Search Documents

By Frank Firmstone

IN the early decades of the past century the method of starting iron blast-furnaces by "scaffolding-down" seems to have been in universal use for coke-furnaces and, at least in this country, for charcoal-furnaces also. It was likewise used at some of the early anthracite-furnaces, as is stated in the important "Reminiscences" printed by the late Samuel Thomas. I It had been generally superseded in Great Britain as early as 1850, by some variations of the plan now used, and was rarely used when Percy wrote.' On the Continent it was still followed in the 60's,3 and was elaborately described by Valerius in 1852. I have never read any statement as to when and by whom '4 scaffolding" was first dispensed with, but the following extracts from journals of my father seem to fix an authentic date for an instance in this country:

Mar 1, 1907

By Thomas H. Leggett

The conditions surrounding this mine are, perhaps, not sufficiently rare or significant to warrant special attention. A certain interest, however, attaches to the locality through the recent discovery of fossil cycads made there by Mr. Charles M. Rolker, of New York, who has repeatedly visited this district, fixing the geological horizon

Jan 1, 1889

By T. Suzuki

LABOR. conditions have finally caused rock-drilling machines to supplant hand drillers in the Japanese mining industry, and have encouraged this study. During a period of three years 25,000 tests were made on 67 different American, Japanese, and European rock drills, using, respectively, the Paynter testing machine, and drilling in granite and limestone. Recorded were: air consumption, speed of rotation, torque of rotation, foot-pounds of striking energy, air pressures, input horsepowers, and speed of rock penetration. The author expresses his views on the interrelation of these factors and offers theoretical support, as well, by formulas based upon the mechanics of impact. He discusses the different designs of the valves, cylinders, piston hammers and rotation devices involved in the different types of rock drills, with respect to their merits and defects and offers conclusions about the factors that should be considered in the new design of a superior rock drill. The author's mathematical demonstrations and arguments for a value of "best feed clearance" of the drill bit from the rock are based upon the hand-operated screw-fed type of hammer drill. Automatic feeds have not been considered in this paper except for the tests on one drifter with air feed, 10 air-feed stopers, and some hand-held blockholers. The following classes of drills, with one of each model, size, or type, were tested: 23 heavy drifters, 34 light drifters and hand-held drills, and 10 stopers. They represented the following makes and models: 40 from the United States—namely, Ingersoll-Rand 18, 148, L-74, 24-70, N-72, N-75, R-72, 26, BAR-33, BCR-430, DCRW-23, RA-12, CA-31, CC-11; Denver 7, 107, WT-21, WT-31, WT-331, WT-337 (models WT with motor rotation, screw feed), 11, Waugh 93, 95; Waugh 16; Sullivan DR-6, DW-64, T-3; DP-321, DP-331; DA-21, DT-44, DT-421; Gilman AX-321 (motor rotation and air feed); Cleveland D-5; AIBQ, 44-SWR,

Jan 1, 1940

By T. Suzuki

LABOR. conditions have finally caused rock-drilling machines to supplant hand drillers in the Japanese mining industry, and have encouraged this study. During a period of three years 25,000 tests were made on 67 different American, Japanese, and European rock drills, using, respectively, the Paynter testing machine, and drilling in granite and limestone. Recorded were: air consumption, speed of rotation, torque of rotation, foot-pounds of striking energy, air pressures, input horsepowers, and speed of rock penetration. The author expresses his views on the interrelation of these factors and offers theoretical support, as well, by formulas based upon the mechanics of impact. He discusses the different designs of the valves, cylinders, piston hammers and rotation devices involved in the different types of rock drills, with respect to their merits and defects and offers conclusions about the factors that should be considered in the new design of a superior rock drill. The author's mathematical demonstrations and arguments for a value of "best feed clearance" of the drill bit from the rock are based upon the hand-operated screw-fed type of hammer drill. Automatic feeds have not been considered in this paper except for the tests on one drifter with air feed, 10 air-feed stopers, and some hand-held blockholers. The following classes of drills, with one of each model, size, or type, were tested: 23 heavy drifters, 34 light drifters and hand-held drills, and 10 stopers. They represented the following makes and models: 40 from the United States—namely, Ingersoll-Rand 18, 148, L-74, 24-70, N-72, N-75, R-72, 26, BAR-33, BCR-430, DCRW-23, RA-12, CA-31, CC-11; Denver 7, 107, WT-21, WT-31, WT-331, WT-337 (models WT with motor rotation, screw feed), 11, Waugh 93, 95; Waugh 16; Sullivan DR-6, DW-64, T-3; DP-321, DP-331; DA-21, DT-44, DT-421; Gilman AX-321 (motor rotation and air feed); Cleveland D-5; AIBQ, 44-SWR,

