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By Jose M. Sobral

Approximate figures for petroleum production in Argentina for 1929 show an increase of only about 300,000 bbl. over production for 1928. This increase is due to greater yield in the Plaza Huincul and in the Salta regions. Table 1 shows the distribution of production in the various fields of the whole country, using estimates for the later months of the year. The outlook for production remains about the same as in 1928. It is believed that in northern Argentina there are regions that contain oil, but they are yet unexplored. Notable traces of oil at depths between 1280 and 1390 m. have appeared in a 1500-m. boring in Comodoro Rivadavia, but their importance is unknown.

Jan 1, 1930

* George M. Humphrey, president of the M. A. Hanna Co. and of the Iron Ore Co. of Canada, has announced arrangements for financing the development of the Labrador-Quebec iron ore deposits in the total amount of $200 million. Plans call for immediately beginning the construction of mining, railroad, and handling facilities, and contemplate the start of ore shipments in 1955 which will reach 10 million tons a year shortly thereafter. Total drilled and proven ore now exceeds 400 million tons of high grade open-pit ore with prospects for large additional tonnages. Capital structure of the company authorizes up to $125 million of first mortgage bonds, $40 million of income debentures and $60 million of common stock.

Jan 12, 1950

(Members are urged to send in for this column any notes of interest concerning themselves or their fellow-members.) Members and guests who registered at Institute headquarters during the period Aug. 10 to Sept. 10, 1914: William Huff Wagner, Milford, Del.. Stanley C.- Herold, San Jose, Cal. Charles W. Hamilton, Tampico, Mexico R. J. Grant, Denver, Colo. A. M. Van Rensselaer, New London, Conn. John Lloyd, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. . Henry C. Carr, New York, N. Y. D. M. Riordan has been appointed to act as special adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury and has sailed on the U. S. S. "Tennessee" for Europe, where he will assist in aiding Americans in returning to the United States.

Jan 10, 1914

MONTANA SECTION J. L. BRUCE, Chairman W. C. SIDERFIN, Vice-Chairman WALTER E. GABY, Secretary-Treasurer, 834 W. Granite St., Butte, Mont. N. B. BRALY W. T. BURNS A special meeting of the Directors of the Montana Section was held on July 24, 1916, with W. C. Siderfin, Vice-Chairman, presiding. The meeting was called for the purpose of electing a Secretary-Treasurer to fill the, vacancy created by the resignation of M. H. Gidel. Upon proper motions, the resignation of M. H. Gidel was, accepted, and Walter E. Gaby was elected to fill the office for the balance of the fiscal year. No further business was transacted, and upon motion the meeting adjourned WALTER E. GABY, Secretary.

Jan 9, 1916

By J. C. McKinnell

The appraisal of an oil lease may often be mad,? through production decline analysis, which requires description of the functional relationship between the oil production rate and either cumulative production or time. Heretofore, attempts to define the function appropriate to a given set of production data have depended to some extent on subjective procedures. The purpose here is to introduce an objective solution, obtained by combining the principle of least squares with the theory of equations. MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS The fundamental differential equation appropriate to a general class of decline curves may be written. Solution of Eq. 1 for general boundary conditions may be written in terms of either the cumulative oil production or time: These equations constitute the mathematical expression of the so-called hyperbolic decline. Their complete description for a given set of production data requires the numerical evaluation of the three parameters1.', n, D, and (go),. For the special case of n = 0, Eq. 2 becomes q. = (q.), - DiN with the corresponding expression in terms of time being q. = (qa),e...........(5) Similarly, for the special case of n = 1, Eq. 3 becomes with the corresponding expression in terms of cumula- tive oil production being q. = (q.),e " '.......(7) Eqs. 4 and 5 constitute the mathematical description of the so-called exponential decline; Eqs. 6 and 7 are the mathematical description of the harmonic decline.',' Returning to the hyperbolic expressions, Eqs. 2 and 3 may also be written, q: = sNp + b........ (8) and where a = 1 - n; s = (n— 1)D,(q0);"; b = (go):-"; a'=-n;s/= nD,(qo);"; and b' = (go);-. Note that both Eqs. 8 and 9 are linear in either time or cumulative production with respect to an exponential function of the production rate. In other words, a straight line relationship results for both variables when associated with the appropriate power of q,. This fact is of prime importance in the application of statistical analysis. . STATISTICAL ANALYSIS For a given oil lease, the time, production rate and cumulative production are recorded records. To establish predictive formulas from Eqs. 2 and 3, it remains to determine numerical values for the three parameters [n, D, and (q,) .] through an investigation of the past history. Upon interpreting a, s and b as parameters, Eq. 8 may be expressed for every time interval of interest, i, over the past history as follows. (q,): = s(Np), + b........(10) In general, Eq. 10 will not be satisfied exactly, because of the assumptions in the expression of Eq. 1, and the errors and anomalies universally associated with production data. It will instead define the residual, s(Np), + b- CO=d......(11) Squaring both sides and summing over all the data points, m, under consideration yields

