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By Bernard S. Borie

THE U-A1 binary system has been studied by Kaufmann and Gordon.' They have shown that three intermetallic compounds occur in the system: UAl², UAl², and a third compound tentatively identified as UA15. UA1³ is simple cubic, a, = 4.26A. Its unit cell contains one formula weight, and it is iso-morphous with AuCu³. UA1² is face-centered cubic, a, = 7.72A, with eight formula weights per unit cell. Rundle and Wilson have shown that it is iso-morphous with Cu²Mg.² A Debye-Scherrer pattern of the Al-rich compound indicated a more complex structure than either UA1² or UA1³. The following is a report of an investigation of the crystal structure of this compound and a determination of its stoi-chiometric formula. A melt of uranium (99.9 pct pure) and aluminum (99.9 pct pure) was prepared which contained about 25 pct U by weight. It was cooled from 950" to 650°C at a rate of 500" per hr and then taken from the furnace and air cooled. An X-ray diffraction pattern of the ingot showed only lines of aluminum and the Al-rich compound. Filings from the ingot were reacted with a solution of sodium hydroxide, producing a fine black powder, the diffraction pattern of which showed no traces of aluminum. A comparison of the Debye-Scherrer pattern of our sample with the data published by Kaufmann and Gordon1 showed that it is identical with the Al-rich phase which they reported. Single crystals were obtained by cooling the melt more slowly (about 50°C per hr). After reaction with sodium hydroxide, the crystals appeared as small black needles attached to the ingot surface. Cell Size, Space Group, and Uranium Positions A series of Weissenberg photographs for rotation about two of the crystallographic axes, taken with copper radiation filtered through nickel foil, revealed an orthorhombic cell of dimensions: a = 4.41 ± 0.02A b = 6.27 ± 0.02A c = 13.71 ± 0.03A Reflections of the type hkl were observed only if: h + k + I = 2n, of the type hkO only if: h = 2n and k = 2n, of the type h01 only if: h + 1 = 2n, and of the type Okl only if: k + 1=2n. Hence, the cell is body-centered with an 001 glide plane. The evidence for the existence of the glide plane is the observed extinction of 23 possible re- flections of the type hkO with at least one index odd. There are only two space groups consistent with these data: C"" — I2ma and D28 2h — Imma.³ he possible sets of atomic positions for these space groups are: 12ma: (0 0 0; ½ ½ ½) + 4: (a) x 0 %; x % % (b) x ¼ z; x ¾ Z 8: (c) x y z; x y z; x, ½ + y, Z x, M - y, z Imma: (0 0 0; ½ ½ ½) + 4: (a) 0 0 0; 0 ½ 0 (b) 0 0 ½; 0 ½ ½ (c) ¼ ¼ ¼; ¾ ¼ ¼ (d) ¼ ¾ ¾ ; ¾ ¾ % (e) 0 ¾ Z; 0 ¾ z 8: (f) x 0 0; x 0 0; x 1/2 0; x ½ 0 (g) ¼ Y ¼; ¾ Y ¾; ¾ y ¼; 1 y ¼ (h) 0 y z; 0; ;; 0, ½ + y, z; 0, l/2 - Y, Z (i) x 1/4 z; x ¾ z; ¼ z; x ¾ z 16: (j) xy z; x y z; x y z; x y z; x, ½ + y, Z; x,½ - y, z; x, ½ - y, z; 11 1, + y,Z Though density measurements on different samples were found to vary somewhat, they were all within the range 5.7 * 0.3 g per cu cm. If it is assumed that the unit cell contains four formula weights of UAl,, it is 6.5 g per cu cm. If there were as many as eight uranium atoms per unit cell, the

