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By I. Cornet

INTRODUCTION WITH the greatly expanding use of magnesium during the war, it appeared necessary to the War Metallurgy Committee that the notch sensitivity of magnesium alloy extrusions be further investigated and the influence of various factors upon notch sensitivity be noted. Accordingly, the National Defense Research Committee of the Office of Scientific Research and Development placed a research contract with the University of California, supervised by the War Metallurgy Committee. The work discussed herein was done under "Restricted" Project NRC-21, reported in Dec. 1943 1; it has been released for publication by the O.S.R.D. SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION The notch sensitivity of various magnesium alloy extrusions was determined under axial tension, and also under several conditions of nonaxial tension. Hardness, grain size and other metallographic features were observed; stress-strain data were obtained, and the chemical compositions of the alloys were determined, in order to correlate these quantities with the notch sensitivity. Notch sensitivity under axial tensile load was determined for a few specimens which had been cold worked to various degrees by tensile prestraining. Magnesium alloy extrusions studied included Dowmetal 0, X, J, and M. For comparison, extrusions of aluminum alloy 24S-T, cast bars of aluminum alloy I22-T2, and cast bars of magnesium alloy C were also tested, The specified chemical composition of these alloys is given in Table I. All bars tested were within specification limits of composition. Investigation of the tensile notch sensitivity of various magnesium alloy extrusions, under conditions of axial and eccentric load, showed little or no correlation with stress-strain or other conventional data. Since the many uncontrolled variables present might mask significant relationships, one alloy was selected for intensive study. Magnesium 0 alloy extrusions were subjected to experimental heat treatments, and the changing hardness, tensile strength, microstructure, and notch sensitivity observed. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES Tensile Testing Bars used for axial loading were machined with 3/8 in.- and with 1/4-in. minimum diam, and included specimens with 6o° V notches (Fig I and 2). Each V-notched specimen was roughed out carefully and then finished with a honed tool. These V-notched bars were sampled frequently, sectioned, polished, and examined at 500 X magnification to control

Jan 1, 1948

By Otto Henry

THE purpose of this investigation was to determine the equilibrium diagram of the lithium-magnesium pair as a first step in studying the possible usefulness of these alloys as ultra-light structural materials. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The behavior of lithium towards magnesium was first investigated by Masing and Tammann.(I)? In order to prevent oxidation the alloys were made in iron tubes under an atmosphere of hydrogen; temperatures were measured with a glass-protected thermocouple. These investigators found that lithium and magnesium form two series of solid solutions separated by a miscibility gap between 85 and 95 per cent magnesium; that the alloys with 81 and 95 per cent magnesium showed a homogeneous structure under microscopic examination, while the alloy with 89 per cent magnesium contained two distinguishable crystallites; that the curve indicating the beginning of crystallization rises from the melting point of lithium to that of magnesium; and that no compounds of lithium and magnesium are formed. The equilibrium diagram was not plotted because no definite data were obtained for determining the solidus and the posi-tion of the miscibility gap in the solid state. The difficulties encountered in this investigation were: (1) that it was necessary to heat them as high as the melting point of magnesium in order to obtain homogeneous melts; at such temperatures the alloys attacked the glass protecting the thermo-couple; and (2) that at temperatures above 400° C. the lithium united

