DICTIONARY OF AUTOMOTIVE TERMS - "At"
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A/T
- Acronym for Automatic Transmission
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ATA
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- Acronym for American Trucking Association.
- Acronym for Air Transport Association
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ATB
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All-Terrain Bike
- Acronym for All-terrain bike.
Sometimes called MTB (mountain bike), but ATB is the preferred acronym.
- Acronym for Aeration test
burner
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ATC
-
- Acronym for
Automatic
temperature control.
- Acronym for air-traffic
control
- Acronym for Automatic Traction Control -- an optional
feature based on ABS which prevents spinning of the drive
wheels under power on slippery surfaces by braking individual
wheels and/or reducing engine throttle. Also called
ASR, an acronym sometimes loosely
translated from the German as anti-spin regulation.
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ATDC
-
See
After top dead center
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ATE
- Acronym for
Automatic test
equipment
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ATF
- Acronym for Automatic Transmission Fluid
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A thread
-
See
Class A thread
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Athwartship
- Across the ship, at right angles to the fore-and-aft centerline.
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ATIS
- Acronym for Advance Traveler Information Systems
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ATM
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- Acronym for Standard atmosphere
- Acronym for Actuator Test Mode
Also see
Atmospheric pressure
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Atmosphere
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See
Atmospheric pressure
Standard Atmosphere
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Atmosphere Burner
-
See
Injection burner
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Atmospheric acoustics
- The study of how sound is transmitted in the air at different altitudes, weather, humidity, and atmospheric pressure.
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Atmospheric air
- Air under the prevailing atmospheric conditions.
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Atmospheric crude oil distillation
- The refining process of separating crude oil components at
atmospheric pressure by heating to temperatures of about
316°C to
400°C (depending on the
nature of the crude oil and desired products) and subsequent
condensing of the fractions by cooling.
-
Atmospheric distillation unit
- The primary distillation unit that processes crude oil (including
mixtures of other hydrocarbons) at approximately atmospheric
conditions. It includes a pipe still for vaporizing the crude oil
and a fractionation tower for separating the vaporized hydrocarbon
components in the crude oil into fractions with different boiling
ranges. This is done by continuously vaporizing and condensing the
components to separate higher oiling point material. The selected
boiling ranges are set by the processing scheme, the properties of
the crude oil, and the product specifications.
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Atmospheric engine
- Earliest form of practical steam engine, in which a partial vacuum
created by stem condensation allowed atmospheric pressure to drive
down the piston.
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Atmospheric gas-burner system
- A natural-draft burner injector, in which the momentum of the gas
passing into the injector throat inspirates part of the air required
for combustion.
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Atmospheric pressure
-
- The force due to atmosphere per unit area. Atmospheric
pressure at sea level is 14.7 psi absolute; it decreases as
altitude increases.
- The pressure of the weight of air and water vapor on the
surface of the earth at sea level, namely
760 mm mercury column or
101.3 k_Pa.
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Atmospheric-suspended power chamber
- A booster power chamber with atmospheric pressure on both sides
of its diaphragm when the brakes are not applied.
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ATMS
- Acronym for Advance Traffic Management Systems
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Atomic Mass
-
See
Relative Atomic Mass
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Atomization
-
See
Lateral Atomization Orifice
Rotational Atomization Unit
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Atomization characteristics
- The ability of an oil to be broken up into a fine spray by some
mechanical means.
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Atomize
- The process of changing liquid to minute particles or a fine spray. The extent
to which a spray gun breaks up paint into a fine mist, fog, or spray.
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Atomized powder
- A powder produced by the dispersion of molten metal or other material by
spraying under conditions such that the material breaks down into powder.
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Atomizer
- A device for producing a fine spray such as used on a paint spray gun.
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Atomizing pressure
- The pressure needed to atomize a liquid like paint.
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ATR
- Acronym for Attenuated total
reflection
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Atramentizing
- A corrosion protection process in which steel is coated with
phosphate using a zinc phosphate solution at
90°C.
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ATS
- Acronym for Air temperature sensor
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Attachment
- A fitting or accessory to be used in conjunction with a tool, such as a
grinding disc for use with an electric drill.
Also see
Inner attachment face
Split bearing attachment
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Attachment face
See
Inner attachment face
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Attack
-
- Chemical corrosion of metal.
- To damage something by corrosion.
Also see
Angle of attack
Pickling attack
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Attack angle
- The angle of the rear spoiler where it is most effective against lift.
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Attendant parking
- Parking which is left to a valet and supervised by an attendant.
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Attenuated total reflection
- Spectroscopic method of analyzing thin films on reflective substrates,
esp. using infrared radiation.
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Attenuation
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- A reduction of noise or emission.
- General term for reduction in magnitude, amplitude, or intensity of a
physical quantity, arising from absorption, scattering, or geometrical
dispersion. The latter, arising from diminution by the inverse square law,
is not generally considered as attenuation proper.
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Attenuation coefficient
- The coefficient which expresses energy losses of electromagnetic radiation due
to both absorption and scattering in a medium. Relevant to narrow beam
conditions. Also called total absorption coefficient
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Attenuation compensation
- The use of networks to correct for frequency-dependent attenuation, e.g., in
transmission lines.
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Attenuation constant
- The real part of α in the relationship ρ=ρe-
αx, where ρ is a physical quantity, such as the
amplitude of a wave propagating along a transmission path, and x is the distance
along the path. The imaginary part of α is known as the
phase constant. More simply, but less commonly
defined by μ = αλ where μ is the attenuation and λ is
wavelength, i.e., α is the attenuation per wavelength distance of
propagation.
Also see
Decibel
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Attenuation distortion
- Distortion of a complex waveform resulting from the differing attenuation of
each separate frequency component in the signal. This form of distortion is
difficult to avoid, e.g., in transmission lines.
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Attenuation of X-rays
- Absorption and scattering of X-rays as they pass through an object.
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Attenuator
- An arrangement of fixed or variable resistive elements designed to reduce the
strength of any signal (audio- or radio-frequency) without reducing appreciable
distortion. Attenuators also incorporate impedance matching to the transmission
lines or circuits to which they are connected, regardless of the attenuation
they introduce. For lower frequency applications they may be simply variable or
fixed resistances, for high frequencies they may be pieces of resistive
material, introduced into transmission lines, stripline, or waveguide. Fixed
attenuators are sometimes referred to as pad.
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Attitude
- Of an aircraft in flight, the angle made by its axes with the relative
airflow; the aspect is the angle made by its axes with the ground when the
aircraft is on the ground.
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Attitude indicator
- A gyro horizon which indicates the true
attitude of the aircraft in pitch and roll throughout 360° about these axes.
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Attracted-disk electrometer
- Fundamental instrument in which potential is measured by the attraction
between two oppositely charged disks.
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Attrition
- A process of wearing out an object by friction.
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Attrition test
- A test for the determination of the wear-resisting properties of stone,
particularly stone for road-making. Pieces of the stone are placed in a closed
cylinder, which is then rotated for a given time, after which the loss of
weight due to wear is found.
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ATV
- Acronym for All Terrain Vehicle -- a vehicle designated for all
types of terrain
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ATX
- Acronym for Automatic Transaxle
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At your back door
- Trucker slang for behind your truck as in "Smokey's at your back door."