Jan 1, 1952

By Henry Wurtz

Jan 1, 1880

By D. E. Etter, J. E. Selle

The Pu-Ce phase diagram was determined by differential thermal analysis, metallography, and elechm-nricroprobe analysis. The dingram is chararterized by a eutectic with extensive solid solubility in the cubic Phases of both cerium and plutonium. No intermediate phases were found. Cerium is soluble in e plutonium to 16.0 at. pet Ce at 626OC nnd in d plcltoniurn to 23.0 at. pet at 613 "C, decreasing to 17.5 at. pet at room temperature. No solubility in the a, ß, or ? phases was jound, and the mininum cerium required to stabilize 5 plutonium to room temperature is 3.2 at. pet. The maximum solubility of plutonium in 6 cerium is 19.5 at. pet at 721OC, and the maximum soluhility of plutonium in ? cerium is 34.5 at. pet. Invariant points in the system are: a) eutectic at 626oC, L16.5 = E Pu16.0 + y Ce65.5; b) peritectoid at613oC, e Pu13.5 -y Ce65.5- d Pu23.0. AS part of a program aimed at the determination of the phase equilibria in the Pu-Ce-Cu ternary system, preliminary investigations were made of the three binary systems. A survey of the Pu-Ce binary system by differential therma1 analysis indi- cated several areas of disagreement with the published diagram,' primarily in the shape of the liquidus surface. Consequently, a thorough investigation of the system was undertaken, and this report presents the results of the study. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Three methods of investigation were used: differential thermal analysis (DTA), metallography, and analysis with electron-microprobe X-ray analyzer (EMX). The EMX analysis was particularly useful for the determination of solvus lines. The DTA method was most useful for the determination of the liquidus curves. Metallography complemented both of these techniques. Materials. The cerium metal used for most of this work had a freezing point of 805°C. This material showed 15°C premelting, and was found metallographically to contain some unidentified in~lusions.2 The temperature of premelting is defined as the point at which the DTA curve breaks away from the base line, analogous to a curve obtained from a solid-solution alloy. Several compositions were prepared near the cerium end of the diagram with higher-purity material which had a freezing point of 800°C. etallographic analysis showed this material to be relatively free of inclusions and only 8°C premelting was observed. Major impurities were found by spectrographic

Jan 1, 1964

By H. N. Treaftis, J. W. Cahn

THE previous determinations of the solvus of tin in solid lead disagree with one another by as much as 40°C or almost 10 at. pct. Even determinations that appear to be careful differ considerably in both the solubility and its temperature coefficient. Recent kinetic workl -3 on the rate of precipitation of tin from lead-tin alloys and thermodynamic work4 on the heat of solution of tin in lead have given some insight into the time necessary to reach equilibrium in this system. As this time is longer than that used in almost all previous determinations of the solvus, these determinations are questionable. Since the interpretation of recent kinetic results requires accurate values of the equilibrium solubility the present work was undertaken. DISCUSSION OF PREVIOUS RESULTS The methods used in previous studies may be placed into three classes: 1) Several alloys covering a range of compositions are allowed to reach "equilibrium" at a certain temperature.5-7 Some property, such as the X-ray lattice parameter of the lead-rich phase or the re- sistivity of the alloy, is then measured as a function of composition. The solubility limit for that temperature is taken to be that composition at which a discontinuity in the property occurs. However, the recent kinetic work has shown that tin precipitates in two stages. The first stage is rapid but leaves the lead still supersaturated. The second stage is very slow, and it seems from the equilibration times quoted by the investigators of the solvus that the end of the first stage of precipitation was usually mistaken for equilibrium. This is especially true at temperatures below 100°C where the first reaction is still quite rapid (from minutes to months), but where the second stage is so slow that very long holding times are required to reach equilibrium. Alternatively micrographic work8 on several alloys of different compositions seems to have given good results if done carefully. 2) The beginning of precipitation in a homogenized alloy is measured as it cools slowly8-10. Since reactions in solids undercool easily, such determinations will always give too low a temperature for the solvus. 3) Some property of an alloy is measured as a function of temperature while the alloy is above the solvus.5,9,11 The range of temperature can usually be extended slightly into the two phase region. Then the alloy is precipitated at a much lower temperature and slowly reheated. The solvus is taken to be the lowest temperature where the property of the reheated alloy is equal to that previously determined for the homogeneous alloy. Usually one also expects a discontinuity at the solvus in the temperature variation of the property for the reheated alloy. The difficulty in this method is the sluggishness of the dissolution process, and this method may give too high a solvus temperature. EXPERIMENTAL The phase boundary or solvus temperature was determined by a modification of method 3 for a series of chemically analyzed high-purity alloys, ranging from 5.1 to 26.4 at. pct Sn. The resistance, as a function of temperature, of a sample of homogenized alloy (which could easily be undercooled) was compared with the equilibrium resistance which that alloy sample attained after precipitation at room temperature followed by long isothermal anneals at various temperatures. Before each anneal the sample was rehomogenized and reprecipitated. The solvus temperature could be located to within 1°C as the intersection of the resistance vs temperature curves for the homogenized and equilibrium alloys. No attempt was made to locate the phase boundary more accurately since the limiting factor was the precision with which the alloys could be analyzed. This precision was ±0.1 wt pct Sn and corresponds to an error of 1 deg in temperature. This use of isothermal anneals differs from some of the previous investigations in which method 3 was used with baths of slowly rising temperatures. It was found early in the investigation that solvus temperatures tended to be high if the latter method was used even at extremely slow heating rates. For example a