By H. H. Stout

IN the early fall of 1025, the writer was conducting, in the Ledoux and Co. labora-tory, New York, experiments directed to-ward ascertaining the effect on its impurity content when cathode copper was subjected to a current of various gases at an elevated temperature below the melting point. The apparatus consisted of a vertical I-in. dia. silica tube about 12 in. long, heated on the outside. The cathodes were broken to pass 3/8-in. mesh, and a current of various differ-ent gases was passed up through a 4-in. long column of these loose cathode particles in the vertical tube furnace. Temperature was maintained to 1500° to 1600°F. and the gas treatments lasted from 3 to 6 hr. The writer observed that whenever reducing gas (H2 or CO) was used, these cathode par-ticles stuck together at points of contact with each other. The cohesion was so marked and tenacious that an examination was made of the fractured surfaces, when cathode particles were broken from the cluster. Crystal growth was always found to have taken place across the surfaces where separate particles were in contact, but only after all oxides, sulphates, etc., had been completely removed. The idea of a possible new process was then conceived and was disclosed to A. M. Smoot (V. P. Ledoux and Co.) with intent to obtain his views. The first conception as given Smoot was "to gas-clean broken cathodes, put them in an extrusion press, solidify and extrude them at around 1500°F." Smoot's reaction, after a few moments considera-tion, was, "It looks perfectly all right to me." The writer and his assistants, W. H. Osborn and H. H. Stout, Jr., after confer-ring as to ways and means, decided to go ahead with preliminary laboratory experi-ments, which, it was thought, would move the new process from the possible to the probable. This program followed a course indicated by three basic considerations: I. Since brittle cathodes were often unin-tentionally produced, it seemed probable that the laws controlling this type of deposi-tion could be ascertained. 2. We had already proved the gas-clean-ing feature. 3. There remained to prove: whether a sound, homogeneous metal billet could be produced with crystal growth established over the entire surface of each individual particle in the billet; and, if so, what would be the physical properties? Osborn arranged with Columbia Uni-versity for conducting experiments in its research laboratory to prove or disprove the third item; Columbia assigned C. A. Phillipi, Jr. to assist in the project. A press with a cylinder 2 in. high and of I-in. dia. was used. It was surrounded and heated by a resistance coil of Nichrome wire. Broken tough cathodes were used.

Jan 1, 1940

By E. H. Phillips, A. F. Keenan

6.2-1. Historical Development. Hammering on hand-held drill steel was the earliest type of percussion drilling. It was not until 1838 that Singer developed a steam-operated drilling machine that lifted a drilling bar and let it drop by gravity. J. J. Couch of Philadelphia patented the first percussion drill in 1849. His machine was a steam drill which literally hurled the drill bar at the rock and retracted it by means of a ratcheted wheel. Later J. W. Fowle added automatic rotation of the steel. In 1871, Simon Ingersoll patented a rock drill mounted on a tripod which permitted drilling holes at any angle, vertical to horizontal. Up to the turn of the century, percussion drills in use were piston-type drills. The drill steel was solid and attached to an extension of the drill piston. Hole cleaning was accomplished by the pumping action of the steel in the hole. Down-holes were drilled wet and cleaned with a blow pipe while up-holes were drilled dry, allowing the cuttings to drop out by gravity. The forerunner of our present hammer drill was the free-piston drill which was first patented in 1884, by Sargent. Because solid drill steel was used, it did not successfully clean down holes. J. G. Leyner solved the problem of applying the hammer drill principle to down-hole and horizontal-hole work in 1897. The key was to pass com- pressed air and water through hollow drill steel to clean the hole. Leyner's work on valves and rotation mechanisms increased the blows per minute of hammer drills from 300 or 400 up to 1800 and more blows per minute and made possible the first lightweight drilling machines. The development of automatic feeds followed. 6.2-2. Percussion Drills. TYPES OF DRILLS. There are two types of percussion drills in use today; the piston drill and the hammer drill. In the

