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By John B. Baker, Bernard B. Betty, H. F. Moore

For several years there has been in progress in the Materials Testing Laboratory of the University of Illinois an investigation of creep and fracture of lead and lead alloys. In the course of this investigation it has been shown that the phenomenon of creep occurs in part at the grain boundaries of lead and lead alloys. To study the occurrence of creep and the development of fracture within crystalline grains, two series of tests of single crystals of lead have been carried out. The first of these, a preliminary series, by Mr. Betty, has been described.l,2 The second, pursued by Mr. Baker for his doctoral dissertation, was carried out under the direction of Professor Moore, with the assistance of Prof. G. L. Clark in the X-ray work, and the cooperation and advice of Mr. Betty. This paper is based on the test data obtained in this second series. Single crystals of a very pure commercial lead have been prepared, some of them tested to measure creep, others tested to fracture under long-continued steady load, and still others tested under cycles of repeated tension. An interpretation of the test data of these single-crystal tests is offered, which is a combination of parts of several well-known theories. Specimens The single-crystal specimens were made from a piece of very pure commercial lead sheathing. A spectroscopic analysis of one of the single crystals showed the presence of 0.005 per cent Bi, 0.0001 per cent Cu and 0.0003 per cent Ag. Preparation.—The Bridgman method of casting single-crystal specimens was used.3 The specimens were cast to the shape and size shown in Fig. 1 (dimensions in Fig. 4c) in a duralumin mold. Molten lead does not stick to duralumin. Fig. 1 shows the mold and the blast flames for heating. After the mold had been heated to the temperature of molten

Jan 1, 1938

By John B. Baker, Bernard B. Betty, H. F. Moore

For several years there has been in progress in the Materials Testing Laboratory of the University of Illinois an investigation of creep and fracture of lead and lead alloys. In the course of this investigation it has been shown that the phenomenon of creep occurs in part at the grain boundaries of lead and lead alloys. To study the occurrence of creep and the development of fracture within crystalline grains, two series of tests of single crystals of lead have been carried out. The first of these, a preliminary series, by Mr. Betty, has been described.l,2 The second, pursued by Mr. Baker for his doctoral dissertation, was carried out under the direction of Professor Moore, with the assistance of Prof. G. L. Clark in the X-ray work, and the cooperation and advice of Mr. Betty. This paper is based on the test data obtained in this second series. Single crystals of a very pure commercial lead have been prepared, some of them tested to measure creep, others tested to fracture under long-continued steady load, and still others tested under cycles of repeated tension. An interpretation of the test data of these single-crystal tests is offered, which is a combination of parts of several well-known theories. Specimens The single-crystal specimens were made from a piece of very pure commercial lead sheathing. A spectroscopic analysis of one of the single crystals showed the presence of 0.005 per cent Bi, 0.0001 per cent Cu and 0.0003 per cent Ag. Preparation.—The Bridgman method of casting single-crystal specimens was used.3 The specimens were cast to the shape and size shown in Fig. 1 (dimensions in Fig. 4c) in a duralumin mold. Molten lead does not stick to duralumin. Fig. 1 shows the mold and the blast flames for heating. After the mold had been heated to the temperature of molten

