Dictionary of Automotive Terms Abbreviations

DICTIONARY OF AUTOMOTIVE TERMS - "Bi"

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.

Also See
ac bias
brake bias
true bias

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.

Also See
belted bias tire

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

Also 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.

Also See
discone antenna

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

Bicycle: Bicycle

A two-wheel non-motorized vehicle in which the two wheels are not side-by-side but in line. Also called bike.

Also See
all terrain bike
coaster
girl's bike
loaded tourer
mixte frame
mountain bike
penny-farthing
quadricycle
randonneuring
recumbent
sports tourer
tandem
tourist
tricycle
unicycle
velocipede

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: Acronym 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 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.

Also See
connecting-rod bolts

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.

Also See
all-terrain bike
girl's bike
mountain bike
street bike
touring bike

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 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.

BIL

Acronym for Bilimportorenes Landsforening (Norway).
Acronym for Bilindustrieforeningen" (Sweden)

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 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 strake: Shell plates at the bilge area.

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.

Billion-electron-volt: See
Ge_V

Bill of lading

The cost or the paperwork describing the cost of a vehicle's load or freight.
Itemized list of goods contained in a shipment

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-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.

Also See
galvanic corrosion

Bimetallic sensor: Consists of 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: 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

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

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 d_B 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 d_B 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.

Also See
phase diagram

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 pigment particles together.
A glue used to hold the various elements of a brake friction material together

Also 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.

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.

Also See
adhesive binding
edge binding

Binding energy

Energy required to remove a particle from a system, e.g., electron, when it is the ionization potential.
Energy required to overcome forces of cohesion and disperse a solid into constituent atoms.
Of a nucleus, the energy which holds nuclear particles together.

Also See
fusion
fusion
packing fraction

Binding wire: See
tie wire

Bingham flow: See
Bingham solid

Bingham solid: Material which shows little tendency to flow until a critical stress is reached (e.g., toothpaste or modelling clay). Such materials may be Newtonian, dilatant (see dilatancy) or pseudo-plastic. 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

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.

Also See
pentaprism

Biquartz: A quartz cut perpendicular to the axis, one half of the disk being right-handed and the other left-handed quartz. The thickness is such that each half rotates the plane of vibration of yellow light through 90° but in opposite directions. The device is used as a sensitive analyzer for saccharimeters

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.

Birefringent filter: Filter based on the polarization of light which enables a narrow spectral band of <0.1mm to be isolated, i.e., effectively a monochromator; used e.g., for photographing solar flares.

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.

Also See
drill bit
hexagon bit
hex bit
screwdriver bit
socket bit
twisty bits

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.

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

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.

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.