Jan 1, 1934

By H. Majima, E. Peters

The oxidation rates of pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopy-rite, chalcocite, covellite, bortzite, galem, sphalerite, and stibnite have beet2 carefully compared at 120 oC, using aqueous phosphate solutions buffered at pH 2.7, 7.1, and 11.2 as zvell as in 1.0 M NaOH and in am~onia-containing solutions. Under conditions of these studies, variations in rates of more than a factor of two per unit of mineral surface area were not observed for different minerals in phosphate buffered solutions, except that pyrrhotite showed unusually rapid oxidation rates In acid solutions, and stibnite showed very rapid oxidation rates in basic solutions. In caustic solutions, oxidation vates varied considerably, the most rapid being for pyrite and the slowest for sphalerite. In the presence of ammonia, only copper minerals showed more vapid oxidation rates in neutral solutions. Oxidation rates were measured on the basis of oxygen-consunzption rates per unit surface area of exposed mineral, using equivalent surface areas, mineral mesh sizes, pulp densities, agitation, and oxygen pressure. OXIDIZING pressure leaching of sulfide minerals has been a commercial method of treating concentrates of nickel, cobalt, and copper for over a decade, and recently the treatment of lead and zinc concentrates,' and even the recovery of sulfur from pyrrhotite by such processes, have been shown to be technically feasible.' Furthermore, the leaching of uranium ores by solutions acidified through the oxidation of pyrite and other sulfides present in the ore is commercially practicable.3 5 The mechanisms by which sulfide minerals oxidize in aqueous environments are not yet understood. However, certain generalities can be made for systems containing no unusual reagents, in which oxygen is the oxidizing agent. In acid solutions the oxidation of many sulfide minerals leads to the formation of elemental sulfur.8'7 The attack of some sulfides, notably galena (PbS), sphalerite (ZnS), and pyrrhotite (FeS), at temperatures below about 110°C leads to an almost quantitative conversion of the sulfide mineral to elemental sulfur according to the equation: On the other hand pyrite (FeS2) and copper minerals do not yield elemental sulfur quantitatively. Not more than 50 pct of the sulfur in pyrite is converted to the elemental form in acid oxidation, and this percentage is lowered by higher temperatures and possibly higher oxygen pressures.8'9 Copper minerals sometimes yield elemental sulfurlo'" but, since sulfur can reduce cupric ions with the precipitation of CuS or Cu2S, it is not likely that elemental sulfur is obtained in good yield. In acid solutions sulfur that is not converted to the elemental form always appears as sulfate salts or sulfuric acid. Sulfide minerals that yield elemental sulfur nearly quantitatively on oxidation in acid solutions tend to generate H2S when the conditions are not oxidizing. However, although it has been suggested that H2S is an essential intermediate in the mechanism of oxidation," this is doubtful because it is oxidized very slowly by oxygen. In basic solutions elemental sulfur is never formed, as predicted by thermodynamical considerations, summarized in the form of a potential-pH diagram in Fig. 1. However in neutral and basic solutions, unstable forms of sulfur not shown in the diagram appear during oxidation, notably thiosulfate (SOT-) and polythi-onates (S,O;-, x = 2 to 6).l3,l4 On prolonged oxidation only hexavalent sulfur as sulfate (SOi-) or sulfamate (NHzSO;) is found to remain, the latter appearing only in the presence of ammonia. The oxidation kinetics for thiosulfate by oxygen are the subject of a separate paper,'5 and were studied on the presumption that thiosulfate may, in fact, be a primary oxidation product for sulfide minerals, at least in neutral and basic solutions. A survey of the literature indicated that comparative oxidation rates for different sulfide minerals were needed to establish the role of the mineral structure and its thermodynamic properties on the oxidation rates and mechanisms.

Jan 1, 1967

By AIME AIME

THE annual fall meeting of the Institute of Metals and the Iron and Steel divisions, in conjunction with the American .Society for Steel Treating and the Metal Congress and Show, at Boston was from many standpoints the most successful we have had to date. While many faces were missing from the various gatherings, the Institute registration reached the high mark of 324 members and guests. Cooperating with the Steel Treaters were also the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the American Welding Society. ,The meeting was, as usual, a three-ring circus with technical sessions 'galore, plant .trips, visits to the Exposition, social events such as lunch- eons and dinners as well as entertainment for the ladies present.

Jan 1, 1931

By Thomas R. Scotese

A rock mechanics instrumentation and monitoring program was implemented during pillar extraction at Gulf Mineral Resources' Mt. Taylor Mine, the deepest uranium mine in the U.S. Three types of monitoring were employed: (1) drift convergence around stopes (using a portable tube extensometer), (2) stress changes in pillars (using vibrating wire stressmeters in horizontal boreholes), and (3) load changes in haulageways under stopes (using vibrating wire load cells in jack stands). Results include convergence-time graphs, convergence contour maps, stress-time graphs, a stress increase contour map, load-time graphs, and abutment load limit maps. Major factors influencing results include (1) size of pillars around the extraction area, and (2) presence and orientation of a major fault adjacent to one extraction area. These factors, combined with pillar extraction, produced evidence of load transfer over 120 m from a stope measuring only 55 m x 45 m. Vertical stress increases of 7 to 17 MPa (1000 to 2500 psi) within 60 m of the stope were obtained using the stress- meter manufacturer's method. The fault apparently prevented load transfer in the down-dip direction but increased load transfer in the up-dip direction. Convergence rates of up to 1.3 cm/day (0.5 in/day) were measured at two stations. Instruments were generally reliable despite adverse underground conditions. The instrumentation and monitoring program at Mt. Taylor provided a warning system against ground control problems and a characterization of ground behavior for future development and extraction of pillars. Recommendations are made for future mining and instrumentation practices.

Jan 1, 1984

By George J. Young

Discussion of the paper of George J. Young, presented at the San Francisco meeting, October, 1911, and published in Bulletin No. 59, November, 1911, pp. 839 to 872. ASKIN M. NlCHOLAS, Melbourne, Australia (communication to the Secretary) : * Professor Young deals with quite a variety of machines and methods, but, strangely enough, makes no mention of the work done by me, although he concludes with the remark that the " thin-cake continuous filters are a decided improvement over the thick-cake filters." As those interested in slime-treatment may consider that I did nothing more than to patent a process, I submit Fig. 1, showing the working-drawings of a machine, made, tested, and proved to work satisfactorily by me early in 1905. This time is prior to any work done in slime-filtration with rotating filters by E. L. Oliver or others. I maintain that a number of appliances now in use for slime-filtration infringe my patents. And after most exhaustive inquiry, I know of no machine or process, prior to my description in 1899,1 that embodied getting rid of the residues by holding them on the cloth with the vacuum, and then discharging them with back-pressure, so as to form a cycle of the operation, the result being continuous treatment. I therefore think that any paper dealing exhaustively with this subject is not complete without a reference to the work that I have done. * Received Mar. 11, 1912. 1 U. S. Patent No. 619,211, Feb. 7, 1899.

