Search Documents

By Malcolm F. Hawkes, Robert F. Mehl

THE rate of isothermal transformation of austenite to pearlite depends upon the rate of nucleation, N, and the rate of growth, G, of pearlite in austenite.1.2 Values of N are given in terms of the number of nuclei forming in unit time per unit grain boundary area of unreacted austenite; values of G are given in terms of the linear rate of radial growth. Variations in the isothermal rate with temperature result from variation of -N and G with temperature. Depth of hardening of a steel depends fundamentally upon values of N and G; changes in carbon and alloy content effect changes in N and G and thus affect depth of hardening. Quantitative studies are available on N and G for the formation of pearlite in plain carbon eutectoid steels.3 Systematic studies in this field are necessary if the phenomena are to be well enough known to furnish. a proper basis for full rationalization and for theory. Accordingly, the studies are continuing, both with respect to the effect of alloying elements upon the values of N and G in the formation of pearlite, and to the values of N and G for the formation of ferrite in hypoeutectoid steels. The present paper is the first relating to the effect of alloying elements upon the values of N and G for pearlite. It offers special interest since cobalt is known to have an anomalous effect upon the rate of formation of pearlite, accelerating it, whereas all other elements retard it.' It will be shown that cobalt increases both N and G for pearlite and that this effect is inherent in the Fe-Co-C system and not dependent upon factors relating to austenite heterogeneity nor upon any recognizable adventitious factor. Inasmuch as the rate of diffusion of carbon in austenite and the interlamellar spacing of pearlite are variables related to G and possibly to N (in a manner not yet certain), measurements of the "effect of cobalt upon them are also reported here. In the course of the work, measurements were made on the effect of cobalt upon the martensite temperature and these are given. COBALT AS AN ALLOYING ELEMENT IN STEEL PROPERTIES OF COBALT Cobalt resembles iron more closely than does any other chemical element. Its atomic number is 27, hence it is the element immediately following iron in the periodic system. The two differ in atomic structure only in the fact that cobalt contains seven electrons instead of six in the third, or transition, level of the third shell. The next shell, which is the

Jan 1, 1947

By W. Crafts, J. L. Lamont

Selection of an alloy steel for a heat-treated article has been facilitated by methods for the calculation of harden-ability,' as-quenched hardness and tempered tensile strength.2 Ductility and toughness may also be estimated if the steel is completely hardened on quenching, 5,6 and the present study was carried out in order to develop a basis for estimating the Izod impact strength of partially hardened steel. The investigation was directed toward the prediction of Izod impact strength in steels of normal commercial quality without consideration of special compositions or heat-treatments that might produce abnormal brittleness. It was found that Izod impact strength of alloy steel is controlled by hardness, degree of hardening on quenching, and grain size. In finegrained steels the impact strength for any given degree of hardening is inversely proportional to the tempered Rockwell C hardness, and the relation of impact strength to hardness is lowered by incomplete hardening. Calculation of the tensile strength and impact strength of heat-treating steels has shown that, except at very high strengths, tensile strength is raised by alloys without loss of impact strength whereas the tensile strength gained by higher carbon contents tends to be accom- panied by a disproportionate loss of toughness. Plain carbon steels give relatively low and unpredictable impact strength. The calculation is sufficiently accurate to be helpful in the selection of alloy steel, and common grades of alloy steel have been evaluated with respect to combinations of tensile strength and impact strength attainable after heat-treatment in sections from I to. 4 in. in diameter. Procedure The study of the relation of hardness to impact strength was based on test data derived from 24 heats from four producers. The steels included the following SAE and AISI compositions: 1020, 1030, 1040, 1340, 3310, 33167 4320, 43.30, 4340, 8620, 8630, 8640, 8720, 8730, 8740, 931°, 9317, 9440, 9917 and three high-alloy chromium-nickel-molybdenum steels. As far as is known, the steels tested were of normal commercial quality. They were supplied in 4-in. sections, which were forged to smaller sizes, prenormalized, and machined to final dimensions. Heat-treatment was carried out by heating to the usual austenitizing temperature for the grade of steel, holding for one hour per inch of thickness and quenching in still oil at room temperature. Previous work had indicated that this quenching treatment approximates a severity of H = 0.3; The bars were tempered as follows: 34 in., I in., and 1% in., 2 hr; 235 in., 3 hr; 4 in., ; hr. All bars were air-cooled from the tempering tem-

