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By L. D. Jaffe, John H. Hollomon

Fox many steel parts it is desired to obtain the maximum toughness consistent with the strength required by the mechanical design. It is generally recognized that the greatest toughness at any given strength is found in steels having a tempered martensitic structure,1 and is virtually independent of the composition of the steel2 (except for carbon). The choice of the composition of a steel for the parts in question should be based, therefore, on hardenability considerations and on manufacturing facility and economy. In a recent paper3 the concept of hardenability was discussed and a somewhat new approach to the problem was suggested. The hardenability was defined in terms of the cooling conditions (speed of cooling) required to avoid the pearlite and the bainite reactions. Since all the alloying elements do not have the same effects on the two reactions, the bainitic and pearlitic hardenabilities must be considered separately. In order to design a steel for a given part, it is necessary to design a composition that has both sufficient pearlitic and sufficient bainitic hardenability. However, this requirement does not fix the combination of alloying elements to be used; an infinite number of steels would have the required hardenabilities. Other considerations limit the choice. For example, decreasing the carbon content increases the toughness at a given hardness, and for this reason low-carbon steels are often desired. Limitations or requirements of refining, casting, or forming practices often affect the level of some of the alloying elements. Price considerations enter. Frequently, however, it is very desirable to minimize the tendency toward quench-cracking while maintaining the necessary hardenability. This paper is concerned with suggesting a method for choosing compositions that will have the required hardenability together with minimum tendency toward quench-cracking. QUENCH-CRACKING Since only the case in which the entire part will transform to martensite in the particular quench employed is being considered, the analysis of the quench-cracking problem is somewhat simplified. Quench-cracking arises from the temperature gradients existing throughout the piece during cooling. Because of these temperature gradients, the contraction arising from the decreasing temperature and the expansion arising from the austenite-martensite reaction do not occur uniformly over the parts, and stresses are set up that tend to cause cracking. The temperature gradients can be reduced by decreasing the severity of quench. This, however, requires that the hardenability be correspondingly increased by increasing the carbon or alloy content. An

Jan 1, 1946

By M. A. Grossmann

THE hardenability of most steels can be predicted within 10 to 15 per cent provided the complete chemical composition is known, including "incidental" elements; and provided the as-quenched grain size is known; and provided, finally, that the composition and heating temperatures for hardening are such as to result in austenite free from carbide particles. In method proposed herein, the steel is considered as having a base hardenability due to its carbon content alone (the hardenability of a ''pure steel" of the given carbon content, without any other elements), and this base hardenability is multiplied by a multiplying factor for each chemical element present. After multiplying all these together, the final product is the hardenability. Grain sue may be taken into account either in the base hardenability or after the multiplication. Hardenability is stated in terms of "ideal critical diameter"; namely, the diameter of bar, in inches, that will just harden all the way through (absence of un- hardened core) in an "ideal" quench, and the calculation may also be related to the Jominy test. The data bring out certain features rather clearly. For example: I. It is quite useless to attempt to predict hardenability unless all elements, including "incidentals," are known; thus an "incidental" chromium content of 0.20 per cent increases the hardenability by about 50 per cent. 2. The relative effectiveness of different alloys is sometimes unexpected; thus molybde- num when calculated in this way appears to be of the same order of effectiveness as manganese, rather than much more powerful as wouldappear to be common experience; observe that an increase from no manganese to 0.20 per cent Mn provides a multiplying factor of 1.67, and an increase from no molybdenum to 0.20 per cent Mo provides a factor of 1.63, an increase of over 60 per cent in each case. However, if to a steel containing 0.50 per cent Mn there is added " 20 points of manganese," the factor is raised from 2.65 (for 0.50 per cent Mn) to 3.35 (for 0.70 per cent Mn), or an increase of only 26 per cent. Thus the first small addition of an element has a much more powerful percentage effect than an equal further addition when some is already present, and in most cases the effect of molybdenum is considered in relation to a steel in which molybdenum is absent. 3. If two elements are equally effective, a greater hardenability will be obtained by using, for example, 0.5 per cent of each than by using 1.0 per cent of either of them alone. 4. A knowledge of the as-quenched grain size is essential for precise work, since a difference of only one grain size number (say No. 7 instead of No. 6) makes a difference of almost lo per cent in hardenability (in these units); this, however, does not apply to certain steels of high hardenability. It should be emphasized that in chromium steels (over 0.30 per cent Cr) and chrome- molybdenum and chrome-vanadium steels, undissolved carbides are likely to be present in the steel as quenched, and that in such cases the charts can indicate only a maximum possible hardenability, whereas the extent of hardening actually obtained may be much less. Thus tests on a number of chrome-molybdenum steels have indicated a degree of hardening amounting to only 50 to 65 per cent of the maximum possible, and in chromium steels from full hardening (100 per cent) down to as low as 70 per cent. On the other hand, when the amount of such elements is small (Cr under 0.30 per cent, Mo up to 0.25 per cent in the absence of Cr, and V up to 0.04 per cent), the charts provide reasonable approximations. The precise figures on the charts are suggested as tentative, subject to some modification as more data accumulate, but the fundamental concept appears to be supported by tests made on a wide variety of steels, a few of the correlations being shown in Fig. I.