Aug 1, 1912

By Gregory Dybalski

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the forecast capability of the econometric model of the cobalt industry1/ as utilized by the Federal Preparedness Agency. Forecasts from this model are illustrated from the premise that the leading producer continues production of cobalt. An alternate forecast is presented where the model structure is altered to reflect the condition where the leading producer leaves the market. All estimations and forecasts presented here are shown for illustrative purposes. The cobalt industry is highly concentrated; one company, owned by the Zaire government, accounts for approximately three-fifths of world production. The cobalt supply outside of Zaire is determined by the level of activity of copper or nickel markets, as cobalt is mined as a by-product of copper or nickel. The demand for cobalt reflects a diversified usage pattern; cobalt is used mainly in heat and corrosion-resistant materials, high- strength materials and permanent magnets. According to 1974 U.S. consumption data superalloys accounted for 22%, magnetic alloys 18%, cutting and wear-resistant materials 13%, and catalyst 7%. Foreign consumption is probably similar in terms of usage categories, but the relative order of the categories is in variance.2/ The Cobalt Model The cobalt model's object is to explain consumption, supply and price movements by utilizing statistically estimated equations. Central to the econometric model is the role of Zaire as the profit-maximizing "dominant firm". Zaire sets the price that is most profitable for itself. The price of cobalt depends on industrial demand, production of other firms, and net exogenous purchases, such as government

Jan 1, 1977

By E. C. Harder

AT a Meeting of the New York Section, on May 23, 1918, the sole subject of discussion was the nature and occurrence of iron ores in certain parts of the world.? Owing to the importance of this subject, it has been deemed' advisable to publish the remarks made at that meeting in the form of a paper, for presentation at the Milwaukee Meeting, instead of in the usual place, under News of Local Sections. The remarks related to the following districts: Brazil, by E. C. Harder, of the U. S. Geological Survey; Scandinavia, by Waldemar Lindgren, of the U. S. Geological Survey; Cuba, by C. M. Weld, of the U. S. Bureau 'of Mines; Southern Europe, by A. C. Spencer, of the U. S. Geological Survey; China, by H. Foster Bain, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines; Alsace-Lorraine, by Sidney Paige, of the U. S. Geological Survey. BRAZIL By E. C. Harder During the years immediately preceding the war, the iron ores of Brazil were attracting the attention of iron operators both in Europe and in the United States. This was clue to the large quantities of practically undeveloped ore available, and to its great purity. It is reasonably safe to state that had capital not been diverted from the exploitation of these deposits to war purposes, Brazilian iron ores would probably now be offered in European and American markets. It is certain that after the war these ores will play a prominent part in the economic reconstruction of Europe and perhaps in the development of America.

Jan 9, 1918

By S. F. Emmons

Br far the greater number of the members of this Institute are men who are engaged in the strenuous work of the technical part of their profession, and find little time for the abstract scientific work which is less distinctly practical and pecuniarily emunerative. There is, however, a small but increasingly numerous class whose members devote themselves to broad geological problems which underlie the systematic development, and whose work, theoretically, ought to precede and form a basis of that of their more practical brethren. These are the so-called mining or economic geologists, who are, for the most part, connected with State or National geological surveys. From the character of their work, the life of these men necessarily follows rather different line's than that of most of their colleagues, and is not generally familiar to them. It seems admissible, therefore, that to the life of a prominent member of this class, who died during the past year, having literally sacrified his life to his work, a more extended notice should be given than the relatively small number of his contributions to the Transactions might seem to justify. George Romans Eldridge, son of Ellery and Sarah (Mathews) Eldridge, was born on Cape Cod at Yarmouth, Mass., Christmas day, 1854. His boyhood education in the public school at Yarmouth was followed by a six years' course in the Public Latin School at Boston, from which lie entered Harvard Uni¬versity in 1872, being graduated with the highest rank in his class in the natural sciences in 1876. During his college course he spent the summers of 1875-6 at Cumberland Gap, Ky., as volunteer aid to Prof. N. S. Shaler, who was then in charge of the State Geological Survey of Ken¬tucky. This vacation work, undertaken by him rather as a pastime, gave him his first leaning toward geology. Soon

Mar 1, 1906

By V. D. Perry

Carlisle: Reno, let's start off by asking "When was the first day that you began working in your profession?" Sales: I began in Butte, Montana, on August 22, 1900 as an assistant engineer for the Boston & Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Co., and continued at that job for about a year. The general manager was C. S. Batterman, and the mines- Mountain View, Pennsylvania, Leonard, East Colusa, and one or two others-were part of Boston & Montana.