Jan 1, 1968

AT the meeting of the Board of Directors on Jan. 28, 1927, the tentative budget of this Institute for next year was discussed, and in connection with the evident necessity for a larger income to meet increasing demands for service, the advisability of in- creasing the dues of members, was brought up. W. Spen- cer Hutchinson advocated an upward revision of the dues "believing it necessary that the Institute have a larger income, in order that it may carry on necessary work and render adequate service to its membership." Since this is a matter that directly affects every member, .President Taylor was directed to appoint a committee, which he did, consisting of George D. Barron, W. H. Bassett, and R. H. Sweetser, with T. T. Read as secre- tary, to bring in a tentative outline of the main factors in the problem for discussion at the annual meeting, on Feb. 15, and to prepare, after they have had the benefit of the discussion at that meeting, a report for the board. The amount of the annual dues is fixed by the con- stitution and can only be changed by proposing an amendment to the constitution. This amendment would have to be submitted to the members by letter ballot at the time of the election of officers for 1928, so that no change can be made in the dues for 1927 in any case. WHY THE INSTITUTE NEEDS MONEY At the annual meeting past-president Reynders, as chairman of the executive committee made the follow-ing report, which since it admirably sets forth the rea-sons why an increase in the dues has been suggested, is included here. "The report of the president has covered the situation so fully that little is left for me to say. However, a word in regard to the functions of the executive com-mittee may not be out of place.

Jan 3, 1927

By E. W. Mehal, R. W. Haisty, D. W. Show

The next generation of integrated circuits will probably include circuits constructed in and of GaAs. The existence of both semi-insulating and semiconducting forms of GaAs is the fact which will bring this about. In this paper we discuss the uses and limitations of semi-insulating GaAs for integrated-circuit applications. The two main areas considered are the electrical isolation that can be achieved between components on a semi-insulating substrate and the characteristics of p-n junctions in contact with semi-insulating GclAs. A process basic to attaining integrated circuits in GaAs to fully utilize the insulating properties of the substrate is selective epitaxial deposition. This process involves the deposition of a SiO2 layer onto a The trend in integrated circuits is towards the use of high-resistivity substrates or regions to achieve component isolation. The use of SiO, layers in the oxide isolation methods and the use of sapphire substrates are examples of this idea. GaAs is also a polished surface of a GaAs substrate, etching out selected area of the SiO, film to expose a GaAs surface, and deposition only onto the exposed GaAs surface. By using this process , islands of semiconducting GaAs are deposited onto a semi-insulating GnAs substrate, the islands being electrically isolated from one another by the substrate. The deposition of both p- and n-type semiconducting GaAs can be carried out in this nzanner to form p-n junctions in the island areas. This process can also be used to produce a planav structure by deposition of GctAs through a SiO, mask into holes etched into the GaAs substrate. This Putterned Epitaxial Technology (PET) is described. very promising material for use in future integrated circuits because of the existence of both semi-in-sulating and semiconducting forms. Active devices can be fabricated in the semiconducting material, and these individual components can then be electrically isolated from one another by using semi-insulating GaAs as the substrate. Epitaxial semi-insulating GaAs can also be produced thus making three-dimensional monolithic integrated circuits feasible.' This paper describes the research aimed at developing the methods for producing both two- and three-dimensional integrated circuits in GaAs, and examines some of the properties of semi-insulating GaAs as they relate to these integrated circuits.

