Search Documents

By AIME AIME

THE second session on geophysical prospecting at the February meeting of the Institute was a discussion of the mining law and the bearing of the new method of search on location of claims and assessment work thereon. Allen H. Rogers was chairman of the meeting, which he opened by reviewing the present law and the proposed changes. W. R. Ingalls commented (by letter) on the Arentz bill, as introduced into the House of Representatives in 1921 and the need for revision of the present mining law. L. W. Douglas explained (by letter) the bill that he introduced and which has been passed by the House. SAMUEL S. ARENTZ, Nevada: It is my opinion that if the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers is to sell this proposition to the people in the West, they have to sell it to the lawyers, because, after all, they are heard loudly when it comes to speaking in Congress. One man tells the other, "This thing is a vicious piece of legislation"; it might not be, but they will pass it on if it affects them. If the Institute would impress on the people affected that we need a re-codification of the mining law and that such is necessary along certain lines; that things have changed during the past decade or two, so today instead of doing our prospecting alone through the sinking of a shaft, through a discovery that may be seen, we are now moving on to more modern means of discovery through geophysics, through the churn-drill, through geology, through geological inference, I think we could get somewhere.

Jan 1, 1929

By J. T., Norton

As cold working is an important feature in a great many of the fabricating processes now applied, this paper presents some ideas on the nature and results of the plastic deformation produced in this operation. The art of manufacturing metal for practical uses is very old and has undergone very great development. The science of metals has- also developed very rapidly recently and the various processes to which metals are submitted are much better understood now than they were even a short time ago. All the knowledge that can be obtained on this subject is useful because it promotes efficiency in converting metal into finished articles.

Jan 1, 1927

By Thomas L. Kesler

I all of the 14 million tons of kaolin produced in Georgia through 1949 had been mined from a single deposit 20 ft thick, it would represent a mined-out area of less than 1 sq mile. This measure of depletion is in such strong contrast with the large size of the area shown in Fig. 1, from which most of the output has come, that there has developed an optimistic outlook concerning future supplies of kaolin equal in grade to that already mined. Dozens of mines are widely but not evenly distributed within this area, which consists mostly of parts of Twiggs, Wilkinson, and Washington counties. There are scarcely half a dozen kaolin mines elsewhere in the state that have been appreciably productive, although the areas in which they occur may have good possibilities. Most of the efforts to find new deposits, therefore, will be confined to the area shown in Fig. 1, for it is here that the industry has established its facilities, and prospecting is encouraged by relatively numerous outcrops and opened deposits of kaolin. The Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers drain the area. They and their main tributaries have flat, swampy floodplains covered with alluvium and for the most part thickly wooded. The divides between these streams are intricately dissected by the minor tributaries, which are spring-fed in steep-walled, cirque-like heads. Gullying and under-cutting are active along the streams but are partly controlled by unusually dense vegetation. The mean altitude is about 350 ft above sea level, and locally the relief ranges up to 200 ft. The area is near the inner margin of the Coastal Plain, and is underlain by Cretaceous and Tertiary formations. Its general location is shown in black in Fig. 1. The division between the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont plateau is actually a very sinuous line, the fall line, marking the extent to which erosion has stripped the Coastal Plain sediments from the southeastward-sloping surface of the crystalline rocks of the Piedmont. Cretaceous Host Formation The kaolin deposits, which are described in the succeeding section, occur sporadically in lenslike bodies in a thick series of poorly sorted clayey sands constituting the lowermost of the Upper Cretaceous formations, the Tuscaloosa. The basis for this correlation has been reviewed by Cooke.1 The same formation has been termed the Potomac group by Ladd2 and the Middendorf formation by Smith' in reports on the kaolin deposits. In another report, Veatch4 called the formation the Tuscaloosa but correlated it with the Lower Cretaceous. The Tuscaloosa in this area consists of fine to very coarse sands, commonly cross-bedded, which contain widely different proportions of white, pink, and yellow kaolin and considerable white mica. A few of the coarser beds contain quartz grains up to 3 in. in length, with bodies of pure white kaolin of equal size that appear to have been formed by the weathering of feldspar grains in place. In the kaolin-producing area, gravel and cobbles occur mainly at the base of the formation. Fig. 2 shows the relations of the Tuscaloosa and its kaolin deposits to the adjacent formations. Its base, on the eroded surface of the crystalline rocks, dips southeastward 50 to 60 ft to the mile, according to LaMoreaux.5 The upper surface of the Tuscaloosa is also an unconformity,