Jan 1, 1961

By R. K. Ham, M. L. Wayman

TD-Nickel has been broken in tension and in fatigue at voom temperature. Rod specimens failed in tension by necking, with axial cracks attributed to voids elongated in the extrusion direction. Fatigue specimens failed in shear. Thin-film electron microscopy showed that the subgrain structure of TD-Nickel was very stable, and that particle-matrix detachment was very difficult, in tension and fatigue. TD-Nickel softened slightly during fatigue but had a high fatigue ratio (0.5at 10' cycles). Fractography suggested that Stage I fatigue crack propagation is greatly extended in TD-Nickel. Td-NICKEL* is a dispersion of 2 pct by volume of thoria (ThO2) in nickel, produced by powder-metallurgical methods including compaction, sintering, and extrusion. The spherical thoria particles, which may have a mean diameter of a few hundred angstroms, are dispersed with a mean planar spacing of a few thousand angstroms. By a combination of cold working and annealing, a subgrain or cell structure of dislocations intimately associated with the dispersion can be produced.' This gives the material useful tensile properties which are extremely resistant to exposure to high temperatures.'-= At the same time, the material shows considerable ductility.3'4 At the beginning of the present work, it was considered of great interest to investigate the mechanical stability of TD-Nickel under conditions of fatigue. On the one hand, materials which derive strength from a cold-worked structure are unstable in that they are susceptible to fatigue softening: in addition, the presence of discontinuities such as the particle-matrix interfaces might be expected to assist in the initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks, in that they may provide local concentrations of internal stress and sites for the initiation of voids." On the other hand, the substantial ductility of TD-Nickel suggests that if it obeys Coffin's relation8 (or the more refined form proposed by Manson9) it should have good fatigue resistance. The initial purpose of this investigation was to assess the importance of these factors. Also, relatively little fundamental work has been done on the mechanism of fatigue in dispersion-strengthened materials. Work on overaged A1-4 pct CU10-12 revealed a very large Bauschinger effect indicative of internal stresses at the particles, and very great fatigue hardening1' presumably due to the multiple slip stimulated by these internal stresses, followed by softening which was initially due to softening in the matrix, but later might have arisen from cracking at the particle-matrix interfaces. The study of overaged Al-4 pct Cu could not settle this latter point by the electron microscopy of thin films, since the dispersion is too coarse. A previous study of the fatigue of internally oxidized copper13 was complicated by inter granular failure, attributed to oxide particles at grain bouhdaries; internal oxidation of single crystals, however, improved their fatigue properties.'3 Investigations of SAP (sintered aluminum powder) are complicated by the complex particle shapes, and the possibility of continuous internal oxide films.14 It was hoped to avoid these difficulties with TD-Nickel, which had the further advantages that it was commercially available and suitable for study by the thin-film technique. 1) MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE TD-Nickel was purchased from the Driver-Harris Co. as 3/9-in.-diam rod which had been extruded, swaged, and "stress-relieved" (normally at 1010°C for 1 hr). Continuous-radius fatigue specimens with a minimum diameter of -0.1 in. were ground to shape and electropolished in 40 pct phosphoric, 35 pct sul-furic, 25 pct water at 25oC, with a stainless-steel cathode, at -6 v. Fatigue tests were carried out at room temperature with a Sonntag SF-1-U machine operating in push-pull at 1800 cycles per min, and in an Instron TT-C-L modified for reversed stressing at 26 cycles per min as described elsewhere.10 Round tensile specimens were ground with 0.85-in. gage lengths of 0.135 in, diam, electropolished, and tested in a Tinius Olsen hydraulic machine. The surfaces of fatigue specimens were examined with a Reichert metallograph. Discs for electron microscopy with a Siemens Elmiskop I were spark-cut 0.01 in. thick with a modified Servomet 11 employing a tool of moving molybdenum wire, cleaned in 50 pct acetic, 30 pct nitric, 10 pct phosphoric, and 10pctsul-furic at 85oC, and thinned by the window method in the electropolishing solution at -20°C and -6 v. Two-stage replicas (parlodion, then Pt-50 pct C self-shadowed at 40 deg) were taken from fatigue fracture surfaces for electron microscopy. Plane sections parallel to the specimen axis and containing the direction of fatigue crack propagation were polished, etched with Carapella's reagent, and examined optically. Transmission Laue X-ray photographs of as-received material electropolished to a point were used to determine preferred orientation. 2) RESULTS 2.1) The Structure of As-Received Material. Grains -1 µ diam and elongated 20 to 30 u in the direction of the rod axis were observed, With' elongated "intergran-ular" voids (-4 p diam and -90 µ long and identified as such using longitudinal and transverse sections and

Jan 1, 1968

By Robert F. Mehl

EXTENSION of physical and chemical methods of research in the study of metallic behavior continues rapidly, particularly in the correlation of behavior with crystal structure, and in the analysis of elastic and plastic properties. The growth of the science of metals during 1933 calls for special comment; the need for special reviews and for textbooks and monographs is now acute, as might he supposed from the number of references appended to this article, a list which is much abbreviated.