Jan 1, 1967

By H. H. Podgurski, J. C. M. Li, Y. T. Chou, F. N. Davis, R. A. Oriani

When an Fe-2 pct A1 alloy is nitrogemted at 500ºC with a gus tnixture (NH3-H2) in which the nitrogen activity has been kept Lou] enough to avoid the formation of iron nitride, a two-phase alloy is generuled which consists of AlN particles and a ferrite phase cotaining a heavy network of dislocations. The amount of nitrogen contained in such an alloy, when equilibrated with the nitrogenating atmosphere, far exceeds both that needed to satisfy the normal solution requirements of a Fe and that needed to convert all of the aluninuwi to AlN. This excess nitrogen is accounted for as being trapped on dislocations, adsorbed at the ferrite -AlN interface, and as an en-Iuznced lattice solubility in strained ferrite. This excessive uptake of nitrogen had previously been attribuled by other investigators to the formation of a nonstoichiornetric aluminum nitride. Isotope exchange experiments revealed various amomts of exchargeable N14 present in the originally nitrided samples that could not be removed by reduction with HS at 500ºC. This exchangeable nitrogen has been identified us that bound to the AlN -ferrite interface. Estimates of inter facial areas in alloys containing -3 pct by weight of A1N are as high as 10 sq m per g of alloy. ThE first1 of this series of papers described the experiments forming the basis for the elucidation of the mechanism of the formation of aluminum nitride particles within an Fe-A1 alloy. It was found that not only are dislocations necessary for the nucleation of the AlN particles but also the nitriding reaction in turn produces a dense network of dislocations in the ferrite matrix. It was also observed that nitrogen in excess of that needed for the formation of stoichiometric AIN is taken up by the alloy without the formation of an iron nitride. The present paper is an analysis of the excess nitrogen sorbed by the nitrided Fe-A1 alloy which considers the structure generated by the formation of the aluminum nitride particles. Because of the high density of dislocations, this system has proved to be quite useful in studying nitrogen-dislocation interactions. Wriedt and Darken2 have already reported such studies in a cold-worked ferritic steel. EXPERIMENTAL Nitrogen Sorption. The specimens of this alloy were cold worked (50 pct reduction) to 0.011 in. thickness and chemically cleaned in a 2:1 concentrated phosphoric acid-50 pct hydrogen peroxide solution before nitrogenation. The flowing nitrogenating atmosphere (11 pct NH3-89 pct H2) was established before the ni- trogenating temperature was reached. The same gravimetric and gas-flow equipment described in an earlier paper1 was also used in this investigation. Changes in nitrogen concentration were followed gravimetrically when establishing the isotherms. In the isotope exchange experiments, concentration changes were followed volumetrically. In some instances chemical analyses (Kjeldahl method) were used to check for material balances in both the gravimetric and volumetric procedures. Our objective was to obtain reversible nitrogen sorption isotherms for alloys equilibrated with NH3-H2 gas mixtures over a large range of nitrogen activity* and temperature. The *Defined as equal to PN H /P3/2 ,where P corresponds to partial pressure in atmospheres. Actually the nitrogen activity, aN, in the alloy equals K PNH3 /p3/2H2, where K is the equilibrium constant for the reaction NH3 = N + 3/2H2. upper limit for nitrogen activity was below that which would produce iron nitride; for reasons which will become apparent later, most of the sorption studies were made in the temperature range between 400" and 500'C. The alloy sample studied most extensively in this investigation was given a series of successive reductions (100 pct H2) and nitrogenating treatments at 500°C to attain a stabilized structure. Presumably some dislocations were lost during these treatments. Throughout most of the sorption studies, temperature was held at ± 1°C and the gas-phase composition was held to k0.2 pet NH3. Based upon the results of numerous diffusion experiments with this alloy* the 'Results to be published in a third paper of this series. times chosen for equilibration were considered more than adequate, Nitrogen Isotope Exchange. The first exchange experiments were carried out by circulating a measured quantity of H2 and NH3* (with a predetermined isotopic *The NH3 was synthesized over a synthetic ammonia iron catalyst using H2, and N2, enriched with N15. AS the NH3 was formed it was removed continuously from the gas phase by circulating the mixture through a refrigerated (78ºK) trap. When most of the nitrogen had been converted to NH3, it was distilled from the trap into a glass storage vessel. composition, N15/N14) over a nitrided specimen at 450°C in a closed glass system. Attempts to reach the exchange limit isothermally, i.e., an isotopic ratio (N15/N14) in the gas phase identical with the extractable nitrogen in the nitrided alloy, were futile. The exchange rate between the gas phase and the alloy was too slow, involving many days. To circumvent the slow exchange with the gas phase, measured amounts of N15 and N14 were introduced into the alloy by nitrogenating with an NH3-H2, mixture at 500°C containing an N15/N14 ratio of 7.76; the charged specimens were then sealed by allowing an oxide film to form over them in air, and in this final condition the specimens were subjected to 500°C in vacuum for various times during which isotope exchange was allowed to proceed within the specimen. It was estab-