Jan 1, 1948

By J. Rogers. K. L. Sutherland, E. E. Wark, I. W. Wark

Soaps have hem used as collectors for many years, but only in the last eight years have other long-chain paraffin salts been used. It may be anticipated that these newer collectors will be used mainly with nonsulphide minerals, for which the xan-thates and similar compounds are of little value. On the other hand, the xanthates are both cheap and effective for sulphide ores and seem likely to retain their present cminence in this field. During 1938 and 1939 two of us (E. E. W. and I. W. W.) commenced a comprehensive investigation of the principles underlying the use of paraffin chain salts as flotation reagents. This research was sponsored jointly by the University of Melbourne and a group of Australian mining companies. † A broad, semiquantitative survey was then made of the field covered in the present paper. This was followed in 1940 by further work by one of us (K. L. S.). In 1941 the investigation was taken over by the Division of Industrial Chemistry of the Commonwealth Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Australia. Discovery of some principles upon which are based the flotation of minerals by paraffin chain salts was followed by their application in the development of processes for the recovery of certain strategic minerals from their ores. Promising results in the flotation of cassiterite from various ores will be described in a subsequent paper. The Paraffin Chain Salts 'he basic requirements for a "collector " in flotation are that it should form a film over the surface of the mineral to be floated, and that this film should be orientated so that hydrocarbon (nonpolar) groups form the effective surface. When modified in this way, the mineral surface possesses some degree of air avidity. All investigators would agree with Taggart, Taylor and Ince23 that such a film can be produced only if the collector compound contains an active (polar) group to attract it to the mineral surface as well as the nonpolar group. One section of this large class of polar-nonpolar compounds is the paraffin chain salts: CH3(CH2)nX where .X signifies a polar group that ionizes in aqueous solution. Though the compound can ionize, it may be a weak or a strong electrolyte, and the hydrocarbon chain may be in the cation or the anion (Table I). Many compounds of similar constitution are available, but the usual polar groups are: -Co2Na, -So3Na, -So4Na, — PO4Na2, or an aminonitrogen group, the

Jan 1, 1947

By J. L. Lamont, W. Crafts

Selection of an alloy steel for a heat-treated article has been facilitated by methods for the calculation of harden-ability,' as-quenched hardness and tempered tensile strength.2 Ductility and toughness may also be estimated if the steel is completely hardened on quenching, 5,6 and the present study was carried out in order to develop a basis for estimating the Izod impact strength of partially hardened steel. The investigation was directed toward the prediction of Izod impact strength in steels of normal commercial quality without consideration of special compositions or heat-treatments that might produce abnormal brittleness. It was found that Izod impact strength of alloy steel is controlled by hardness, degree of hardening on quenching, and grain size. In finegrained steels the impact strength for any given degree of hardening is inversely proportional to the tempered Rockwell C hardness, and the relation of impact strength to hardness is lowered by incomplete hardening. Calculation of the tensile strength and impact strength of heat-treating steels has shown that, except at very high strengths, tensile strength is raised by alloys without loss of impact strength whereas the tensile strength gained by higher carbon contents tends to be accom- panied by a disproportionate loss of toughness. Plain carbon steels give relatively low and unpredictable impact strength. The calculation is sufficiently accurate to be helpful in the selection of alloy steel, and common grades of alloy steel have been evaluated with respect to combinations of tensile strength and impact strength attainable after heat-treatment in sections from I to. 4 in. in diameter. Procedure The study of the relation of hardness to impact strength was based on test data derived from 24 heats from four producers. The steels included the following SAE and AISI compositions: 1020, 1030, 1040, 1340, 3310, 33167 4320, 43.30, 4340, 8620, 8630, 8640, 8720, 8730, 8740, 931°, 9317, 9440, 9917 and three high-alloy chromium-nickel-molybdenum steels. As far as is known, the steels tested were of normal commercial quality. They were supplied in 4-in. sections, which were forged to smaller sizes, prenormalized, and machined to final dimensions. Heat-treatment was carried out by heating to the usual austenitizing temperature for the grade of steel, holding for one hour per inch of thickness and quenching in still oil at room temperature. Previous work had indicated that this quenching treatment approximates a severity of H = 0.3; The bars were tempered as follows: 34 in., I in., and 1% in., 2 hr; 235 in., 3 hr; 4 in., ; hr. All bars were air-cooled from the tempering tem-

Jan 1, 1948

By J. L. Gillson

IN a brief summary of the many occurrences of fluorspar in our western states, it is not possible to go into detail in regard to the geology, mining and milling methods, and reserves about individual deposits. Rather a broad review is made of the occurrences and an analysis of how the western deposits may fit into our future domestic economy is presented. GENERAL STATEMENT ON FLUORSPAR SITUATION Fluorspar has been used for years as a flux in the manufacture of basic open-hearth steel, in foundry cupolas for melting pig iron, in the manufacture of opalescent glass and in the preparation of hydrofluoric acid. In 1880 the annual production of fluorspar in the United States was around 4000 tons per year. By 1900 it was up to 21,656 tons and between 1902 and 1908 it averaged about 40,000 tons annually. Prices were then so low, by present standards, that it seems impossible to believe now that mining could have been performed profitably at the price levels then prevailing. In 1890 fluorspar sold at the mines for $6.70 per ton, in I901 for $5.81, in 1916 for $5.92. When the United States entered World War I, fluorspar production and price skyrocketed; the production reached 263,817 tons in 1918, with prices above $20.00 per ton, and prices were even higher in 1919 and 1920. After 1920, the domestic production fell from the 1918 level to about 125,000 tons annually and the average price dropped back to about $I8.00 per ton. By 1935 the average price had fallen to $15.00, but in 194o with a rising demand the average price of all grades had gone back up to $20.31. Today it is 75 per cent higher than in 1940 and presumably the price of acid grade at least would be even higher if it were not for price ceilings. The first subsequent year that the domestic production exceeded that of 1918 was 1941, and the 1944 production is expected to exceed 400,000 tons, 'or over one and a half times that of 1918. In five-year periods, average production and imports were as are shown in Table I. [ ] Many people concerned with the consumption of fluorspar believe that the postwar period ahead will show a repetition of price trends of the last such period. They believe that imports will be- again an important factor in the available supply and the price will fall back gradually toward the prewar level. The following basic factors are pertinent in analyzing this conclusion:

Jan 1, 1945

By G. W. Cullen

Niobium-tin has been prepared on insulating suhstrates hby simultaneous hydrogen reduction of gaseous niobium and tin halides. Stoichiometric material is greater than 98.8pct theoretical density, appears to he single-phase, and has a total impirity level less than 0.3 at. pct. Transition temperatures and lattice constants may he related to composition. Typical current densities in various fields and orientations are given. IT is known that Nb3Sn carries large current densities in high fields, 1 and exhibits an unusually high transition temperature2 and critical field.3 For these reasons high-field solenoids have been constructed of this material.4 Because of the emphasis on solenoid fabrication, much of the materials research has been directed toward development of wire geometries wherein the brittle Nb3Sn is supported by a more malleable metal or alloy. There are, however, basic studies and applications that can be carried out only on Nb3Sn supported by an insulator. Insulating substrates are desirable for a number of reasons: the substrate does not interact with applied or induced currents and fields; diffusion of metallic species into the de- posit is avoided, both during the preparation and during subsequent heat treatment; irradiated samples are not more active than the deposit itself. Unsupported Nb3Sn geometries may also be prepared by preferential chemical dissolution of the insulating substrate. This report describes the preparation and properties of Nb3Sn deposits on ceramic substrates. Experiments currently utilizing material prepared in the manner described in this report include the following: dependence of current-carrying properties on field strength and orientation 5,6 radiation damage,7,8 tunneling,9 thermal conductivity (substrate removed),1° microwave surface impedance," tube magnetization,6,12 resistivity as a function of temperature,13 and current density and transition temperature as a function of annealing.14 Possible practical applications include magnetic shielding, superconductor generators, and frictionless bearings. PREPARATION Methods for the deposition of elemental niobium and tin by hydrogen reduction of the gaseous metal halides have been known for some time,15,18 but only recently a procedure was developed in this laboratory17 for the codeposition of these two metals on a hotwire as the intermetallic compound, Nb3Sn. This method of simultaneous hydrogen reduction of the gaseous niobium and tin chlorides is used for the preparation of Nb3Sn On ceramic substrates. The procedure differs from that employed on a hot wire in that insulating substrates cannot conveniently be heated to temperatures greater than their surround-

Jan 1, 1964

By J. H. Wernick, J. E. Kunzler

HIGHLY pure metals are needed for low-temperature electron transport studies in progress. Recent improvements in purification techniques, such as zone refining, have made it possible to obtain metals with improved purity. For some metals, the improvement has been to the extent that ordinary analytical techniques are inadequate and special methods are needed.1 For other metals purification is more difficult, so that simple but rapid analytical methods are desirable as an aid in evaluating the effectiveness of purification procedures. Furthermore, it is desirable to be able to determine the impurity level of the sample or ingot with the minimum of physical disturbance of the material. In order to aid in the preparation of purer metals, techniques involving the measurement of electrical resistance at liquid-helium temperatures have been devised for studying impurity distributions in zone-refined ingots and other bulk samples without destroying the ingot or its geometry. The method yields information on the variations in purity along the length of the ingot or sample and provides a measure of the overall purity of the material. Compared with ordinary analytical methods, the resistivity method is rapid, sensitive, and does not require significant physical disturbance of samples with reasonable shapes. It has the disadvantage that resistance measurements are not specific, i.e., they do not identify the impurity. However, this disadvantage is offset by the advantage of being able to establish a measure of the overall purity so far as electrically active" impurities are concerned. METHOD AND ITS BASIS The method is based on the well-known fact that the resistivity, at Liquid helium temperatures, of a reasonably pure metal containing no regions with additional phases decreases with increasing chemical purity or a decrease in the number of physical defects. It is convenient to separate the total resistivity into three parts: where is the resistivity due to the scattering of the conduction electrons by the lattice vibrations or phonons, p is the contribution due to physical defects, and originates from the effect of chemical impurities in the metal. Insofar as Matthiessen's rule is obeyed,2 pphys and pchem are independent of temperature. Except possiblyin the very purest metals, ptherm is negligible at liquid helium temperatures and For zone-refined metals, which normally are well annealed and consist of large grains, at the chemical purity levels thus far attained the available data indicate that pphys is negligibly small or at least constant throughout the ingot. Assuming that the effect of physical defects is negligible for isotropic metals, This assumption appears consistent with most of