Jan 1, 1940

By C. L. Berrien

Before the present company was formed, in 1916, each group of mines comprising the old organizations made its detailed daily and monthly mine cost records along the lines used before the consolidation; that is, there was no attempt made to standardize and compare the stope costs of all mines. The general cost sheets for all mines, however, were standardized, and cumulative labor cost sheets were compiled in the general superintendent's office. At most of the mines, a daily record or distribution sheet for each working place was kept, showing the number of men, hours of drilling, hours of timbering, hours of tramming, cars of ore, cars of waste, sticks of powder and feet of fuse. This information was kept by each shift boss and entered on the distribution sheet by him or, at some mines, by a tram boss. The superintendent solved his own problems under the direction of the general superintendent, but without coming in touch with other superintendents, either through records or general conferences. Probably 95 per cent. of the stopes were square-set worked by day's pay; there were some back-filling and shrinkage stopes. Many of the development places, such as shaft sinking, station cutting, drifting and raises had always been run by contract. These contracts were given, for no definite period, at so much per linear foot and were measured monthly, or when completed, the men being paid monthly. In some cases, fairness to the employee was not maintained. On the whole, there was no standardization. There were no stope contracts, because of the objections of the Western Federation of Miners to general contracting in the mines. Changes in Stoping Methods Early in 1916, W. B. Daly, then general superintendent, and the author, then assistant general superintendent, visited the Southwest mining districts with the object of finding some improved mining

Jan 1, 1923

By C. L. Berrien

Before the present company was formed, in 1916, each group of mines comprising the old organizations made its detailed daily and monthly mine cost records along the lines used before the consolidation; that is, there was no attempt made to standardize and compare the stope costs of all mines. The general cost sheets for all mines, however, were standardized, and cumulative labor cost sheets were compiled in the general superintendent's office. At most of the mines, a daily record or distribution sheet for each working place was kept, showing the number of men, hours of drilling, hours of timbering, hours of tramming, cars of ore, cars of waste, sticks of powder and feet of fuse. This information was kept by each shift boss and entered on the distribution sheet by him or, at some mines, by a tram boss. The superintendent solved his own problems under the direction of the general superintendent, but without coming in touch with other superintendents, either through records or general conferences. Probably 95 per cent. of the stopes were square-set worked by day's pay; there were some back-filling and shrinkage stopes. Many of the development places, such as shaft sinking, station cutting, drifting and raises had always been run by contract. These contracts were given, for no definite period, at so much per linear foot and were measured monthly, or when completed, the men being paid monthly. In some cases, fairness to the employee was not maintained. On the whole, there was no standardization. There were no stope contracts, because of the objections of the Western Federation of Miners to general contracting in the mines. Changes in Stoping Methods Early in 1916, W. B. Daly, then general superintendent, and the author, then assistant general superintendent, visited the Southwest mining districts with the object of finding some improved mining

Jan 1, 1923

By R. P. Rothwell

IN January last I published in the Engineering and Mining Journal a table giving, with a considerable degree of accuracy, the production of anthracite coal for the year 1874. At that time it was impossible to give any correct estimate of the production of bituminous coal, for the returns I had been able to secure from such distant and scattered districts were not always forwarded punctually, and the work of -obtaining anything like a true estimate of the coal mined in districts from which I was unable to obtain official returns was both laborious and tedious. As will be seen from the detailed reports furnished herewith, I have succeeded in obtaining tolerably accurate returns of 20,093,704 tons; and upon careful revision by numerous well-informed local authorities, my first estimate of the amount of coal not officially returned to me has grown very considerably; indeed, as I get more information on the subject I find that our bituminous coal production greatly exceeds the amount we have been accustomed to hear it placed at, aggregating as it does, 26,465,704 tons. Mr. Andrew Roy, State Inspector of Mines for Ohio, has reported the production of Ohio at 4,168,445 tons, while his first estimates were but 3,820,000 tons; and similarly, in other cases, the more full the returns direct from the mines the more incorrect do I find all previous reports. I am able now to furnish, not an accurate statement, indeed, but by far the most full and reliable one that has yet been published of our coal production. The amount of labor involved in obtaining this admittedly imperfect report has been simply enormous. In the following tabular statement it will be perceived that Pennsylvania produces nearly one-half of all the bituminous coal mined * Since this paper was read fuller reports from some of the States whose production had been "estimated" have modified the figures given. The most serious error is in California, which produces probably 200,000 tons less than these figures. Oregon and Washington territories also yield smaller amounts than here reported; but these reductions are probably fully compensated by fuller reports from other States that were here underestimated. The correct aggregate amount will not vary much from that here given. Early in 1876 I will be able to give a fuller and more accurate report for the year 1875.

