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By Heinrich A. Kortmann

Specifications on the chemical, physical and metallurgical properties of the blast furnace burden are steadily becoming more stringent, especially in those countries where higher raw material and energy costs can be overcome only by improved technology. This paper describes the test methods for the relative predetermination of the criteria where the effects of temperature, gas composition and physical load in the blast furnace are duly considered. Data are presented to show the correlations between burden material tests and blast furnace results. Possible test methods for the direct reduction process are also discussed.

Jan 1, 1977

By Nicholas J. Grant, John S. Benjamin, Bill C. Giessen

In the course of a study of hard particle-duc tile binder composite alloys, interest arose in the nature of the products of the reaction between the inter metallic compound NiAl and the binder niobium. No published information was then available. A program to

Jan 1, 1967

By J. R. Thoenen

Six or seven years age the United States Bureau of Nines started development of instruments for the purpose of accurately measuring the vibrational movement of the earth in the vicinity of quarry blasts. V For this work a new type of seismometer has been developod.1/ A number of these have been constructed, the accessory field equipment has been assembled, and approximately 200 field tests of actual quarry blasts have been made. The results of some of these tests have been. published 2/ and others arcs the subject of two manuscripts now in preparation. So far the attention of the investigation has been centered on ascertaining the characteristics and behavior of the ground vibrations. Occasionally, when opportunity Prose, measurements of the vibrations occurring in houses or other structures caused by quarry blasts were made, but without Piny attempt et direct correlation or interpretation. During; 1936 the National Bureau of Standards conducted some experiments to determine the normal vibrations to which the walls and floors of buildings are subject. Cooperation of the Bureau of Mine's was requested in measuring the displace-ment. This afforded an opportunity to study the affect of mechanically induced vibrations end make limited comparison with previous records of vibrations from blasting. This paper duels with the experiments made in cooperation with the Bureau of Standards and includes soma comparisons with affects from quarry shots. The results are in the: nature, of , progress report only, and are not intended to draw definite conclusions. Those, tests were concerned with the determination of the maximum amplitudes of vibration possible in the floors and walls of a typical dwelling when subjected to commonly experienced vibrations. The dwelling tested was obtained by the National Bureau of Standards. It was a large four-story stucco building, 41 ft. south off the southerly curb of Park Road, in. Washington, D.C., which was constructed about 1900 and was supported on overburden. The basement floor elevation was approximately that of the pavement of Park Road. Park Road runs east and west; the front door of the house faced north.

Jan 1, 1937

By Robert C. Emmett, Donald A. Dahlstrom

FOR many years gravitational classification has been employed as a basic tool in beneficiation of minerals and coal. While improvements have been made to increase efficiency and fields of application, the basic flow pattern has remained relatively unchanged in most gravitational classifiers. Feed slurry is introduced into a settling pool wherein the coarser solids settle against either an upward or horizontal fluid current, or a combination of both, and are withdrawn in a concentrated underflow stream. The finer solids below the classification point possess too low a settling velocity and thus are primarily swept out through a weir overflow by the bulk of the fluid. Because of its simplicity, efficiency, and low power and maintenance costs, gravitational classification finds a wide acceptance for separations in the range of 20 to 325 mesh.

Jan 10, 1953

By T. S. Fuller

VARIOUS phases of the embrittlement of solid copper containing oxygen by the action of reducing gases at high temperatures through the work of many experimenters are familiar to readers of metallurgical literature. In 1900, Heyn1 recorded observations of copper being heated in hydrogen with the development of fine cracks, the result of the formation of steam within the metal through the action of hydrogen on the copper oxide usually found in copper. Archbutt,2 in 1905, published the results of experiments, showing that all oxygen can be removed from copper by heating to redness, for several hours, in hydrogen. Intercrystalline cracks and extreme brittleness developed. Archbutt attributed the brittleness to the reduction of oxides present in the copper. Bengough and Hill,3 in 1910, encountered the now well-known embrittlement at the outset of their investigation and stated in their paper: It soon became evident that the effect of any heat treatment depended largely on the presence or absence of reducing gases in the atmosphere of the furnace, as well as on its temperature. Hence it became necessary to adopt a somewhat elaborate scheme of heat treatment. The authors found embrittlement in separate experiments due to both hydrogen and carbon monoxide and concluded that: "The gases ruin the alloys after being heated to about 650° C. in their presence."