Jan 1, 1952

By Thomas L. Kesler

IF all of the 14 million tons of kaolin produced in Georgia through 1949 had been mined from a single deposit 20 ft thick, it would represent a mined-out area of less than 1 sq mile. This measure of depletion is in such strong contrast with the large size of the area shown in Fig. 1, from which most of the output has come, that there has developed an optimistic outlook concerning future supplies of kaolin equal in grade to that already mined. Dozens of mines are widely but not evenly distributed within this area, which consists mostly of parts of Twiggs, Wilkinson, and Washington counties. There are scarcely half a dozen kaolin mines elsewhere in the state that have been appreciably productive, although the areas in which they occur may have good possibilities. Most of the efforts to find new deposits, therefore, will be confined to the area shown in Fig. 1, for it is here that the industry has established its facilities, and prospecting is encouraged by relatively numerous outcrops and opened deposits of kaolin.

Jan 10, 1951

By R. C. Hall

DEVELOPED to grow single crystals of alloys of high hardness and high melting points is a simple but effective apparatus described in this note. Growth from the melt, that is, by the Bridgman technique, hay be applied to metals or alloys which are physically hard as long as no phase transformation occurs on cooling to room temperature. The present apparatus was employed to grow single crystals of the ferromagnetic AI-Fe alloys above 1 wt pct Al and the Si-Fe alloys above 3 wt pct Si. Single Crystal Growth In a simple form, the method for growth of single crystals from the melt requires a molten metal charge in a pointed crucible which is slowly low-ered through a heated zone into a colder zone. Solidification starts at the bottom point and continues up the charge as the crucible is lowered through the heated zone. If a single crystal nucleates at the bottom, one crystal may grow throughout the charge under ideal conditions of slow growth.4,5 The presently developed method of growth was designed so that the chances that more than one crystal would grow were small. The single crystals were growth by the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1. The charge was in the form

Jan 1, 1958

By Walter Weeks

THE subject of the flow of air through a mine under the influence of natural ventilation has proved an elusive one. To my knowledge only cut and try algebraic solutions have been used where multiple paths are involved. The object of this paper is to present a method for the graphi-cal determination of the flow induced by the natural ventilation pressure (N.V.P.) alone or in combination with a fan. The N.V.P., measured in pounds per square foot, induced by two columns of air between two horizontal planes at different elevations, is equal to the difference in weight of the two columns, assuming each to have a cross-sectional area of 1 sq. ft. Pressure in pounds per square foot is converted into inches of water by dividing by 5.19. Methods of calculating the N.V.P. have been discussed in the litera-ture. In this paper, for simplification of exposition, the change in pres-sure due to the weight of superimposed air will be assumed directly proportional to the length of the column. The actual methods of cal-culating the N.V.P. do not affect the solutions to be presented. It must be realized that the precision to be obtained from the small-scale, inked diagrams presented is not as great as would be obtained from large-scale, penciled curves that would he used in practice. The accuracy of the curves does not warrant reading "volumes" closer than the nearest thousand cubic feet per minute.

Jan 1, 1938

Map

Jan 1, 1957

By Robert Abbott

THE influence of various elements in retarding or accelerating the absorption of carbon during the process of carburization is fairly well known. In general those elements which forth carbides accelerate the absorption, while those which do not retard it. It has sometimes been wrongly stated that those elements which raise the temperature of the critical range increase the absorption, while those which lower this temperature decrease it. Silicon is a notable exception to this rule, for its influence is to raise the critical range but to lower the absorption of carbon. Some elements which do not form carbides have no apparent influence upon the absorption rate. Carbon itself retards the absorption rate. With a view to obtaining more exact data upon the subject the following experiments were undertaken : 208 steels of different chemical composition were selected to represent most of the types of modern constructional steels. Specimens 3 in. in diameter and in. in length were weighed to milligrams. They were then packed in the special carburizing box shown in Fig. 1, and kept in .the furnace for 10 hours at a temperature of 900° C. A duplicate experiment was conducted at 1,000° C. At equal' intervals of time the box was rotated in the furnace so that. two complete revolutions were made in the 10 hours. This precaution was taken to neutralize as much as possible any effect of unequal heating. At the end of the 10 hours the box was allowed to cool in the furnace with the doors open. The specimens were then weighed again and the increased weight (carbon) determined. In. the following table are given the analyses of the various steels, together with the. increased weight of .carbon expressed in milligrams.