Jan 1, 1875

By John Birkinbine

The following data, collected during a visit to the Snake river district, in Idaho, arc offered as indicating the possible utilization of a water-fall for irrigation by pumping, the working of gold-placers, the generation of electricity for light and power, and possibly for manufacturing purposes. For irriga-

Jan 1, 1901

By John V. Beall

Hard as the Revett quartzite are conditions governing the deep mines of the Coeur d'Al6ne. In fourscore years of mining, heat and pressure have been the rewards of preseverance. Such obstacles are the natural concommitant to search for ore at depth. But high cost and shortage of miners is a creeping frustration of the decade. These grim observations were made on a trip to the mines of the Coeur d'Al6ne in the first week of May. But the bouncy optimism of competent mining engineers and geologists overrides by far the tough conditions. This is the story of what they are doing. I think they are setting the stage for the wonder mines of tomorrow. I didn't meet all the people or see all the mines, so there are unfortunate gaps in the story. Then too, sometimes the muck and water blotched my notes, or I couldn't write fast enough or I was too tired. No matter. There is much to tell and, because it is basically a human story, I am flouting the rules of technical journalism and couching it in the neglected "I" person. First then, a little history . . . .

Jan 7, 1966

By M. Gell, G. R. Leveran

The high- and low-cycle fatigue properties of the nickel-base superalloy, Mar-MBOO, in columnar-grained and single-crystal forms were determined at room temperature. It was found that the fatigue lives of these materials were greatly affected by the size of preexisting cracks in MC-type carbides contained in the micro structure. Most of the data falls on two curves given by: (zN)'/A€= K, where Nf is the number of cycles to failure, Af is the total strain range, and K is a function of carbide size. No difference was observed in the fatigue behavior of the columnar-grained and single-crystal materials for the same MC carbide size. Matrix slip and crack initiation occurred at precracked MC carbides and, to a lesser extent, at micropores. Fatigue crack propagation was mainly in the Stage I mode, i.e., on cry stallo graPhic slip planes. The Stage I fracture in these materials was unusual in that distinct features were observed on the fracture surfaces. In high-cycle fatigue, these features resembled those commonly observed on the cleavage fracture surfaces of bcc and hcp materials. Yet, in this study, the cracks propagated slowly in a cyclic manner. In low-cycle fatigue, the Stage I facets contained equiaxed dimples, similar to those observed on the tensile fracture surfaces of ductile materials. These observations indicate that both local normal and shear stresses are involved in these Stage I fractures. A model is proposed to explain these results based on the weakening of the cohesive energy of the active slip planes by reversed shear deformation and the fracture of the bonds across the weakened planes by the local normal stress. RECENT developments in casting technology have produced cast nickel-base superalloys in columnar -grained and single-crystal forms.1'2 The tensile and creep properties of the nickel-base superalloy, Mar-M200, cast in these forms have been shown to be superior to the corresponding properties of the conventionally cast polycrystalline material.lp2 This improvement in properties results, in part, from the elimination of grain boundaries in the single crystals and the alignment of the grain boundaries parallel to the stress axis in the columnar-grained castings. As part of a program to evaluate the fatigue properties of nickel-base superalloys cast in single-crystal and columnar-grained forms, a study has been made of the cyclic deformation and fracture of Mar-M2OO at room temperature. M. fiFl I .hininr Mpmher AIMF ic ^pninr Rocoarrh Accn^iata anH I) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The composition range of Mar-Ma00 in weight percent is: 8 to 10 Cr, 9 to 11 Co, 11.5 to 13.5 W, 0.75 to 1.25 Cb, 1.75 to 2.25 Ti, 4.75 to 5.25 Al, 0.01 to 0.02 B, 0.03 to 0.08 Zr, 0.07 to 0.12 C, bal. Ni. All of the castings met the above specifications. The castings were solutionized for 1 to 4 hr at 2250°F followed by aging at 1600°F for 32 hr which resulted in a 0.2 pct offset yield stress of 150,000 psi at room temperature. The microstructure of the material consisted of cuboidal, coherent particles of ordered, fcc Ni3(A1,Ti) (commonly designated y'), approximately 0.3 p on edge, distributed in an fcc y solid-solution matrix. MC carbides together with shrinkage and gas micropores were also distributed throughout the materials. The MC carbides and micropores were located preferentially in the interdendritic interstices, as well as in the grain boundaries in the columnar-grained castings. The (100) direction of all the single crystals and the common (100) axis of the grains in the columnar materials were aligned within about 5 deg of the specimen axis. Fatigue testing was carried out in the high-cycle (HCF) and low-cycle (LCF) fatigue regions, with the major difference being gross yielding of the specimen occurred during the first cycle in the LCF region. This division also corresponded with the more usual one in which the life of a specimen in LCF is less than lo4 cycles and that in HCF is greater than lo4 cycles. The designs of the high-cycle fatigue and low-cycle fatigue specimens are shown in Figs. l(a) and (c), respectively. The gage sections of both HCF and LCF specimens were electropolished prior to testing. The HCF specimens were tested in an MTS, closed-loop, hydraulic fatigue machine at 10 cps in air. The specimens were cycled between a tensile stress of 5000 psi and a maximum tensile stress which ranged from 35,000 to 125,000 psi, Fig. l(b). The LCF specimens were cycled under strain control from zero to a maximum tensile strain, Fig. l(d), in a Wiedemann-Baldwin testing machine. The experimental procedure has been described elsewhere.3'4 Both HCF and LCF tests were interrupted periodically in order to replicate the development of slip and cracking at the specimen surface. This was accomplished by placing plastic replicating tape around the gage section of the specimen while the specimen was in the mahine. The size of the MC carbides for all specimens was measured on a polished longitudinal section through the gage section after fatigue testing. The method of measurement consisted of carefully scanning the entire polished section in order to locate the largest MC carbides. Photographs were then taken of the six longest carbides oriented approximately normal to the