Jan 2, 1926

By Robin O. Williams

The textures which are produced by simple shear in poly crystalline samples of copper, brass, aluminum, iron, and zirconium have been determined. For the fcc materials, there are two major textures, both of which are oriented for slip on the usual slip systems. It is shown that each grain will, in general, give rise to both orientations through the production of deformation bands. This is considered a clear demonstration that such bands aye produced by the heterogeneous deformation which takes place instead of the five-slip-system model considered by Taylor. The results on iron and zirconium are more limited but would appear to exhibit certain additional complexities. It is suspected, however, that the general consideration of deformation bands may apply here also. One finds some correlation between the textures produced by this single shear and the conventional textures although it would appear- that additional data and analysis are requived to produce a strong correlation. It is somewhat remarkable that of all the texture investigations only a very few have been concerned with the action of simple shear on polycrystalline aggregates. Of these limited investigations, all used torsional strains and only in Backofen's' and Backofen and Hundy's "ork was sampling carried out so as to derive a texture in terms of the shear direction. Some rather remarkable conclusions re- sulted from Backofens'1,2work: 1) the rate of texture formation in copper is high, being almost complete at a shear strain of unity; 2) the texture does not change if the sample is sheared back, although the surface grains return to their original shape; and 3) the texture is complex in that it has four components, three of which have [110] as a shear direction. These conclusions were based on both qualitative and quantitative data. Shear deformation is intermediate in complexity between simple shear of single crystals and the usual deformation of polycrystals; hence, one might expect to learn considerable from the extension of this work. CONVENTION Deformation in simple shear has the lowest possible symmetr3, less than the other simple modes of deformation (rolling, drawing, and compression); hence, one cannot necessarily expect the textures to have the same degree of symmetry. The geometry of the process is represented by Fig. 1 along with its sltereographic projection. One has the shear plane, the shear direction, the mirror plane normal to the shear plane and containing the shear direction, and a neutral plane normal to both the shear plane and mirror plane. These planes divide the projection into four quadrants. These quadrants are not, however, identical, since all directions within the upper left and lower right are being shortened by the shear process, and the other directions are being lengthened. The first kind are called compression quadrants and the direction of greatest contraction rate, at 45 deg, is labeled with a minus sign; the corresponding direction of greatest extension rate

Jan 1, 1962

SULFURIC ACID U.S. 4,070,260 - Sulfuric acid leaching of willemite, hemimorphite, or other zinc silicate ore. Ore is leached with at least a stoichiometric amount of a IN to 6N sulfuric acid solution at a temperature near its boiling point to form a gelatinous mass of hydrated silica and zinc sulfate, the water in the mass partially evaporated to crystallize all of the silica, the mass treated with hot water to dissolve substantially all of the zinc sulfate, the suspension filtered, and zinc values recovered from the filtrate by electrolysis. N. Dreulle, assigned to Compagnie Royale Asturienne des Mines. Jan. 24, 1978. 3 pp. (204-119). Filed: 2-10-76 (656,966) . Priority: France, 2-14-75 (75/04594) .

Jan 1, 1979

By R. V. Ramani, R. D. Zigmond, R. L. Frantz

In this paper, a computer program for determining the capital and operating costs for coal preparation plants is described along with its applications. The logic of the computer program is based upon the results of a survey of existing preparation plants, operators, plant contractors, equipment manufacturers, and consulting firms. This survey provided information on plant performance, order-of-magnitude costs, and costing procedures. Additionally, an extensive cost data file for the major capital equipment in coal preparation plants has been developed. Using the washability data and the computer program out- puts, the cleaning costs per million Btu can be calculated. Details about the program and its applications can be found in a report by the authors (Zigmond et al., 1979).

