Filler

Name:
Filler
Detailed information:
(1) An inert mineral powder of rather high specific gravity (2.00–4.50) used in plastic products and rubber mix to provide a certain degree of stiffness and hardness and to decrease cost. Examples are calcium carbonate (whiting), barytes, blanc fixe, silicates, glass spheres and bubbles, slate flour, soft clays, etc. Fillers have neither reinforcing nor coloring properties, and the term should not be applied to materials that do, i.e., reinforcing agents or pigments. Fillers are similar to extenders and diluents in their cost-reducing function; exact lines of distinction between these terms are difficult, if not impossible, to draw. Use of fillers and extenders in plastics has increased in recent years due to shortages of basic materials.(2) The cross or transverse thread in a fabric or other textile structure.(3) A metal or alloy used in brazing and soldering to effect union of the metals being joined. See Diluent; Extender; Reinforcing Agent.