Jan 1, 1969

By C. K. Gupta, P. K. Jena

Niobium (columbium) metal in the form of a button has been produced by calciothermic reduction of niobium pentoxide using sulfur as the heat booster. In these experiments with 50 g of niobium pentoxide per batch, the influence of percentage of calcium in excess of the stoichiometric, the percentage of sulfur by weight of the niobium oxide, and the outer-wall temperature of the bomb on the quality and yield of the metal has been studied. The maximum yield on this scale was 78 pct using 50 pct excess Ca and 20 pct of S and at a bomb-wall temperature of 600°C. In experiments conducted on 500 g of niobium pentoxide, reduction with 40 pct excess Ca and 20 pct of S, and at a bomb-wall temperature of 500°C, the.yield of the metal improved to 82 to 84 pct. Some of the reduced-metal samples have been electron-beam melted and the button melts thus obtained have been observed to be extremely ductile and capable of cold reduction to 98 pct without intermediate annealing. NIOBIUM, because of its high melting point (2468oC), its ductility, its resistance to corrosion especially in liquid metals, its high-temperature mechanical properties, and its relatively low capture cross section (1.1 barns) for thermal neutrons, has potentialities as a structural material in the field of nuclear engineering. Niobium and its alloys are also gaining importance in high-temperature technology as components in aircrafts, jet engines, and missiles, electronics, chemical engineering, and surgery. In 1904 Weiss and Aichel 1 produced niobium by reduction of its pentoxide by misch-metal. Since then a large number of investigations have been carried out for the extraction of niobium from its compounds. The various routes through which the metal niobium has been extracted from its compounds can broadely be classified into the following groups: a) reduction of its halides, oxides, and fluo-salts with metals like calcium, magnesium, sodium, and aluminum;2-10 b) reduction of its halides with hydrogen and oxides with carbon or carbides;11-18 c) electrolytic winning from its halides and fluo salts;19-25 and d) thermal decomposition and disproportion ion of its halides26-30 Among the processes in commercial use at present are sodium reduction or fused-salt electrolysis of potassium niobium fluoride, carbide or carbon reduction of the oxide, and hydrogen or metallothermic reduction of the chlorides. In 1907 Von Bolton2 prepared niobium by reducing niobium pentoxide with aluminum. Dennis and Adam-sona attempted reducing the oxide with magnesium powder in argon atmosphere and the resulting metal contained as much as 5 pct O. Mondolfo8 claimed a method for the reduction of the oxides with aluminum. In the case of both magnesium and aluminum reduction, it has been stated31 that by-product oxides such as MgO or A12O3 would involve a major separation problem. Further, in the case of alumino-thermic reduction, the solubility of aluminum in niobium and intermetallic formation have to be reckoned with. In 1922 Bridge3 produced niobium by calcium reduction of niobium pentoxide. Dennis and pdamson' obtained the metal by a similar method with an oxygen content of 0.2 pct. In most of the cases of metallothermic reduction of niobium oxides mentioned above, the metal niobium is obtained in the form of powder. In an attempt to produce massive niobium metal, lock' used iodine as the thermal booster in the bomb reduction of niobium pentoxide by calcium. Massive niobium metal was obtained with a maximum yield of 75 pct containing 0.1 pct 0. Joly32 carried out experiments on calcium reduction of niobium pentoxide on a 2-kg scale using sulfur as the heat booster in a sealed bomb filled with argon. In his experiments, the reaction was initiated by passing a current through niobium spiral wire embedded in the charge. In a typical run consisting of 2000 g of niobium pentoxide, 3100 g of calcium, and 800 g of sulfur (S/Nb2O5 = 3.3), he obtained massive metal in the form of a very uneven mass with a yield of -57 pct. With lower amounts of sulfur and calcium, powder niobium mixed with small metal globules was obtained and the yield was also poor. From these experiments he concluded that this method is not a suitable one for industrial development considering the quality and yield of metal obtainable and the possible hazards with higher ratios of sulfur to niobium pentoxide in the -~charere. In the present work, a detailed investigation on the calciothermic reduction of niobium pentoxide in a stainless-steel bomb in presence of sulfur as the heat booster was undertaken on a laboratory scale.

