wrench: A wrench which is used to adjust the brake shoes. The British call it a brake adjusting spanner

Braking

The action of operating the devices for slowing the motion of a vehicle.

See

Braking distance

A measurement of the distance that a vehicle will travel from the time the brakes are first applied to the actual moment it stops.

See

Stopping distance

Braking effect

See

Engine braking effect

Braking efficiency: Braking effort as a percentage of the weight of the vehicle.

Braking effort: The amount of strength needed by the operator to bring a vehicle to a stop or the amount of resistance in the brake system.

Braking force

The amount of strength needed by the operator to bring a vehicle to a stop or the amount of resistance in the brake system.

See

Equivalent Braking Force

Braking force ratio: The sum of the retarding forces developed by each braked wheel divided by the as tested gross mass of the vehicle or combination.

Braking notches: Positions of the angle of a drum-type controller which apply some form of electric braking.

Braking ratio: The distribution of braking effort between the front and rear wheels.

Braking system

All the components that contribute to stopping the vehicle.

See

Braking time

See

Active braking time

Braking Torque

The torque required to bring an electric motor down from running speed to a standstill.
The torque developed by an electric motor during dynamic braking conditions

Branch

An alternative mode of radioactive decay.
Electric components comprising a minimum path between junction points of common connection in a network. Also called arm

Branch-circuit: A circuit branched off a main circuit.

Branching: The existence of two or more modes or branches by which a radionuclide an undergo radioactive decay, e.g., copper-64 can undergo β^–, β⁺ and electron-capture decay

Branch jack

See

Jack

Branch switch: A term used in connection with electrical installation work to denote a switch of any type for controlling the current in a branch circuit.

Branded product: A refined petroleum product sold by a refiner with the understanding that the purchaser has the right to resell the product under a trademark, trade name, service mark, or other identifying symbol or names owned by such refiner.

Brand number: A series of identifying numbers and letters which some companies burn into the sidewall rubber of a truck tire to show their initials, mounting date, etc.

Brasilsat: A Brazilian communications satellite system

Brass

An alloy of copper and zinc, but other elements such as aluminum, iron, manganese, nickel, tin, and/or lead are frequently added. There are numerous varieties. It is non-magnetic with good strength and toughness, high electrical conductivity, and an attractive lustrous finish. It has good corrosion resistance but not in salt water. Brass is commonly used by the electrical and communications industries, builders hardware, and some marine applications.

See

Brass Car: A vehicle built prior to 1915 sometimes called the brass era because of the widespread use of fancy brass fittings and brass lanterns that were a natural addition to the new ‘horseless carriage.’ The Brass era lasted from around 1905 to 1914. This was the beginning of mass produced affordable vehicles for the common public rather than the domain of the elite. Also called an Antique car

Brasses: Those parts of a bearing which provide a renewable wearing surface; they consist of a sleeve or bored block of brass split diametrically, the two halves being clamped into the bearing block by a cap.

Brass hammer: Brass Hammer

A hammer with a brass head which is used to pound steel pins etc. into place without damaging them because the brass head is softer than steel.

Brass punch: A Drift or punch made of brass which is used to remove bushings and bearing races because brass does not score or mark steel.

Brass Thread

See

British Standard Brass Thread

Braun tube: Original name for Cathode-ray tube, after K. F. Braun (1850-1918) the inventor.

Bravada: Click image for books on
Oldsmobile Bravada

A model of an SUV automobile built by Oldsmobile from 1991-2004

Brayton cycle: A constant-pressure cycle of operations used in gas turbines.

Braze: To join two pieces of metal together by heating the edges to be joined and then melting drops of brass or bronze on the area. Unlike welding, this operation is similar to soldering, except a higher melting point material is used.

Braze on

See

Braze-ons

Braze-on

See

Braze-ons

Braze-ons

Parts for mounting shift levers, cable guides, pump pegs, chain hangers, front and rear eyelets, derailleurs, water bottle Cages, and racks, which are fastened to a bicycle frame through a type of Soldering process known as brazing.

See

Front Derailleur Braze-on

Braze welding: Making an adhesion groove, fillet, or plug connection with a brazing alloy.

Brazing

Making an adhesion groove, fillet, or plug connection with a brazing alloy, brass, spelter, or Brazing solder between the adjoining surfaces.

See

Silver Brazing

Brazing solders: Alloys used for brazing. They include copper-zing (50-55% copper), copper-zinc-silver (16-52% copper, 4-38% zinc, and 10-80% silver), and nickel-silver alloys.

Brazing flux: Substance applied to surfaces to be joined by brazing or soldering to keep oxides from forming and to produce joints.

Breadth

See

Beam

Breadth coefficient

See

Distribution factor

Breadth factor

See

Distribution factor

Break

The action of an item when it no longer holds integrity — usually resulting in unusable pieces.
The shortest distance between the contacts of a switch, circuit breaker, or similar apparatus, when the contacts are in the fully open position.
To dismantle a vehicle for parts.
To separate as when a switch breaks contact when it is shut off
Trucker slang for ‘I’d like to break-in’ or ‘interrupt’ as in ‘Can I get a break?’

See

Break-10: Trucker slang for ‘I want to talk (on channel 10)’ as in ‘Can I get a break one-oh?’

Break away

See

Breakaway

Breakaway

The action of a wheel when it turns very rapidly and loses traction so that there is no contact with the ground. Bias-belted tires and radial tires resist the breakaway action better than a bias ply tire.

See

Spark breakaway

Breakaway barricade: Breakaway barricade

A road obstruction which is designed to warn motorists that the road is unpassable or that there is construction in a particular lane. It is easily dismantled (thus breakable).

Break Bulk

To unload, sort, and reload some or all contents of a vehicle in transit.
To reduce a large shipment of a single commodity to many small shipments, which are then dispersed to various buyers.

Breakbulk vessel: A general, multipurpose, cargo ship that carriers cargoes of nonuniform sizes.

Break down

To cease to operate as in our car broke down on the highway.
To lose its insulating effectiveness. The sudden passage of current through an insulating material at Breakdown voltage.

Breakdown

A failure of a mechanism or vehicle as in we had a breakdown on the highway.
A loss of insulating effectiveness. The sudden passage of current through an insulating material at Breakdown voltage.

Breakdown crane: A portable jib crane carried on a railway tram or tow-truck, for rapid transit to the scene of an accident.

Breakdown diode

See

Zener diode

Breakdown recovery: Rescue of a vehicle that has suffered a breakdown by towing it to a service station, etc.

Breakdown service: A service provided by a tow-truck in providing repairs at the place where the breakdown occurred.

Breakdown Time: A type of penalty pay which is incurred when equipment breaks down.

Breakdown Torque: The maximum torque of an electric motor that will develop at rated voltage without a relatively abrupt drop or loss in speed

Breakdown truck: A tow-truck.

Breakdown voltage: (BDV) The potential difference at which a marked increase in the current through an insulator or a semiconductor occurs.

Breaker

A person who dismantles a vehicle for parts. Also called a dismantler.
A cushioning layer between the belt layers and the tread in radial tires.
A device for removing contact.
A Circuit breaker
The tread bracing part of tire.
Trucker slang for a CB’er who asks to use a channel as in ‘Who’s that breaker out there?’

See

Breaker arm: The movable part of a pair of Contact points in a distributor or magneto.

Breaker cam: Breaker cam

The lobed cam rotating in the ignition system which interrupts the Primary circuit to induce a high tension spark for Ignition.

Breaker gap

See

Contact breaker gap

Breakerless transistorized ignition: A distributor or ignition system where the mechanical switching device (such as points or contacts) are replaced by an electronic switching device through the use of transistors. They are also called contactless or all-electronic ignitions.

Breaker plate

The movable plate inside the distributor to which the points and the condenser are attached.
Device fitted in front of the extruder screw to aid mixing.

See

Contact breaker plate

Breaker point

See

Breaker point distributor: Click image to supersize
Breaker Point Distributor

An older style of distributor which used breaker points to act as an on-off switch to interrupt current flow through the primary winding of the coil. It also incorporated a rotor arm and condenser. In modern vehicles, it is replaced by a breakerless distributor and is usually called Electronic ignition system.

Breaker points

Breaker Points

A mechanical switch in the distributor with two metal Contact points (usually made of silver, Platinum, or tungsten) that open and close. When the points are closed, energy is stored in the Primary windings of the Coil. When the breaker points open, this energy is transferred to the secondary windings of the coil and stepped up, resulting in a high voltage to fire the plugs. The Air gap between the breaker-point surfaces is critical. If the gap is too small, the timing is retarded, if too wide advanced. Also called points, Contact points, and ignition points.

See

Breaker strip: Strip of wood or plastic used to cover joint between outside case and inside liner of refrigerator.

Breaker’s yard: A British term for a salvage yard.