Jan 1, 1934

By T. A. Rickard

RICO, in the southwestern corner of Colorado, is one of the productive mining centers of the San Juan region, so-called because its waters drain into the river of that name, which is tributary to the Colorado. The San Juan region includes the counties of Ouray, Hinsdale, San Miguel, Dolores, San Juan and Montezuma. It is traversed by a network of picturesque mountain ranges on whose lofty summits there rests perpetual snow. The region is peculiarly rugged, and, in the early days of its development, tested to the full the hardihood of the adventurers who first explored its can ions 111 search for gold and silver. A prospecting party, guided by Jim Baker, scout and trapper, penetrated in 1861 this part of the territory of Kansas. At that time the country was in the possession of the Ute Indians. In October, 1873, by the Brunot treaty, they ceded to the United States Government the richest mineral-bearing portion of their

Jan 1, 1897

By Henry Wurtz

HERACLITUS, a sage of antiquity, called the dark philosopher, who refused a throne, preferring a hermit's cell, propounded, twenty-four centuries since, the maxim : [ ] War (or strife) engenders all things. This, though probably intended by Heraclitus to apply especially to the internal forces of nature, is often said, with equal reason, of the affairs of men. Controversial strife, whether fortunately or unfortunately, is a crucible through which all new discoveries in science, and all technical applications of science must pass-a test which they must all endure before they can become so vitalized as to germinate, so to speak, take root in the human mind, grow tip, and overspread the earth. The greater the number and the power of the elements arrayed against such a growth, and of the influences hostile thereto, the greater should be the inherent vitality of the germ, the more strenuous, skilful, and persistent its cultivators and upholders. During the decade last past we have had, in spite of the severe stringency of the times, an active growth of this kind in progress, whose prospective importance it would now be difficult to overrate. This is the movement which has for its motive the idea that, generally speaking, fuel should be gaseous in form, and which has for its goal the introduction into general public use of gaseous products, made by cheap and rapid processes and on a gigantic scale, distributed throughout our cities and towns in distribution-systems which shall be proportionately gigantic, and sold at prices which will bring such fuel within the means of the poorest householders. Personally, for ten years past, the writer has never failed, on occasions public or private, to urge his belief that the realization of this idea, deemed by him a certainty of the future, will bring about

Jan 1, 1880

By T. A. Rickard

MILLING is one of the metallurgical arts whereby the extraction of the largest possible proportion of the value in an ore is effected at the least possible expense. Stamp-milling* is that particular process in which a heavy body of iron is caused to fall upon the ore so as to disintegrate it and thereby induce a separation between what is valuable and what is worthless. The latter is usually less in specific gravity, and is therefore, by the further aid of water, removed from the former, which is then collected by the use of mercury. Several similes have been employed to describe this process. The stamp has been likened to a hammer of which the stem is the handle and the die the anvil. The ore upon which the stamp falls has been compared to a nut awaiting the descent of the hammer whose blow is to separate the valueless shell, the quartz, from the valuable kernel, the gold. When we begin to pursue our inquiries, however, we find that the analogy is just sufficiently true to emphasize the departures from it. The hammer falls, the anvil is fixed; so with the stamps and the mortar. The anvil is made of softer metal than the hammer; so also the die is often, and should be always, of steel or iron less hard and more tough than that of the shoe. The movement of the hammer and the drop of the stamp are both intermittent. In regard to their intermittent action, as in many other respects, stamp-mills arrange themselves under two types, which, though apparently contradictory, have both been evolved from a common original, and are united by a great variety of intermediate modifications. The slow speed and the high drop of the mills of Gilpin county Colorado, appear to have very little in common with the fast speed and short drop of those of the main gold belt of California; yet the practice of the one was largely derived from that of the other,