Jan 5, 1966

By H. I. Najarian

This paper is a companion piece to the description of the electrothermic process that begins on page 141. It will be confined to a brief story of the development. of the Weaton-Najarian vacuum condenserf at this plant, together with up-to-date design and operating data. The Josephtown smelter was designed primarily for production of zinc oxide. However, the development of a method for production of zinc metal had always been under consideration, and accordingly one of the original eight units of the elcctro-thermic furnaces built in 1930 was set up to produce metal. The design of this furnace was identical with that of the oxide furnaces except that in place of oxide tewels opening into oxide manifolds, conventional conical clay condensers—similar to condensers used in horizontal retort smelting—were installed around the periphery of the furnace and in several tiers vertically for condensing the zinc vapors. The early experimental work in trying to condense zinc out of the mixtures of zinc vapor and carbon monoxide gas from the electrothermic furnaces indicated that, while the gases from electrothermic smelting would condense in surface-type condensers, the formation of blue powder was excessive and condenser efficiency low. Furthermore, operating a large unit of electric furnace with several hundred small condensers, with attendant high labor cost and unfavorable operating conditions, did not appeal to us. We also realized that a single unit of surface condenser capable of condensing 12 torg tons of metal per day would be of huge dimensions and possibly difficult of control. So we took as our aim the development of a method whereby a single condenser unit of reasonable dimensions would condense zinc, in one step, from the large volume of gases that the electric furnaces produced. We set about searching for knowledge on zinc metallurgy and design of zinc condensers in particular. Our study of the prior art focused our attention on the oft-repeated statement by earlier experimenters, that the most efficient way to condense metallic vapors, such as zinc vapors, was to bring the vapors into "intimate contact" with molten metal; but the methods offered for securing this "intimate contact" in any practical manner left much to the imagination. We were handicapped by not having some-one on the Josephtown smelter staff who could lay claim to being an expert zinc metallurgist and could give guidance from actual experience on the practicability of various schemes that haunted our imagination. Laboratory Experiments However, we had an expert ex-steam engineer in the person of George I?. Weaton, manager of the Josephtown smelter, who had had long experience with steam-jet condensers and would reiterate his belief at every opportunity that the logical and the most efficient way to condense zinc would be with a jet-type condenser. We became intrigued by the possibilities of a zinc con-

Jan 1, 1944

By E. H. Cho

INTRODUCTION Activated charcoal has been used for several centuries in many capacities including the recovery, isolation and purification of various materials (1). The first use of charcoal in a gold metallurgical system was in the extraction of gold after chlorination (2, 3,4). The gold was dissolved in a chlorine system and subsequently filtered through charcoal. The application of charcoal with cyanide extraction was patented by Johnston (5) in 1894 and adopted commercially in Australia in 1897. The process consisted of dissolving the gold and silver in a potassium cyanide solution and passing it through a series of charcoal filters. The charcoal was subsequently smelted to recover the gold and silver. The interest in the use of charcoal diminished in the first part of the twentieth century as the practice of the use of zinc as a precipitating agent increased. However, in 1916, the Yuanmi Mine in Australia replaced their zinc precipitation plant with a charcoal adsorption plant. In 1926, Scott and Gross (7) of the U. S. Bureau of Mines con- ducted extensive research on the adsorption of gold and silver from cyanide leach solutions. Among their findings was the result that the most important factor in improving the adsorptive power of charcoal was heat treatment with oxidation by air or steam. The work of Zadra (8) in 1952 stimulated renewed interest in the use of activated charcoal in gold and silver recovery with the development of a method of recovery of the gold and silver from the charcoal other than its destruction by burning. The process involved simultaneous desorption

Jan 1, 1983

By R. F. Miller, R. F. Campbell

Sixteen steels containing different combinations of chromium and molybdenum, in amounts up to 5 per cent of each element, were examined for microstructure and hardness after air cooling and after furnace cooling from suitable austenitizing temper- atures. Diagrams summarizing the structnres and hadness resulting from these two cooling rates are presented (Figs. 3, 4, 7).t Data were also obtained on the influence of these two elements, individually and in combination, on the depth of decarburiza-tion observed after furnace cooling (Fig. 8). Composition of Material The chemical composition of the steels investigated is given in Table I. The plain carbon steel was made in a 2 5-ton Heroult electric-are furnace, while the alloy steels were made in a 4.5-ton Ajax-Northrup elec- tric induction furnace. The cast ingots were hot-rolled to 1.75-in. bars. Air-cooled Series The I.75-in. bars were forged to flat plates, 0.25 in. thick, from which specimens 0.5 in. wide by 2 in. long were cut. The specimens were pretreated to improve their homogeneity by heating to 1830°F. (I000°C.) for 20 min. and oil-quenching. They were then reheated to 1740°F. (950°C.) for one hour and air-cooled, after