Breaker-triggered transistorized ignition: A transistorized ignition system whose distributor is the same as that of a coil ignition system, but whose contact breaker switches only the control current of the transistor, not the primary current. Usually not fitted as original equipment.

Breakeven: In fusion, situation when the power produced exceeds the power input for heating and confinement.

Break in

See

Break-in

Break-in: Period of operation between the installation of new or rebuilt parts and the time in which the parts are worn to the correct fit, driving at a reduced and varying speed for a specified mileage to permit parts to wear to the correct fit. British term is run-in.

Breaking capacity: The capacity of a switch, circuit breaker, or other similar device to break an electric circuit under certain specified conditions.

Breaking piece: An easily replaceable member of a machine subject to sudden overloads, made weaker than the remainder, so that in breaking it protects the machine from extensive damage.

Braking radiation

See

Bremsstrahlung

Breaking stress: The stress necessary to break a material, either in tension or compression.

Break-in oil: Special formulated oil used in a new engine for a specified amount of time so that all bearing surfaces, etc. are properly seated.

Break jack

See

Jack

Break one-oh: Trucker slang for ‘I want to talk (on channel 10)’ as in ‘Can I get a break one-oh?’

Break-out box: (BOB) A service tool that tees-in between the computer and the multi-pin harness connector. Once connected in series with the computer and the harness, this test device permits measurements of computer inputs and outputs.

Breakover: The area of a dent in a panel where the sheet metal is actually buckled into the opposite direction of its normal shape.

Breakover angle

See

Ramp breakover angle

Break time: The length of time the contact breaker points remain open. Opposite to Dwell

Break up: British term for dismantling a vehicle and selling the parts. Similar to Part out

Breakwater

Plates fitted on a forward weather deck to form a V-shaped shield against water that is shipped over the bow.
A natural or artificial coastal barrier serving to break the force of the wave so as to provide safe harborage behind, it differs from the bulwark in that it has the sea on both sides of it.

Breakwater-glacis: An inclined stone paving of piers and breakwaters, designed to take the force of impact of the waves.

Breast Cap: A small plate on top of a bulwark, at the stem of a vessel to stiffen the bulwark.

Breasthook: A triangular plate bracket joining port and starboard side stringers at the stem.

Breathalyze: To administer a breathalyzer test.

Breathalyzer: A device into which a driver blows to determine the amount of alcohol in his breath (and thus in his blood)

Breathalyzer test: A test given by the police to determine if a driver has exceeded the allowable alcohol content in his system.

Breather

A vent in the crankcase for relieving internal pressure or admitting air.

See

Breather pipe

A vent or pipe opening into the interior of the engine. It is used to assist ventilation the pipe usually extends downward to a point just below the engine so that the passing air stream will form a partial vacuum thus assisting in venting the engine.

See

Oil breather pipe

Breather port

The small passage between the master cylinder fluid reservoir and the area behind the primary cups of the pistons. This port allows fluid from the reservoir to fill the area behind the cups when the brakes are applied, which prevents air bubbles from traveling around the lips of the primary cups as the brakes are released.

See

Replenishing port

Breathing

The action of taking in air for combining with fuel for burning as energy and then exhausting it.

See

Breathing capacity

Breathing capacity: The volume of air that enters the cylinder during each Intake stroke. Volumetric efficiency is determined by comparing the actual volume of air with the maximum possible amount. Also called air capacity.

Breath test

See

Breathalyzer test

Bredig’s arc process: A process for making colloidal suspensions of metals in a liquid by striking an arc in the liquid between two electrodes of the metal.

Breech block: A movable block used for closing and opening an aperture, originally in guns but now also in machines.

Breeching: Space in hot water or steam boilers between the end of the tubing and the jacket.

Breeder: Fusion reactor in which further fuel (tritium) is bred from lithium Blanket surrounding the fusion chamber.

Breeder reactor: A fission reactor which produces more fissile material than is consumed in its operation.

Breeding ratio: The number of fissionable atoms produced in fertile material per fissionable atom, destroyed in a nuclear reactor. Symbol b_r . The quantity b_r-1 is known as the breeding gain.

Bremsstrahlung: Electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle changes its velocity. Thus when electrons collide with a target and suffer large decelerations, the X-radiation emitted constitutes the continuous X-ray spectrum. From the German for braking radiation.

Brevet: Literally, the word means certificate, patent, or diploma in French. In Randonneuring, it means two things certification of having successfully done a randonné, and the long-distance bicycle event itself of at least 200 kilometres. Brevet and Randonnée are often interchangeable terms, but a randonnée might be considered to be less structured or less formal than a brevet.

Brewster: A vehicle brand of which all 1934-1936 models and all Heart Front models with required application are classic cars.

BRG: Abbreviation for British Racing Green

Bricklayer hammer: A special hammer for chipping cement blocks and bricks.

Bricks: A dealer’s colloquial term for a vehicle purchaser’s house that is used as collateral for a loan toward the purchase of a vehicle.

Bridge

A metal support which is installed in the valve slot of a wheel rim and prevents the flap and tube from bulging through the slot under high pressure and high heat conditions. Also called lemna.
A large horseshoe-shaped device that rides on side rails over a clay model. It is used to take reference points and make accurate measurements of the model.
Circuit often used for measurement of the impedance of passive components, for both ac and dc. Four arms of the bridge are arranged in a diamond-shaped configuration, three comprising accurately known impedances and the fourth, the unknown. A voltage supply is connected to two opposite corners of the diamond and a detector between the other two. By adjusting the known component values, the bridge is balanced when the detector shows a null signal and equations are then available for the unknown in terms of the other three arms of the bridge.
A structure spanning a river, road, etc. giving communication across it so that a vehicle or pedestrian can pass over. Includes overpasses, on-ramps, as well as other roadway structures over waterways.

See

Bridge bearing: A designed pad upon which the bridge beams rest to accommodate esp. horizontal thermal expansion and contraction. Usually a steel plate on steel rollers or a laminated structure of steel plates sandwiching blocks of rubber.

Bridge bolts: High-strength bolts used to fasten together the halves of a split brake caliper.

Bridge classification: Bridge structures can be classified into five groups, each of which imposes loads on their materials in different ways.

Bridged

An electrical circuit in which two circuit branches (usually in parallel with each other) are connected with a third branch.

See

Diode

Bridged port: A vertical division in a two-stroke engine cylinder port which allows the use of a large port without danger of the ring or piston catching.

Bridge deck: The concrete horizontal platform or road surface extending the full length and width of the bridge.

Bridge end panels: Reinforced concrete roadway that acts as transition between a bridge and the road.

Bridge Formula: A bridge protection formula used by federal and state governments to regulate the amount of weight that can be put on each of a vehicle’s axles, and how far apart the axles (or groups of axles) must be to legally carry a given weight.

Bridge fuse: A fuse in which the fusible wire is carried in a holder, supported by spring contacts at its two ends; it is thus easily removable for renewing the fuse wire.

Bridge gauge: A measuring device for directing the relative movement of two parts of a machine due to wear at bearings, etc.

Bridge hanger: A form of hanger of small vertical dimensions, for supporting the overhead contact-wire of a traction system under bridges or tunnels.

Bridge igniter: A device for detonating the air bag.

Bridge Maintenance: Periodically recurring work designed to preserve an existing bridge. Work may be washing, painting, and sealing wood or concrete elements.

Bridge Major Rehabilitation: Reconstruction of a bridge, which upgrades and retains significant elements of the old, such as abutments, beams, or trusses.

Bridge-megger: A portable instrument for measuring large resistances on the Wheatstone-bridge principle. A megger contains a source of emf and the instrument dial on which the balance is indicated.

Bridge oscillator: Oscillator in which positive feedback and limitation of amplitude is determined by a bridge, which contains a quartz crystal for determining the frequency of oscillation. Devised by Meachan for high stability of operation in crystal clocks, etc.

Bridge rails: Steel or reinforced concrete barrier built into the full length of the bridge to prevent vehicles and pedestrians from going over the edge.

Bridge Replacement: Construction of a new bridge, where no structural elements of the old are incorporated into the new.

Bridges and materials: The dependence of the length of the span of a bridge on the strength of materials.

Bridge transition: A method, employed in connection with the series-parallel control of traction motors, in which the change from series to parallel is effected without interrupting the main circuit, and without any change in the current flowing in each of the motors.

Bridge washer: A protective thin metal washer installed at the valve stem between the flap and rim base to prevent the tube and flap from protruding through the valve slot as a result of high pressure and high temperature.

Bridging

A characteristic of undercoats that occurs when a scratch or other imperfection in the surface isn’t completely filled. Usually due to under-reducing the primer or using a solvent that dries too fast.

See

Gap bridging

Bridle

A portion of an overhead contact-wire system. It extends longitudinally between supporting structures and is attached at intervals to the contact-wire, in order to retain the latter in its proper lateral position.
A rope or cable attached to two points (usually the right and left chassis members) of a vehicle and converging to a point of attachment for a tow rope.