Jan 1, 1964

W. L. Saunders, New York, N. Y.:—Mr. Parker's paper, though entitled Conservation of Coal, might also be called the Conservation of Life in the Coal-Mines of the United States. No subject is of greater importance to mining-men at the present time than information from experts as to how to save coal and how to save human lives in mines. That the casualties in the coal-mines should exceed 3,000 in the year 1907 is simply appalling, and that 1,000 men should have been killed in a single year through explosions alone, and that so good an authority as Mr. Parker should say that " a prolific cause " is an "improperly-prepared blast" or "the failure on the part of the miner to undercut his coal," points to the importance of activity not only among mining engineers but also, through experts, by the legislatures of the respective States. There is but little doubt that nearly all the serious coal-mine

Jan 1, 1910

By AIME AIME

FEW men are as well known to metallurgists or steel men everywhere as this year's Chairman of the Iron and Steel Division. This is evident from the writer's experience some years ago while visiting Krupp's new open-hearth plant near Essen and the Skoda Works at Pilsen. The first question asked there was: "You know Dr. Herty?" Knowing Charlie Herty has advantages, not the least of which is (or was in 1933) a fine lunch with a plethora of good Rhine \vine at Essen and a super- plethora of Pilsener beer at Slioda.

Jan 1, 1941

By E. S. Machlin, Morris Cohen

The martensite reaction in single crystals and polycrystals of 70 pct Fe-30 pct Ni alloys is shown to be autocatalytic in nature, producing bursts of transformation during cooling. The temperature of the first burst of transformation, called Mb, occurs below M, in these alloys. Experiments were devised to test the athermal embryo and strain embryo theories of martensite nucleation. The results indicate that internal strains, either within the virgin austenite or around existing martensitic plates, control the nucleation process in these alloys. Furthermore, the growth of martensitic plates is not limited by the attainment of an elastic balance with the austenitic matrix, but by the occurrence of plastic deformation at the martensite boundaries which interferes with the propagation mechanism. IN an investigation of the martensitic habit in single crystals of a 69 pct Fe-31 pct Ni alloy,' it was observed that about 25 pct of the austenite transformed during subatmospheric cooling within the time-interval of an audible click. This event proved quite spectacular: The shock wave sent out from the specimen freely suspended on a thread in the refrigerating liquid was occasionally sufficiently intense to shatter the Dewar container and to separate the toluene column in the immersed thermometer. The Present investigation was undertaken to determine- the kinetics and mechanism of this "burst" type of martensitic reaction. The analyses of the alloys studied are given in Table I. The composition of the single crystal specimens is designated by alloy A, while the polycrystal-line specimens were made of alloys B and C as noted in the text. The single crystals were prepared in a vacuum furnace, using a modified Bridgman technique. Most of these crystals were homogenized by holding for 24 hr at about 1300°C just after solidification. However, it may be emphasized here that the degree of homogenization was not a controlling factor in the subsequent experiments, inasmuch as specimens having different degrees of homogenization yielded the same results. All of the single crystals were fully austenitic as slowly cooled to room temperature. An illustration of the burst phenomenon is given in Fig. 1, which shows oscillograms of electrical resistivity and temperature vs. time during the continuous quenching of 1/16 in. wire specimens (alloy B) in a dry ice and acetone bath at —77°C. There are at least two observable bursts in this case, as indicated by the sharp decreases of resistance accompanying the sudden formation of substantial quantities of martensite. The thermal arrest during the quench probably corresponds to the larger burst. Usually the bursts are followed by more or less progressive transformation during continuous cooling. It will also be noted that the resistance continues to decrease after the specimen has reached the bath temperature. This isothermal change denotes the formation of martensite at constant temperature, and will be the subject of another paper. Examination of fiducial scratches on the surface of a transformed single crystal has shown2 that the scratches in adjoining nonparallel martensitic plates are usually bent in opposite directions, as though one plate forms in such a way as to relieve the matrix stresses set up by the adjacent plate. This, together with some of the results described in ref. 1, Table I. Compositions of Alloys Studied, in Percent Alloy Ni C N Mn Si P S Cr A 31±0.3 0.048 0.027 0.003 0.56 0.007 0.002 B 29.5±0.2 0.036 0.02 0.19 0.09 0.008 0.006 C 19.99 0.52 0.37 0.47 0.010 0.015 0.04 led to the tentative concept that a cooperative action exists which provides the impetus for much of the transformation that appears during the burst. The following series of experiments were performed in order to test this idea. Cooperative Nature of the Burst Two adjacent disks, Va in. thick x % in. diam, were cut from a single austenite crystal of alloy A using a jeweler's saw. One of the disks was then cut into 15 parts. Then 12 of the latter pieces and the second disk were austenitized (stress relieved) at 600°C for 30 min and water quenched to room temperature. The temperatures at which the first burst of transformation appeared were determined for