Jan 10, 1913

By John V. Morgan

Although the Lansing-Kansas City groups One one of the more important producing horizons of Central Kansas, exploitation has been hindered by inability to consistently identify and correlate the various productive intervals. A study of gamma ray-neutron logs and core data indicates that definite zones exist which are related to production and which may be generally correlated over an appreciable portion of Central Kansas. A suggested system of zoning and nomenclature is developed and illustrated, along with examples of its specific application in overall evaluation and in development of zonal production characteristics. General adoption of the suggested system should aid appreciably in the future development of commercial Lansing-Kansas City production in Central Kansas. It is probable that similar systems might be developed for other regions where production is obtained from various uncorrelated and unnamed zones in thick pay intervals. GENERALIZED GEOLOGY OF CENTRAL KANSAS The most important large subsurface feature in Central Kansas regarding oil production is the Barton Arch, which is part of the Central Kansas uplift. The Barton Arch is a buried ridge of Pre-Cambrian granite running northwest-southeast, near which the majority of Central Kansas oil fields have been found. To the northeast of this arch, the granite dips sharply into the Salina Basin and similar basin areas to the west and south are termed the Hugoton Embayment and Anadarko Basin, respectively. This report deals Primarily with the region of the Central Kansas Uplift and its southwestern flank. Fig. 1 indicates the general location of subsurface structural features along with the oil and gas fields of central Kansas. Above basal granite lies the Cambro-Ordovician Arbuckle Dolomite which is the principal oil producing zone in Central Kansas. This formation, as well as those higher in the section, reflects the general underlying granite structure; however, the Arbuckle top is an erosional surface and most oil producing structures are probably topographic hills. Formations above the Arbuckle in ascending order may include those of the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian periods as well as certain recent sediments. As the Barton Arch is approached, those formations below the Pennsylvanian and above the Arbuckle tend to pinch out until Pennsylvanian rocks, which include the Lansing-Kansas City groups, rest directly upon the Arbuckle. The Arbuckle itself is also completely eroded away at points on the Arch, but is up to 600 ft thick only 20 to 30 miles down dip. Formations of the Pennsylvanian system vary considerably in thickness but probably average about 1,000 ft as an overall total. The more commonly known oil productive zones are the Tarkio, Topeka, Toronto (Dodge), Lansing-Kansas City and Marmaton. Of these, the Lansing-Kansas City, which varies from about 200 ft to 400 ft in thickness, is the most important, since its areal frequency of oil production is exceeded only by that of the Arbuckle. Most Pennsylvanian rocks in Central Kansas were deposited in shallow seas which alternately covered, then retreated from the land. This resulted in recurring cycles of thin beds which cover relatively large areas. Small surface deformations during the period of deposition also caused variations in the type material deposited and its thickness. The local structures of Pennsylvanian time probahlv influenced the accumulation of

Jan 1, 1952

C. Edward Stafford, Chester, Pa.:—Doring all my business life, I have been engaged in the manufacture of Bessemer and open-hearth steels, but, during my long connection with the Shoenberger Steel Co. of Pittsburg, I had some experience in the manufacture of high-grade puddled iron for horseshoes, and in making, by Dr. Otto Wuth's process, extremely pure, low-phosphorus puddled blooms (analyzing from 0.005 to 0.01 per cent. of phosphorus and sulphur), which were melted with low-phosphorus pig-iron in acid open-hearth furnaces, to make extra locomotive fire-box steel. I have also seen the Danks puddlers in operation at different times and places, notably where they were most successful, at the Otis Steel Works, Cleveland, Ohio; then under the management of our friend, Mr. S. T. Wellman. These Danks blooms were made solely for open-hearth melting-stock, to which they were well adapted. (The unavoidable presence of bits of ore-fix imbedded in the mass of the metal always prevents the profitable manufacture of merchant iron from Danks' blooms.) With the experience just described, I was to some degree in position to value fairly the means, methods and results of Mr. Roe's mechanical puddling from the metallurgical or technical and economic points of view, when given an opportunity by Mr. Roe to see his puddling-furnace or machine in operation in Pottstown, Pa. Briefly, the furnace, with water-cooled bottom, is rectangular in plan, about 20 by 8 ft. in the clear, suspended by trunnions at the middle of the long sides, at a height of 17 or 18 ft. above the general level. The oscillation (65" each way from the vertical) is accomplished by geared segments (attached to the downward-projecting side or trunnion-plates) with which engage pinions driven by a reversing engine. The whole section