Bright: A lustrous, shiny finish. Opposite to Matt

Bright annealing

The heating and slow cooling of steel or other alloys in a carefully controlled atmosphere, so that oxidation of the surface is reduced to a minimum and the metal surface retains its bright appearance.

See

Box annealing

Bright emitter: A thermionic valve with a pure tungsten cathode, heated by a DC current to 2600K in order to emit electrons. Originally used on all thermionic valves; now superseded by treated cathodes which emit at much lower temperatures.

Brightener: An addition agent added to an electroplating solution to produce bright deposits.

Brightening

See

Chemical brightening

Brightness

As a quantitative term, brightness is deprecated.

See

Luminance

Brightness control

Control which alters the brightness on a cathode-ray tube.

See

Automatic brightness control

Bright plating: The production of a fairly bright deposit from an electroplating plant. Such surfaces require little finishing.

Brights: Headlights on high beam.

Brightwork: Chrome or stainless steel moldings, surrounds, etc.

Brilliance: The presence of considerable numbers of high harmonics in musical tone, or the enhancement of these in sound reproduction.

Brillouin formula: A quantum mechanical analogue in paramagnetism of the Langevin equation in classical theory of magnetism.

Brillouin scattering: The scattering of light by the acoustic modes of vibration in a crystal, i.e., photon-phonon scattering.

Brillouin zone: Polyhedron in k-space, k being the position wavevector of the groups or bands of electron energy states in the band theory of solids. Often constructed by consideration of crystal lattices and their symmetries.

Brine

Water saturated with a chemical such as salt, often used as an agent to pre-wet salt before applying it to icy roads

See

Alcohol brine

Brinelled: A type of wear in bearing components that is a series of dents in the races or cups

Brinell hardness: A test of a metal’s hardness by hydraulically pressing a hard ball into the metal.

Brinell hardness test: A method of measuring the hardness of a material by measuring the area of indentation produced by a hard steel ball under standard conditions of loading. Expressed as either Brinell hardness number (BHN) or, preferably, B_H following the number, which is the quotient of the load on the ball in kilogram force divided by the area of indentation in square millimetres.

Brine recycling

See

Salt brine recycling

Bristol

See

Arnolt Bristol

Britannia metal: Alloy series of tin (80-90%) with antimony, copper, lead, or zinc, or a mixture of these.

British Association: (BA) A term used to describe a series of fine, small diameter threads for electrical and precision equipment.

British Association screw-thread: (BA thread) A system of symmetrical vee threads of 47.5° included angle with rounded roots and crests. It is designated by numbers from 0-25, ranging from 6.0 to 0.25mm in diameter and from 1 to 0.07mm pitch. Used in instrument work, but now being superseded by standard metric sizes. Even numbers are preferred sizes.

British Leyland

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British Leyland

(BL) A former manufacturer of British automobiles, now called the Rover Group. Includes such models as the following:

British Motor Corporation: (BMC) A former manufacturer of British automobiles which changed its name to British Leyland and then to the Rover Group.

British Racing Green: (BRC) A dark green color which used to be the official racing color for British cars.

British Standard brass thread

A screw-thread of Whitworth profile used for thin-walled tubing. It has 26 threads per inch for each diameter.

See

British Standard Whitworth thread

British Standard Fine: (BSF) The fine screw thread used on most British vehicles before metrication. The coarse thread was British Standard Whitworth

British Standard pipe thread: (BSP thread) A screw-thread of Whitworth profile, but designated by the bore of the pipe on which it is cut (e.g., 3/8 in gas) and not by the full diameter, which is a decimal one, slightly smaller than that of the pipe. Also called British Standard Whitworth thread.

British Standards Institution: (BSI) An organization which prepares and issues British standard specifications.

British Standard specification: (BSS) A specification of efficiency, grade, size, etc., drawn up by the British Standards Institution, referenced so that the material required can be briefly described in a bill or schedule of quantities. The definitions are legally acceptable.

British Standard Whitworth: (BSW) A coarse screw thread used on British vehicles before metrication. It has a profile angle of 55° and a radius at root and crest of 0.1373 x pitch; 1/6 of the thread cut-off. The pitch is standardized with respect to the diameter of the bar on which it is cut.

British Standard Wire Gauge

See

Standard Wire Gauge

British thermal unit: (BTU) A measurement of the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water, one degree Fahrenheit (usually taken as 60° to 61°F). Equivalent to 252 calories, 778.2 ft-lbf, 1055J. 10⁵ Btu=1 therm.

Brittle fracture: Fracture which occurs with no discernable plastic deformation, i.e., in the elastic region of the stress-strain curve. Caused by propagation of a crack as distinct from yielding. In metals it may be either intergranular or by cleavage along certain crystal planes.

Brittleness

The tendency to brittle fracture, i.e., without significant plastic deformation. Loosely used as the opposite of toughness, but more precisely means having low values of toughness or resistance to fracture.

See

Blue brittleness

Brittle point: A low extreme temperature at which a substance (like rubber) fractures on sudden impact.

Brittle temperature: Point at which a material changes in fracture behavior, from ductile to brittle. For polymers, it is often a little below T_g. Sometimes denoted T_B. Sensitive to sample geometry (e.g., stress concentrations) and rate effects, such as occur in impact tests.

Broach

Bringing a metal surface to the desired shape by forcing (pushing or pulling) a multiple-edged cutting tool across the surface.
A metal cutting tool for machining holes, often non-circular; it consists of a tapered shaft carrying transverse cutting edges, which is driven or pulled through the roughly finished hole.

Broaching: A generating process whereby metal is removed with a multiple-point tool, usually a bar, with tooth height increasing from the starting end. When the broach is pulled or pushed through or over the work, each tooth removes a clip of uniform thickness, in contrast to a milling cutting tooth which removes a wedge-shaped chip.

B road

A road designation used in Britain
- They are narrower than A roads.
- They may be in the open or have dense foliage right up to the edge of the road.
- May have very few road markings for curves, etc.

See

Broad-Based dip: A surface drainage structure specifically designed to drain water from an access road while vehicles maintain normal travel speeds.

Broad-base tower: A transmission line tower with each leg separately anchored.

Broad gauge: A railway gauge in excess of the standard 4 ft 8½ in (1.435 m). In particular, the gauge of 7 ft (2.134 m) laid down by Brunel but also the standard gauges of e.g., India,Russia, and Spain.

Broken-in: A condition in which a new engine has overcome any Wear-in problems.

Broken storage: The spaces between and around cargo packages, including dunnage, and spaces not usable because of structural interference.

Broker

A person with legal authority to operate on behalf of the manufacturer.
A person who arranges interstate movement of goods by other carriers.
A person who arranges exempt loads for owner-operators and/or carriers.
A person who arranges the buying or selling of goods for a commission.
A person who leases owned equipment to a carrier.

See

Customs Broker

Bromide

See

Lithium Bromide

Bronze

An alloy of copper and tin; but now applied to other alloys not containing tin, e.g., aluminum bronze, manganese bronze, and beryllium bronze.

See

Bronze welding

See

Braze welding

Brougham

A closed car for two or four people
A car with a closed in passenger compartment behind an open driver’s seat.
A vehicle with doors and a roof–also known as a Coupe Chauffeur and a Coupe Limousine. ‘Panel Brougham’.

See

Cadillac Eldorado Brougham

Brough Superior: A vehicle brand of which the pre-1948 models with required application are classic cars.

Brow

A small inclined ramp to allow passage of trucks over a hatch coaming or bulkhead door sills etc.
A raised or protruding area above or around an arch, like a headlamp or wheel well.
A watershed over an airport
The top of a hill on a road

Brown and Sharpe wire gauge: (B and S wire gauge) A system of designating the diameter of wire by numbers; it ranges from 0000 (0.46 in) to 50 (0.001 in).

Brownian movement: Small movements of bodies such as particles in a colloid, due to statistical fluctuations in the bombardment by surrounding molecules of the dispersion medium. It may be directed by movement of a galvanometer coil. Also called Brownian motion and colloidal movement and pedesis.

Brownie: The result of a vehicle salesperson who sells a car to a customer in response to putting notes (like ‘call me about trading your car’) on car windows along the street.

Bruise: Any tire injury which weakens, breaks, or separates the carcass cords without damaging the visible rubber surface.

Brush

A paintbrush.
See
- Airbrush
The pieces of carbon, graphite, or copper, that rub against the Commutator on the Generator or starter motor or against the slip rings on an Alternator and conducts current from the power supply to the armature windings. As they wear down, they need to be replaced.
A rubbing contact on a commutator, switch, or relay. Also called wiper.

See

Brush barrier: A sediment control structure created of slash materials piled at the toe slope of a road or at the outlets of culverts, turnouts, dips, and water bars.

Brush-box: That portion of the brush-holder of an electrical machine in which the brush slides or in which it is clamped.