Jan 1, 1952

By R. P. Carreker

ONE of a series, this report is concerned with the experimental documentation of the deformation behavior of pure metals over a wide range of temperature. Previous reports in the series describe the creep behavior of platinum1 and aluminum2 and the tensile behavior of copper,&apos; silver,& and molybdenum.5 Subsequent reports will describe the creep behavior of copper and silver and the tensile behavior of platinum, thus providing extensive creep and tensile data on four face-centered-cubic metals tested under comparable conditions. Material Two lots of high-purity aluminum were used in this investigation. One lot, designated AC, was obtained direct from the Aluminum Co. of America as high-purity aluminum in notch-bar form. A typical analysis of this type of aluminum is 0.006 pct Si, 0.015 pct Cu, 0.006 pct Fe, and 99.975 pct Al. Lot BS was obtained from J. I. Hoffman of the Bureau of Standards as a portion of the Aluminum A described in his report of the redetermination of the atomic weight of aluminum.6 Lot BS originated with the Aluminum Co. of America also, and was received in the standard notch-bar form. A detailed chemical and spectroscopic analysis of lot BS has been published.6 Principa1 impurities were 0.006 pct Si, 0.003 pct Fe, 0.002 pct Cu, and >99.987 pct Al. Samples were processed identically by room-temperature swaging and drawing to 0.030 in. diam wires from approximately ½ in. diam rods that were machined from the notch-bar pigs. Samples were cut from the cold-drawn wire, placed in a grooved graphite block in groups of thirteen, and annealed in air for 1 hr at each of several temperatures, with the results shown in Table I. The two lots of aluminum responded quite differently to annealing, the behavior of aluminum AC suggesting that its grain growth was controlled by impurities. The recrystallization texture of aluminum of similar purity comparably treated has been reported as predominantly <111> fiber with some <100> fiber present.7 Testing Procedure The testing procedure and method of analyzing the data have been described previously.2,3 Annealed specimens of 5 in. gage length were tested in an Instron tensile testing machine at a constant head motion corresponding to a strain rate of 0.04 min-&apos; at a number of temperatures. Instantaneous tenfold rate changes were employed in some tests to deter-

Jan 1, 1958

By L. J. Ingvalson, Roy H. Miller

IN 1948, as part of a program to expand the copper tube mill facilities of the American Brass Co. plant at Kenosha, Wisconsin, plans were formulated to convert the 100 ton capacity anode casting furnace at the Great Falls, Montana plant of the Anaconda Co. to the production of 3 in. phosphor -ized billets. The furnace was rebuilt completely and construction was started on an addition to the building. Members of the Great Falls staff visited various billet casting plants to draw upon the experience of other producers of this type of casting. Many features of other plants were incorporated into the Great Falls plant but, in addition, many new designs were made and perfected to make the plant the most advanced of its type. Construction was begun in 1949, with the intention of having the plant in production in the early part of 1951. In January 1951, as the plant was being rushed to completion, the government placed restrictions on the production of copper tubing. As a result, work was halted and the plant lay idle for two years. Interest was reactivated in May 1953 with the lifting of restrictions on copper. Plans were laid to go into production in July and the first charge was taken out July 1, 1953. Basically the plant is designed to produce from cathode copper a 3 in. diam billet, 50 in. long. weighing 110 lb, and containing 0.013 to 0.036 pct P, at a rate of 150,000 Ib per operating day. These billets are to be pierced and drawn into tubing. Furnace The furnace is a 100 ton capacity reverberatory type, gas fired furnace; 21 ft long and 9 ft wide. Gas is introduced to the furnace through two 38 hole Mettler gas burners. These burners are of chrome nickel alloy with four jets per hole. The furnace is charged with cathodes from the Electrolytic Copper Refinery plus return scrap from the casting operation by means of a Wellman Seaver Morgan Co. 7,000 lb capacity charging machine. The charge crane has a 20 ft boom and fork peel provided with an air ram to push material off the peel. The machine travels on overhead tracks and can be moved in any direction. The boom can be raised and lowered and swung through an arc of 180". With well stacked units of 6,000 lb, an experienced operator can put the first charge into the furnace in 40 min. After charging, the steel framed silica brick charge door is put in place and sealed with clay. After melting and skimming off the slag, the copper is blown until an oxygen content of 0.40 pct is reached. The metal is then heated to 2180°F, covered with coke, and poled. Poling is continued until a 3 in. diam test billet, 8 in. long, shows a flat set. The oxygen content is usually 0.030 pct at this time. At the end of poling, a temperature of 2160" to 2180°F is desired. In the side of the furnace opposite the charging door is the taphole slot, extending 36 in. upward from the bottom of the furnace. It is 4½ in. wide at the outside face and widens to 9 in. at the inside face of the furnace. It is filled with a wet mixture of sand, fireclay, and crushed coal. Flow of metal