Jan 1, 1894

By Strathmore R. B. Cooke

On the basis of experiments con- ducted on quartz using a bubble pick-up method, it was shown in an earlier paper1 that this mineral will preferentially adsorb hydrogen, calcium, or sodium ions, depending on the relative concentrations of those ions in the solution in which the quartz is immersed. For quartz particles ranging in size from 0.2 to 1 mm, it was demonstrated that the concentration of calcium in solution (assumed present as ions) necessary to completely activate quartz for flotation is given by the expression: In this expression, ionic concentrations are in mols per liter. It was further shown that the pick-up method is apparently more sensitive to changes in reagent concentration than the standard captive-bubble method, and that induction times are apparently much reduced. Since completing these earlier tests, a new type of cell has been constructed; this is shown in Fig 1 and 2. In Fig 1, A is a ground joint, B is a ceutral tube reaching to within a few millimeters of the bottom of the cell, and C is a stopper which may be removed for re- agent addition, and serves the further purpose of excluding carbon dioxide from the air during the test. The entire cell is constructed of Pyrex glass, and does not give the trouble experienced with the earlier cell, in which activating ions were released from the glass at high pH values. The only critical factor in the construction of the cell is the clearance between the central tube and

Jan 1, 1949

By E. I. Larsen, E. F. Swazy, F. R. Hensel

High strength, high-conductivity copper-base alloys have found considerable use in the resistance welding and electrical industry in the form of castings, forgings, or wrought products. There are a number of parts utilized by these industries which would lend themselves to manufacture by powder metallurgical methods provided the required physical and electrical properties are obtainable with such methods. The present paper describes the results of a study of certain copper-base powder metallurgical products susceptible to precipitation hardening. Copper Powders The general types of commercially available copper powders are flake, spherical and electrolytic. Micrographs of these three types are shown in Figs. I, 2 and 3. The difference in particle shape is pronounced and obvious. The type of powder used is determined, or at least indicated, by the final properties desired in the finished article. The type of powder employed during the present investigation was electrolytic powder shown in Fig. 3, and was chosen because of its particular adaptability to the work described in this Paper. The screen and chemical analyses of this powder are shown in Table I. In the preparation of compacts of high electrical conductivity, the purity of the copper powder is of importance in addition to other factors, such as density and the state of internal stresses. These variables were studied briefly by pressing a number of compacts to various pressed densities, sintering them for one hour in hydrogen at 975OC and repressing. The size of the finished compacts was 1/4, by % by 8 in. The time interval from the application to the termination of pressure was approximately 20 sec. Some of the compacts were annealed before testing. The results are listed in Figs. 4 to 8, inclusive. In Fig. 4 the curves of pressed density vs. compacting pressure, and sintered density versus compacting pressure show the typical direct relationship of pressure and density. Compacting pressures exceeding about 30 tons per sq. in. result fiequently in expansion during sintering for the type of powder used. Fig. 5 indicates that variations in the initial pressed density within the range of about 5 to 6 grams per c, c., affect only slightly the pressure required to obtain a

Jan 1, 1946

By E. I. Larsen, E. F. Swazy, F. R. Hensel

High strength, high-conductivity copper-base alloys have found considerable use in the resistance welding and electrical industry in the form of castings, forgings, or wrought products. There are a number of parts utilized by these industries which would lend themselves to manufacture by powder metallurgical methods provided the required physical and electrical properties are obtainable with such methods. The present paper describes the results of a study of certain copper-base powder metallurgical products susceptible to precipitation hardening. Copper Powders The general types of commercially available copper powders are flake, spherical and electrolytic. Micrographs of these three types are shown in Figs. I, 2 and 3. The difference in particle shape is pronounced and obvious. The type of powder used is determined, or at least indicated, by the final properties desired in the finished article. The type of powder employed during the present investigation was electrolytic powder shown in Fig. 3, and was chosen because of its particular adaptability to the work described in this Paper. The screen and chemical analyses of this powder are shown in Table I. In the preparation of compacts of high electrical conductivity, the purity of the copper powder is of importance in addition to other factors, such as density and the state of internal stresses. These variables were studied briefly by pressing a number of compacts to various pressed densities, sintering them for one hour in hydrogen at 975OC and repressing. The size of the finished compacts was 1/4, by % by 8 in. The time interval from the application to the termination of pressure was approximately 20 sec. Some of the compacts were annealed before testing. The results are listed in Figs. 4 to 8, inclusive. In Fig. 4 the curves of pressed density vs. compacting pressure, and sintered density versus compacting pressure show the typical direct relationship of pressure and density. Compacting pressures exceeding about 30 tons per sq. in. result fiequently in expansion during sintering for the type of powder used. Fig. 5 indicates that variations in the initial pressed density within the range of about 5 to 6 grams per c, c., affect only slightly the pressure required to obtain a