Brush contact

See

Laminated contact

Brush curve: The voltage drop between the brush arm and the segment beneath the brush at points along the brush width plotted against brush width as an indication of the correctness of compole flux density in a DC machine.

Brush discharge: Discharge from a conductor when the potential difference between it and its surroundings exceeds a certain value but is not enough to cause a spark or an arc. It is usually accompanied by hissing high noise. Also called brushing discharge and corona.

Brushes

See

Brush

Brush gear: A general term used to denote all the equipment associated with brushes of a commutating or slip-ring machine.

Brush holder

A device which keeps the carbon brushes in an electric motor in contact with the commutator or slip ring.

See

Brush-box

Brush-holder arm: The rod or arm supporting one or more brush holders. Also called brush spindle or brush stud.

Brushing discharge

See

Brush discharge

Brush lead

See

Brush shift

Brush plating: Method in which the anode carries a pad or brush containing concentrated electrolyte or gel which is worked over the surface to be plated. Similar methods are used for brush polishing

Brush rocker: A support for the brushes of an electrical machine which enables them to be moved bodily around the commutator.

Brush-rocker ring

See

Brush rocker

Brush shift

The amount by which the brushes of a commutating machine are moved from the center of the neutral zone. Also called brush lead.

See

Brush spindle

See

Brush-holder arm

Brush spring: A spring which pushes against the back end of a carbon brush in an electric motor to force it against the commutator or slip ring.

Brush stud

See

Brush-holder arm

B RV

See

Class B RV

BSA: Abbreviation for the Birmingham Small Arms Company. A motorcycle manufactured in Britain from 1919-72.

BSB thread: Abbreviation for British Standard brass thread

B-screw: Sheet metal screw with a blunt point with more threads per inch and smaller thread depth than type-A screws

BSF: Abbreviation for British Standard Fine

BSFC: Abbreviation for Brake Specific Fuel Consumption — the ratio of the engine fuel consumption to the engine power output (as measured at the flywheel). BSFC has units of grams of fuel per kilowatt-hour (g/kWh) or pounds mass of fuel per brake horsepower-hour (lb/bhp-hr). BSFC is a measure of engine efficiency.

BSI: Abbreviation for British Standards Institution

BSP thread

See

British Standard Pipe thread

BSS: Abbreviation for British Standard specification

BSV: Abbreviation for Backfire Suppressor (Ford)

BSW: Abbreviation for British Standard Whitworth

BTDC: Abbreviation for Before top dead center. spark occurs on the compression stroke, before the piston reaches Top dead center.

B thread

See

B-Train: Colloquial term for a truck tractor pulling two semi trailers where the second trailer sits on a fifth wheel that is permanently attached and extends off the rear of the lead trailer. Most commonly used on flatbeds or tank trailers. The B-train is considered a more stable double trailers configuration.

BTS

Abbreviation for Battery Temperature Sensor
Abbreviation for Bureau of Transportation Statistics. An organization which compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistics relevant to the US nation’s transportation system. Created to improve the knowledge base for public decision-making and to improve public awareness of the nation’s transportation system, BTS collects information on transportation and other areas as needed. The Bureau’s largest data collection programs are the Commodity Flow Survey and the American Travel Survey, conducted jointly with the Bureau of the Census to identify where freight and people go by all modes of transportation.

BTSI: Abbreviation for Brake Transmission Shift Interlock

BTU

Abbreviation for British thermal unit. The amount of heat that must be added to one pound of water to raise its temperature one Fahrenheit degree.
Abbreviation for Board of Trade unit equal to 1 kWhr.

BTU Gas

See

Low BTU Gas

BTX

Industry term referring to the group of aromatic hydrocarbons benzene, toluene and xylene
Abbreviation for benzene, toluene, xylene

Bubble

A small blister in the finish of paint.
The bubble of air and spirit vapor within a Level tube loosely, the level tube itself.

Bubble car: A type of small car which was popular in the 1950s. It had a bulbous-shaped glass front to provide maximum interior room in spite of its small size. The door opened to the front of the driver. Examples are the BMW Isetta and Heinkel Trojan.

Bubble film: Duplex polymer film with regular array of bubbles thermoformed into one side, used for crush-proof packaging.

Bubble pack

See

Blister pack

Bubble stabilization: Tendency of polymer bubble blown after extrusion in manufacture of film to maintain a constant shape without breaking or collapsing. Depends on tension stiffening behavior of molten polymer.

Bubble Wrap: Sheet of plastic with a series of small air bubbles used as packing material.

Bucciali: A vehicle brand of which the TAV 8, TAV 30, TAV 12 and Double Huit models with required application are classic cars.

Buchholz relay: A protective relay for use with transformers or other oil-immersed apparatus; it embodies a float which becomes displaced and operates the relay contacts if gas bubbles are generated by a fault within the equipment being protected.

Buchmann-Meyer effect: The special type of reflection of light from the sound-track on a disk record whereby the lateral velocity of the track can be determined.

Buck

In the design process of creating a vehicle, a buck is an accurate representation of only the vehicle’s interior which includes the seats, pedals, instruments, steering wheel, doors, and floor in order to evaluate style, ergonomics, comfort, function, etc.

See

Bucket

See

Bucket conveyor: A conveyor or elevator consisting of a pair of endless chains running over toothed wheels, and carrying a series of buckets which, on turning over, discharge their contents at the delivery end.

Bucket seat: Bucket Seat

An individual seat which is found in pairs in the front of a vehicle. Named because the curvature of the backrest and cushion resembles a cut-out bucket.

Bucket tappet: Bucket Tappet

Valve lifters that are hollow, cylindrical, and closed at one end and used with some overhead camshafts. The flat, closed end of the tappet (bottom of the bucket) rests against the camshaft lobe with part of the Valve spring and Valve stem enclosed by the cylinder. Called bucket tappets because they are shaped like upside-down buckets.

Bucket valve: A non-return (delivery) valve fitted in the bucket or piston of some types of reciprocating pump

Bucket coil: A winding on an electromagnet to oppose the magnetic field of the main winding. Such a device is sometimes used in electromagnetic loudspeakers to smooth out voltage pulsations in the power supply. Also called hum-bucking coil.

Buckland

See

AC Buckland Open Tourer

Buckle

A locking clasp usually found on seat belts and tie-down straps.
A metal strap
In foundry work, a swelling on the surface of a sand mold due to steam generated below the surface.
To crumple up, especially when metal bends in a vehicle accident. To twist or bend out of shape such as when plates of metal or a structural member deforms under compressive load.

Buckled plates: Battery plates that have been bent or warped out of a flat plane.

Buckler: A portable cover secured over the deck opening of the hawsepipes and the chain pipes to restrict the flow of water through the openings.

Buckle up: To put your seat belt on. British term is belt up

Buckley gauge: A sensitive ionization gauge for measuring very low gas pressures.

Buckling

A distortion of accumulator plates caused by uneven expansion, usually as a result of heavy discharges or other maltreatment.
Mode of deformation in which an elastic instability occurs in a plate or a structural member under compressive load, resulting in a twisting or bending out of shape. Usually leads to plastic deformation and eventual collapse.
A term in reactor diffusion theory giving a measure of curvature of the deutron density distribution. The geometric buckling depends only on the shape and dimensions of the assembly while the material buckling provides a measure of the multiplying properties of an assembly as a function of the materials and their disposition.

Buck transformer: Transformer with secondary in mains circuit to regulate voltage according to a controlling circuit feeding the primary. Also called boost transformer

BUDC: Abbreviation for Before upper dead center’. Same as BTDC.

Budd mounting

See

Double cap nut

Budd wheel: A ten-hole, stud-piloted disc truck wheel originally designed by the Budd Corporation.

Buff

To polish.
A revolving disk composed of layers of cloth charged with abrasive powder; used for polishing metals.
An expert in a field or a person greatly interested in the field as in Jim is a car buff.
See
- Nut

Buff contour: The specked shape of a buffed retread tire.

Buffed crumb: Flakes of rubber produced by abrading treads of worn tires for retreading; of limited use as recycled material for new tire compounds.

Buffer

A machine used to Rasp the old tread from the tire.
An electronic amplifier, often with unity gain, which is designed to decouple input from output. Normally designed to have high input impedance so that it does not load the driving stage and low output impedance such that it can provide current drive.
A spring-loaded pad attached to the framework of railway rolling-stock to minimize the shock of collision; any resilient pad used for a resilient purpose. May be hydraulically controlled or dampened.
A substance added to an electrolyte solution which prevents rapid changes in the concentration of a given ion. Also called buffer reagent

See

Jounce bumper

Buffer battery: A battery of accumulators arranged in parallel with a DC generator to equalize the load on the generator by supplying current at heavy-load periods and taking a charge during light-load periods

Buffer capacitor

See

Blocking capacitor

Buffer circuit: The resistance-capacitor unit which determines the rate of rise or fall of the envelope of the waveform of emitted sounds which has been generated in electrostatic circuits in electronic organs.