Jan 1, 1957

By Donald Barton

THE theory of gravitation is based on Newton&apos;s law that any two bodies exert a mutual attraction which is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them; i. e., A =KRM/R2 (1) where K is a constant, M and m are the respective masses of the two bodies, and R the distance between them. In the earth&apos;s gravitational system, the earth is one of the bodies; the other may be any body within or without the earth. In theoretical dis¬cussions and calculations in regard to gravity, that other body usually is taken as a unit of mass: in the C. G. S. system, a body of one gram in mass. GRAVITY AND LEVEL SURFACES Gravity is defined in geophysics as the force of attraction exerted by the earth, towards itself, on a body of unit mass. The intensity of gravity is usually expressed in dynes of force or in centimeters of acceleration. In geophysical work in America, most commonly it is expressed in dynes (per gram) with the "per gram" understood and not directly expressed. In geophysical work in Europe, most commonly it is expressed in centimeters per second per second (cm./sec.2) and less commonly merely as centimeter-gram-second units (C. G. S.). At sea level, the intensity of gravity amounts very nearly to 980 dynes. The vertical is the direction along which the attraction of gravity is exerted at any point. . In most cases, it is very nearly, but not quite, per¬pendicular to the earth&apos;s surface. The path that would be taken by a body falling freely through space toward the earth is vertical at each point and may be spoken of also as "the vertical," or as the line of the vertical, or as a line of force of gravity. At the earth&apos;s surface it com¬monly is very nearly, but not quite, a straight line.

Jan 1, 1928

By A. E. Jenkins, O. C. Roberts, D. G. C. Robertson

Using an inverted-cone coil at 450 kHz, it has been possible to levitate iron (FeS), cobalt (CoS), and nickel (NiS) sulfides. Important nontransition metal sulfides such as ZnS, PbS, and Cu2S have proven impossible to levitate although Cu-Fe-S ternary alloys containing 30 wt pct S and up to 10 wt pct Cu, and Cu-Co-S and Cu-Ni-S ternary alloys containing 30 wt pct Cu have been levitated. The levitation technique has been used in preliminary experiments on the vaporization from liquid sulfides and the reaction of liquid metal-sulfur alloys with oxidizing atmospheres. The course of the reactions with pure oxygen were followed using highspeed photography and two-color pyrometry. ELECTROMAGNETIC levitation is now established as a basic laboratory technique in high-temperature research but its application has been restricted mainly to metals and alloys. Applications have included alloy preparation,&apos; metal purification,2&apos;3 determination of liquid metal densities and emissivities,4,5 and studies of metal supercooling,4 alloy thermodynamics,6 and vaporization phenomena.7-9 The application of the technique to compounds has not been considered previously. The successful investigation of the reactions between dilute iron alloys and oxidizing atmospheres10&apos;1 has prompted the current physico-chemical studies involving levitated metal sulfide drops and flowing inert or oxidizing atmospheres. This paper presents the results of such a study and provides a basis for future studies involving a wide range of other compounds of metallurgical interest. The successful levitation of many metal sulfides and mattes provides a method of studying the oxidation reactions fundamental to flash-smelting and similar pyrometallurgi-cal operations under closely controlled laboratory conditions. In addition the system allows the use of a controlled atmosphere (e.g., a gas stream of a certain H2/H2S ratio) with a particular chemical potential to study the relevant thermodynamic equilibria or the mass transfer processes between the atmosphere and the levitated drop under conditions where the hydrodynamics of the system can be closely defined. The optimum frequency for the levitation melting of metals in an inverted-cone coil type inductor is within the radio frequency range 400 to 500 kHz. At frequencies lower than 10 kHz the rate of heat generation is usually insufficient to melt the levitated charge&apos; or where melting is achieved, "dripping" from the charge is encountered.&apos;&apos; At frequencies above 2 mHz the levitation force decreases. Metals, alloys and preheated elemental semiconductors such as germanium and silicon, have been levitated but the levitation of only a few metal compounds has been reported. Jostsons13 and the authors have levitated liquid titanium-oxygen alloys containing 50 at. pct 0 while clark14 has reported the levitation of mixtures of FeS and MnS for short periods. With a "cold crucible" inductor sterling15 has melted ferrites by preheating them by induction in a 4 mHz field and melting at a lower frequency. However this second type of inductor has been designed purely for the melting of materials without contamination; there is only a small gas film between the charge and the inductor and the electromagnetic levitation effect is of secondary importance. For this reason further discussion will be restricted to the use of the coil type inductor. The assessment of the suitability of a particular metal compound for levitation is based upon the following two criteria: i) thermal stability, and ii) physical "levitability". In this paper these two criteria will be considered separately. The thermal stability of a solid or liquid metal compound with respect to a gaseous environment depends upon its chemical reactivity with that environment or, in the case of an inert atmosphere considered here, its volatility. The physical criterion as to whether or not a particular compound can be levitated is based upon a comparison between those physical properties of the compound determining "levitability" which are defined by the fundamental equations of levitation theory as developed by Okress et a1.,16 and the properties of the metals. Since it is not practical to cover the vast field of metal compounds, further discussion will concentrate on the metal sulfides but the treatment would be applicable to any metal compound. THE THERMAL STABILITY OF METAL SULFIDES The temperatures usually encountered during levitation in inert atmospheres cover the range 1400" to 2000°C. The stabilities of the condensed states of the sulfides under these conditions are considered in relation to the periodic classification by reference to Table I. Two general classes of sulfides emerge. The solid sulfides of elements of group IIB and of groups further to the right are volatile while those sulfides of group IB and of groups further to the left are nonvolatile solids. The sulfides described as volatile may be dismissed as unsuitable for levitation. The stabilities of the more favorable nonvolatile sulfides under the anticipated conditions must be studied more closely From Table I it is seen that the alkali metal sulfides exist as liquids in the temperature range of in-