Jan 1, 1970

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. A. Heiland

WITH seventeen papers submitted. and thirteen presented in three sessions, the geophysicists had a most successful meeting at New York in February. The first paper on Monday morning dealt with the location of a diabase dike near Chapel Hill, N. C., by magnetic and resistivity methods. The magnetic indications were pronounced directly over the dike. whereas the anomalies of apparent resistivity were less distinct and displaced away from the dike. In the second paper, Professor Keys reported on the results obtained with four different methods of depth calculation on known portions of the Falconbridge

Jan 1, 1937

By J. Chipman, H. A. Wriedt

DURING the past twenty years, a considerable background of knowledge has been built up on the chemical behavior of oxygen in liquid iron. Little is known regarding oxygen in liquid nickel or the effect of nickel as an alloying element on the behavior of oxygen in liquid steel. The solubility of oxygen in liquid iron was determined by Fetters and Chipman' and, more precisely, by Taylor and Chipman.' The Ni-NiO eutectic was placed by Merica and Waltenberg"' * at 1438°C and 0.24 pct 0, and this point has been confirmed by others." O It was reported by von Bohlen und Halbach and LeitgebelT that nickel and its oxide are miscible in all proportions at 1600°C, but this report is discredited by observations of others. The melting point of NiO according to von Wartenberg and ReuschV s 1990°C. Approximate values of oxygen solubility at several temperatures were reported by Hensel and Sc0tt.O The data of Krupowski and Balickil0 are inconsistent with those of Hensel and Scott and indicate a solubility less than half that found in the present study. For oxygen solubility in Fe-Ni alloys under pure iron oxide-nickel oxide slags, only the scattered data of von Bohlen und Halbach and LeitgebelT are avail- able. The careful work of Bardenheuer and Brauns" involved silica-saturated slags. The equilibrium between Fe-Ni alloys and iron oxide-nickel oxide slags was studied by zur Strassenu and by Jander and Senf,u but no oxygen analyses were reported. Oxygen in Pure Nickel Apparatus and Nlethod: Samples were taken with a "Taylor sampler" from a bath of molten electrolytic nickel held under an air atmosphere in a magnesia-lined 30 lb induction furnace. Saturation of the melt with oxygen was effected partly by the addition of chemically pure black nickel oxide and partly by the air atmosphere. Samples were taken only when there was a clearly visible oxide phase present. To avoid contamination of this oxide phase, the silica-sheathed Pt—Pt-10 pct Rh thermocouples, by means of which temperatures were measured, were immersed in the melt for the minimum time consistent with accurate reading. Samples and temperature readings were taken only after the furnace had been

Jan 1, 1956

By John F. Wiggert

DURING the early years of Homestake operations, shaft signaling from the cage tenders to the hoisting engineers was done by mechanical means. Small steel cables or jointed steel rods were suspended in the shaft compartments and counterbalanced with weights or springs. These cables or rod strings were connected to the mechanically operated gongs at the engineers' stations by means of bell cranks and steel wires. The system was simple and economical and served the purpose well until the mine reached a depth of 1000 ft., then the system became slow and cumbersome and required a considerable amount of muscular effort to operate it with much speed, because of the inertia of the heavy moving parts. The mechanical signaling was superseded by a simple electrical system consisting of a single pair of wires in steel conduit for each shaft compartment. In the shaft at each station a pull switch was connected to the wires. The switches were operated by means of bell cords, which extended from station to station. This electrical system was a great improvement over the mechanical one, but it had one serious drawback, which also applied to the older system; namely, the engineer did not know where a signal originated. Later on this signaling was improved to overcome this drawback, and to give the engineer a positive indication of a signal's origin. In this system a separate return wire from each pull switch is carried to an annunciator at the engineer's station, where it indicates the signal's origin. While the annunciator system used by Homestake is very safe and reliable, it has the inherent drawback of all wire-connected systems in that it is impossible to send a signal from a moving cage. A number of years ago Homestake became interested in the possibility of using some sort of radio transmission for shaft signaling. The company did much experimental work with purely radio signal transmission, but no practical way was discovered to use radio transmission in a mine shaft for signaling to or from a cage. Therefore, all efforts were directed to devising a practical way of using the hoisting rope as part of the circuit. It was realized that the return circuit from the rope would need to be through electrostatic coupling between the cage and the earth or ground sides of the shaft, because the guides would not always be wet enough to make possible good electrical contact between the cage and earth, therefore relatively high-frequency alternating current was chosen as the medium of transmission. Soon a practical system was developed for transmitting an electric current from a moving cage over an electric circuit of which the hoisting rope was a part. A high-frequency electric current is used as a carrier to transmit the signals or mes-