Jan 1, 1983

By O. P. Arora, J. B. Darby, Paul A. Beck

LAVES and Wallbaum' reported that the phases occurring at the compositions TiFe, TiRu, and TiOs, which are stable over a wide range of temperatures and are separated from neighboring phases by wide two phase fields, have a CsC1-type ordered structure. For TiRu and TiOs, this was recently confirmed by C. B. Jordan.2 Recent results of Greenfield and Beck3 show that solid solutions with ruthenium of the body-centered-cubic elements vanadium and tantalum (and presumably also of colum-bium) in group Va of the periodic table undergo CsC1-type ordering. Although detailed phase diagrams for these systems are not yet available, it would appear that these ordered structures are separated from the neighboring body-centered-cubic solid solutions by relatively narrow two phase fields.

Jan 1, 1957

MINING; SOLUTION U.S. 4,066,297 - In the solution mining of uranium from an underground deposit of uranium ore using an alkaline leaching solution, precipitation of alkali metal salts is avoided by maintaining the Injected leach solution of an alkaline carbonate or bicarbonate and an oxidant undersaturated with respect to carbonates Undersaturation is effected by use of a water softening unit or by bleeding a portion of the recycled alkallne leach solution. A P. Spence, assigned to Atlantic Richfield Co Jan. 3, 1978 4 pp. (299-4). Filed: 6-1-76 (69 1,344)

Jan 1, 1979

By Shueling Woo, Charles S. Barrett, Robert F. Mehl

When one solid phase is generated from another, fixed and rational orientation relationships are observed to subsist between the parent and the new crystal. The principle has been proposed1 that the relationships obtaining between the same two phases are identical whatever the type of phase change involved, or whichever of the phases may act as parent. Many types of phase changes have been studied: allotropic transformations in pure metals, precipitation from solid solutions, eutectoid decompositions, peritectic reactions, the formation of oxide layers, and others2 Phase layers generated by diffusion of one metal into another constitute an additional type of reaction. This report provides new data on the orientation relationships occurring between phase layers formed by diffusion, in the Cu-Zn system,§ and furnishes further evidence in support of the principle. Materials and Methods The Cu-Zn system is especially suitable for these studies since the high vapor pres- sure of Zn provides an opportunity readily to create one phase poorer in Zn upon a parent phase richer in Zn by removing Zn by vaporization, or to reverse this process by adding Zn from Zn vapor; e.g., the beta phase can be found as a layer upon gamma by dezincing, or gamma can be found on beta by addition of Zn from Zn vapor. Since orientation relationships are to be sought, requiring crystals large enough for orientation determinations, it is convenient to prepare single crystals or large grains of the parent phase. The samples were prepared from oxygen-free high-conductivity copper and Horse Head zinc by melting under a borax flux in a graphite crucible. Large crystals of beta brass were grown by the strain-anneal method, in plates sectioned from the cast ingots, by the following procedure. Rockwell-hardness indents were made at I cm. intervals and with various loads, then the plates were annealed for 4 days at 700°C. in Nichrome boxes packed with beta-brass chips and graphite. Surface layers were removed by grinding and etching to a depth of about 1.0 mm., and individual grains were cut out. Crystals of alpha and gamma brass were prepared by freezing, by lowering a graphite crucible at speeds less than one inch per hour through a furnace held at a constant temperature above the melting point. Single crystals were cut out with a jeweler's saw, ground, polished and etched. Care was taken to remove cold-worked layers from the finished crystals