Jan 1, 1959

By Gregoire Gutzeit

THE development reported in this paper was begun by the author a number of years ago, while he was a lecturer on complex chemistry and metallurgy at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and in charge of that institution's research laboratory. Completion of the development and reduction to practice did not occur until last year at the Westport mill, laboratories and testing plant of the Dorr Company, where this method is now in general use for identifying and localizing the mineral constituents of both metallic and nonmetallic ores. It has proved to be a practical tool of the metallurgical staff at the Westport mill, devising unusual milling flowsheets for complex and refractory ore bodies. In a number of instances the findings have been successfully used as fundamental factors in the design and specification of complete metallurgical plants. Seven examples of the use of this method in solving practical milling problems are included in this paper. GENERAL OUTLINE The microscopic study of an ore, at first only of scientific interest, has proved extremely useful both in practical geology and in ore dressing. The binocular magnifying lenses for rough observation of the products of an ore-dressing plant have been in use for a long time; but only within the last few years has a systematic microscopical examination of ore samples become a normal tool of any research laboratory dealing with ore-dressing problems. Such an investigation avoids considerable loss of time as well as empirical trials and useless experimentation. It will generally indicate the correct grinding and often will suggest the proper method of treatment. The petrographic determination of transparent minerals in thin sections, or even in grains, has been perfected, and very accurate methods have been devised to meet any requirement, such as Feodorof's rotating stage on the petrographic microscope. Almost all transparent minerals can be positively identified by their optical properties; i.e., isotropism, anisotropism, color, pleochroism, refractory index, cleavage, crystal form, birefringence, and others. The identification of opaque minerals is a much more difficult problem and can be done only by using polished specimens. Unfortunately, most of the valuable metallic ores, and even some of the nonmetallic ones, are not transparent; therefore it has been necessary to develop a special technique for the determination of these minerals. Some optical properties-for instance, isotropism, anisotropism, color, cleavage, reflecting power-are often adequate in roughly classifying the mineral. Only "reflecting power" is a measurable value, provided special photometric equipment (ocular photometer or Orcel's photoelectric cell) is available. The other optical properties mentioned are more or less relative,

Jan 1, 1942

By Ted C. Briggs

Nitrogen exists in two broad categories commonly designated as elemental nitrogen and fixed nitrogen. Elemental nitrogen is found in nature as a diatomic molecule and constitutes about 78%, by volume, of the earth's atmosphere. Fixed nitrogen is a common term used for nitrogen that is chemically bound to other elements. Although elemental nitrogen is very abundant, nonleguminous plants cannot utilize nitrogen unless it is in the chemically combined form. The content of this chapter is confined to fixed nitrogen since the uses and properties of elemental nitrogen and the fixed nitrogen compounds are different. Bacteria associated with legumes are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen, but not to the extent or in the locations required by modem agriculture. The need to use fertilizers containing fixed nitrogen compounds to grow food crops has been recognized for hundreds of years, and from antiquity farmers have used organic wastes such as animal manures, vegetable wastes, sewage sludge, fish scraps, etc., containing these compounds for fertilizers. The organic materials have a low nitrogen content, however, and cannot support large-scale food production. Known commercial-size deposits of natural nitrates containing much higher nitrogen content exist only in Chile, and the possibility of the discovery of other significant deposits is remote. The Chilean deposits were the major source of nitrogenous fertilizers until about 1913, when the Haber-Bosch process for the production of synthetic ammonia was developed. In the Haber-Bosch process, nitrogen reacts with hydrogen, at high temperatures and pressures and in the presence of a catalyst, to form ammonia. At present Chile is the only country in the world with a nitrate mining industry, and, although the mining of natural nitrates is an important industry in Chile, natural nitrates are relatively unimportant, worldwide, because of the adoption of fixed nitrogen processes. The relative amount of the world demand for fixed nitrogen that is derived from natural nitrates has declined in recent years and will continue to decline. Modern farmers are sophisticated in economic calculations such as cost to benefit ratios and, for the most part, they purchase plant nutrients which give the highest return on their investment. Natural nitrates cannot compete on a fixed-nitrogen cost basis with anhydrous ammonia and its derivative products. In a limited sense, the fixed nitrogen industry is mining the air. Modern plants use air, water, and, in most cases, natural gas to produce the ammonia that is now the key building block of the fixed nitrogen industry. To present an accurate picture of the industry, this chapter on nitrogen follows a format somewhat different from that of other chapters in this volume.