Jan 1, 1906

By T. A. Rickard

Flaubert, as we know, laid stress on the selection of the right word, le mot juste, the precise epithet, the word that belongs to the thing. A sentence, or even a paragraph, may be spoiled by the use of a word that is not proper, that does not fit or is foreign to the meaning intended. An Australian mining expert is reported to have said: You have a property of considerable value, and what I saw warrants a good development of very rich cubicular galena, with gossan intermixed. 'Cubicular' means `belonging to a small bedroom', a `cubicle' being a sleeping compartment. He meant `cubic', of course. This is a malapropism, and reminds me of the lady from Chicago that, on her return from Europe, said how much she had enjoyed the rural parts of France, because, among other things, it was "so delightful to hear the French pheasants singing the mayonnaise to the tune of the Los Angelus". It is impossible to amalgamate coal-tar thoroughly with the pulp in the agitating-tank. In metallurgy, `amalgamate' refers to the combination of mercury with one or both of the precious metals, forming an amalgam, which is an alloy of mercury with another metal. It differs from other alloys, such as brass or bronze, in being made without the aid of heat, inasmuch as mercury is molten at the ordinary temperature. The word comes to us from the Greek. through Old French and means `something soft'. It is a mistake to use technical terms, having a specific meaning, for purposes that are foreign to that meaning. The writer of the quotation is not discussing any combination of metals; he is dealing with the physical process of mixing and is using 'amal-

Jan 1, 1931

CRUSHING and concentration flow-sheets of western mills have become greatly simplified and more or less standardized of recent years with the introduction of modern grinding methods and flotation. Improvement has not stopped, however, and advancement is continually being made in crushing and milling practice. A case in point, where remarkable improvements in efficiency have resulted from comparatively minor changes in the flow-sheet, is in the New Cornelia mill of the Calumet and Arizona Mining Co. at Ajo, Ariz. This mill, completed in 1924 for the concentration ,of the sulfide ores of the New Cornelia mine, was originally designed for a 5000-ton capacity. Before recent changes and additions were made the five 1000-ton units were handling 6500 to 7000 tons per day, giving a flotation feed of approximately 14 per

Jan 1, 1930

By AIME AIME

PERHAPS the outstanding characteristic of the newly elected President of the Institute is his rare ability to set aside nonessentials, and pick out the few basic elements on which a valid conclusion on any question can be drawn. This holds whether he is appraising a mining enterprise, selecting a man for an important position, deciding whether to buy or sell a bond, or choosing the best method for mining a huge body of ore. For example, he has pointed out that the two primary factors that make for success in a copper-mining venture are a large reserve of reasonably good ore and competent management. Usually the first is not as difficult to gauge accurately as the second. In a big enterprise the quality of the management

Jan 1, 1939

What is a conflict, as it is understood by men of the extractive industries? And what are the circumstances out of which these conflicts arise? A start can be made with the notion of economic conflict, which can be defined as rivalry over the use of economic resources. Such rivalry is a central part of all economizing activity. It is present within the individual, within the family, and within the business firm. In each of these units there are multiple goals competing for use of a limited income. And economic rivalry is present among individuals and firms who are competing with one another for use of the limited quantity of economic resources available to us as a society.