Jan 1, 1944

By Charles S. Barrett, Robert F. Mehl, Shueling Woo

When one solid phase is generated from another, fixed and rational orientation relationships are observed to subsist between the parent and the new crystal. The principle has been proposed1 that the relationships obtaining between the same two phases are identical whatever the type of phase change involved, or whichever of the phases may act as parent. Many types of phase changes have been studied: allotropic transformations in pure metals, precipitation from solid solutions, eutectoid decompositions, peritectic reactions, the formation of oxide layers, and others2 Phase layers generated by diffusion of one metal into another constitute an additional type of reaction. This report provides new data on the orientation relationships occurring between phase layers formed by diffusion, in the Cu-Zn system,§ and furnishes further evidence in support of the principle. Materials and Methods The Cu-Zn system is especially suitable for these studies since the high vapor pres- sure of Zn provides an opportunity readily to create one phase poorer in Zn upon a parent phase richer in Zn by removing Zn by vaporization, or to reverse this process by adding Zn from Zn vapor; e.g., the beta phase can be found as a layer upon gamma by dezincing, or gamma can be found on beta by addition of Zn from Zn vapor. Since orientation relationships are to be sought, requiring crystals large enough for orientation determinations, it is convenient to prepare single crystals or large grains of the parent phase. The samples were prepared from oxygen-free high-conductivity copper and Horse Head zinc by melting under a borax flux in a graphite crucible. Large crystals of beta brass were grown by the strain-anneal method, in plates sectioned from the cast ingots, by the following procedure. Rockwell-hardness indents were made at I cm. intervals and with various loads, then the plates were annealed for 4 days at 700°C. in Nichrome boxes packed with beta-brass chips and graphite. Surface layers were removed by grinding and etching to a depth of about 1.0 mm., and individual grains were cut out. Crystals of alpha and gamma brass were prepared by freezing, by lowering a graphite crucible at speeds less than one inch per hour through a furnace held at a constant temperature above the melting point. Single crystals were cut out with a jeweler's saw, ground, polished and etched. Care was taken to remove cold-worked layers from the finished crystals