Jan 1, 1942

By M. A. Grossman

THE hardenability of most steels can be predicted within 10 to 15 per cent provided the complete chemical composition is known, including "incidental" elements; and provided the as quenched grain size is known; and provided, finally, that the composition and heating temperatures for hardening are such as to result in austenite free from carbide particles. In method proposed herein, the steel is considered as having a base hardenability due to its carbon content alone (the hardenability of a "pure steel" of the given carbon content, without any other elements), and this base hardenability is multiplied by a multiplying factor for each chemical element present. After multiplying all these together, the final product is the hardenability. Grain size may be taken into account either in the base hardenability or after the multiplication. Hardenability is stated in terms of "ideal critical diameter"; namely, the diameter of bar, in inches, that will just harden all the way through (absence of unhardened core) in an "ideal" quench, and the calculation may also be related to the Jominy test. The data bring out certain features rather clearly. For example: I. It is quite useless to attempt to predict hardenability unless all elements, including "incidentals," are known; thus an "incidental" chromium content of o.-2o per cent increases the hardenability by about 50 per cent. 2. The relative effectiveness of different alloys is sometimes unexpected; thus molybdenum when calculated in this way appears to be of the same order of effectiveness as manganese, rather than much more powerful as would appear to be common experience; observe that an increase from no manganese to 0.20 per cent Mn provides a multiplying factor of 1.67, and an increase from no molybdenum to 0.2o per cent Mo provides a factor of 1.63, an increase of over 6o per cent in each case. However, if to a steel containing 0.50 per cent Mn there is added "20 points of manganese," the factor is raised from 2.65 (for 0.50 per cent Mn) to 3.35 (for 0.70 per cent Mn), or an increase of only 26 per cent. Thus the first small addition of an element has a much more powerful percentage effect than an equal further addition when some is already present, and in most cases the effect of molybdenum is considered in relation to a steel in which molybdenum is absent. 3. If two elements are equally effective, a greater harden ability will be obtained by using, for example, o.5 per cent of each than by using 1.0 per cent of either of them alone. 4. A knowledge of the as-quenched grain size is essential for precise work, since a difference of only one grain size number (say No. 7 instead of No. 6) makes a difference of almost 10 per cent in hardenability (in these units); this, however, does not apply to certain steels of high hardenability. It should be emphasized that in chromium steels (over 0.30 per cent Cr) and chrome-molybdenum and chrome-vanadium steels, undissolved carbides are likely to be present in the steel as quenched, and that in such cases the charts can indicate only a maximum possible hardenability, whereas the extent of hardening actually obtained may be much less. Thus tests on a number of chrome-molybdenum steels have indicated a degree of hardening amounting to only 50 to 65 per cent of the maximum possible, and in chromium steels from full hardening (100 per cent) down to as low as 70 per cent. On the other hand, when the amount of such elements is small (Cr under 0.30 per cent, Mo up to 0.25 per cent in the absence of Cr, and V up to 0.04 per cent), the charts provide reasonable approximations. The precise figures on the charts are suggested as tentative, subject to some modification as more data accumulate, but the fundamental concept appears to be supported by tests made on a wide variety of steels, a few of the correlations being shown in Fig. I.