Jan 7, 1961

E. Windsor Richards, London, England:—In reading this paper the most interesting point to me mas the question of the maximum percentage of phosphorus allowable in the steel rail. Mr. Colby said, and we will all agree with him, that the engineer knew, and even a steel-rail maker grants that phosphorus is the most undesirable constituent of steel. We in England have been for a long time considering a specification for the supply of steel rails. This matter has been taken up by the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Mechanical Engineers, the Iron and Steel Institute, the Institute of Naval Architects, and the Electrical Engineers. Committees have been formed,and the whole matter has received most careful attention. They arrived at last at an analysis which I will read: " The carbon is to be from 0.35 to 0.5 per cent.; the manganese from 0.7 to 1.0 per cent.; the silicon, not to exceed 0.10 per cent.; phosphorus, 0.07; and sulphur, 0.07 per cent." As to the phosphorus, which is the most important point of all in the analysis, we have for many years, and indeed until very lately, always agreed to supply steel which would not contain above 0.06 per cent. of phosphorus. Iron-ores are not quite as good now as they were formerly, and the manufacturers at the meetings of the committees referred to, tried to obtain an increase in the allowance of phosphorus. They asked the Sub-committee to agree to 0.08 per cent. of phosphorus. They tried all they possibly could to obtain that; but they failed. English engineers in Great George Street and all over England, representing the important Associa tions I have mentioned, would only agree to 0.07 per cent. and that is the maximum allowance of phosphorus. Mr. Colby is an able advocate, but with all his ability he would not have been able to persuade the English engineers to agree to 0.08 per cent.

Jan 1, 1907

By L. Kaufman

An equation is derived relating AF a", the difference in free energy between austenite and martensite, to temperature and composition in the iron-chrmnium and iron-chromium -nickel systems. This equation is used to calculate at M,for low-carbon stainless steels. A method for utilizing the energetic equations to calculate M, in stainless steels is suggested. In addition, an explanation is given for the anomalous effect of chromium in forming a y loop concurrent with the lowering of M, in iron-base alloys. It has been demonstrated that the effect of alloying elements on the Ms temperature is strongly dependent upon the influence of the alloying element on the thermodynamic properties of the y and a phases. Notwithstanding the fact that alloying elements affect the Ms temperature by changing the lattice parameters, elastic constants, and inter-facial energies of the a and y phases, their primary role is a thermodynamic one. Thermodynamic analyses have been presented for the iron-carbon'-4 and iron-nickele systems in which equations are derived for Fa and FY, the free energies of the b.c.c. (or b.c.t.) and f.c.c. phases. These equations, which can be obtained with the aid of the equilibrium diagrams, can be used to help predict the Ms vs composition curves. This paper deals with a calculation of the thermodynamic properties necessary to compute AFffLY for iron-chromium alloys. In view of the lack of direct information concerning the activity of chromium in the a and y phases of iron, the regular solution approximationa,g was utilized to bridge the gap. After the necessary equations were derived for the iron-chromium system they were used to calculate AFff— Y for stainless steels by combining them with the previous results obtained for iron-nickel alloys. The results of these calculations offer a means of rationalizing the anomalous behavior of chromium in iron-base alloys. The latter depends on the regular solution approximation in contrast to the explanation offered by zener , which is based upon the "magnetic specific heat effect." THERMODYNAMICS OF THE IRON-CHROMIUM SYSTEM If y represents the atomic fraction of chromium in an iron-chromium alloy, then the free energy of the b.c.c. phase Fa, the f.c.c. phase FY, and the difference in free energy between the f.c.c. and b.c.c. phases of the same composition are given through [3] and Fmy represent the free energies of mixing of the a and y phases; while @era -' and uFea 4Y represent the difference in free energy between f.c.c. and b.c.c. chromium and iron respectively. The values of AEFe0ff4Y in the temperature range between 0" and 900K ( .

