McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Engineering Second Edition McGraw-Hill New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be repro- duced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 0-07-141799-0 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-07-141050-3 All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than put a trademark symbol after every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use names in an editorial fashion only, and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. 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DOI: 10.1036/0071417990 ebook_copyright 8.5 x 11.qxd 5/30/03 11:02 AM Page 1 Contents Preface .v Staff vi How to Use the Dictionary .vii Fields and Their Scope ix Pronunciation Key .xi A-Z Terms 1-626 Appendix 627-643 Equivalents of commonly used units for the U.S. Customary System and the metric system 629 Conversion factors for the U.S. Customary System, metric system, and International System .630 Special constants 634 Electrical and magnetic units 635 Dimensional formulas of common quantities .635 Internal energy and generalized work .636 General rules of integration .637 Schematic electronic symbols .639 For more information about this title, click here. Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. This page intentionally left blank. Preface The McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Engineering provides a compendium of more than 18,000 terms that are central to the various branches of engineering and related fields of science. The coverage in this Second Edition is focused on building construction, chemical engineering, civil engineering, control systems, design engineering, electricity and electronics, engineering acoustics, industrial engi- neering, mechanics and mechanical engineering, systems engineering, and thermodynamics. Many new entries have been added since the previous edition with others revised as necessary. Many of the terms used in engineering are often found in specialized dictionaries and glossaries; this Dictionary, however, aims to provide the user with the convenience of a single, comprehensive reference. All of the definitions are drawn from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, Sixth Edition (2003). Each definition is classified according to the field with which it is primarily associated; if it is used in more than one area, it is idenfified by the general label [ ENGINEERING ]. The pronunciation of each term is provided along with synonyms, acronyms, and abbreviations where appropriate. A guide to the use of the Dictionary appears on pages vii and viii, explaining the alphabetical organization of terms, the format of the book, cross referencing, and how synonyms, variant spellings, abbreviations, and similar information are handled. The Pronunciation Key is given on page xi. The Appendix provides conversion tables for commonly used scientific units as well as listings of useful mathematical, engineering, and scientific data. It is the editors’ hope that the Second Edition of the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Engineering will serve the needs of scientists, engineers, students, teachers, librarians, and writers for high-quality information, and that it will contribute to scientific literacy and communication. Mark D. Licker Publisher v Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. Staff Mark D. Licker, Publisher—Science Elizabeth Geller, Managing Editor Jonathan Weil, Senior Staff Editor David Blumel, Staff Editor Alyssa Rappaport, Staff Editor Charles Wagner, Digital Content Manager Renee Taylor, Editorial Assistant Roger Kasunic, Vice President—Editing, Design, and Production Joe Faulk, Editing Manager Frank Kotowski, Jr., Senior Editing Supervisor Ron Lane, Art Director Thomas G. Kowalczyk, Production Manager Pamela A. Pelton, Senior Production Supervisor Henry F. Beechhold, Pronunciation Editor Professor Emeritus of English Former Chairman, Linguistics Program The College of New Jersey Trenton, New Jersey vi Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. How to Use the Dictionary ALPHABETIZATION. The terms in the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Engineering, Second Edition, are alphabetized on a letter-by-letter basis; word spacing, hyphen, comma, solidus, and apostrophe in a term are ignored in the sequenc- ing. For example, an ordering of terms would be: abat-vent ADP Ablock air band Abney level airblasting FORMAT. The basic format for a defining entry provides the term in boldface, the field is small capitals, and the single definition in lightface: term [ FIELD ] Definition. A field may be followed by multiple definitions, each introduced by a bold- face number: term [ FIELD ] 1. Definition. 2. Definition. 3. Definition. A term may have definitions in two or more fields: term [ CIV ENG ] Definition. [ ENG ACOUS ] Definition. A simple cross-reference entry appears as: term See another term. A cross reference may also appear in combination with definitions: term [ CIV ENG ] Definition. [ ENG ACOUS ] Definition. CROSS REFERENCING. A cross-reference entry directs the user to the defining entry. For example, the user looking up “access flooring” finds: access flooring See raised flooring. The user then turns to the “R” terms for the definition. Cross references are also made from variant spellings, acronyms, abbreviations, and symbols. ARL See acceptable reliability level. arriswise See arrisways. at See technical atmosphere. ALSO KNOWN AS .,etc. A definition may conclude with a mention of a synonym of the term, a variant spelling, an abbreviation for the term, or other vii Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. such information, introduced by “Also known as .,” “Also spelled .,” “Abbreviated .,” “Symbolized .,” “Derived from ” When a term has more than one definition, the positioning of any of these phrases conveys the extent of applicability. For example: term [ CIV ENG ] 1. Definition. Also known as synonym. 2. Definition. Symbolized T. In the above arrangement, “Also known as . . .” applies only to the first defini- tion; “Symbolized . . .” applies only to the second definition. term [ CIV ENG ] 1. Definition. 2. Definition. [ ENG ACOUS ] Definition. Also known as synonym. In the above arrangement, “Also known as . . .” applies only to the second field. term [ CIV ENG ] Also known as synonym. 1. Definition. 2. Definition. [ ENG ACOUS ] Definition. In the above arrangement, “Also known as . . .” applies to both definitions in the first field. term Also known as synonym. [ CIV ENG ] 1. Definition. 2. Definition. [ ENG ACOUS ] Definition. In the above arrangement, “Also known as . . .” applies to all definitions in both fields. viii Fields and Their Scope building construction—The technology of assembling materials into a struc- ture, especially one designated for occupancy. chemical engineering—A branch of engineering which involves the design and operation of chemical plants. civil engineering—The planning, design, construction, and maintenance of fixed structures and ground facilities for industry, for transportation, for use and control of water, for occupancy, and for harbor facilities. control systems—The study of those systems in which one or more outputs are forced to change in a desired manner as time progresses. design engineering—The branch of engineering concerned with the design of a product or facility according to generally accepted uniform standards and procedures, such as the specification of a linear dimension, or a manufacturing practice, such as the consistent use of a particular size of screw to fasten covers. electricity—The science of physical phenomena involving electric charges and their effects when at rest and when in motion. electronics—The technological area involving the manipulation of voltages and electric currents through the use of various devices for the purpose of performing some useful action with the currents and voltages; this field is generally divided into analog electronics, in which the signals to be manipu- lated take the form of continuous currents or voltages, and digital electronics, in which signals are represented by a finite set of states. engineering—The science by which the properties of matter and the sources of power in nature are made useful to humans in structures, machines, and products. engineering acoustics—The field of acoustics that deals with the production, detection, and control of sound by electrical devices, including the study, design, and construction of such things as microphones, loudspeakers, sound recorders and reproducers, and public address sytems. industrial engineering—A branch of engineering dealing with the design, development, and implementation of integrated systems of humans, machines, and information resources to provide products and services. ix Copyright 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 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