Jan 1, 1944

By W. B. Lilienthal, J. C. Melrose

The application of Bingham's law to the behavior of drilling fluids in a rotational viscometer permits the expression of viscometric data in terms of plastic viscosity and yield value, the flow properties of a plastic fluid. A commercially available rotational viscometer is described, and when modified to a multispeed type viscometer, is shown to provide a simple and convenient instrument for the measurement of these properties both in the laboratory and in the field. The data obtained are shown to be useful in defining and understanding mud control problems relating to chemical treatment and to the hydro-dynamic behavior of muds. INTRODUCTION The highly complex drilling fluids which are required for deep drilling often give rise to new and unusual mud control problems. Rapid and economic solutions to these problems may require, on the one hand, better understanding of the changes which contaminants and chemical treating agents produce in the colloidal and inert solids of the mud, or, on the other hand, closer control of the hydrodynamic behavior of the mud. The latter objective obviously can be achieved only if a correct rheological analysis of the flow behavior of drilling muds is available and if this is accompanied by the appropriate rheological measurements. The purpose of this paper is to describe such measurements in the field, and to show how the resulting data can be of value in solving difficult mud control problems. It is now generally recognized that Bingham's law of plastic flow can be utilized in describing the hydrodynamic behavior of drilling fluids in the non-turbulent flow range. Beck, Nuss, and Dunn' have recently applied this law to the flow of mud in small pipes, and Rogers2 has reviewed the rather extensive literature on this subject. So far, however, the use of Bingham's law has been restricted to the analysis of mud flow in pipes or capillary tubes, and it has not been directly applied to the flow in rotational viscometers. In the work to be reprted, the Reiner-Riwlin3 equation for the flow of a plastic fluid in a rotational viscometer has been utilized to permit the expression of multispeed viscometric data in terms of plastic viscosity and yield value. the two absolute flow properties of a plastic fluid. With regard to the application of these measurements, the calculation of the relationship between pumping rate and pressure drop, both in the drill pipe and annular space, has long been a subject of interest. Beck, Nuss, and Dunn,' following Caldwell and Babbitt: base their calculations for non-turbulent flow on Buckingham's integration of Bingham's law for pipe flow and measurements of the plastic viscosity (rigidity in their terminology) and yield value. In the case of turbulent flow, Fanning's equation is employed, and the pressure drop is relatively insensitive to the flow properties of the mud. Since flow in the drill pipe is likely to be turbulent at usual circulation rates, the plastic flow properties will chiefly influence the pressure drop in the annular space. As pointed out by Beck,' the control of this component of the total pressure drop may be of special importance where lost circulation problems are encountered. Other hydrodynamic problems to which it should be possible to apply measurements of the plastic flow properties include predictions of the velocity distribution in non-turbulent flow and the critical velocity for transition to turbulence. Plastic viscosity and yield value. as abmlute flow propertie.;, will reflect the colloidal or surface-active behavior of the solids present in drilling fluids. Measurements of these properties should therefore find application in developing a better understanding of such behavior and in characterizing the type and condition of these solids. Garrison and ten Brink have utilized multispeed viscometric data in this manner. although their measurements were not expressed in terms of the absolute flow properties. In connection with the application of these measurements, it should be recognized that the presently used one-point viscosity measurements are relative in nature. The API Stormer 600-rpm measurement, for example. is a function of both plastic viscosity and yield value, as well as mud weight, and will often be misleading when its application to mud control problems is attempted. NOMENCLATURE, UNITS, AND DEFINITIONS In Fig. 1 an idealized plot is given of the flow variables involved in any viscometric measurement. It is seen that the flow behavior of plastic fluids is characterized by two constants — plastic viscosity, µp, and yield value, F. Other workers hate used the term rigidity for plastic viscosity or the term mobility for its reciprocal. The term plastic viscosity, however, emphasizes the close relation this property bears to the viscosity of a true fluid and is expressed in the familiar viscosity units of centipoises. The yield value is expressed in lbs/100 sq ft, the units adopted for gel strength measurements with the APT shearometer. Definitions of these properties based on rheological or macrc)scopic flow considerations follow from Fig. 1. The plastic viscosity of a substance obeying Bingham's equation is defined