Jan 1, 1975

By E. E. Wark, I. W. Wark, J. Rogers. K. L. Sutherland

Soaps have hem used as collectors for many years, but only in the last eight years have other long-chain paraffin salts been used. It may be anticipated that these newer collectors will be used mainly with nonsulphide minerals, for which the xan-thates and similar compounds are of little value. On the other hand, the xanthates are both cheap and effective for sulphide ores and seem likely to retain their present cminence in this field. During 1938 and 1939 two of us (E. E. W. and I. W. W.) commenced a comprehensive investigation of the principles underlying the use of paraffin chain salts as flotation reagents. This research was sponsored jointly by the University of Melbourne and a group of Australian mining companies. † A broad, semiquantitative survey was then made of the field covered in the present paper. This was followed in 1940 by further work by one of us (K. L. S.). In 1941 the investigation was taken over by the Division of Industrial Chemistry of the Commonwealth Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Australia. Discovery of some principles upon which are based the flotation of minerals by paraffin chain salts was followed by their application in the development of processes for the recovery of certain strategic minerals from their ores. Promising results in the flotation of cassiterite from various ores will be described in a subsequent paper. The Paraffin Chain Salts 'he basic requirements for a "collector " in flotation are that it should form a film over the surface of the mineral to be floated, and that this film should be orientated so that hydrocarbon (nonpolar) groups form the effective surface. When modified in this way, the mineral surface possesses some degree of air avidity. All investigators would agree with Taggart, Taylor and Ince23 that such a film can be produced only if the collector compound contains an active (polar) group to attract it to the mineral surface as well as the nonpolar group. One section of this large class of polar-nonpolar compounds is the paraffin chain salts: CH3(CH2)nX where .X signifies a polar group that ionizes in aqueous solution. Though the compound can ionize, it may be a weak or a strong electrolyte, and the hydrocarbon chain may be in the cation or the anion (Table I). Many compounds of similar constitution are available, but the usual polar groups are: -Co2Na, -So3Na, -So4Na, — PO4Na2, or an aminonitrogen group, the

Jan 1, 1947

By J. L. Gillson

In a brief summary of the many occurrences of fluorspar in our western states, it is not possible to go into detail in regard to the geology, mining and milling methods, and reserves about individual deposits. Rather a broad review is made of the occurrences and an analysis of how the western deposits may fit into our future domestic economy is presented. General Statement on Fluorspar Situation Fluorspar has been used for years as a flux in the manufacture of basic open-hearth steel, in foundry cupolas for melting pig iron, in the manufacture of opalescent glass and in the preparation of hydrofluoric acid. In 1880 the annual production of fluorspar in the United States was around 4000 tons per year. By 1900 it was up to 21,656 tons and between 1902 and 1908 it averaged about 40,000 tons annually. Prices were then so low, by present standards, that it seems impossible to believe now that mining could have been performed profitably at the price levels then prevailing. In 1890 fluorspar sold at the mines for $6.70 per ton, in 1901 for $5.81, in 1916 for 85.92. When the United States entered World War I, flyorspar production and price skyrocketed; the production reached 263,817 tons in 1918, with prices above $20.00 per ton, and prices were even higher in 1919 and 1920. After 1920, the domestic production fell from the 1918 level to about 125,000 tons annually and the average price dropped back to about $18.00 per ton. By 1935 the average price had fallen to $15.00, but in 1940 with a rising demand the average price of all grades had gone back up to $20.31. Today it is 75 per cent higher than in 1940 and presumably the price of acid grade at .least would be even higher if it were not for price ceilings. The first subsequent year that the domestic production exceeded that of 1918 was 1941, and the 1944 production is expected to exceed 400,000 tons, or over one and a half times that of 1918. In five-year periods, average production and imports were as are shown in Table I. Many people concerned with the consumption of fluorspar believe that the postwar period ahead will show a repetition of price trends of the last such period. They believe that imports will be again an important factor in the available supply and the price will fall back gradually toward the prewar level. The following basic factors are pertinent in analyzing this conclusion:

Jan 1, 1948

By Joseph W. Leonard, T. S. Spicer

INTRODUCTION Reasons for Thermal Drying The continuing increase in the percentage of minus %-inch coal produced as a result of the increased use of mechanical mining methods has, over the years, tended to shift considerable portions of the work of producing saleable coal to the fine coal cleaning section of the preparation plant. Because a given weight of fine coal will contain substantially greater surface area than an equivalent weight of coarse coal, it follows that, when subjected to wet cleaning processes, the fines will absorb and retain consider- ably more moisture than coarser fractions. Increased moisture pickup in the finer sizes complicates fine coal cleaning since beneficiation may not be limited to the removal of ash and sulfur but often must be expanded to include the additional step of thermal drying to remove excessive moisture. Thus, water which provides the medium for cleaning fine coal is in itself detrimental and, like ash and sulfur, reduces coal quality. Removal of surface moisture by drying is done for one or more of the following 1 reasons: (1) To avoid freezing difficulties and to facilitate handling during shipment, storage and transfer to the points of use; (2) to maintain high pulverizer capacity; (3) to reduce heat loss due to evaporation of surface moisture from the coal in the burning process, thus increasing heating efficiency; (4) to improve the quality of coal used for special purposes, such as in the production of coke, briquettes, and chemicals; (5) to decrease transportation costs; and (6) to facilitate dry coal-cleaning processes. Because benefits to coal transportation and utilization are the most common reasons for thermal drying, the following sections will examine these areas in greater detail. Benefits to Transportation Initial benefits from drying are the reduction of shipping costs from the mine to the point of utilization since more coal can be concentrated into a given weight of product when worthless moisture is removed. Non- combustible~ such as water and mineral matter in railroad shipments of coal are billed the same as coal at $3.32 per ton, according to the recent average costs. Savings of 10 to 20 dollars from drying on the shipment cost of each 50 to 60 tons of coal contained in a typical railroad car is common. Savings on coal shipments from individual mines which result from coal drying can be expressed in terms of hundreds of thousands of dollars and more each year. For example, a reduction of shipping charges of only 5 percent on one million tons per year would mean a savings of 166,000

Jan 1, 1968

By H. H. Smith, G. J. Danek, M. R. Achter

Nickel, Type 316 stainless steel, and copper show decreases in reversed bending fatigue strength with increases in air and oxygen pressure. The leveling off of the log N us log p curve for nickel at 300" and 816°C is discussed in terms of a model in which surface saturation gives rise to a critical pressure. A metallographic study indicated that the effect of environment on crack initiation and growth rates is a function of temperature. It is shown that small amounts of impurities in inert gases may substantially reduce the fatigue strength of nickel. 1n a previous investigation1 of high-temperature bending fatigue in air and in vacuum, reversals in the effect of environment with changes in test conditions were atrributed to a mechanism consisting of two processes acting in competition. One of them, oxidation strengthening, has been demonstrated in a straightforward manner by measuring the rupture strength of a sintered nickel-oxide bond.' The detailed operation of the other process, facilitation of crack propagation by surface absorption of oxygen, is uncertain. Thompson et UZ advanced the possibility that the formation of an oxide layer prevented rewelding of cracks during the compressive part of the cycle, while Wads worth and Hutchings4 further proposed that the reaction of oxygen with atoms at the tip of the crack helped the metal to break there, a possibility which has also been advanced to explain crack formation in creep.5 A difficulty in arriving at a mechanism for this lowering of fatigue strength in air is the inconsistency of some of the data. For example, Wadsworth and Hutchings4 found an approximately linear decrease of log cycles-to-fracture (N) with an increase of log pressure-of-air (p) for copper and aluminum at room temperature, while snowden,' although finding a similar linear dependence for aluminum, observed a stepped curve for lead. Between l0-' and 10"1 torr there is a sharp decrease in the fatigue life of lead with increasing air pressure, but plateaus, signifying no dependence on pressure, are found at higher and lower pressures. If, as discussed elsewhere: these environmental effects arise from the adsorption of gas on crack surfaces, it would be expected that as the pressure is increased a saturation point would be observed, beyond which there is no further effect. To gain further information about the form of the log N vs logp curve, it was decided in the present investigation to repeat this type of measurement at elevated temperature on nickel, copper, and Type 316 stainless steel. An additional object of this program was

Jan 1, 1963

By E. E. Wark, J. Rogers, I. W. Wark, K. L. Sutherland

SOAPS have been used as collectors for many years, but only in the last eight years have other long-chain paraffin salts been used. It may be anticipated that these newer collectors will be used mainly with nonsulphide minerals, for which the xanthates and similar compounds are of little value. On the other hand, the xanthates are both cheap and effective for sulphide ores and seem likely to retain their present eminence in this field. During 1938 and 1939 two of us (E. E. W. and I. W. W.) commenced a comprehensive investigation of the principles underlying the use of paraffin chain salts as flotation reagents. This research was sponsored jointly by the University of Melbourne and a group of Australian mining companies.[t] A broad, semi quantitative survey was then made of the field covered in the present paper. This was followed in 1940 by further work by one of us (K. L. S.). In 1941 the investigation was taken over by the Division of Industrial Chemistry of the Commonwealth Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Australia. Discovery of some principles upon which are based the flotation of minerals by paraffin chain salts was followed by their application in the development of processes for the recovery of certain strategic minerals from their ores. Promising results in the flotation of cassiterite from various ores will be described in a subsequent paper. THE PARAFFIN CHAIN SALTS The basic requirements for a "collector" in flotation are that it should form a film over the surface of the mineral to be floated, and that this film should be orientated so that hydrocarbon (nonpolar) groups form the effective surface. When modified in this way, the mineral surface possesses some degree of air avidity. All investigators would agree with Taggart, Taylor and Ince23 that such a film can be produced only if the collector compound contains an active (polar) group to attract it to the mineral surface as well as the nonpolar group. One section of this large class of polarnonpolar compounds is the paraffin chain salts: CH3(CH2) „X where X signifies a polar group that ionizes in aqueous solution. Though the compound can ionize, it may be a weak or a strong electrolyte, and the hydrocarbon chain may be in the cation or the anion (Table I). Many compounds of similar constitution are available, but the usual polar groups are: -CO2Na, -SO3Na, -SO4Na, - PO4Na2, or an aminonitrogen group, the