Buffered radius: A dimension that ensures the proper contour of the buffed surface according to tire size and type and matrix dimensions.

Buffer reagent: A substance added to an electrolyte solution which prevents rapid changes in the concentration of a given ion. Also called buffer.

Buffer spring

The part lending resiliency to railway buffing gear.

See

Buffer

Buffer tank: A closed tank that cushions the explosive expulsion of liquid from a system connected to it by controlling the gas pressure in the tank.

Buffet boundary: The limiting values of the speed of sound and altitude at which an aircraft can be flown without experiencing buffet in unaccelerated flight.

Buffeting

Severe, pulsating force of wind. When you drive in a convertible with the top down, you will often experience this buffeting action of the wind. It is also noticeable when a vehicle is driven quickly with the windows down.
An irregular oscillation of any part of an aircraft, caused and maintained by an eddying wake from some other part; commonly, tail buffeting in the downwash of the main plane, which gives warning of the approach of the Stall.

Buffing

Smoothing and polishing a surface by using a Buffing wheel and polishing paste or liquid.
Grinding or Rasping off remaining tread rubber to give the Casing proper texture to accept new retread stock and proper dimensions to fit the matrix.

Buffing template: A machined device of a specific shape used to obtain the required Buffed contour.

Buffing wheel: A disc which is covered in soft cloth or lambswool. It is powered by a tool like a drill which spins the disc to give a high gloss shine to the surface of a vehicle.

Buff line: The dividing line in the cross section of a tire between the buffed surface of the original tire and the new retread rubber.

BUG: Abbreviation for Bicycle user group or bus user group to represent cyclists or bus travelers.

Bug and tar remover: A solution which will dissolve bugs and tar residue. After application, it needs to be washed off or it will also remove the paint.

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Bugatti

A vehicle brand of which all pre-1948 models (except types 52 and 68) are classic cars. The 1951 Type 101 model is a milestone car.

Bug deflector: Click image to supersize
Bug Deflector

A length of clear plastic which is attached to the front of the hood to prevent bugs from hitting the windshield. Also called a bug shield.

Bug out: Trucker slang for leaving a CB radio channel as in ‘I better bug out and get some shut eye.’

Bug shield

See

Bug deflector

Buick

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Buick

A vehicle manufacturer which began in 1906 and is now part of General Motors . The 1931-32 series 90 and Limited with required application are classic cars. The Riviera for 1949 and 1963-70 are milestone cars. The 1953-54 Skylark are also milestone cars. Models include the following:

Allure (2005-08)
Apollo (1973-75)
Blackhawk (2003)
Centurion (1971-73)
Century (1936-42, 1954-58, 1973-2005)
Electra (1959-90)
Enclave (2008-09)
Estate Wagon (1940, 1946-1964, 1970-1996)
Grand National (1985-87)
Gran Sport (1965-1972)
GSX (1970-1972)
Invicta (1959-1963)
LaCrosse (2005-09)
LeSabre (1959-2005)
Limited (1936-1942, 1958)
Lucerne (2006-09)
Park Avenue (1991-05)
Rainier (2004-07)
Reatta (1988-91)
Regal (1988-04)
Rendezvous (2002-07)
Riviera (1963-1993, 1995-1999)
Roadmaster (1936-1958, 1991-1996)
Royaum (2005)
Signia (1998)
Skyhawk (1975-1980, 1982-1989)
Skylark (1953-1954, 1961-1972, 1975-1998)
Somerset (1985-1987)
Special (1936-1958, 1961-1969)
Sport Wagon (1964-1972)
Super (1940-1958)
Terraza (2005-07)
Wildcat (1962-1970)

Build

A change from the standard process assembly of a vehicle specified by the VIN
The thickness of the paint film deposited on the body during spraying (measured in mils).

See

Heavy film build

Build date code: A code which tells you what day, month, and year the engine was made. Expressed alpha-numerically and stamped somewhere on the block.

Builder

In retreading a tire, a machine used to apply tread rubber to a Casing.

See

Body builder

Builders and Repairers Association

See

Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association

Building basin: A structure in which one or more ships may be built and floated by flooding the basin.

Building Materials cargo: Truck cargo containing bricks, blocks, cement in bags, insulation, drywall, paint, hardware, etc.

Building Slip

A place where a ship is built

See

shipway

Build outs: Curbs which extend from the side of the road into the lane to reduce traffic speed.

Build quality: The quality of workmanship and material composition in the construction of a vehicle.

Build up

To increase the surface level of metal by welding more material on it (and later grinding it to shape) or by adding filler to it.
To assemble or put something together.
To add material to something.

See

Buildup

The amount a weld face is extended above the surface of the metals being joined.
An excess of some material as in, ‘There was a buildup of carbon on the top of the piston.’
See
- Carbon build-up

Built-up crankshaft: A crankshaft which is not cast or forged as one piece, but made of several different parts.

Build-up sequence: The order in which successive welding runs or beads are applied in joining thick plates to achieve maximum strength with acceptable stress from heat distortion.

Bulb

A round area for vehicle turnaround typically located at the end of a cul-de-sac street.
An electronic device which gives off light by the heating of an element contained with a glass enclosure. The metal base which conducts the electricity may be a barrel with locating pins, or it may have small Filament wires protruding from the base. In some cases it is a tube with contacts at either end. When replacing bulbs, especially high intensity bulbs like halogen, be sure to avoid touching the glass. The oil from your fingers will cause the bulb to overheat and burn out quickly. If you do touch the glass, you need to clean it with alcohol and air dry it.

See

Bulb bar: A rolled, or extruded, bar of strip form in which the section is thickened along one edge.

Bulb blackening: The blackening of a light bulb; gradual blackening of conventional, i.e., non-halogen light bulbs, occurs as a result of metal vapor deposition on the glass envelope which reduces light emission; severe blackening indicates imminent bulb failure

Bulb holder

See

Lamp socket

Bulb Hygrometer

See

Wet Bulb Hygrometer

Bulb Plate: A narrow plate which is reinforced on one long edge.

Bulb Temperature

See

Bulk

See

Break Bulk

Bulk cargo

Loose and unpackaged goods such as oil, coal, ore, woodchips, etc. sometimes referred to as aggregate cargo.

See

Liquids in Bulk cargo

Bulk carrier: A ship designed to carry unpackaged cargo such as grain, woodchips, ore, coal, etc.

Bulk charging: Using large containers of refrigerant to charge the system. Commonly employed with charging stations to perform complete system charges.

Bulk freight: Loose goods (like woodchips, grain, petroleum, ore, and coal) that are not packaged in a box, bottle, etc.

Bulkhead

A structural partition that separates compartments. This is generally a metal wall that extends from one side of a vehicle to the other. In the engine compartment, you would find a radiator bulkhead near the front and a firewall bulhead near the back of the engine bay. Another bulkhead separates the passengers from the trunk. The instrument panel is also a bulkhead.
See
- Rear bulkhead.
In a public service vehicle (i.e., taxi, limo), the partition which separates the driver from the passengers.
Vertical partition walls which separates the interior of a ship into compartments or rooms.
In an airplane fuselage, the major structural transverse dividing wall providing access between several internal sections, or a strengthened and sealed wall at the front and rear designed to withstand the differential pressure required for pressurization.
In a power plant nacelle, the structure serving as a firewall.
A masonry or timber partition to hold back soil found in a tunnel or along a waterfront.
A wall-like structure used at the front of a flatbed or back of the power unit to protect against damage from shifting cargo, or a wall inside any trailer that partitions the load.

See

Bulkhead connector: An OEM device used to connect wiring inside the vehicle body with wiring outside the body. Usually located at the bulkhead or firewall.

Bulkhead deck: The uppermost deck to which the transverse watertight bulkheads are carried.

Bulking factor: Ratio between the volume of loosely placed material and the same weight of material when compacted to a given specification.

Bulk refrigerant drum: A large (e.g., 10 lbs, 25 lbs, 30 lbs) container of refrigerant generally used in professional air conditioning service shops which employ charging stations to perform complete system charges.

Bulk sales: Wholesale sales of gasoline in individual transactions which exceed the size of a truckload.

Bulk station: A facility used primarily for the storage and/or marketing of petroleum products, which has a total bulk storage capacity of less than 50,000 barrels and receives its petroleum products by tank car or truck.

Bulk Storage

The storage of product in a shipping container
The storage of loose, unpackaged product

Bulk terminal: A facility used primarily for the storage and/or marketing of petroleum products, which has a total bulk storage capacity of 50,000 barrels or more and/or receives petroleum products by tanker, barge, or pipeline.

Bulk test: Test for materials having a high attenuation for use as a radiation shield.

Bulk Trailer: A truck trailer that carries bulk cargo like woodchips, grain, petroleum, ore, and coal

Bulk Truck: A straight truck that carries bulk cargo like woodchips, grain, petroleum, ore, and coal

Bull bar

The upward extension of a bumper to protect lights and the grille.

