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karat
A unit for designating the fineness of gold in an alloy. In this system, 24 karat (24 k) is 1000 fine or pure gold. The most popular jewelry golds are:
Karat
designation Gold content
24k 100% Au (99.5% min)
18k 18/24ths, or 75% Au
14k 14/24ths or 58.33% Au
10k 10/24ths, or 41.67% Au
keel block
A standard test casting, for steel and other high-shrinkage alloys, consisting of a rectangular bar that resembles the keel of a boat, attached to the bottom of a large riser, or shrinkhead. Keel blocks that have only one bar are often called Y-blocks; keel blocks having two bars, double keel blocks. Test specimens are machined from the rectangular bar, and the shrinkhead is discarded.
kerf
The width of the cut produced during a cutting process.
keyhole
A technique of welding in which a concentrated heat source, such as a plasma arc, penetrates completely through a workpiece forming a hole at the leading edge of the molten weld metal. As the heat source progresses, the molten metal fills in behind the hold to form the weld bead.
keyhole specimen
A type of specimen containing a hole-and-slot notch, shaped like a keyhole, usually used in impact bend tests. See also Charpy test and Izod test.
killed steel
Steel treated with a strong deoxidizing agent such as silicon or aluminum in order to reduce the oxygen content to such a level that no reaction occurs between carbon and oxygen during solidification.
kiln
A large furnace used for baking, drying, or burning firebrick or refractories, or for calcining ores or other substances.
KIscc
Abbreviation for the critical value of the plane strain stress-intensity factor that will produce crack propagation by stress-corrosion cracking of a given material in a given environment.
kish
Free graphite that forms in molten hypereutectic cast iron as it cools. In castings, the kish may segregate toward the cope surface, where it lodges at or immediately beneath the casting surface.
knife-line attack
Intergranular corrosion of an alloy, usually stabilized stainless steel, along a line adjoining or in contact with a weld after heating into the sensitization temperature range.
knockout
(1) Removal of sand cores from a casting. (2) Jarring of an investment casting mold to remove the casting and investment from the flask. (3) A mechanism for freeing formed parts from a die used for stamping, blanking, drawing, forging, or heading operations. (4) A partially pierced hole in a sheet metal part, where the slug remains in the hole and can be forced out by hand if a hole is needed.
Knoop hardness number (HK)
A number related to the applied load and to the projected area of the permanent impression made by a rhombic-based pyramidal diamond indenter having included edge angles of 172° 30′ and 130° 0′ computed from the equation: where P is applied load, kgf; and d is the length of the long diagonal of the impression, mm. In reporting Knoop hardness numbers, the test load is stated.
Knoop hardness test
An indentation hardness test using calibrated machines to force a rhombic-based pyramidal diamond indenter having specified edge angles, under specified conditions, into the surface of the material under test and to measure the long diagonal after removal of the load.
knuckle-lever press
A heavy short-stroke press in which the slide is directly actuated by a single toggle joint that is opened and closed by a connection and crack. It is used for embossing, coining, sizing, heading, swaging, and extruding.
knurling
Impressing a design into a metallic surface, usually by means of small, hard rollers that carry the corresponding design on their surfaces.
Kroll process
A process for the production of metallic titanium sponge by the reduction of titanium tetrachloride with a more active metal, such as magnesium or sodium. The sponge is further processed to granules or powder.