Jan 1, 1941

By W. J. Keep

Cast-iron, or pig-iron, is iron which contains all the carbon that it could absorb during its reduction in the blast-furnace. As is well-known to chemists, carbon exists in cast-iron in two distinct forms. In chemical union, as "combined" carbon, it cannot be discerned, except as it may increase the whiteness of the fracture, in so-called white iron, or carburetted iron (sp. gr. about 7.72). Carbon mechanically mixed with the iron as graphite is visible, varying in color from gray to black, while the fracture of the iron, according to the color and amount of graphite it contains, ranges from a light to a very dark gray. The specific gravity of graphitic iron is about 7.40. Silicon in cast-iron is evidently to some extent combined with the iron and the carbon ; but whether it exists also in a form corresponding with graphitic carbon, mechanically mixed with the remaining mass, is a question still in dispute, which we have not in this paper endeavored to answer. It has been the opinion of many writers on metallurgy, and many foundry men, that silicon is in every way injurious to cast-iron. Yet

Jan 1, 1889

CARL HENRICH (communication to the Secretary*).-I have read with much interest the discussions of my paper by Messrs. A. S. Dwight, E. P. Mathewson, Win. B. Boggs, Jos. W. Richards, and W. C. Smith. Mr. Dwight's acknowledgment that he always-in lead smelting¬obtained better results by figuring A1203 as an acid in his slags, I may take as a confirmation of my views, notwithstanding his later conversion by, the late T. S. Austin to the latter's empirical view and way of neglecting the consideration of A1203 altogether in the composition of slags-letting the slags "dissolve" in Al203. I have a strong suspicion that Mr. Austin, in a large custom smelting plant at El Paso, has been able to keep the alumina percentage of his slags sufficiently low, not to give him much trouble, although I have also a suspicion that his furnace foreman may have had a somewhat differing opinion of the practical working of the "dissolving" theory,, whenever its applicability was tested to its limits. That Austin should have conceived the notion that the Ca of CaF2 would enter into a slag as CaO, seems hardly in accord with the recognized ability of that late metallurgist. It is a well-recognized fact that even small amounts of CaF2 will reduce the viscosity of a slag; but I did not think anyone ever had an idea that CaF2, in some mysterious way, parted with its F and coupled itself with 0 to satisfy a craving for CaO on the part of 802-least of all in a lead furnace. The "dissolving" theory for CaF2 was doubtless appropriate, and an improvement on figuring the Ca of CaF2 as CaO to satisfy the demand of Si02 for RO bases. However, I cannot understand the rationality of extending this "dissolving" theory to A1203 and to ZnO. It would be interesting to have more specific data from Mr. Mathewson in regard to the actual composition-analyses-of the slags made, when he had these unusually high alumina slags in Colorado. We "old" smelters all know that within certain limits, usually found out by rather tough experience, we could safely "disregard" A1203. In fact, I believe, we never really analyzed for alumina, except in slag analyses, when we

Jan 6, 1917

[*E. O'C. Acker '86 Jinzoc Adachl '88 T. H. Aldrich '96 *Truman H. Aldrich '78 Walter H. Aldridge '89 *Anson W. Allen '87 John H. Allen '84 *Thomas Andrews '94 *William R. Analeby '90]

Jan 1, 1946

By Holt, Grover J.

PRIOR to :1937 any discussion of mining and transportation in the iron mines of Minnesota would have been limited largely to conventional methods which have been used for years in the iron ore industry. Today, however, an inspection trip to the crest of almost any open pit on the ranges will re- veal great progress underground mining and the transportation of underground ore have also developed rapidly and if and when underground mining of iron ore again becomes generally economically feasible; these mining methods will probably witness a transformation equal to that which has taken place in the open pits.