Jan 1, 1942

By J. M. Hodge, M. A. Orehoski

THE relationship between hardenability based on a 50 per cent martensite criterion, and that based on higher percentages of martensite in a number of low-alloy steels was discussed in a previous paper by the authors.1 It was found that the differences between the hardenability values based on the 50 per cent martensite and full martensite criterions increased as the hardenability increased and that, in the steels of higher hardenability, these differences were fairly large. Furthermore, it was found that these relationships could be expressed with reasonable accuracy as a function of the hardenability. The importance of the full martensite criterion of hardenability in relation to the attainment of the optimum mechanical properties of tempered martensite was emphasized in the earlier paper. The purpose of the present work is to study the effects of some of the individual alloying elements on hardenability, using three different percentages of martensite as criteria, and thereby to evaluate the role of these individual elements in the general hardenability relationships previously reported. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Induction-furnace heats weighing 17-lb., of the compositions given in Table I, were cast and forged into 1 ¼ in. round bars. All heats were killed with aluminum additions corresponding to 1 lb. per ton. The compositions were chosen to represent several series of steels, in which only one alloying element would vary and in which the nonmartensitic constituents on quenching would be predominantly bainitic. All bars were normalized from 1650°F. and tempered one hour at I 150°F. prior to the hardenability determinations. Hardenability values are based on metallographic examination of standard Jominy bars, quenched from 1600°F. (I hr. and 20 min. heating time). The general procedure was the same as outlined in detail in the previous paper; (I) that is, the distance from the quenched end of the bar to the point of 0.1 per cent transformation was first measured on the microscope and then the percentage of martensite was estimated at every 0.05 in. from the quenched end, and these percentage values plotted against the distance along the bar. In this case, samples 2 in. long were cut from the quenched end of the Jominy bars and 10 fields were examined and averaged at each distance. The conversion of Jominy distance to ideal diameter is based on a revised correlation curve (Fig. I). This curve is based on work carried out at the Research Department of the South Chicago Works, Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation, and represents a direct correlation between hardenability values as deter-

Jan 1, 1946

By E. Houdremont

THE different influences exerted by the various alloying elements in iron and iron-carbon alloys give rise to a great number of complexities, which are difficult to grasp. It is important therefore to study any sys-tematic relations that may exist between the effects exerted by the various alloying elements, in order to obtain a general classification and thus a clearer conception of the nature of alloy steels. A systematic survey of the alloys of iron, based on an investigation of the binary equilibrium diagrams, was recently published by Wever. Although his work deals little with properties of importance in works practice, its purpose being rather to point out the theoretical agreement among the types of binary equilibrium diagrams and the position of the alloying elements in the periodic system (atomic radii, etc.), the classifica-tion proposed nevertheless also suggests relationships among the proper-ties of the alloys in question, even though the alloys may contain carbon in addition to iron and the alloying element. Wever divided the alloys of iron into one group exhibiting an open or enlarged gamma field and another exhibiting a closed or restricted gamma field, with both groups capable of further subdivision depending upon whether a continuous series of solid solutions is formed, or, owing to the separation of compounds, etc., only a limited series. Thus all alloying elements which with iron form a closed gamma field, a "gamma loop," produce alloys that beyond the composition correspond-ing to the greatest extent of the gamma loop are composed of ferrite alone at all temperatures. Alloys of this composition accordingly are not susceptible to ordinary heat treatment because of the lack of tran-formations. Steels. of this class may thus be divided into steels that contain less than the critical amount of alloying element, and are subject