See

Nerf bar

Bulldog: Trucker slang for a Mack truck as in ‘Who we got in that eastbound bulldog.’

Bulldozer

A power-operated machine, provided with a blade for spreading and leveling materials.

See

Angledozer

Bullet-point pick hammer

See

Pick hammer

Bull-headed rail: A rail section once used widely in the UK, having the shape roughly of a short dumb-bell in outline, but with unequal heads, the larger being the upper part in use.

Bull horn: A warning horn that sounds like the bellow of a bull or the moo of a cow.

Bullhorn handlebar: Bullhorn bar

A bicycle handlebar that proceeds laterally through the center attaching bracket and then rises upward at each end.

Bullion

Gold or silver in bulk, i.e., as produced at the refineries, not in the form of coin.
The gold-silver alloy produced before the metals are separated.

Bullion content: In parcel of metal of minerals being sold, where the main value is that of the base metal which forms the bulk of the parcel, the contained gold or other precious metal of minor value included in the sale.

Bull low: The lowest gear in a transmission. Some older transmissions listed their gears as bull low (used for getting out of a stuck condition or climbing a very steep hill), low or first (used for starting out from a stop or for climbing a moderate hill), second (used for town driving or slight hills), third (used for highway cruising).

Bullnose: The upright radiator shape of 1913-30 Morris Oxford and Morris Cowley cars and vans which resembled a bull’s nose. Also called Flatnose or Snubnose

Bull-ring: A metal ring used in the construction of overhead contact wire systems for electric schemes; it forms the junction of three or more straining wires.

Bull Riveting: To drive in rivets with a high powered air or hydraulic machine.

Bultaco: Click image for books on
Bultaco

A motorcycle manufacturer

Bulwark

Fore-and-aft vertical plating immediately above the upper edge of the sheer strake.
A sea-wall built to withstand the force of the waves; in some cases the reinforcement of the natural Breakwater.

Bump

Bump Bump Sign

A slight rising of the pavement possibly caused by a frost heave and if severe enough will be indicated by a sign
The upward movement of the wheels and suspension. Also called Jounce.
The action of a vehicle dealer who increases the sale price of the vehicle, interest rate, monthly payments, etc.

See

Hood bump rubber

Bump and rebound

The two stages of suspension movement requiring damping.

See

rebound

Bumper

On early vehicles, a bumper was a separate metal bar or blade at each end of a vehicle to prevent damaging the main part of the vehicle from hitting an obstruction or being hit by another vehicle. In modern vehicles the bumpers are integrated with the body panels and is secured by hydraulic rams.

See

Bumper bar: A tubular bar or series of bars which are designed to protect the front of a vehicle.

Bumper blade: A flat bar which is designed to protect the front or rear of a vehicle.

Bumper bracket: A device to which the bumper is attached to the frame, body, or chassis.

Bumper filler: A small panel usually made of plastic which fits between the bumper and the body of the vehicle.

Bumper horn: A short bumper extension which is mounted vertically (i.e., perpendicular to the main bumper), usually one on each side of the bumper. The British term is overrider

Bumper insert: A rubber or plastic strip fitted to the width of a bumper to prevent scoring of the bumper.

Bumper iron: A Bumper bracket

Bumper jack: Bumper jack

A device for lifting one corner of a vehicle to change a tire. Older cars used a long bar which fitted into a base. A device on the long bar had a hook which was placed in a strategic place on the vehicle. A lug wrench was inserted into the other end of the device and used to move the moveable part up the long bar thus lifting the vehicle.

Bumper Pan: Sheetmetal below the bumper to keep dirt and debris from entering the engine bay. Also called ‘modesty panel’ or ‘modesty skirt.’

Bumper panels

See

Side bumper panels

Bumpers

See

Jounce bumpers

Bumper skirt

See

Rear bumper skirt

Bumper Spring

See

Float Bumper Spring

Bumper sticker

A piece of rectangular paper with a sticky back which can be attached to the back of a vehicle to promote something
Trucker slang for a car following too closely as in ‘Hey Charlie better watch out you got a bumper sticker on your backdoor.’

Bumper system: An energy-absorbing system with some type of deformable material including hydraulic cylinders which enable the bumpers to protect the vehicle from damage in low-speed impacts.

Bumper to bumper

A traffic condition in which a line of vehicles are stopped one after the other or are moving very slowly.
A way of expressing the entire vehicle from one bumper to the other.

Bumping: The action of correcting damaged panels by pounding out the dent.

Bumping blade: An autobody tool used for slapping out slight dents (sometimes without a supporting dolly). It has slight serrations which hold the metal to avoid stretching. Also called a bumping file.

Bumping file: An autobody tool used for slapping out slight dents (sometimes without a supporting dolly). It has slight serrations which hold the metal to avoid stretching. Also called a bumping blade.

Bumping hammer

An autobody hammer used with a dolly for restoring a panel’s shape.

See

Bumping out: An autobody term in which a damaged panel is hit with a hammer until it is nearly the correct shape.

Bumping spoon

See

Spring beating spoon

Bump rubber

See

Bump start

A method of starting a manual transmission (not for automatics) vehicle by pushing it (especially down a hill) and letting in the clutch while in second gear and the ignition set to the on position.
To start a car using a bump start.

Bump steer: When an uneven road surface causes a vehicle to steer or lose Directional stability, this is called bump steer. At the front, bump steer is associated with the tie-rod and linkage-arm relationship. It is caused by the method of locating the Rear suspension, the type of rear suspension, and the geometry of the various linkages. In race cars, bump steer is designed out of the suspension so that the handling is as precise as possible. In most cars it is present to some degree. In fact, it can be useful to allow engineers to design a small amount of Understeer or oversteer into the chassis.

Bump stop

Bump stop

A cushioning device, usually rubber, that limits the upward movement of the wheels and suspension to prevent metal-to-metal contact that could lead to suspension damage or failure. Also called jounce bumpers.
A condition of driving when the vehicle support springs are fully compressed.

Bunched conductors

See

Aerial bunched conductors

Buncher

Arrangement which velocity-modules and thereby forms bunches of electrons in the electron beam current passing through it. Bunching would be ideal if the bunches contained electrons all having the same beam velocity. Also called input gap.

See

Catcher

Buncher gap

See

Buncher

Bunching: The process of forming a steady electron beam into a succession of electron groups, or bunches. The result of interaction between an alternating electric field at the mouth of a cavity and an electron beam passing close by.

Bunching angle: Transit delay or phase angle between modulation and extraction of energy in a bunched beam of electrons.

Bundle conductor: Two or more overhead line conductors, suitably spaced to avoid Brush discharge loss, forming a phase, replaces a single large conductor.

Bundled out: Trucker slang for Trailer is fully loaded as in ‘As bundled out as I am those hills will really slow me down.’

Bungee cord

A rubber tie down strap of various lengths (usually 10 mm diameter) with a metal hook on each end. Most are covered with fabric. The hooks are often plastic coated to minimize scratching. Some have an extra hook attached in the middle. Others are linked with a second cord to produce an X-shape. They are used to secure objects to a luggage rack.

See

Bungee net

Bungee net

A specialized bungee cord shaped in the pattern of 25 squares with plastic covered hooks on two opposite sides of the net. It is used to secure objects to a luggage rack.

See

Bunk

A set of vertical metal cradle brackets or posts mounted on a log truck or trailer to hold logs in place. Also called bolsters.
A sleeper on a truck
A built-in bed on a ship.

Bunker

Space where ice or cooling element is placed in commercial installations.
A storage space for coal or oil fuel.

Bunker capacity: The capacity of a space in a ship used for carrying fuel. It is calculated at a fixed rate of stowage per unit volume, according to fuel, and allowances for obstructions are made in percentage.

Bunker Fuel Oil: Heavy, residual fuel oil used in ships.

Bunker fuels: Fuel supplied to ships and aircraft, both domestic and foreign, consisting primarily of residual and distillate fuel oil for ships and kerosene-based jet fuel for aircraft. The term international bunker fuels is used to denote the consumption of fuel for international transport activities. Note: For the purposes of greenhouse gas emissions inventories, data on emissions from combustion of international bunker fuels are subtracted from national emissions totals. Historically, bunker fuels have meant only ship fuel.

Bunkers: Fuel consumed by the engines of a ship.

Bunsen Burner

See

Injection burner

Bunt: A maneuver in which an aircraft performs half an inverted loop, i.e., the pilot is on the outside where he experiences Negative g

Buoy

See

Cable Buoy

Buoyancy

The ability of an object to float
The lifting power demonstrated when an object is immersed.
The apparent loss in weight of a body when wholly or partly immersed in a fluid, due to the upthrust exerted by the fluid.

