This article, with the aid of illustrations and curves, describes an experiment used to understand the cooling characteristics and transformation behavior of steel wires during patenting. The two aqueous polymer quenchants used as alternatives for lead baths, are carboxymethyl cellulose and polyvinyl alcohol. A small amount of polymer additive in spraying could modify the physical properties of the spray medium and improve atomizing status. The concentration-fog flux effect further improves the flexibility of spraying and makes it easier to control the cooling process.

This article focuses on the cooling process and related transformation behavior of steel wires during patenting to identify a physical metallurgical basis for the development of nontoxic alternatives to molten lead for wire patenting. It describes the materials required, the procedures, and the results of cooling curve analysis. The article schematically summarizes the cooling behaviors of the various cooling media and the microstructure of the pearlite transformation in a lead bath.

Wire rod is a semifinished product rolled from billet on a rod mill and is used primarily for the manufacture of wire. Steel wire rod is usually cold drawn into wire suitable for further drawing; for cold rolling, cold heading, cold upsetting, cold extrusion, or cold forging; or for hot forging. The article explains these operations, along with the several recognized quality and commodity classifications applicable to steel wire rods. The heat treatments commonly applied to steel wire rod, either before or during processing into wire, include annealing, spheroidize annealing, patenting, and controlled cooling. When the end product must be heat treated, the heat treatment and mechanical properties should be clearly defined. Carbon steel rods are produced in various grades or compositions: low-carbon, medium-low-carbon, medium-high-carbon, and high-carbon steel wire rods. Rod for the manufacture of carbon steel wire is produced with manufacturing controls and inspection procedures intended to ensure the degree of soundness and freedom from injurious surface imperfections necessary for specific applications. This article also describes the various quality descriptors applicable to the rods as well as standard qualities and commodities available in alloy steel wire rod.

The use of gases or molten salts as the quenchant for steel parts is commonly limited to the quenching of high-alloy steel or the carbonizing quenching of low-alloy steel. This article reviews the quenching process of steels with molten metals (quenchant) such as molten lead, molten bismuth, and molten sodium. It also contains tables that list the physical properties of lead, bismuth, sodium, and molten sodium.

This article reviews the history and methods of copper alloy continuous casting. These methods include vertical continuous casting and horizontal continuous casting. The article discusses the upcasting methods used in vertical continuous casting and strip casting used in horizontal continuous casting. The article also describes the methods and processes of wheel casting and the Ohno continuous casting method.

Significant expansion of thermal spray technology occurred with the invention of plasma spray, detonation gun, and high-velocity oxyfuel (HVOF) deposition technologies. This article provides a brief history of the major initiating inventions/developments of thermal spray processes. It provides information on feedstock materials developed for specific thermal spray processes.

Arc welding is one of several fusion processes for joining metals. This article introduces the fundamentals of arc welding and provides a summary of its history and early discoveries.

This article begins with an overview of steel wire configurations and sizes followed by a discussion on various wiremaking practices. The wiredrawing operation is discussed, including cleaning, die design, use of lubricants and welds, finishes, coating, and thermal treatments. Metallic coatings can be applied to wire by various methods, including hot dip processes, electrolytic process, and metal cladding by rolling metallic strip over the wire. These wires are normally grouped into broad usage categories. These categories, as well as some items in each category, are described in the article under their quality descriptions or commodity names. These include low-carbon steel wire for general usage, wire for structural applications, wire for packaging and container applications, wire for prestressed concrete, wire for electrical or conductor applications, rope wire, mechanical spring wire for general use, wire for fasteners, mechanical spring wire for special applications, upholstery spring construction wire, and alloy wire.

Powder metallurgy (PM) has been called a lost art. Long before furnaces were developed that could approach the melting point of metal, PM principles were used. This article provides an overview of the major historical developments of various methods of platinum powder production. The development of production methods took place in various phases starting from prehistoric time, post-war period, to recent and commercial period. The article discusses the powder metallurgy of platinum, as well as the commercial and post-war developments of PM. Literature and trade associations are also discussed.

This article provides an overview of the implementation of wire embedding with ultrasonic energy and thermal embedding for polymer additive manufacturing, discussing the applications and advantages of the technique. The mechanical and electrical performance of the embedded wires is compared with that of other conductive ink processes in terms of electrical conductivity and mechanical strength.