Jan 1, 1942

By R. F. Campbell, R. F. Miller

Sixteen steels containing different combinations of chromium and molybdenum, in amounts up to 5 per cent of each element, were examined for microstructure and hardness after air cooling and after furnace cooling from suitable austenitizing temper- atures. Diagrams summarizing the structnres and hadness resulting from these two cooling rates are presented (Figs. 3, 4, 7).t Data were also obtained on the influence of these two elements, individually and in combination, on the depth of decarburiza-tion observed after furnace cooling (Fig. 8). Composition of Material The chemical composition of the steels investigated is given in Table I. The plain carbon steel was made in a 2 5-ton Heroult electric-are furnace, while the alloy steels were made in a 4.5-ton Ajax-Northrup elec- tric induction furnace. The cast ingots were hot-rolled to 1.75-in. bars. Air-cooled Series The I.75-in. bars were forged to flat plates, 0.25 in. thick, from which specimens 0.5 in. wide by 2 in. long were cut. The specimens were pretreated to improve their homogeneity by heating to 1830°F. (I000°C.) for 20 min. and oil-quenching. They were then reheated to 1740°F. (950°C.) for one hour and air-cooled, after

Jan 1, 1942

By C. Feng, I. R. Kramer

A study was conducted to determine the influence of the surface on the yield point of fcc metals and high-purity iron. For the high-purity fcc metals, the yield Point produced by restraining a specimen may be eliminated by removing a sufficient amount of the layer. A yield point similar to that in fcc metals was found when iron specimens were pre-strained after a prior deformation. This yield point is not due to an aging effect but is associated with the surface layer. The yield points in age-hardenable aluminum alloy and those connected with "work softening" are not affected by a surface-removal treatment and are, therefore, caused by bulk-type dislocation reactions. The yield point which appears in previously strained fcc metals has been the subject of numerous studies. Several theories have been advanced to explain this "unloading-reloading" yield point. Cottrell and stokes,' from their study on the effect of temperature on plastic properties of high-purity aluminum, considered that it was the result of an avalanche "breakdown" of Lomer-Cottrell sessile dislocations. Haasen and Kelly2 extended this concept of dislocation-dislocation interaction to account for the yield point when unloading and reloading was carried out at the same temperature. On the other hand, strain aging was found to be responsible for the yield point in A1-Mg alloy by Westwood and Broom,3 and in aluminum alloys containing various amounts of alloying elements by Smallman, Williamson, and Ardley.4 In these cases, the yield point is considered to be associated with the locking of dislocations by impurity atoms. Birn-baum and filer5,6 and Takamura and muira7 reported that, when a high-purity copper specimen was prestrained, then held at a lower stress, and finally reloaded at the prestrain temperature, a larger yield point was observed. Such an increase was attributed to the locking of dislocations by point defects. In addition, Bolling8 suggested that both mechanisms, i.e., dislocation-dislocation interaction and strain aging, are responsible for the yield phenomenon, at least in a brass. Thus, there appears to be experimental evidence for both the strain aging and dislocation-dislocation interaction theories to explain the yield point in the fcc metals and alloys. In a previous article,9 one of the authors observed that, if sufficient amounts of metal were electrolti-cally removed after deformation of a high-purity aluminum single crystal, the yield point did not appear upon reloading. Continued pursuit in this area revealed that the effect of the surface on the yield-point phenomenon is not limited to one metal but affects a variety of metals of different lattice structures. Nor is the effect limited to the yield points produced by simple unloading-reloading at constant temperature; the surface exerts an important role on the yield point even when the temperature is changed at some stage during the test. It is the intent of the present article to give additional information regarding the effect of the surface on the yield-point phenomenon and to show the association between the yield point in both fcc and bcc metals and the existence of a heavy concentration of dislocation in the region near the surface of a deformed specimen.10 EXPERIMENTAL Materials. The single crystals used in this study had a nominal cross section of 0.125 by 0.125 in. and a 3-in. gage length and were prepared by a modified Bridgman technique. The initial purity for the metals was 99.997, 99.999, and 99.999 pct for aluminum, copper, and gold, respectively. Bar stock of these same materials was used in the preparation of the polycrystalline specimens of aluminum and copper. The iron specimens were machined from rods of "ferrovac", reported to have a purity of 99.98 pct. In addition, a precipitation-hardening aluminum alloy, containing 1.5 pct Cu, 2.5 pct Mg, and 5.5 pct Zn, was used. The polycrystalline specimens of iron, copper, and the aluminum alloy had a diameter of 0.17 in. and a gage length of 2 in. while the high-purity aluminum specimen had a nominal rec-