Jan 1, 1946

By D. S. Tomalin, D. F. Stein

The effect of reducing oxygen to low concentrations on the fracture of high-purity iron single crystals has been examined at 78° and 20°K. It is found that iron single crystals grown by the strain-anneal method usually contain a few occluded grain boundaries which may become embittled in the presence of oxygen, thereby nucleating cleavage fractures. High purity with respect to interstitial elements was found to inhibit twinning and evidence is presented for an orientation dependence of the resolved yield stress. Deformation occurred by slip rather than twinning at both temperatures of testing with elongations of as much as 9 pct at 20°K. THE fracture properties of iron single crystals have been observedl-3 to be a function of temperature, orientation, and purity. Allen, Hopkins, and McLennan1 demonstrated that at 78°K iron single crystals became increasingly brittle as the tensile axis approached the (001) pole of the stereographic unit triangle. Iron crystals with the tension axis near a (001) pole were completely brittle and orientations near the (011)-(111) boundary were very ductile, achieving a 100 pct reduction in area prior to fracture. Later work of Biggs and pratt2 and of Edmondson3 demonstrated that by reducing the carbon content of the single crystals the transition between brittle and ductile failure at 78°K could be shifted to orientations nearer the (001) pole. Ed-mondson went further and pointed out that any mechanism which tended to increase the yield strength of the iron (i.e., carbon addition, pre-strain) also increased the tendency for brittle behavior at 78°K. Thus by a reduction of carbon content Biggs and Pratt were able to obtain ductile behavior to within 20 deg of the (001) pole, and Ed-mondson was able to obtain ductile behavior to within 26 deg of the (001) pole. Edmondson's material had a total interstitial content (carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen) of approximately 60 ppm and, although Biggs and Pratt reported no analysis, indications were that their iron contained comparable impurities. Stein, Low, and seybolt4 purified iron single crystals to a total carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen content of approximately 20 ppm. They observed a lowering of the yield stress with this increased purity, and thus one might have expected an observation of increased ductility. Although they tested specimens of orientations which the previous workers had indicated should be ductile, the crystals failed at a 78°K in a brittle manner with little elongation. Stein noted,' however, that about 90 pet of the failures could be traced in origin to occluded grains. Allen et al.1 and Edmondson3 do not report examination of their cleavage surfaces, but Biggs and pratt2 reported that microscopic examination of the cleavage surfaces of many of their specimens revealed the presence of small occluded grains. Honda and cohen6 and Keh7 have also observed the initiation of fracture at occluded grains in iron single crystals. Therefore, the additional complication of occluded grains must be considered in studying the properties of iron single crystals and the origin of fractures determined if the ductility exhibited by the crystals is to be considered meaningful. Various investigators8-12 have studied the effects of impurities on grain boundaries in high-purity polycrystalline iron. Rees and Hopkins10 showed that the addition of oxygen to low-carbon (0.002 pet) iron weakened the grain boundaries, causing a shift from transcrystalline to intercrystalline fracture and a progressive decrease on the brittle-fracture stress with increasing oxygen content. In addition, it has been shown by Low and Feustel11 that the addition of carbon to polycrystalline iron containing oxygen eliminated grain boundary brittleness. Thus, oxygen can embrittle grain boundaries in high-purity polycrystalline iron, but the addition of an appropriate amount of carbon can eliminate the oxygen-induced brittleness. The oxygen content (19 ppm) of the iron "single crystals" employed by Stein el al. was large enough to suspect impurity effects at the occluded grain boundaries. Allen et al.1 Biggs and pratt,2 and Edmondson3 may have masked any occluded grain problem in their specimens considering the relatively high carbon levels they employed. stein13 demonstrated that the addition of as little as 0.9 ppm C to previously purified (less than 5 x 10-3 ppm C) "single crystals" would increase the elongation from a few percent to more than 20 pet at 78°K and the fracture was not associated with grade boundary initiation.