Jan 1, 1934

By M. R. Pickus, I. W. Pickus

ORDINARILY age-hardening is thought of as being associated with a limited solubility of one metal in another. Much less has been written about the type of age-hardening that attends the formation of superstructures. Solid solutions generally have a disordered or random arrangement of atoms; that is to say, in a unit cell, such as that of the face-centered cubic lattice, there is no distinction between atomic sites. Atoms of a given metal may occupy cube corners or face centers. Under certain conditions, however, some alloys develop what is known as an ordered structure. In this case, cube corners would be occupied by only one type of atom and face centers by another type, Associated with this ordering process are many interesting changes in physical and electrical properties. Moreover, in many instances the alloys become susceptible to age-hardening. From the evidence now to be described, it appears that age-hardening in 14-carat gold alloys is due to the formation of both a super-structure and a precipitate. Alloys of the metals gold, silver and copper were known in antiquity. The available knowledge regarding their constitution has been ably summarized and extended by Sterner-Rainer,1 Janecke,2 Carter,3 Wise,4 and Coleman.5 Despite the long familiarity with these alloys and the numerous investigations of their properties that have been made, there is still much that remains unexplained. It has been known for a long time that the hardness of these alloys is closely related to the rate of cooling, Similar changes have been observed in the binary gold-copper system,6 one alloy of which corresponding to the formula Cu3Au, has been the subject of a careful and competent report by the English investigators, Sykes and Evans.7 They have established the fact that the shift of atoms from the ordered to the disordered condition takes place in some critical temperature range. At temperatures above the critical range the structure is random, and at temperatures below it the structure is ordered. No difference between these two structures is revealed by the microscope. Both have a face-centered cubic lattice and complete solubility, so that there is no evidence to suggest that the changes in properties are associated with a phase change, The more slowly the alloy is cooled, the higher is the degree to which the ordering process proceeds and the more marked is the increase in hardness. As experimental data were accumulated on 14-carat gold alloys, several contradictions arose. Certain observations tended to confirm the existence of a superstructure, while other observations seemed to be inconsistent with such a transformation. PRESENT INVESTIGATION As a focal point about which to develop this subject, it is expedient to consider first

Jan 1, 1943

By Arthur Taggart

THE following conclusions on the work of the Hardinge mill are based on data furnished to the writer by the Hardinge Conical Mill Co. in the form of the mesh cards hereto appended. Energy units (E. U.) and relative mechanical efficiencies (R. M. E.) are computed by the "volume method" of Stadler.1 Screen apertures used are the average apertures of testing screens of the meshes given. Card 122. June 28, 1912. Vipond Porcupine Mines Co., Ltd., Schumacher, Ont., Canada. Ore from mill bin. Gangue, quartz and basalt. 4.5 ft. by 13 in. ball mill. Capacity, 48 tons per 24 hr. Charge, 4,000 lb. balls. Speed, 33 rev. per minute. Horsepower, 15 to 17. Water, 100 per cent. by weight. (50 per cent. ?) Product deslimed and oversize reground-in pebble mill, see Card 113. Feed to mill through 2-in. mesh.

Jan 7, 1915

By Robert Franke

(Butte Meeting, August, 1915.) IN view of the prominence which the conical mill has attained in the fine-crushing field within the few years since its introduction, the following comparison with its more mature forerunner, the Chilean mill, based on extensive tests, is submitted in the interest of the milling profession. Soon after designing the concentrating plant of the Miami Copper Co. in 1909, the Hardinge conical mill made its appearance in the milling forum. Its possibility as a suitable crushing device for the plant was well recognized, but in view of the lack of commercial demonstration, at the time, as to capacity, efficiency for desired product, and the still more uncertain factors of cost of maintenance and power consumption, it was deemed that the immediate adoption of this machine throughout the plant would be a hazardous undertaking. For these reasons it was decided to equip the majority of the imme diately required units of the plant with Chilean mills, the fine-crushing proficiencies of which were better known, and one section with Hardinge mills, to serve as a test unit for the guidance of future installations and replacements. Thereby, after 1.5 years' operation with both types of mills, a thorough test as to metallurgical efficiency and cost economy has been obtained. The conical mill used in these tests is the 8-ft. Hardinge pebble mill, having a cylinder 22 in. in length. The cylindrical portion of this mill is lined with cast-iron liner plates, and the conical extensions with silex bricks bound together by cement. Each liner plate carries a projecting lifter, the function of which is to increase the height of drop of the lifted material. Danish No. 5 pebbles, obtained from the coast deposits of Denmark, are used for the grinding charge. The Chilean mill used is a fast-running, 3-roller, 6-ft. Saturn mill, with screens of 0.037-in. opening. The feed to these mills is the oversize of Callow screens having 0.029-in. openings, which follow rolls crushing to 0.5 in.