Jan 1, 1946

By J. L. Gillson

In a brief summary of the many occurrences of fluorspar in our western states, it is not possible to go into detail in regard to the geology, mining and milling methods, and reserves about individual deposits. Rather a broad review is made of the occurrences and an analysis of how the western deposits may fit into our future domestic economy is presented. General Statement on Fluorspar Situation Fluorspar has been used for years as a flux in the manufacture of basic open-hearth steel, in foundry cupolas for melting pig iron, in the manufacture of opalescent glass and in the preparation of hydrofluoric acid. In 1880 the annual production of fluorspar in the United States was around 4000 tons per year. By 1900 it was up to 21,656 tons and between 1902 and 1908 it averaged about 40,000 tons annually. Prices were then so low, by present standards, that it seems impossible to believe now that mining could have been performed profitably at the price levels then prevailing. In 1890 fluorspar sold at the mines for $6.70 per ton, in 1901 for $5.81, in 1916 for 85.92. When the United States entered World War I, flyorspar production and price skyrocketed; the production reached 263,817 tons in 1918, with prices above $20.00 per ton, and prices were even higher in 1919 and 1920. After 1920, the domestic production fell from the 1918 level to about 125,000 tons annually and the average price dropped back to about $18.00 per ton. By 1935 the average price had fallen to $15.00, but in 1940 with a rising demand the average price of all grades had gone back up to $20.31. Today it is 75 per cent higher than in 1940 and presumably the price of acid grade at .least would be even higher if it were not for price ceilings. The first subsequent year that the domestic production exceeded that of 1918 was 1941, and the 1944 production is expected to exceed 400,000 tons, or over one and a half times that of 1918. In five-year periods, average production and imports were as are shown in Table I. Many people concerned with the consumption of fluorspar believe that the postwar period ahead will show a repetition of price trends of the last such period. They believe that imports will be again an important factor in the available supply and the price will fall back gradually toward the prewar level. The following basic factors are pertinent in analyzing this conclusion:

Jan 1, 1948

By T. V. Philip, R. E. Lenhart

When commercial silicon iron sheets of varying magnetic quality are isothermally annealed at high temperatures, extremely large grains develop in the material having good magnetic properties. These grains are of the (110) [001] orientation and are formed by secondary recrystallization. The primary driving force for this secondary recrystallization is grain boundary free energy. For the secondary grains, activation energies of 103 kcal per mole for nucleation, and of 75.5 kcal per mole for growth, were obtained. The activation energy for nucleation of the secondary grains is consistent with a model involving redistribution of a precipitate acting as the primary grain growth inhibitor. SINGLY oriented silicon iron sheet was first produced in 1935.1 The material as commercially produced today has a very highly developed preferred orientation or texture; up to 95 pct of the grains are crystallographically oriented with their (110) planes in the plane of the sheet and their [loo] directions parallel to the rolling direction. This texture, usually written as (110) [00l], is referred to as the "GOSS" or the "cube-on-edge" texture. Because the magnetic properties of this material are superior to those of the nonoriented sheets in the direction of rolling, the oriented silicon iron has acquired tremendous industrial importance especially in the manufacture of transformer cores and other electrical equipment. The commercially produced material is essentially an iron-silicon alloy containing about 3 1/4 pct Si with minor impurities totaling less than 0.15 pct. The silicon steel heat is melted in the open hearth or electric furnace. The ingots are hot rolled, with or without being slabbed, to strips of 0.100 to 0.080 in. thickness. They are then cold reduced to an intermediate thickness, recrystallized, cold reduced to final thickness, decarburized, and finally annealed at a high temperature. During this high-temperature anneal, extremely large grains with the cube-on-edge texture are produced in the sheet. Several papers have appeared in the literature2-10 relating to the production of the Goss-textured material. Most of these describe the textures produced on cold rolling and on subsequent annealing of single crystal or polycrystalline silicon iron. May and Turnbull11,12 have recently shown the necessity of a second-phase dispersed impurity in the material for the production of the Goss texture. However, none of these papers describes in detail the nucleation and growth kinetics of the (110) [001] grains during the final high-temperature anneal.* The present work, therefore, is an attempt to understand the nucleation and growth kinetics of the cube-on-edge grains in the silicon iron sheet during the final high-temperature anneal.