Jan 1, 1970

By Charles R. Simcoe

The stress-strain curves in the microyield region for various Fe-C solid solutions shown by Davies and Ku are typical examples of parabolic curves defined by the expression a = kEn 111 These data, when replotted on log-log coordinates, as shown in Fig. 9, exhibit three essentially parallel straight lines. It is apparent that carbon increases the flow stresses, but does not affect the exponent n. In other words, the only factor in Eq. [1] affected by in in carbon content is the constant k. As Eq. [1] is written k is the stress at a strain of 1.0. This is unsatisfactory for examining data in the microyield region. Therefore, the equation can be altered to the form: to permit the use of the authors&apos; microyield stress at a strain of 10-6 as k. Extrapolating the curves in Fig. 9 to a strain of 10-6 gives stress values of 2000, 3200, and 5400 psi for 0.008, 0.014, and 0.02 pct C, respectively. These values do not agree exactly with the authors&apos; measured values, but this will not affect the following discussion. The effect of carbon content on the slopes of the stress-strain curves shown in Fig. 2 of the paper by Davies and Ku can be analyzed by differentiating Eq. [2] with respect to strain. Thus: where n is always less than 1.0. Since n is essen- tially constant as a function of carbon content for the data under discussion, the slopes of the stress-strain curves depend only on k and E. If the slopes are examined at various selected Plastic strains. i.e., 10-6, 10-5, and so forth, it follows from Eq. [3] that the dif-ferent slopes for the different carbon contents depend only on the different values of ke=10-6. Thus, the larger ke=10-6, the steeper the linear stress-strain curve will rise with increasing plastic strain. This

Jan 1, 1969

By Lyon F. Terry

SPEED-UP of production of crude oil and its products, accompanied by rising prices and the organization of the industry on a war basis, featured the economic aspects of petroleum in 1941. Early in the year American tankers were urgently requested by the British to replace losses and offset slower transit under convoy. Some forty American owned tankers were first assigned to Britain and an additional forty-odd ships were transferred during the summer. This threatened to reduce our transportation facilities from Gulf ports to the Eastern seaboard below requirements, especially should sinkings have increased and the British needed more ships. Co-ordinator Ickes began preparations for restricting gasoline consumption in the Eastern district and plans were formulated for the construction of an emergency trunk pipe line from Texas to New York and Philadelphia refining centers, and for a gigantic tanker-building program. Sales of new oil-heating units in the East practically ceased. The companies were urged to transport as much oil as possible by tank car and by October 140,000 barrels of oil per day were reaching the East Coast district by rail, sufficient to meet 8 per cent of total requirements. But British sinkings from July through October decreased 63 per cent compared with the four months ended June 30, Britain began the return of tankers, the construction plans were dropped, and the threatened shortage was thus averted.

Jan 1, 1942