Jan 7, 1913

Discussion of the paper of Robert Franke, presented at the Butte meeting, August, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 79, July, 1913, pp. 1201 to 1205. ARTHUR 0. GATES, Lafayette, Ind. (communication to the Secretary*) :-In connection with the comparison of mechanical crushing efficiencies in Tables I and II of Mr. Franke's paper, I wish to suggest a somewhat simpler way of making this' comparison, based upon what the writer has called the "crushing-surface diagram," as published by him in the Engineering and Mining Journal for May 24, 1913. Such a diagram, based on the data given in Table II, is submitted herewith, Fig. 1, cumulative percentages being plotted as abscissas and reciprocals of diameters (theoretical mesh per inch). plotted as ordinates.. Such a diagram averages the diameters without calculation, and areas upon it are proportional to surface produced, and, in accordance with Rittinger's law, to energy spent on crushing alone.

Jan 11, 1913

By Robert Franke

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) IN view of the prominence which the conical mill has attained in the fine-crushing field .within the few years since its introduction, the following comparison with its more mature forerunner, the Chilean mill, based on extensive tests, is submitted in the interest of the milling profession. Soon after designing the concentrating plant of the Miami Copper Co. in 1909, the Hardinge conical mill made its appearance in the milling forum. . Its possibility as a suitable crushing device for the plant was well recognized, but in view of the lack of commercial demonstration, at the time, as to capacity, efficiency for desired product, and the still more uncertain factors of cost of maintenance and power consumption, it was deemed that the immediate adoption of this machine throughout the plant would be a hazardous undertaking. For these reasons it was decided to equip the majority of the immediately required units of the plant with Chilean mills, the fine-crushing proficiencies of which were better known, and one section with Hardinge mills, to serve as a test unit for the guidance of future installations and replacements. Thereby, after 1.5 years' operation with both types of mills, a thorough test as to metallurgical efficiency and cost economy has been obtained. The conical mill used in these tests is the 8-ft. Hardinge pebble mill, having a cylinder 22 in. in length. The cylindrical portion of this mill is lined with cast-iron liner plates, and the conical extensions with silex bricks bound together by cement. Each. liner plate carries a projecting lifter, the function of which is to increase the height of drop of the lifted material. Danish No. 5 pebbles, obtained from the coast deposits of Denmark, are used for the grinding charge. The Chilean mill used is a fast-running, 3-roller, 6-ft. Saturn mill, with screens of 0.037-in. opening. The feed to these mills is the oversize of Callow screens having 0.029-in. openings, which. follow rolls crushing to 0.5 in.

Jan 7, 1913

By J. H. Frye, R. M. Treco, J. W. Caum

IT has been suggested that: "Insofar as the hardening due to a solute depends upon the increase of lattice parameter produced by it, it is reasonable to suppose that this hardening might be related to the resistance which the pure solvent would offer to increase in its parameter."1 It was further suggested that this hypothesis might be examined by comparing the hardnesses of analogous silver and copper alloys, since the stress necessary to produce a given lattice expansion is quite different in the two metals. Suitable data 2,3,4 are now available on these alloys, and we shall proceed to an examination of the hypothesis quoted above. HARDNESS, LATTICE PARAMETER AND IONIC OVERLAP Increase in ultimate Meyer hardness has been plotted against increase in lattice parameter in Figs. I and 2, It is believed that most of the values are accurate within the limits indicated by the rectangles, These data are also presented in Table I. Ultimate Meyer hardness, Pu, is defined by the equation: [P" - D2] where L = load, D = diameter of an impression having the same diameter as the testing ball, which in this case is 4 mm. Increase in lattice parameter is defined as the difference between the lattice parameter of the solid solution and that of the pure solvent. The curves in Figs. I and 2 are based on equal solute concentration and an equal degree of plastic deformation pro¬duced by the testing ball. Hardnesses are corrected to a constant grain size for copper and silver alloys, respectively, and these two grain sizes are approximately equal. Furthermore, all solutes are from the same period of the B subgroup of the periodic table as their solvent. [ ] The question arises as to whether or not lattice parameter is the only factor controlling the hardness of these alloys. There

