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Tab gate
A gate designed with a tab to reduce shear and gate blush on sensitive moulded parts.
Rapid Prototyping Glossary
T
Definitions for commercial rapid prototyping, production, machining, casting, moulding, finishing and inspection terms.
Tailstock
A supporting unit on a lathe used to hold drills or support the far end of a workpiece.
Tap
A tool used to cut or form internal threads.
Tap drill
The drill size chosen to create the correct hole before tapping.
Taper
A gradual change in diameter or width along a feature, commonly machined on turned or milled components for fit, release or functional geometry.
Tapping
Producing an internal thread by cutting or forming.
Tensile strength
The maximum stress a material can withstand in tension before failure.
Texturing
Deliberately creating a surface pattern on a tool or part for grip, appearance or function.
Tg
Abbreviation for glass transition temperature.
Thermal deburring
Removing burrs by a controlled thermal process that rapidly burns fine projections away.
Thermal expansion coefficient
A measure of how much a material expands with temperature change.
Thermal staking
A plastic assembly process similar to heat staking, using thermal energy to form a retaining head.
Thermoforming
Heating sheet plastic and forming it over or into a tool.
Thermoplastic
A polymer that softens when heated and can be reprocessed by melting.
Thermoset
A polymer that cures irreversibly and does not remelt like a thermoplastic.
Thin-wall injection moulding
An injection-moulding process for very thin plastic wall sections, often used to reduce mass, material use and cycle time.
Thread chase
Cleaning or restoring an existing thread with a chaser or die.
Thread insert
A separate threaded element installed into a softer parent material.
Thread milling
Producing a thread with a milling cutter following a helical path.
Three-dimensional scanning
Capturing the geometry of a physical part as digital data for inspection or reverse engineering.
Tie bar
One of the heavy structural bars linking the platens on many injection moulding machines. Tie bars guide platen movement and resist clamping loads.
Tolerance
The permissible variation from a nominal dimension, geometric requirement or surface condition allowed for a machined feature.
Tolerance band
The allowable zone between upper and lower specification limits.
Tolerance stack-up
The combined effect of multiple dimensional tolerances in an assembly.
Tombstone fixture
A vertical multi-face fixture used on machining centres to increase productivity.
Tool length offset
A stored value that compensates for the actual projection length of a tool relative to a reference position.
Tool life
The useful cutting life of a tool edge before wear, finish or dimensional performance becomes unacceptable.
Tool steel
Steel grade selected for tooling because of its hardness, toughness or wear performance.
Tool wear offset
A small adjustment applied to compensate for gradual cutter wear without reprogramming the full toolpath.
Toolholder
The interface component that clamps the cutting tool and mounts it in the spindle or turret.
Toolpath
The programmed route followed by a cutter, laser, nozzle or print head.
Top coat
The outermost decorative or protective coating layer.
Topology optimisation
Software-driven design method that removes unnecessary material based on load paths and constraints.
Torque test
A test that measures the torque required to fasten, loosen or fail a feature.
TPA
Thermoplastic polyamide elastomer; a flexible engineering polymer family that appears in some additive-manufacturing material portfolios.
TPU
Thermoplastic polyurethane; a flexible printable and mouldable elastomer.
TPU 88A
A flexible thermoplastic polyurethane grade used in Multi Jet Fusion for elastomeric, wear-resistant parts.
Transfer moulding
A moulding process in which material is forced from a pot into the closed cavity.
Transfer pressure
The machine setting at which control changes from velocity-based filling to pressure-based packing. Correct transfer pressure or switchover helps avoid short shots, flash and dimensional variation.
Transparent finish
A finish intended to preserve or enhance optical clarity.
Treeing
In investment casting, the assembly of multiple wax or printed patterns onto a common sprue so several parts can be cast in one shell.
Trochoidal milling
A milling strategy using looping circular motions to reduce radial engagement and maintain more stable cutting conditions.
True position
A GD&T control defining the allowable location variation of a feature relative to datums.
Tumble finishing
Mass finishing in which parts and media are rotated together to deburr and smooth edges.
Turn-mill centre
A CNC machine that combines turning and milling capabilities in one platform.
Turnaround time
The time from receipt of information or order to completed output.
Turning
Machining operation in which the workpiece rotates and the cutting tool traverses.
Turret
An indexed tool-carrying unit, especially on lathes and turning centres, that presents different tools to the cut.
Turret lathe
A production-oriented lathe that uses an indexing turret to present successive tools rapidly during turning operations.
Two-shot moulding
A process that moulds two materials or colours in one tool sequence; also called 2K moulding.