Jan 1, 1951

By J. C. Melrose, W. B. Lilienthal

The application of Bingham's law to the behavior of drilling fluids in a rotational viscometer permits the expression of viscometric data in terms of plastic viscosity and yield value, the flow properties of a plastic fluid. A commercially available rotational viscometer is described, and when modified to a multispeed type viscometer, is shown to provide a simple and convenient instrument for the measurement of these properties both in the laboratory and in the field. The data obtained are shown to be useful in defining and understanding mud control problems relating to chemical treatment and to the hydro-dynamic behavior of muds. INTRODUCTION The highly complex drilling fluids which are required for deep drilling often give rise to new and unusual mud control problems. Rapid and economic solutions to these problems may require, on the one hand, better understanding of the changes which contaminants and chemical treating agents produce in the colloidal and inert solids of the mud, or, on the other hand, closer control of the hydrodynamic behavior of the mud. The latter objective obviously can be achieved only if a correct rheological analysis of the flow behavior of drilling muds is available and if this is accompanied by the appropriate rheological measurements. The purpose of this paper is to describe such measurements in the field, and to show how the resulting data can be of value in solving difficult mud control problems. It is now generally recognized that Bingham's law of plastic flow can be utilized in describing the hydrodynamic behavior of drilling fluids in the non-turbulent flow range. Beck, Nuss, and Dunn' have recently applied this law to the flow of mud in small pipes, and Rogers2 has reviewed the rather extensive literature on this subject. So far, however, the use of Bingham's law has been restricted to the analysis of mud flow in pipes or capillary tubes, and it has not been directly applied to the flow in rotational viscometers. In the work to be reprted, the Reiner-Riwlin3 equation for the flow of a plastic fluid in a rotational viscometer has been utilized to permit the expression of multispeed viscometric data in terms of plastic viscosity and yield value. the two absolute flow properties of a plastic fluid. With regard to the application of these measurements, the calculation of the relationship between pumping rate and pressure drop, both in the drill pipe and annular space, has long been a subject of interest. Beck, Nuss, and Dunn,' following Caldwell and Babbitt: base their calculations for non-turbulent flow on Buckingham's integration of Bingham's law for pipe flow and measurements of the plastic viscosity (rigidity in their terminology) and yield value. In the case of turbulent flow, Fanning's equation is employed, and the pressure drop is relatively insensitive to the flow properties of the mud. Since flow in the drill pipe is likely to be turbulent at usual circulation rates, the plastic flow properties will chiefly influence the pressure drop in the annular space. As pointed out by Beck,' the control of this component of the total pressure drop may be of special importance where lost circulation problems are encountered. Other hydrodynamic problems to which it should be possible to apply measurements of the plastic flow properties include predictions of the velocity distribution in non-turbulent flow and the critical velocity for transition to turbulence. Plastic viscosity and yield value. as abmlute flow propertie.;, will reflect the colloidal or surface-active behavior of the solids present in drilling fluids. Measurements of these properties should therefore find application in developing a better understanding of such behavior and in characterizing the type and condition of these solids. Garrison and ten Brink have utilized multispeed viscometric data in this manner. although their measurements were not expressed in terms of the absolute flow properties. In connection with the application of these measurements, it should be recognized that the presently used one-point viscosity measurements are relative in nature. The API Stormer 600-rpm measurement, for example. is a function of both plastic viscosity and yield value, as well as mud weight, and will often be misleading when its application to mud control problems is attempted. NOMENCLATURE, UNITS, AND DEFINITIONS In Fig. 1 an idealized plot is given of the flow variables involved in any viscometric measurement. It is seen that the flow behavior of plastic fluids is characterized by two constants — plastic viscosity, µp, and yield value, F. Other workers hate used the term rigidity for plastic viscosity or the term mobility for its reciprocal. The term plastic viscosity, however, emphasizes the close relation this property bears to the viscosity of a true fluid and is expressed in the familiar viscosity units of centipoises. The yield value is expressed in lbs/100 sq ft, the units adopted for gel strength measurements with the APT shearometer. Definitions of these properties based on rheological or macrc)scopic flow considerations follow from Fig. 1. The plastic viscosity of a substance obeying Bingham's equation is defined

Jan 1, 1951

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Jan 1, 1938

By W. O. Hotchkiss

Rock exposures are usually a very small part of the surface area in any mining district and the prospector and geologist must base their deductions as to the area, extent, and structure of various formations upon exposures that seldom form 5 per cent. of the area studied. Most often, outcrops form less than 1 per cent. of an area, so that exploration for mineralized contacts or mineral-bearing formations necessitates drilling, test pitting or tunneling, shaft sinking, and other underground work. In these days of high costs any method that will give definite facts regarding rock? obscured by soil or other material should be used to the greatest possible extent. In the early days of the Lake Superior iron districts, mines were located in the few places where ore was present in outcrops. Later, larger orebodies have been found, in depressions, obscured by soil and other foreign material. Mineralized rocks are oftentimes more weathered, softer, and more easily eroded than unmineralized rocks. It is quite natural, therefore, to expect that such orebodies (particularly where large enough to influence erosion in former physiographic conditions) should lie in depressions and be obscured by later debris. It is not difficult to believe that the history of the development of Lake Superior iron mining may be duplicated in other mining districts, that even larger orebodies than those first mined may be found in areas where the rock exposures, which led to original discoveries, are few or lacking. The chief properties of rocks that can manifest themselves through an obscuring cover are magnetism, electrical effects, radio-activity, gravity, and sound transmission. All of these have been used, to a small extent, to tell us a few things about what lies below the surface that we could not otherwise determine, but none has been used so long and so widely as