Jan 1, 1943

By Cyril Stanley Smith

BETA brass (consisting of approximately equal atomic proportions of copper and zinc) exists as a random solid solution at high temperatures, but at low temperatures [ ] an ordered structure is stable, with the copper and zinc atoms occupying alternate sites on the body-centered-cubic lattice. On cooling, ordering commences at a temperature of 450° to 490°C., depending on the composition. The degree of ordering progressively increases at lower temperatures until it becomes virtually complete at about 100°C. The electrical resistivity of the alloy illustrates the changes clearly (Fig. I). This type of reaction has been a favored subject for study by physicists. An [ ] excellent summary of the theory is to be found in a paper by F. C. Nix and W. Shockley.1 All published data on electrical conductivity, specific heat and other properties agree in indicating that the ordering reaction in beta brass takes place so rapidly that it cannot be prevented or even retarded by quenching. With most ordered alloys, cold-working induces disorder and

Jan 1, 1942

By Cyril Stanley Smith

BETA brass (consisting of approximately equal atomic proportions of copper and zinc) exists as a random solid solution at high temperatures, but at low temperatures [ ] an ordered structure is stable, with the copper and zinc atoms occupying alternate sites on the body-centered-cubic lattice. On cooling, ordering commences at a temperature of 450° to 470°C., depending on the composition. The degree of ordering progressively increases at lower temperatures until it becomes virtually complete at about 100°C. The electrical resistivity of the alloy illustrates the changes clearly (Fig. I). This type of reaction has been a favored subject for study by physicists. An [ ] excellent summary of the theory is to be found in a paper by F. C. Nix and W. Shockley.1 All published data on electrical conductivity, specific heat and other properties agree in indicating that the ordering reaction in beta brass takes place so rapidly that it cannot be prevented or even retarded by quenching. With most ordered alloys, cold-working induces disorder and

Jan 1, 1942

By K. L. Clark, Nicholas Kowall

MAXIMUM furnace efficiency and close control of final steel composition demand that the steel melter be able to follow closely the variations in the carbon content of the bath. For many years, the fracture test has been used by melters for estimating carbon, because it requires only a very short time to pour a sample into a chill mold, cool it in water, break it with a sledge hammer, and observe the fracture. After long experience gained from the observation of such fractures, most melters are able to estimate the carbon content of steel with amazing accuracy, particularly in the lower carbon ranges. Notwithstanding the utility of the fracture test, there has been widespread interest in other methods for rapid carbon determination to supplement it and to ensure against possible errors in human judgment. Several methods, based upon measurement of magnetic properties as functions of carbon content, have been described in the literature1-6 and have been found to give reasonably reliable results in plant practice when scrap composition is known and controlled. A difficulty encountered in the use of analyzers of the magnetic type is that alloying elements do change the relationship between carbon content and magnetic properties and it becomes necessary to establish calibration curves for all the expected combinations of alloy residuals that are not oxidized in the bath. The work reported here is of an investigation of a method that is independent of alloying elements normally present in constructional steels, being based upon the relatively well-known fact that in plain carbon and low-alloy steels martensitic hardness is a function of carbon content alone. WORK OF OTHER INVESTIGATORS In 1938, Burns, Moore and Archer published a curve7 that showed that the hardness of martensite is a function of carbon from 0.10 to 0.50 per cent and is independent of grain size or alloy content, at least within the range found in constructional S.A.E. compositions. Some of the deeper hardening types investigated, however, contained carbon to a maximum of only 0.20 per cent. Using this principle, Kern8 developed a method of rapid carbon determination for S.A.E. 43xx steels. His procedure consisted of chill-casting a test bar that was large enough to give a surface that could be prepared for Brinell indentations. The test piece was quenched immediately after solidification was complete and hardness readings were taken, so that the carbon content could be read from an experimentally determined curve giving the relationship between as-quenched hardness and carbon. EXPERIMENTAL WORK Although Kern's work had been done with a relatively deep-hardening steel, it

Jan 1, 1944

By Samuel Hoyt

THE hardness of annealed copper has been given in the literature and is easily obtained by any of the standard methods of hardness testing. It is not our intention to correct published values or to add to them, but to describe tests of two bars of annealed electrolytic copper in which the methods of Meyer's analysis were employed. MEYER'S ANALYSIS OF BALL INDENTATION TEST The ball indentation test is probably the most valuable hardness test we now have but, as it is carried out in the Brinell or Rockwell test, the result may be seriously in error without the operator suspecting such to be the case. This condition results from the isolated and uncontrolled nature of the measurement. The accuracy depends on the accuracy of the equipment and the care and skill used in the operations; there is nothing in the impression diameter, which is all that is measured, to indicate the presence of error. Meyer's analysis supplies a control of the measurements that goes far toward eliminating unsuspected errors. The principles of this work maybe obtained from elsewhere.1 As this subject has not received the attention of this Institute, it may be well to summarize the more important points as follows.