Jan 1, 1962

By R. S. Dean

THE commercial production of electrolytic manganese on a small scale commenced in 1939. The writer made a short report on the progress of production and utilization in MINING AND METALLURGY for January 1941. Progress during the last two years, naturally, has been more rapid. In June 1940, Congressman (now Senator) Scrugham presented a proposal to Congress for an appropriation authorizing erection of a pilot plant for "the production of metallic manganese by electrolytic or other means." As a result of this, a pilot plant, having a capacity of a few hundred pounds per day was built at Boulder City, Nev. Subsequent appropriations permitted expansion of the plant to about a ton per day. Much has been learned in this plant about electrolytic manganese, and the product even in its small way has found war uses of considerable importance. Meanwhile, the Knoxville plant of the Electro Manganese Corporation, the sole commercial producer, was expanded to about 4 tons per day to supply needed material for the war program. Other proposals for commercial plants have not been favorably received by the War Production Board. The Bureau reported on one such proposal by the American Alloys and Chemical Corporation. PRACTICE AT BOULDER CITY The present practice, as carried out at Boulder City, which is being described in more detail in a current paper by the Bureau staff at Boulder City, starts with a manganese dioxide ore containing about 20 per cent manganese. Currently this ore comes from the Three Kids deposit near Las Vegas. The steps for the production of electrolytic manganese, in general, are as follows: I. The manganese in the ore is reduced to MnO. 2. The MnO is dissolved from the ore in spent electrolyte, which contains about 38 to 47 grams per liter of free sulphuric acid, 135 grams per liter of ammonium sulphate, and 10 to 12 grams per liter of Mn as sulphate. In the leaching step the manganese is built back up to 32 to 36 grams per liter of Mn as sulphate; the pH is adjusted to neutral by means of gaseous ammonia and passed through thickeners. 3. The electrolyte is purified by adding H2S, which precipitates the heavy metals. After filtering, ferrous sulphate is added to the solution and oxidized with air and the solution is filtered and clarified on a precoat filter. 4. The purified catholyte is electrolyzed in a diaphragm cell using stainless-steel cathodes and lead-silver anodes. The current density is about 45 amp. per sq. ft. Current efficiencies of 60 to 65 per cent are regularly obtained.

Jan 1, 1944

By O. D. Sherby, J. L. Lytton, C. R. Barrett

Randomly oriented polycryslalline copper of 99.995 pcl was tested in tension at temperatures of 626o, 496o, and 406o. The gvain-size mnge investigated was from 0.03 to 0.7 mm. Grain sizes were produced by two techniques: 1) varying the amount of prior cold work and the amealing time at constant annealing temperature so as to obtain various vecrystallized grain sizes with minimum grain growth, and 4 holding the prior cold work constant while varying the annealing time or temperature so as to obtain varying grain sizes by grain growth. Polycrystalline samples (grain size of 0.03 mm) with a strong. [001](100) texture were also studied. The relationship between the steady-state creep rate, Es, and pain size was found to be the same indepentent of the technique used to prepare the various grain sizes. For specimens with grain diameters above about 0.1 mm ea zuas esse)ztiallj~ independent of grain size, while for smaller grain diameters Cs increased slightly with decreasing grain size. Strongly textured polycrystalline copper, which contained low-angle grain boundaries, exhibited steady-state creep rates that were slightly lower than those observed in randomly oriented copper, of the same gain size. The results are explained by conside?%ng- the contribution of grain boundary shearing to the total strain and the effect of grain size on the resulting creep substructure. EXPERIMENTAL observations concerning the influence of grain size on steady-state creep rates are varied and oftentimes conflicting. Numerous early investigators found that an increase in the grain size resulted in a decrease in the high-temperature steady-state creep rate, i,.'-" Other workers have foundthat ef decreases with increasing grain size up to some optimum grain size and then increases with a further increase in grain size.'- '' It has been suggested that es, decreases with an increase in grain size only because the range of grain sizes studied normally lies to the left of the grain size for optimum creep resistance. However, sherbyl2 and Feltham and his co-worker13, 14 have found that even for small grain sizes 2, does not always decrease with an increase in grain diameter but may be proportional to the square of the grain diameter. A possible explanation for the different creep rate-grain size relationships which have been observed is that in most experimental studies different grain sizes have been prepared by annealing at various temperatures. For metals in which the impurity concentration is high (greater than about 0.1 at. pct) this type of

Jan 1, 1968

At its meeting on February 21, 1933, the Board of Directors passed the following resolution defining and expressing the policy of the Institute with respect to official participation or action in controversial matters: WHEREAS, the Board of Directors at its last meeting passed the following resolution: "The Board of Directors, having been appealed to by several Local Sections for advice concerning the attitude and policy of the Institute relating to the endorsement of candidates for public office, the following statement of policy is formulated;

Jan 1, 1932

At its meeting on February 21, 1933, the Board of Directors passed the following resolution defining and expressing the policy of the Institute with respect to official participation or action in controversial matters: WHEREAS, the Board of Directors at its last meeting passed the following resolution : "The Board of Directors, having been appealed to by several Local Sections for advice concerning the attitude and policy of the Institute relating to the endorsement of candidates for public office, the following statement of policy is formulated;

Jan 1, 1934