See

Center of buoyancy

Buoy-to-buoy

See

Block time

Buran: Soviet space shuttle which undertook a successful unmanned flight in November 1988, later missions were cancelled due to funding problems

Burden: The load on an instrument transformer. It is usually expressed as the normal rated load in volt-amperes, or as the impedance of the circuit fed by the secondary winding.

Bureau: A credit report on a customer who is about to purchase a vehicle.

Bureau of land management

(BLM) The United States government agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior which has divided trails into four classes

Type I is at least 213cm wide (enough for a family vehicle), paved, easy to traverse.
Type II is also at least 213cm wide, not paved, but is usually improved. However it may be rough or rutted and contain Washboards. It is best traveled by high-clearance 4WD vehicles.
Type III is a narrow unimproved dirt road, often with rocks, steep hills, and mud over which only 4WD should use.
Type IV trails are for Mountain bikes, dirt bikes, and ATVs. 2WD or 4WD vehicles are not allowed.

Bureau of Transportation Statistics: (BTS) An organization which compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistics relevant to the US nation’s transportation system. Created to improve the knowledge base for public decision-making and to improve public awareness of the nation’s transportation system, BTS collects information on transportation and other areas as needed. The Bureau’s largest data collection programs are the Commodity Flow Survey and the American Travel Survey, conducted jointly with the Bureau of the Census to identify where freight and people go by all modes of transportation.

Burglar

See

Car burglar

Burial site: Place for the deposition, usually in suitable containers, of radioisotopes after use, contaminated material or radioactive products of the operation of nuclear reactors. Also called graveyard.

Burn

Controlled firing of rocket engine for adjusting course and re-entry initiation.

See

Freezer Burn

Burned metal: A term occasionally applied to the metal which has been combined with oxygen to the end that some of the carbon has been changed into carbon dioxide and some of the iron into iron oxide.

Burnable poison: Neutron absorber introduced into a reactor system to reduce initial reactivity but becoming progressively less effective as burn-up proceeds. This helps to counteract the fall in reactivity as the fuel is used up. Boron-10, which is transmuted into helium by neutron capture, has been used in the form of borosilicate glass placed in empty control-rod guides.

Burned valves: Valves that have become pitted so that they do not close properly.

Burner

A device which tends to consume a lot of material.
Device in which burning of fuel takes place.
A device for the final conveyance of the gas, or a mixture of gas and air, to the combustion zone.

See

Burner firing block: Unit made from refractory material that fits into a furnace wall at the burner position, having a nozzle-protecting recess at back and a tunnel on the firing side. It is called quarl in oil-firing practice.

Burner head: That portion of a burner beyond the outlet end of the mixer tube that contains the ports.

Burner loading: Potential heat that can be liberated efficiently from a burner. Expressed in kilowatts or Btu h^-1

Burner turndown factor: Minimum gas rate at which a burner is capable of stable flame propagation without the flame flashing back to the air-gas mixing point or blowing off from the burner nozzle or head.

Burner valve: A manually or mechanically operated valve which permits control of the flow of fuel.

Burning

The violent combination of oxygen with any substance to produce heat.
The action of consuming something to produce heat, i.e., combustion.
The heating of an alloy to too high a temperature, causing local fusion or excessive penetration of oxide, and rendering the alloy weak and brittle.
See
- Lead burning
The action of erosion or eating away. Electrical contacts are burning when they wear away; exhaust valves are burning when they pit and don’t close properly.
Flame cutting.

See

Burnish

To bring a surface to a high shine by rubbing with a hard, smooth object.
The process of breaking-in new brake pads or shoes so the linings conform to the disc or drum friction surfaces.
The initial seating process in which the brake shoes or pads wear to conform to the exact contours of the brake drum or disc.

Burn mark: Molding defect found on polymer surfaces caused by adiabatic compression of gas trapped in mold cavity by advancing melt front

Burnout

Sudden failure of any device, caused by excessive current, leading in turn to overheating; may also be due to failure of artificial cooling in any electronic assembly or sub-assembly.

See

Motor Burnout

Burnout velocity: The maximum velocity achieved by a rocket when all the propellant has been consumed.

Burn rate

See

Burn rubber

The action of rapid acceleration where the wheels make rapid rotation, but there is only very little Momentum. As a result, the driving wheels leave some rubber behind on the pavement.

See

Peel rubber

Burnt metal: Metal which has become oxidized by overheating, and so is rendered useless for engineering purposes.

Burnt valves

See

Burned valves

Burn-up

In nuclear fuel, amount of fissile material burned up as a percentage of total fissile material originally present.
Of fuel element performance, the amount of heat released from a given amount of fuel, expressed as megawatt or gigawatt-days per tonne.

Burr

A roughness left on a cut or punched metal. A sharp, rough edge or ridge esp. around a drilled hole.
A small rotary tool with cutting teeth like a file used for metal removal.

Burred wheel: A wheel which has metal slivers or roughness around the edge of the rim.

Burr walnut

A wood veneer used for instrument panels and door trim on some cars.

See

Zebrawood

Burst

To explode and suddenly lose all the air in a tire.
A defect, often very small, in fuel cladding or sheeting which allows fission products to escape.
Unusually large pulse arising in an ionization chamber caused by a cosmic ray shower.
Short period of intense activity on an otherwise quiet data channel.
Sudden increase in strength of received radio signals caused by sudden changes in the ionosphere.
See
- Black burst

Burst-can detector: An instrument for the early detection of ruptures of the sheaths of fuel elements inside a reactor. Also called burst-cartridge detector or leak detector.

Burst cartridge: Fuel element with a small leak, emitting fission products. Also called burst slug.

Burst-cartridge detector

See

Burst-can detector

Burst slug

See

Burst cartridge

Bury the needle: Going beyond the displayed maximum speed. For example, an analog speedometer may show speeds from zero to 137 kph on its display. When the needle reaches the maximum displayed point, it does not rest there as the vehicle accelerates further. The needle is attached to a spring allowing the needle to keep winding up. The bezel around the speedometer may hide the needle so that it goes beyond the line of sight and is considered buried.

Bus

A large public or private passenger vehicle used for transporting many (at least 10) passengers.
See
The part of the payload of a space exploration vehicle which contains the atmospheric (re-)entry probes, or a universal platform for diverse space experiments and applications.
A Bus-bar which is a heavy electrical conductor used to carry or make a mutual connection between several circuits.

See

Bus-bar

A heavy conductor used to carry or make a mutual connection between several circuits. Also called a bus.
Length of constant-voltage conductor in a power circuit. Normally of rigid copper construction and located in a power station or substation.
Supply rail maintained in a constant potential (including zero or ground) in electronic equipment.

Bus Boarder: Infrastructure to assist people to board a bus.

Bus-coupler switch: A switch or circuit breaker serving to connect two sets of duplicate bus-bars.

Bush

British term for bushing.
A hardened cylindrical inset in a drilling jig to position a drill or reamer accurately.

See

Rubber Bush

Bush-hammering: The operation of dressing the surface of stone or concrete with a special hammer having rows of projecting points on its striking face for decoration or to improve bonding to the next placement of further concrete.

Bushing

A protective liner or sleeve that cushions noise, friction, or movement. suspension bushings are often made from two pipes (one inside the other) with a sleeve of rubber in the space between the two pipes.
Rubber bushings on the suspension system should be lubricated regularly.
A bearing for a shaft, spring shackle, piston pin, etc., of one piece construction which may be removed from the part.
An insulator which enables a live conductor to pass through a grounded wall or tank (e.g., the wall of a switch house or the tank of a transformer.)
An internal component in a roller chain which the pin articulates around and the roller rotates on.

See

Business coupe: A basic low-end, two-door coupe. Often with only a front bench seat and no back seat. Favored by salesmen because the back could be loaded with samples.

Business end: A colloquial term for the part of something that actually does the work. For instance, the business end of a shovel is the part that contacts the ground, not the handle.

Business Route: (Bus Rte) An alternate road which leads through the center of a municipality where most of the ‘downtown’ business establishments are located.

Bus-line: A cable, extending the whole length of an electric train, which connects all the collector shoes of like polarity. Also called power line

Bus-line couplers: Plug-and-socket connectors to join the bus-line of one coach of an electric train to that of the next.

BUS N: Abbreviation for Bus Negative — the negative terminal.

Bus Operators Charter: Document setting out standards of service provision.

Bus Operators Forum: Meeting group of local bus operators.

BUS P: Abbreviation for Bus Positive — the positive terminal.

Bus Rte: Abbreviation for Business Route

Buster

See

Lock buster

Bustleback: Bustleback

A car body with an attached luggage compartment or the appearance of one such as seen on the 1982 Cadillac Seville.

Bustle pipe: Main air pipe surrounding blast furnace, which delivers low pressure compressed air to tuyères.

Bus-wire coupler: A flexible connection between the coaches of an electric train for maintaining the continuity of bus-wires which run throughout the train-length.

