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Mechanical Engineering vocabulary · Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Thermal expansion

Meaning in mechanical engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In mechanical engineering, thermal expansion means: The increase in size of a material when its temperature rises. Each material expands by a different amount, given by its coefficient of thermal expansion.

In Turkish: ısıl genleşme, termal genleşme

How it is used

Used in the design of pipes, engines, molds and precision parts. Engineers allow for thermal expansion with gaps, expansion joints or sliding supports. Steel expands about 12 µm per meter for each °C, aluminum about twice as much.

Example sentences

  1. The steam line needs an expansion loop to take up the thermal expansion between cold and operating conditions.

  2. We measure precision parts at 20 °C so that thermal expansion does not affect the results.

Common collocations

  • coefficient of thermal expansion
  • allow for thermal expansion
  • expansion joint
  • thermal growth
  • thermal conductivityA material property that shows how easily heat passes through a material by conduction, measured in W/(m·K). Copper conducts heat very well; insulation foam does not.
  • toleranceThe allowed amount of variation in a dimension or property, for example ±0.05 mm. A part is acceptable if its measured value falls inside this range.
  • alloyA metal made by mixing a base metal with other elements to improve properties such as strength, hardness or corrosion resistance. Steel and brass are alloys.
  • heat transferThe movement of thermal energy from a hotter place to a colder one. It happens in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation.

More terms: Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

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