Jan 1, 1965

By E. S. Machlin

The possibility that formation of voids under creep-rupture conditions may take place by the condensation of vacancies has been investigated theoretically. It has been concluded that nucleation of voids under creep-rupture conditions by vacancy condensation is highly improbable. However, growth of pre-existant voids by vacancy condensation is probable. A number of predictions made in this theory have been verified by the data. It has been predicted and checked that the product of rupture life and steady-state creep rate for preannealed metals and single phase alloys is an approximately invariant quantity, independent of stress, temperature, and atomic number for a given type structure. The direction of the effect of cold work on this product has been predicted and found in agreement with experiment. A number of experiments to evaluate the vacancy condensation mechanism further are described. SEVERAL papers have appeared recently which speculate on the origin of voids formed at grain boundaries under stress.' ' The object of this paper is to examine quantitatively the proposition that the voids produced in a creep test are a result of vacancy condensation. A result of this paper is a theory of creep-rupture. Void Nucleation Application of standard nucleation theory" to the problem of void nucleation leads to the following conclusions: 1—Homogeneous nucleation of voids requires a supersaturation ratio (concentration of vacancies in supersaturated to that in saturated solution) of 400 for a reasonable surface energy of 1000 erg per cm-and 1.4 for the improbably low surface energy of 10 erg per cm. 2—Heterogeneous nucleation of voids at plane interfaces between two phases requires a supersaturation ratio of 2.5 for a typical contact angle of 145 3-—Void nucleation about a solid particle may be accomplished at a supersaturation ratio of 1.17 for a typical value of work of adhesion? of 60 erg per The work of adhesion is the surface work 10 replace two solid-vauor surfaces by a solid-solid interface. enr ' between an oxide and a metal in the presence of a surface active element such as sulphur. Estimates of the supersaturation ratio at which voids are produced in diffusion experiments yield a maximum of 1.01. Inasmuch as the foregoing mechanisms of void nucleation probably will not operate at this level—too low a surface energy is required—the investigatol. is led to the conclusion that voids must already exist. That is, nucleation of voids probably does not occur. Rather, existing submicroscopic voids grow out to visible size. Already existing voids might be produced during solidification or working. Supercritical sized parlicles which contain cracks may act as heterogeneous void nuclei. Gas pockets may act as void nuclei. Experiments are desired to determine the nature of the heterogeneous void nuclei which grow out to voids in both diffusion and creep experiments. Void Growth Void growth might occur in at least two possible ways, depending upon whether the already existing void nuclei are at grain boundaries or within the grains. In the case of a spherical void far from a crystal boundary, vacancies are generated during creep as a consequence of the migration of suitable dislocation jogs' and are also annihilated at sinks. Under these conditions, a steady-state concentration of vacancies is built up in the crystal, defined by the condition that for any differential volume the rate of generation of vacancies in that volume equals the rate of annihilation of those vacancies." This equality would lead to the development of a gradient of vacancy concentration radially outward from the void surface up to a radius where the vacancy lifetime becomes equal for all directions of vacancy migration. The distance over which this vacancy concentration gradient extends equals about 2vD,T* where D, is the vacancy diffusivity and T:' the vacancy lifetime in a crystal outside the gradient in a zone of constant vacancy concentration. The vacancies generated in the region over which the gradient exists will annihilate more often at the void than elsewhere. Approximately a little over one-half the vacancies generated in the gradient zone will annihilate at the void. Hence, the growth rate of the void is given by on where R is the radius of void in centimeters, is the atomic volume, and R is the rate of generation of vacancies, number per centimeter" per second. R D and T* may be estimated in terms of other physical parameters." In particular, R = n.j e/b [3] where n is the average number of vacancy produc-

Jan 1, 1957

By Bruce W. Gonser

TIN is not yet classed as a rare metal, but it has taken a long stride in that direction in the last ten months. It is now in Group 1 of the War Production Board's critical list, along with such company as magnesium aluminum, and nickel. This is in sharp contrast with the position a year ago when the supply well exceeded demand, and tin was used when feasible in place of really scarce metals. The geographical sources of tin production in recent years are shown in Table 1. Preponderance of former production in southeastern Asia, particularly Malaya and the Netherlands Indies (but all now controlled by the Japanese). is entirely too marked to be funny. Of the 1940 known world production of 237,000 long tons nearly all was controlled by the United States, Great Britain, and their friends. Now their supply is from countries that produced only 28 per cent of that amount. This excludes China and Australia, which because of shipping difficulties and local consumption, cannot be expected to export much tin. In spite of some expected increase in production, therefore, the supply is, and will continue to stay for at least several years, way below that desired for even normal uses. Although deliveries to consumers in the United States alone