Busying

See

Backward busying

Busy intersection: A road junction where there is a lot of traffic and may be controlled by signal lights or not. Usually a place where accidents are more likely to occur.

Butane

A petroleum gas easily liquefied under pressure, recovered from natural gas. Used as a low-volatility component of motor gasoline, processed further for a high-octane gasoline component, used in LPG for domestic and industrial applications and used as a raw material for petrochemical synthesis. Often used as engine fuel in trucks.

See

Butex®: Trade name for diethylene glycol dibutyl ether, used for separating uranium and plutonium from fission products.

Buthocrome: Particular groups of atoms in organic compounds which have the effect of lowering frequency of the radiation absorbed by these compounds.

Butt

The joint between two plates or other members which meet edge to edge.
The square ends of a piston ring.

Butt connector: A solderless wire connector used to permanently join two wire ends together.

Butted tubing: Tubing whose outside diameter remains constant but whose thickness is reduced in midsection where less strength is needed.

Butterfly

Term used in metal extrusion where an open U shape is first made and the sides then folded closer to make a vertically sided U. This enables the die to be much stronger because the narrow section to form the inside of the U can have a wider base.

See

Butterfly controlled carburetor: A carburetor using a flat plate between the venturi and the intake manifold to regulate airflow.

Butterfly curve: The strain versus applied field curve of ferroelectrics.

Butterfly valve: A nut with wings to be turned by thumb and finger. Sometimes called a Wing nut.

Butterfly valve

A small metal disc located in the carburetor that controls the flow of air into the carburetor. It is so named due to its resemblance to the insect of the same name.
A disk turning on a diametral axis inside a pipe; used as a throttle valve in a gasoline engine.
A valve consisting of a pair of semicircular plates hinged to a common diametral spindle in a pipe; by hinging axially, the plates permit flow in only one direction.

Buttermilk: Trucker slang for beer as in ‘When I get home I’m gonna get me some buttermilk.’

Butt joint

A piston ring gap in which the two ends of the ring are squared off.
A weld where the two panels are not overlapped but fit against each other end to end.

Butt-jointed

See

Joint

Butt-nosed: A colloquial term for a Cab-Over-Engine truck

Buttock

The distance away from the centerline
An intersection of a molded surface with a vertical longitudinal plane.

Buttock planes: Longitudinal sectional planes drawn through a ship’s form; used for laying-off in the molding loft, and for calculation of volumes, etc.

Button

A small disk or knob which activates something electrical when it is pressed such as a starter button.

See

Button Die: Small adjustable dies for screw machines and similar work, supported in a ring holder.

Button head: A bolt with a Round head

Button-headed screws: Screws having hemispherical heads, slotted for a screwdriver. Also called half-round screws

Button microphone: Small microphone which can be fitted in the buttonhole.

Buttons

See

Button

Button Socket Head Cap Screw: Button Socket Head Cap Screw

A socket cap screw with a wider dome-shaped head and lower profile than a socket cap screw. Used when a wider bearing surface or a smoother, more finished appearance is desired. Button head cap screws do not afford the strength of socket head cap screws and are designed for light fastening applications.

Butt Rally

See

Iron Butt Rally

Buttress

A thick rubber reinforcement in the shoulder of a tire. It provides support at the edge of the tread, limits shoulder area flexing, and protects the shoulder of off-road tires.
A supporting pier built on the exterior of a wall to enable it to resist outward thrust.

See

Fender strengthening buttress

Buttress screw-thread: A screw-thread designed to withstand heavy axial thrust in one direction. The back of the thread slopes at 45°, while the front or thrust face is perpendicular to the axis.

Buttressed thread: A screw thread with one vertical and one inclined flank.

Butt strap: A plate that overlaps two pieces that are pressed up against each other edge to edge (i.e., butted) in order to secure them. The two butted pieces may be welded to each other or the butt strap could be welded to the pieces or simply bolted to them.

Butt-welded tube: Tube made by drawing mild steel strip through a bell-shaped die, so that the strip is coiled into a tube, the edges being then pressed together and welded.

Butt-welding

The joining of two plates or surfaces by placing them together, edge to edge, and welding along the seam thus formed.

See

Welding

Butyl

A non-porous synthetic rubber used in making inner tubes and tubeless tire liners and as a base for one type of adhesive. It has poor resistance to petroleum oils and gasoline but excellent resistance to vegetable and mineral oils, and to such solvents as acetone, alcohol, phenol, and ethylene glycol. Also has excellent resistance to water and gas adsorption and sunlight.

See

Tube Butyl

Butyl Alcohol

Alcohol derived from Butane that is used in organic synthesis and as a solvent.

See

Tertiary Butyl Alcohol

Butylene: (C₄H₈) An Olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes.

Butyl Ether

See

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether

Butyl rubber: A synthetic rubber used as a base for one type of adhesive. It has poor resistance to petroleum oils and gasoline but excellent resistance to vegetable and mineral oils; to such solvents as acetone, alcohol, phenol, and ethylene glycol; and excellent resistance to water and gas adsorption and sunlight.

Butyl tube: The typical material for tubes. Inexpensive, easy to repair.

Buxton certification: The certification of the suitability of electrical equipment for use in an atmosphere in which fire or explosion hazards are present.

Buy at end-of term interest rate: The effective net interest rate for the lease if, at the end of the lease, the car is purchased at the end-of-lease purchase price.

Buying decisions: The act of determining whether or not a product purchase or repair, will be made, and/or which product or service will be purchased.

Buy rate: The interest rate that banks or financing institutions will charge on all vehicle contracts being financed. It is a secret number between the bank and the dealer which is the real amount of the interest rate that the loan starts out at before the dealer increases it for its own extra profit.

Buzz

Severe vibration of a control surface in transonic or supersonic flight caused by separation of the airflow due to compressibility effects.
To interfere with an aircraft in flight by flying very close to it.

BV: Abbreviation for Bowl vent

BVP: Abbreviation for Bowl vent port

BVSV: Abbreviation for Bi-Metal Vent Control Valve

BVT: Abbreviation for Backpressure variable transducer

B/W: Black and white, usually referring to photographs.

BW: Abbreviation for Blackwall, as in BW tires.

BWG: Abbreviation for Birmingham wire gauge.

BWR: Abbreviation for Boiling water reactor

Bye-channel: Waterway dug round the side of a reservoir or dam to carry off surplus water from the streams entering it.

Bypass

A road which avoids the congested area of a city traffic.
An alternate route for a flowing substance.
To go around something to avoid it.
A passage at one side of, or around, a regular passage

See

Bypass air screw: A screw located on the airflow sensor of a fuel injection system. It adjusts the amount of air allowed into the air-fuel mixture.

Bypass air solenoid: (BPA) A device used to control the idle speed on some fuel-injected vehicles.

By-pass capacitor: A capacitor having a low reactance for frequencies of interest connected in shunt with other components so as to short-circuit them for signal frequency currents.

Bypass filter: An oil filter that constantly filters a portion of the oil flowing through the engine.

Bypass ratio: The ratio of the by-pass airflow to the combustion airflow in a dual-flow turbojet having a single air intake.

Bypass Solenoid

See

Thermactor Air Bypass Solenoid

Bypass System

See

Delay Vacuum Bypass System

Bypass turbojet

A turbojet in which part of the compressor delivery is by-passed around the combustion zone and turbine to provide a cool, slow propulsive jet when mixed with the residual efflux from the turbine.

See

Ducted fan

Bypass valve

(BPV) A valve that can open and allow fluid or gas to pass through in other than its normal channel.
A switching device (Silicon-controlled rectifier or, in the past, mercury arc valve), connected across the converter switching devices of a high-voltage DC transmission system, normally not conducting but able to maintain flow of current whenever the main conducting devices have to be interrupted.
A valve by which the flow of fluid in a system may be directed past some part of the system through which it normally flows, e.g., an oil-filter in a lubrication system.

See

1977 Aston Martin V8 Series 3 Sports Saloon

1931 Frazer Nash Fabric Bodied 3-4 Seater Sports

1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet

1977 Aston Martin V8 Series 3 Sports Saloon

1931 Frazer Nash Fabric Bodied 3-4 Seater Sports

1971 Mercedes-Benz 280SE 3.5 Cabriolet

LaSalle (1939)

LaSalle (1938)

LaSalle (1937)

Glossary of Automotive Terms – Z

Glossary of Automotive Terms – Y

Glossary of Automotive Terms – X

Glossary of Automotive Terms – B

Letter B – Dictionary of Automotive Terms

Glossary of Automotive Terms – Z

Glossary of Automotive Terms – Y

Glossary of Automotive Terms – X

Glossary of Automotive Terms – W

Glossary of Automotive Terms – V

Glossary of Automotive Terms – U

Glossary of Automotive Terms – T

Glossary of Automotive Terms – S

Glossary of Automotive Terms – R

Glossary of Automotive Terms – Q

Glossary of Automotive Terms – P