Jan 1, 1941

By E. V. Kleber, V. F. Novy, R. C. Vickery

The constitutional diagram has been determined in part for the sgstem Gd-Fe. Seven intermetallic compounds have been found at compositions corresponding to the following Gd-Fe ratios; 2:3, 1.2, 1:3, 2:7, 1:4, 1:5, and 2:17. The GdFe, com-pound has a congruent melting point above 18000C, whereas all of the remaining compounds melt incongruently, A eutectic exists at 13 wt pct Fe at a temperature of 860°C. ALTHOUGH an increasing amount of information is becoming available on the metallurgy of pure rare earth metals, relatively few studies have been made on alloy systems of the rare earths with the transition metals; iron, nickel, and cobalt. Even less data are extant on gadolinium alloys although it could be expected that such alloys might possess interesting structural and magnetic properties. In this paper, we report investigation of the gadolinium-iron alloy system. Studies on systems containing nickel and cobalt will be presented in subsequent papers. Previous data on gadolinium-iron compounds have been reported by Endter and Klemm1 and Jep-son and Duwez.2 Both reports agree on the existence of the GdFe2 phase, which crystallizes with the C-15type structure (face-centered cubic). This is in accord with results of the present work. EXPERIMENTAL The gadolinium metal used was prepared by met-allothermic reduction of high purity gadolinium fluoride. A typical analysis of the metal thus produced indicated the principal impurities to be oxygen, 0.24 pct, and tantalum, 0.2 pct. The iron metal used for alloying was a reagent grade material. Alloys were prepared by arc melting mixtures of the respective metals. Appropriate quantities of the two component metals were carefully weighed, blended and compacted. The compacts were then melted in an arc furnace consisting of a water-cooled copper hearth plate and a water-cooled tungsten-tipped counter electrode contained in a brass vacuum chamber. The furnace was evacuated to an absolute pressure of less than 1 with the leak rate established as being less than 20 per min. The furnace was then back-filled to a pressure of 25 mm of Hg, with a 75 pct He-25 pct Ar mixture. Arc melting at 25 v and 300 amp was maintained for about 30 to 60 sec until the entire visible area of the sample became molten, by which time surface tension had drawn the molten metal pool into a large bead. After allowing the furnace to cool, the alloy button was inverted and the melting process repeated. A series of melts was made covering entire composition ranges from 100 pct Gd to 100 pct Fe. All samples were examined metallographically in the as-melted condition. As the phase diagram became rationalized, and differential thermal analysis had given indications of temperature arrests, annealing was carried out in vacuo or in argon. Generally, compositions containing more than about 60 pct Gd were heat treated at 750°C and alloys containing less than this quantity of gadolinium were annealed at 1000°C. Prolonged annealing times were of the order of 100 to 200 hr. Metallographic examination was repeated on the annealed materials. Although little material loss was noted during alloy preparation, chemical analyses were made on all specimens prepared. The following standard, analytical techniques were used. Samples were dissolved in hydrochloric acid; insoluble material was filtered off, ignited and fused with potassium pyro-sulfate. The cold melt was leached with dilute acid and the solution thus obtained added to the main sample solution. Gadolinium was always determined gravimetri-callv as oxide from oxalate ignition. Iron was removed from an aliquot sample by electrolysis on a mercury cathode at approximately six volts. Gadolinium in the iron-free electrolyte was then precipitated as oxalate which was subsequently ignited to oxide. Iron was determined volumetrically in an aliquot solution by reduction with stannous chloride fol-

Jan 1, 1962

By Koichi Kashida, Mayumi Someno, Kazuhiro Goto

The present work has two objectives: first to develop an experimental method which would give some new information on the micromechanism of the reduction of oxides by gases at elevated temperature; second to clari,fy the intermediate phases of the W-0 system, formed during the reduction. A Galvanic cell with the solid electrolyte , ZrO2 . CaO, was imbedded in powders of W03, CuO, or Fe20s with two measuring electvodes and with a reference electrode. The change of the intraparticle gas composition was measured at An oxygen concentration cell consists of two electrodes separated by an electrolyte through which the transference of electrical charge is accomplished predominantly by the migration of oxygen ions. Many works have been reported on the oxygen con- 600" to loo@ C during the reduction by the gas mixture of hydrogen and argon. The intraparticle gas composition changes stepwise with time. The electromotive force of such temporary interruption corresponds to the equilibrium electromotive force of two solid phases formed during the reduction. The intermediate phases of W-0 system, which are formed in a large quantity during the reduction by hydrogen, are W0 2 W02.72 and WOz. The micromechanism of the reduction of oxides by gases is discussed. centration cells with the solid electrolyte of solid solution of zirconia and lime, since Kuikkola and wagnerl demonstrated the possibility of determination of standard free energy of formation of oxides by an electromotive-force method with the Galvanic cell. One of the present authors (K.G.) and his coworkers have applied the cells with the solid electrolyte of zirconia and lime to the following measurements:

Jan 1, 1969