Jan 1, 1942

By Martin T. Broome

INTRODUCTION The Luanshya Mine is situated in the southern part of the Zambian Copperbelt. The copper ore deposit is stratiform, and is preserved in a synclinorium known as the Roan/ Muliashi basin. Roan shaft (formally called No.14 shaft) is located at the eastern end of the syncline and is theoldest of the presently operating hoisting shafts, being sunk during the 1930's. It presently hoists some 45 per- cent of the total Luanshya Mine production. A cross-section through the shaft is shown in figure 1. The ore formation on the south limb is unmined on this section because until recently it was believed that such mining might cause damage to the shaft. This paper examines the influences of adjacent mining on this so-called 'shaft pillar', and describes the mechanics of subsidence of the pillar itself. GEOLOGY AND STRUCTURE Figure 1 shows the general form of folding in the vicinity of Roan shaft. The north and south limbs of the main syncline approach parallelism, with the bottom of the trough fairly smoothly rounded. The axis of the - trough plunges to the west-north-west at 6° - l0°. A brief summary of the major lithologies present in the Roan basin is given in table 1, however, the performance of the overall structure during progressive mining of the ore horizon is controlled by the following features in addition to the mining method. Intraformational Contacts These are characteristically weak in most geological environments. The BC/RL7 contact is an unconformity between moderately weak quartz-biotite schists below (unconfined compressive strength 40 - 80 MN/M 2), and strong quartzites above (U .C .S. 170-200 MN/M2) Subsequent formations are conformable, and planes of weakness are generally the result of contrasting lithology (see below). Weak Interbeds The Rt7, RL6, RL5, RL3 and RU2 horizons consist predominantly of quartzitic rocks, i.e. conglomerates, quartzites and argillites, and as such are generally strong and considered suitable for the positioning of development. Between these however, lie two much weaker dolomitic horizons, the RL4 and RU1. The Rt4 is the main hangingwall aquifer, and must be drained prior to mining. Drainage results in an extremely weak, blocky cavernous horizon which usually requires support if exposed by development. Similarly, the RU1 formation is comprised mainly of dolomites and dolomitic arqillites which are weak and cavernous. In the eastern part of the Roan/

Jan 1, 1981

By P. R. Sahm, T. V. Pruss

Mixtures of fine GaSb and Gds as well as preal-loyed GaSbl,As, powders were hot-pressed at 690°C and 25,000 psi. Dense alloys with compositional gradients of less than 5 pct were obtained from mixtures containing about 20 mol pct GaAs. For x < 0.2, there were increasing compositional gradients, and for x > 0.2 a GaAs-rich second phase appeared in the microstructure. Densification as well as alloying wlechanisms were enhanced by dissociation and, possibly, oxidation reactions of the powders. Densification of coarse prealloyed material, however, primarily depended on plastic flow phenomena and required temperatures just below solidus and pressures of 50,000 psi Thermal and electrical properties were measured. Although in no case was the figure of merit of melt growth materials approached closer than to within 25 pct, the better overall thermoelectric properties were found in coarse-grained, prealloyed materzals which had been compacted to near theoretical density and where grain regrowth had been induced. Similar results are believed to hold in other binary 111-V compound systems if processed under similar conditions. The densification of unalloyed GaSb powders during pressure sintering (= hot pressing) was shown to depend strongly on powder particle size.&apos; Fine powders displayed a "liquid skin effect" that enhanced compaction through the presence of liquid gallium, whereas coarse powders compacted predominantly by plastic flow. The liquid skin effect, in particular, appeared attractive for alloying GaSb with other, higher-melting, III-V compounds, and to densify these in a one-step operation. This is of special interest in the case of III-V compound alloys as the conventional techniques of melt growth or long-time annealing of powders2 is very time-consuming, especially in cases where a large separation of liquidus and solidus can be expected, such as in GaSbl alloys.2 It was felt that experimentation with this system, a particularly unfavorable example, would allow us to extrapolate to several other, more favorable, cases. Uses of Ill-V alloys are most evident in thermoelectric energy conversion devices.&apos; For this reason certain thermal and electrical properties were measured and compared to those of melt-grown material and to hot-pressed prealloyed powders. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The pressure-sintering apparatus has been previously described.&apos; Using this equipment, both powder mixtures of GaSb with GaAs and prealloyed GaSbl-,As, powders were hot-pressed. The mixtures were pre- pared from cast GaSb and melt-grown GaAs. The prealloyed material was obtained from stoichiometric melts, initially heated to 1200°C in an evacuated quartz ampoule, and then annealed in the solidus-liquidus interval. A typical annealing cycle consisted of a heating to 850°C (1 hr), extended successive annealing at 750°C (65 hr), and slow stepwise cooling (25 hr) to below solidus. The GaSb, GaAs, and GaSbl-,As, materials were ground in a vibrational mill to particle sizes below 500 . A jet mill reduced these further where necessary. Fine powders were analyzed by Coulter counting for their size distribution. Average sizes by volume were calculated from the data. Mixing of the powders, where necessary, was carried out through rapid vibrational motion. The hot-pressing operation consisted of a degassing period of 15 hr, in most cases at 690°C, followed by several hours of compression, normally 25,000 psi at 690°C for powder mixtures and 50,000 psi at 710°C for prealloyed powders. The chemical compositions were confirmed by X-ray fluorescence analysis. To estimate the degree of solid solution achieved, lattice parameters were determined and interpreted according to Vegard&apos;s rule. In addition, optical microscopy helped to correlate the relative amounts of the phases present as well as the degree of porosity to the measured density. To reveal grain boundaries, polished surfaces were etched4 with H 2 O:H 2 O:HCl = 2:l:l. In several cases microscopic concentration gradients were monitored by electron-probe analysis-. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Alloying and Densification of GaSn-GaAs Powder Mixtures. After preliminary experiments showed that no appreciable alloying took place in mixtures of coarse GaSb (22.5 p) and fine GaAs (2.5 p) powders, hot pressing of mixtures was confined to fine powders only (3.1 and 2.4 p, respectively). Alloying and densification apparently occurred simultaneously with a grain regrowth mechanism which depended on the presence of a liquid phase.&apos; The liquid phase was provided by the dissociation of GasbS particles into liquid gallium and antimony above 555°C. This not only enhanced grain regrowth and densification, as in unalloyed GaSb,&apos; but took on additional importance here for the alloying process. Alloying was speeded up by the resulting liquid-solid interaction as compared to the very slow solid-state diffusion process normally expected at these temperatures.&apos; The results obtained with a series of powder mixtures have been compiled in Table I. It is seen that for mixtures with less than 20 mol pct GaAs, x < 0.2, the compositional ranges increased and for x > 0.2 a GaAs-rich phase and free antimony appeared in the microstructure in sizable amounts.