Jan 1, 1960

By S. Vela, R. M. McKinley, L. A. Carlton

Johnson et al. have described a new well-testing technique that measures formation flow properties between wells.' The technique, called pulse-testing, requires a sequence of rate changes in the flow at one well and measzcrement of the re.rulting pressure changes at an adjacent well with a very sensitive differential pressure gauge. This paper describes an extensive application of the technique in a producing oil field. Pulse-tests on 28 of 45 possible well pairs in the field provided a picture of the areal distribution of reservoir hydraulic diffusivity, trans-missibility and storage. The primary objective in presenting these data is to demonstrate the potential of the methcid for reservoir description. A second objective is to show in three ways the qualitative and quantitative accuracy of reservoir parameters determined from pulse-tests: (I) pulse-test data show a nonuniformity in the field, closely correlating with the oil-water distribution as given by production data: (2) pulse-test values for permeability are comparable with core va1ue.s; and (3) perhaps most important, the field responds to a conventional interference test in the manner in which pulse-test data predict it should. The pulse-testing technique by Johnson et al.' is an ideal source of data for purposes of reservoir description, for it provides a measurement of formation storage S = +ch, hydraulic diffusivity 91 = k/+cp and transmissibility T — This paper describes an application of this method in a producing oil field. Results were analyzed to give numerical values for the parameters 7, T and S. These values were compared with oil-water production data (for the effect of fluid saturation), with core data and with data from an interference test. The reservoir in which the pulse-test survey was run is the result of a structural trap formed by a fault along the east side of a north-south trending anticline. A down-structure aquifer providcs a natural flank water drive for the pool. The producing formation is a dolomitic lime- stone having mainly vugular permeability; the formation oil has a gravity of 29" API with negligible dissolved gas. The field contains 19 wells, all on pump, arranged on 40-acre spacing along the top of the anticline. Fig. 1 shows the location of all these wells except two at the south end of the field. The dashed line on the right-hand side of the figure represents the approximate location of the fault with respect to well positions. Pulse-Test Survey and Analysis of Data A pulse-test requires a pulsing well and a responding well. In the field, changes were made in the rate of flow at the pulsing well by stopping and starting the pump periodically and measuring the corresponding pressure

Jan 1, 1969

By C. E. Sims

The carbon-oxygen reaction without doubt is the basic reaction in steelmaking. It is important on several counts: In the first place, carbon is the element that distinguishes steel from iron. It is the principal element controlling properties, and its control is of prime concern. Although the principal objective of the carbon-oxygen reaction is to oxidize excess carbon, the accompanying boil should not be underrated. The mechanical agitation, stirring, and mixing resulting from the boil are so useful in the distribution of heat and in promoting uniformity of composition in the bath that, were it not a natural accompaniment of the carbon-oxygen reaction, it is probable that something would have to be invented to replace it. The open-hearth operation, for example, with the bath heated from above by radiation, would be impracticable without the carbon boil. The electric-arc furnace is somewhat less dependent on it, but every melter knows how much easier it is to gain temperature with minimum damage to refractories during the boil than with a dead bath The motor action of the induced current of the induction furnace makes the carbon boil unnecessary but even there a severe oxidation has been found useful in giving greater freedom from porosity in certain steels. The quantitative aspects of the carbon-oxygen reaction have been given considerable attention by a large number of investigators, and the principles of physical chemistry have played an important part in these studies. Physical chemistry is the science of the mechanics and mathematics of chemical reactions. It is possible to study the mechanisms of reactions in a qualitative manner writhout reference to mathematics and thus obtain valuable concepts as to the manner in which the wheels go around. When it is desired to express quantitative relations in these reactions, however, resort to mathematics is not only convenient but necessary. Mathematics may also be regarded as the shorthand language of physical chemistry. A basic relation whose description requires numerous words may be expressed very simply by a mathematical formula or equation. A good example of this is the equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction. Expressed verbally, it is: When a chemical reaction has reached a condition of equilibrium, the Product of the concentration of the reacting substances on one side of the equation, divided by the product of the concentration of the reacting substances on the other side, gives a quotient that is a constant at constant temperature For the carbon-oxygen reaction C + O ^ CO this is expressed simply as % C X % O -%co where K (from the German Konstant) is the equilibrium constant for the reaction. Although mathematics is such a necessary and useful tool, it is also a potential pitfall. Mathematics in itself is an abstract science, which is not inhibited by consideration of mechanisms or materials.