Jan 2, 1926

Jan 1, 1882

By Magnus Troilius

SINCE the discussion on steel rails in America has forcibly drawn attention to the value of chemical analysis, if not as a necessary stipulation, at least as a guide to control the usual mechanical tests, some doubt has been thrown upon the accuracy of the analytical results obtained by different chemists. To any one having the least acquaintance with chemistry, it is quite clear that if exactly similar results are to be obtained from the same borings of steel, exactly the same methods must be used by the different analysts. Hence the necessity (if complications are to be avoided) of establishing what I may call standard or normal methods, to be used both by the inspectors and by the chemists at the works. Remembering that the application of chemistry to steelrail inspection is yet in its infancy, it is of great importance to possess a perfect acquaintance with the best methods in use. Being myself a grateful pupil of Professor Eggertz, of the School of Mines in Sweden, it occurred to me, two years ago, that I could not do better than start a laboratory of my own, and engage one of his pupils, Mr. Troilius, for the purpose of analyzing the steel borings from mechanically-tested rails, so that I might thus obtain without delay thoroughly accurate determinations. Moreover, in order to carry on the operations in perfect accordance with the methods used at the steel works in England and Germany, where I had to control the manufacture, I deemed it desirable to allow Mr. Troilius to go through a course of training at these works; and I gladly seize this opportunity of expressing my grateful acknowledgments to several works in England and in Germany for affording every facility for such an exchange of information as mas found necessary in arriving at the best analytical methods to be used.

Jan 1, 1882

By F. C. Blake

THE test of the English cupellation furnace should be so supported that the cupeller can change readily the elevation of the test, and at the same time watch the litharge channel. It is also important to raise or lower either side, independently of the other, in me of uneven wear of the side walls or of the breast. If the refined silver is poured from the test, it is much better to control the lowering of the test from the front than to raise the back by screws or a lever. In order to enable the cupeller to manipulate the test with one hand, when the litharge is running, and to pour the refined silver from the test without aid, I have altered the common support to the test, as shown in the accompanying drawing. The common method of supporting the test is by four screws, working in cross-bar nuts beneath the test. The points of the screws set, into the test plate upon which the test rests. These screws are usually worked by pounding or pulling upon the heads, which may be either small pulleys or straight bars, as shown on the back screws in the drawing. The screws are also worked by turning a crank, which is

Jan 1, 1882

By T. M. Drown, P. W. Shimer

The precipitation of phosphoric with titanic acid, by boiling an iron solution which had been reduced to the ferrous condition by sulpharetted hydrogen or sulphurous acid, was first noticed by E. H. Bogardus in 1874.* Since that time, as far as we are aware, not much has been published on the relation of these two acids to each other, and to silicic acid, in the ordinary course of analysis of iron ores. The following investigation may perhaps aid in clewing up some of the obscure points in the analysis of titaniferous ores. THE DETERMINATION OF PHOSPHORUS. From two to five grams of the finely powdered ore are weighed into a beaker and treated with about 50 c.c. of hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1.12), evaporated to dryness, and heated ih an air-bath for

Jan 1, 1882

By H. M. Chance

The great outspread of the coal measures over portions of thirtyone of the sixty-seven counties of Pennsylvania, and the large number of workable seamy comprising the coal series,—together with some workable seams lately shown to belong to the (so-called) barren measures,—-create the impression that these fields contain a practically inexhaustible supply of fucl, and those who have estimated or attempted to estimate their available tonnage have generally promulgated this view. But the actual total contents of this coal-field is of no importance to us at present; calculations including all seams, whether thick enough to mine or not, whether pure enough to furnish a marketable fuel or not, whether accessible at reasonable depth or not, are of no practical value. As coal producers, we are interested not in the total contents, but in the total amount of easily accessible coal of good quality contained in beds thick enough for remunerative mining. The estimates contained in this payer refer exclusively to workable and accessible coal of commercial value,—we may call it available" coal. I am not aware that any one has as yet attempted to estimate in

Jan 1, 1882