Jan 1, 1965

By W. A. Tiller, W. C. Johnston

A high-temperature electromagnetic stirrer is described in which heating and stirring are accomplished by independently controlled power sources. The appavatus is suitable lor use at temperatures up to 1700°C in a variety of ambient atmospheres. Some typical examples of the homogenizatimz capabilities of the system are given. THERE are few processes in solidification that are not markedly affected by motion in the melt during freezing. In many instances, the mechanisms are diffusion-controlled, and the transport in the melt may be greatly accelerated by deliberately stirring the melt. In zone-refining, stirring1 assists the removal of rejected impurities from the interface, so the process proceeds at a faster rate. The transition from a planar to a cellular interface is caused by constitutional undercooling in the melt ahead of the interface: and stirring delays its onset. Stirring is valuable for homogenization of melts: and chemical reaction with sluggish kinetics may be accelerated. Finally, it has been observed that grain refinement is related to motion in the melt. Fine grain castings are usually produced by the addition of catalysts to the -melt,' catalysts which are thought to act simply as hetereogeneous nucleation centers. Even here motion is important. Richards and Rostoker 5 applied ultrasonic vibration to a solidifying A1-Cu alloy which had been innoculated with a catalyst and found that the grain diameter fell linearly with the amplitude, the peak acceleration and the power input to the melt from the transducer. Finally, mechanical and electrical stirring alone have been used to generate a fine-grained structure.6,7 Johnston ef a1.' have carried out a series of systematic investigations of grain refinement by electromagnetic stirring in a number of low melting point alloys. They found, for example, that the number of grains per unit volume in Pb-Sn alloys could be increased several orders of magnitude by stirring an undercooled melt at the moment of recalescence. In general, a relation AT .H = constant prevailed for a given grain size, where AT was the undercooling of the melt and H the field strength. In more recent work, deliberate homogeneous nucleation of slightly undercooled melts established that the mechanism of refinement must be one involving crystal fragmentation and subsequent multiplication, rather than a "shower" of nuclei effect.9 It is the purpose of this note to describe a stirring device suitable for use up to 1700°C. At low temperatures mechanical stirring and direct-current methods are feasible, but at high temperatures the problem of a protective atmosphere and of electrode corrosion rules out such procedures. The most convenient method for high temperatures is to use externally generated ac fields for both stirring and heating. With rf induction heating alone, considerable stirring and agitation can be achieved, but in general the penetration of field into the melt is small, and the stirring cannot be controlled independently of the heating. In the present experiments, separate power sources of different frequencies for heating and for stirring were used. A susceptor design was chosen so that the 450 kc rf heating field was completely absorbed in the susceptor. The stirring frequency, 400 cps, hereafter called the af field, was chosen so that a high penetration of the melt proper was achieved. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS The apparatus, Fig. 1, consists of a quartz tube and end plates, surrounded by an rf induction coil and six equally spaced af stirring coils, four of which are shown in full and a fifth in section. Each af stirring coil is a transformer of which the secondary is a single-turn water-cooled copper loop and the primary is composed of two 10 amp-117 v Variac cores as shown. These cores are cooled by forced air, as each of the six pairs will carry maximum currents of 15 amp for short periods. Each set of Variac windings are connected in series, but opposite sets are connected in parallel with a three-phase 400 cps 400-v source. By properly phasing the coils in this way, a rotating field is produced. Capacitors C1, C2, and C3 in Fig. 2 are used to match this inductive load to the generator. Fig. 3 shows a cutaway view of the quartz tube. The sample (1 in. diam by 1 in. high) is placed in a tapered alumina crucible. An axial W-26 pct Re thermocouple, enclosed by a protection tube, is provided. The cruci-

Jan 1, 1968

By W. F. Flanagan, K. R. Evans

The strong temperature dependence of the flow stress of bcc metals has prompted considerable interest and controversy concerning the rate-controlling influence of the Peierls' mechanism upon deformation in metals.18"21 Dorn and Rajnak" recently offered a criterion for Peierls' deformation utilizing a line-energy model of a dislocation to estimate the saddle-point activation energy, for the nucleation of a pair of kinks as a function of applied stress and the height and shape of the peierls9- barrier. It was found that Un/2Uk, where 2Uk is the excess energy of a kink pair, was a unique function of where is the effective stress and 7p is the Peierls' stress as defined in Fig. 20. The relationship found by Dorn and Rajnak between is given by the solid line of Fig. 21. may be expressed in terms of the temperature of test, T, and the athermal temperature, T,, defined in Fig. 20. Considering the strain-rate, 9, of deformation for a thermally activated process to be given by where fo is nearly a constant, it is seen that and the theoretical relationship of Fig. 21 may be examined with readily obtainable experimental parameters. Dorn and Coworkers analyzed a large amount of experimental data in this manner for materials sus-

Jan 1, 1967

By W. P. Lass

(San Francisco Meeting, October, 1911.) TEE purpose of this article is not only to describe the plant and method of cyaniding the Treadwell concentrates, but to present some of the results of the experimental work obtained in the past three years for the Alaska-Treadwell Gold Mining Co., at Douglas Island, Alaska., under the direction of F. W. Bradley, Consulting Engineer, and Robert A. Kinzie, General Superintendent, of the affiliated companies. At the time the experimental work was undertaken the concentrates were being shipped to the smeltery at Tacoma, Wash., and the cost for treatment of 3-oz. (gold) concentrates was $11.95 per ton, divided as follows: Smelting-charges, . $4.00 Loading, freight, insurance, etc., 2.89 Interest due to time lost in transit and in settlement, . 0.05 Loss due to settlement for 95 per cent. of the gold at $20 per ounce, 5.01 Total, . . $11.95 From the experimental work described later, it was estimated that 96 per cent. extraction could be made by treatment on the ground, and that the cost, when treating 80 tons per day, would be $3.25 per ton, divided as follows; Per Day. Per Ton. Labor, . $66.16 $0.827 Chemicals, . 76.60 0.960 Power and steam-heat, 67.60 0.845 Marketing-, refining- and other charges, 49.36 0.617 Totals, . . $259.72 $3.250 Adding to this total the 4 per cent treatment-loss, which on 3-oz. concentrates amounts to $2.48, gives a total cost of $5.73 per ton. Comparing this with $11.95, the cost when shipping to the smelter, leaves a net gain of $6.22 per ton by the local