Jan 1, 1968

By G. E. Pralle

INTRODUCTION The decade from 1969 to 1979 saw the crest of a wave of investments by companies and investors, primarily from the major industrial nations, in the metals and minerals industries of the so-called lesser developed countries. This was brought about by two major considerations: 1). The higher ore grades and therefore the higher profit potential of the mineral deposits in the third world countries, and 2). The desire, particularly by the European countries and by Japan, to ensure a safe supply of raw materials not available in their own countries. The decade began with the start of the Toquepala mine in Peru and the major investments in the Bougainville mine in Papua New Guinea and the Ertsberg mine in Indonesia. It ended with the start-up of Southern Peru Copper Company (SPCC) Cuajone mine in Peru and Inco&apos;s Soroako mine in Indonesia and the investments in several major alumina or aluminum projects in Australia and Brazil. Concurrent with this huge flow of funds into the mineral resources industry of the developing world was the build-up of a psychological fear in the host countries of exploitation/domination by the foreign investors. This resulted in an increasing trend towards: 1). Nationalization of existing mineral ventures, and 2). Tougher legal/fiscal frameworks for new ones. NATIONALIZATION Nationalization appeared in its earliest form as "Mexicanization" of the petroleum industry in Mexico in the 1930&apos;s, followed later by Mexicanization of the mining industry in general. This was enacted with the Mexican Mining Law of 1961 which required that 51% of the equity be owned by Mexican nationals. Later in the decade the equity share for foreign investors was reduced to 33 1/3% for the developers of the Frasch sulphur operations in the Isthumus of Tehuantepec. However, the law was not fully implemented in the copper industry until late 1970 with the purchase of 51% of the ownership in the Cananea Mining Company. The trend toward nationalization of the copper industry progressed to Chile where in 1967 under the Government of Eduardo Frei the major North American copper companies were induced to sell a one-half interest in their Chilean mines to the State. Likewise, in 1970, "Zambianization" took place, when the two major operating companies Roan Selection Trust (Amax) and Zamanglo (Anglo American) were restructured into Roan Consolidated Mines (RCM) and Nchanga Consolidated Mines (NCCM) providing the government with 51% of the equity ownership. Whilst the earlier forms of nationalization in general constituted a fairly priced buy-out (El Teniente, Chile for US$80 million, RCM for US$117.8 million, NCCM for US$178.7 million), the total nationalization of the Chilean mining companies in 1970 under Salvador Allende did not. Later, "Western" countries joined this trend and on October 29, 1973, Mr. Gough Whitlam proclaimed that "overseas capital must continue... in partnership with Australian capital" and "in some special energy cases we have an objective of 100% Australian ownership". In 1974 Mr. Pierre Trudeau stated: "The Liberal Party of Canada sets as an objective that new resources projects in the natural resource field should have at least 50% and preferably 60% Canadian equity ownership". FOREIGN INVESTMENT The situation for the foreign investor in the worldwide resource industry rapidly deteriorated from then on. New features appeared in mineral exploitation and operating agreements, centering not only on local government/local companies ownership but also on increased taxation. The new tax rate (mineral tax, royalty, and income tax) for the semi-government companies NCCM and RCM in Zambia became an effective 73%. Likewise the much publicized and discussed renegotiated Bougainville agreement brought dramatic increases in the total "take" by the PNG Government. More innovative forms of indirect taxation made their appearance and were added to the normal tax burdens of the mineral industry which already

Jan 1, 1985