Jan 1, 1948

By C. E. Sims

The carbon-oxygen reaction without doubt is the basic reaction in steelmaking. It is important on several counts: In the first place, carbon is the element that distinguishes steel from iron. It is the principal element controlling properties, and its control is of prime concern. Although the principal objective of the carbon-oxygen reaction is to oxidize excess carbon, the accompanying boil should not be underrated. The mechanical agitation, stirring, and mixing resulting from the boil are so useful in the distribution of heat and in promoting uniformity of composition in the bath that, were it not a natural accompaniment of the carbon-oxygen reaction, it is probable that something would have to be invented to replace it. The open-hearth operation, for example, with the bath heated from above by radiation, would be impracticable without the carbon boil. The electric-arc furnace is somewhat less dependent on it, but every melter knows how much easier it is to gain temperature with minimum damage to refractories during the boil than with a dead bath The motor action of the induced current of the induction furnace makes the carbon boil unnecessary but even there a severe oxidation has been found useful in giving greater freedom from porosity in certain steels. The quantitative aspects of the carbon-oxygen reaction have been given considerable attention by a large number of investigators, and the principles of physical chemistry have played an important part in these studies. Physical chemistry is the science of the mechanics and mathematics of chemical reactions. It is possible to study the mechanisms of reactions in a qualitative manner writhout reference to mathematics and thus obtain valuable concepts as to the manner in which the wheels go around. When it is desired to express quantitative relations in these reactions, however, resort to mathematics is not only convenient but necessary. Mathematics may also be regarded as the shorthand language of physical chemistry. A basic relation whose description requires numerous words may be expressed very simply by a mathematical formula or equation. A good example of this is the equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction. Expressed verbally, it is: When a chemical reaction has reached a condition of equilibrium, the Product of the concentration of the reacting substances on one side of the equation, divided by the product of the concentration of the reacting substances on the other side, gives a quotient that is a constant at constant temperature For the carbon-oxygen reaction C + O ^ CO this is expressed simply as % C X % O -%co where K (from the German Konstant) is the equilibrium constant for the reaction. Although mathematics is such a necessary and useful tool, it is also a potential pitfall. Mathematics in itself is an abstract science, which is not inhibited by consideration of mechanisms or materials.

Jan 1, 1948

By J. E. Burke

Recent investigations have elucidated many of the phenomena of the grain growth process, but have also revealed some conflicting and unexplained results. Beck and his co-workers 1,2,3 have shown that grain growth continues with continued heating at one temperature until the average grain size approaches the thickness of the specimen. Plotting the logarithm of the average grain diameter, D, against the logarithm of the annealing time, t, they find the straight line relationship given by the equation: D = Ktm [,] with possible small deviations at short annealing times. K and n are constants at constant temperature. On the other hand, Wa1ker4 finds that, in alpha brass) the rate of growth falls off more rapidly than indicated by Eq i after long annealing, so that an equilibrium grain size is approached. Burke5 showed, using Walker's data, that time and temperature for grain growth are apparently related through an activation energy, H, according to the relationship: ] where h and tz are the annealing times necessary for the average grain size to increase from Do to D at temperatures T1 and T2 and R is the gas laws constant. In the case quoted, H had the value 60,000 cal per mol. The apparent validity of this relationship, at least up to 700°C, and the approximate value of H were later confirmed by Beck3 The results obtained by Beck Kremer, Demer and Holzworth2 for aluminum and aluminum-magnesium alloys could not be satisfied by such a relationship, since the slope of the isothermal curves increased with increasing temperature. These data indicate and Beck, Holzworth and HuV ater demonstrated expcrimentally that the only apparent factor controlling the rate of grain growth at constant temperature is the grain size. While many of the phenomena have been elucidated, a reasonably quantitative explanation of the process is lacking. There exists uncertainty even as to the primary driving force for grain growth, although there is a considerable body of indirect evidence that the interfacial energy of the grain boundary is responsible.7,8,io Making implicit use of this assumption, several authors14,16 have pointed out that grain boundaries should migrate toward their center of curvature. Harker and Parkerg have advanced this concept furthest, and show that one can expect grain boundary migration to occur only when the grain faces are curved, or when they meet at non-equilibrium angles. When the face is curved toward a grain A, for example, the atoms in the surface of grain B, on the other side of the boundary7 are on the average more surromded by the atoms of their lattice than the atoms on the surface of grain A. Because of thermal motion, the atoms at the interface will sometimes be attached to grain A and

Jan 1, 1949