Jan 1, 1923

By W. O. Hotchkiss

Rock exposures are usually a very small part of the surface area in any mining district and the prospector and geologist must base their deductions as to the area, extent, and structure of various formations upon exposures that seldom form 5 per cent. of the area studied. Most often, outcrops form less than 1 per cent. of an area, so that exploration for mineralized contacts or mineral-bearing formations necessitates drilling, test pitting or tunneling, shaft sinking, and other underground work. In these days of high costs any method that will give definite facts regarding rock? obscured by soil or other material should be used to the greatest possible extent. In the early days of the Lake Superior iron districts, mines were located in the few places where ore was present in outcrops. Later, larger orebodies have been found, in depressions, obscured by soil and other foreign material. Mineralized rocks are oftentimes more weathered, softer, and more easily eroded than unmineralized rocks. It is quite natural, therefore, to expect that such orebodies (particularly where large enough to influence erosion in former physiographic conditions) should lie in depressions and be obscured by later debris. It is not difficult to believe that the history of the development of Lake Superior iron mining may be duplicated in other mining districts, that even larger orebodies than those first mined may be found in areas where the rock exposures, which led to original discoveries, are few or lacking. The chief properties of rocks that can manifest themselves through an obscuring cover are magnetism, electrical effects, radio-activity, gravity, and sound transmission. All of these have been used, to a small extent, to tell us a few things about what lies below the surface that we could not otherwise determine, but none has been used so long and so widely as

Jan 1, 1923

By W. A. Longacre

IN the geophysical exploration program of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. on the Marquette Range of Northern Michigan, the vertical intensity magnetometer has been used to obtain magnetic anomaly maps of large areas. A network of magnetic base stations has been established and the relative vertical intensity at each station measured carefully with respect to a prime base. In the search for the relatively nonmagnetic soft red hematite ore, the magnetic exploration is indirect, involving the study of dikes, faults, contacts, and other structural features. It was found that the, magnetometer, adjusted to a scale value of approximately 40 y per scale division, was satisfactory for this type of exploration, although many magnetic anomalies were encountered that required the use of auxiliary magnets.

Jan 10, 1951

By R. H. Wightman, C. D. Chandler, P. B. Nalle

SURFACE quarrying at the Crestmore Div. of Riverside Cement Co. in California was started in 1909. In the early 1920's it was considered that these deposits were nearly exhausted for the equipment available at that time, and in 1927 the company began a block caving system. This mine continued operating until February 1954. In 1941 trucks and crawler-mounted shovels had reached a stage of development that permitted reopening the quarries in conjunction with the underground mine. In 1948 surface reserves and the well developed limestone of the caving system neared depletion. To go deeper with the caving system was unattractive because of the economics, changes in physical structure of the rock at depth, and the perched water table

Jan 4, 1957

By V. G. Mooradian

THE diffusion of metal atoms into the crystal lattice of another metal and the assumption of regular positions to form a homogeneous alloy are some of the most fundamental phenomena of structural metallurgy. The mechanism of this process has been the subject of a great deal of study from many viewpoints, but the picture is still far from complete. It is generally believed that if one metal is to diffuse into another, the first must have some solubility in the second1. This means that the solvent must be able to accommodate the stranger atoms, either on points of its own lattice or in the interstices between, without losing its own crystal-lographic identity. It is also a general observation that cold-working is a distinct aid in the diffusion process, causing it to take place with greater rapidity at the same temperature or with the same speed at a lower temperature. There is considerable doubt, however, as to the real significance of the deformation in its effect on the diffusion mechanism. Several factors associated with the cold-working may be responsible for the increased diffusion rate. The plastic deformation causes a distor-tion of the solvent lattice, which may be an aid in the assimulation of atoms of another kind. There are many references2 in the literature that suggest that some distortion or "loosening" of the lattice is necessary for atomic migration and that diffusion cannot take place in the undis-

Jan 1, 1935