Oh that is from an even more ridiculous tool:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tork-grip.html Now Bob, I had to googgle "cold flow", as it did sound like something you would want in a connection...
Cold Flow
As compared to Creep, cold flow has no units of measure. The best description of cold flow relating to application within the electrical industry, is an excessively high rate of creep i.e. normal creep rate static load condition would be expressed in a fraction of an inch per inch of length. Cold flow, conversely if possible to measure it in definable terms, would be expressed in terms of inches of movement per inch of length. Cold flow then can be expressed as movement of appreciable magnitude occurring at a stress level in a very short length of time at an ambient temperature. Neither time or temperature are critical in assessing the effecting force of cold flow.
It is significant to realize that it is an absolute necessity to have cold flow of the conductor within a bolted connector to develop the desired low resistance contact, required for electrical/mechanical stability of the connection. So is it necessary to have cold flow of both the conductor and connector in the making of a compression connection. In these two instances a mechanical union of the two components is made by means of an externally applied force to assure both electrical and mechanical reliability. In the case of a soldered or welded connection this component union is made metallurgically.
Further research on cold flow is that it is a metalurogical term for cold forming of metals. The way wire is flattened in a lug so to speak. I guess that as long as the cross-sectional area of the wire is unchanged, and there is contact equaling that dimension, you have a good connection. But if you have enough 'cold flow' to squeeze the metal out like tooth paste out of both sides of a lug, and reduce the cross-sectional area, you have over-torqued.
[This message has been edited by e57 (edited 06-20-2005).]