Feb 1, 1912

By AIME AIME

Russell B. Paul, Chairman of the Special Committee on Divisional Relationships, presented the interim report of his Committee which was published in the September, 1945, issue of MINING AND METALLURGY and a copy of which is incorporated in the official minutes of this meeting. The following specific actions were taken by the Board of Directors in relation to the six recommendations in the Summary of the Report as published: (1) Mr. Haider, Chairman of the Petroleum Division, presented the formal request of his Executive Committee that the headquarters of the new Secretary of the Petroleum Division be established in Dallas, Texas. After lengthy discussion in which the point was made that the success of this program would depend upon effective co-operation between the Chairman of the Division, the Secretary of the Petroleum Division, and the Secretary of the Institute, the request was approved. The new secretary will be selected by the Division and will be employed by the Institute in the capacity of an Assistant Secretary. (2) The following item in the report was approved:

Jan 1, 1945

Jan 1, 1900

By N. H. Mannakee

SINCE the publication of the paper of Mr. Scholz, The Effect of Humidity on Mine-Explosions,' I have undertaken a study of the meager available data of barometric and temperature conditions it times of mine-explosions, and have arranged these data in a manner which may be of interest to other students of mine-explosions. This study covers the period from 1898 to 1909, during which an ever-increasing percentage of collieries has been ventilated by fans giving air-currents of high efficiency. Previous to 1898 this percentage was smaller than at any time since. The vari¬ous States have become, from time to time, more exacting in their demands upon poorly-ventilated mines. This general im¬provement in ventilation throughout the Appalachian field has undoubtedly brought about a condition which is annually the cause; .or a very important attendant, of the high percentage of fatalities in mine-explosions, through the daily passage of from hundreds to thousands of gallons of water, invisibly suspended in the air, carried out of the mines by the ventilating-currents during the existence of certain temperature- and humidity-conditions. There is a wide-spread opinion that these conditions exist from November 1 to March 31; but it is more likely that they have a much wider range, which varies from year to year. Certain years show an increase or decrease of rain-fall from the mean ; the daily temperature may fall far below or rise far above the mean established by a record of a period of years; and the daily humidity varies likewise. If mine-explosions are influenced by a lack of moisture in the mines, certainly it may be expected that the influence will be felt at times when the

Nov 1, 1909

E. K. Landis, Philadelphia, Pa. (communication to the Secretary) : Mr. Firmstone's paper is of great interest; but he has unfortunately otnitted to state the most important point, viz., the percentage of sulphur in the two materials he compares; and this omission vitiates the conclusions which he draws. Comparing by grade, instead of silicon-contents (as in his Table III.), the iron made using limestone with that made using dolomite, we find for gray-forge the average of four analyses under limestone to be, Si, 0.644; S, 0.089 ; while one analysis under dolomite gives Si, 0.508 ; S, 0.070. For No. 2 iron, the limestone flux gives, as an average of 19 analyses, Si, 1.107; S, 0.051; while the average of 4 analyses made with dolomite flux gives Si, 0.630; S, 0.056. It will be observed, that no No. 1 pig is given under limestone, while 14 analyses appear under dolomite, averaging Si, 0.950 ; S, 0.028. As nothing is said about changed conditions, it is Fair to presume that the ore and fuel, as well as the blast-temperature (which is stated to have been uniform at about 750' F.) remained practically the same; and since the sulphur in the two fluxes is not given, it is impossible to know whether the lower sulphur for equal silicon-contents is due to the use of dolomite or to other conditions. The use of dolomite would produce a more fusible cinder, and the furnace would be hotter than when using limestone; therefore, we might expect to see a grayer iron. The amount of So. 1 iron made with dolomite seems to confirm this supposition; and, under these conditions, we might expect more of the sulphur to be volatilized, and to pass off in the gases. The easier fusibility of the cinder would also permit more rapid driving; and this should reduce the amount of silicon and sulphur in the iron, as the amount of reduced metalloids in the pig is directly proportional to the length of time it remains in the reducing-zone.

Jan 1, 1895