Jan 1, 1938

By Albert A. Smith

The creep properties of metals have assumed increasing importance in recent years and many investigations have been made on various phases of the problem. In the past year the annual lectures of the Institute of Metals Division1 and the Iron and Steel Division2 were concerned with this subject, and are excellent reviews. For many years the creep properties of lead and lead alloys have been investigated at the Central Research Laboratories of the American Smelting and Refining Co., and it is hoped that the present paper will contribute knowledge of some of the factors that influence creep. Lead, being a metal that recrys-tallizes readily at room temperature, is an excellent material upon which to investigate creep phenomena because of the simplicity of the apparatus needed, and it might be expected that results would apply to some extent to elevated-temperature tests of other metals. Material The creep tests of this investigation were all made on high-purity lead (99.9998+ Pb) in which the only impurity that could be detected by spectrographic and chemical means was approximately 0.0001 per cent Fe. Flat strips, 0.750 in. wide by 0. 100 in. thick, were prepared by extruding 2-in. dia. cast billets at a temperature of 250°C. This gave a material of 2 to 3 mm. average grain size with a tensile strength of j.400 lb. per sq. in. when tested at a straining rate of 5 per cent per minute. With this extremely soft material, great care was necessary in handling the specimens, to avoid distortion and subsequent recrystallization. The creep tests at 30°C. were conducted in a constant-temperature room, specially built for the purpose in the basement of an office building in which there was no moving machinery, and no vibration was detectable under the most severe conditions of shock in the adjacent surroundings. The room was well insulated and heated electrically, control being by means of a de Khotinsky regulator operating a relay. Maximum temperature variation over a period of several years has been ± 1/2°C. Specimens of the extruded strip, 16 in. long, were used for test purposes with no reduced gauge section, thus eliminating any distortion due to machining. The method of clamping and supporting the specimens is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1. The gauge marker for the measurement of extension consisted of an aluminum strip, 0.050 in. thick by 0.75 in. wide, one end of which was ground and sanded to a precise knife-edge and fastened to the specimen by suitable pins. After the strip was fastened in place a fine scratch was inscribed just below the knife-edge by means of a sharp teasing needle. Just below this gauge scratch a short vertical mark was made so that the same point could be located and read each time. Several hundred specimens have been prepared by this method, and it was found that with experi-

Jan 1, 1941

By Albert A. Smith

The creep properties of metals have assumed increasing importance in recent years and many investigations have been made on various phases of the problem. In the past year the annual lectures of the Institute of Metals Division1 and the Iron and Steel Division2 were concerned with this subject, and are excellent reviews. For many years the creep properties of lead and lead alloys have been investigated at the Central Research Laboratories of the American Smelting and Refining Co., and it is hoped that the present paper will contribute knowledge of some of the factors that influence creep. Lead, being a metal that recrys-tallizes readily at room temperature, is an excellent material upon which to investigate creep phenomena because of the simplicity of the apparatus needed, and it might be expected that results would apply to some extent to elevated-temperature tests of other metals. Material The creep tests of this investigation were all made on high-purity lead (99.9998+ Pb) in which the only impurity that could be detected by spectrographic and chemical means was approximately 0.0001 per cent Fe. Flat strips, 0.750 in. wide by 0. 100 in. thick, were prepared by extruding 2-in. dia. cast billets at a temperature of 250°C. This gave a material of 2 to 3 mm. average grain size with a tensile strength of j.400 lb. per sq. in. when tested at a straining rate of 5 per cent per minute. With this extremely soft material, great care was necessary in handling the specimens, to avoid distortion and subsequent recrystallization. The creep tests at 30°C. were conducted in a constant-temperature room, specially built for the purpose in the basement of an office building in which there was no moving machinery, and no vibration was detectable under the most severe conditions of shock in the adjacent surroundings. The room was well insulated and heated electrically, control being by means of a de Khotinsky regulator operating a relay. Maximum temperature variation over a period of several years has been ± 1/2°C. Specimens of the extruded strip, 16 in. long, were used for test purposes with no reduced gauge section, thus eliminating any distortion due to machining. The method of clamping and supporting the specimens is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1. The gauge marker for the measurement of extension consisted of an aluminum strip, 0.050 in. thick by 0.75 in. wide, one end of which was ground and sanded to a precise knife-edge and fastened to the specimen by suitable pins. After the strip was fastened in place a fine scratch was inscribed just below the knife-edge by means of a sharp teasing needle. Just below this gauge scratch a short vertical mark was made so that the same point could be located and read each time. Several hundred specimens have been prepared by this method, and it was found that with experi-

Jan 1, 1941

By Richard F. Miller

Recent studies of creep have made it apparent that plastic deformation may occur in metals under stresses less than the elastic limit as determined from short-time tests. In summarizing conclusions drawn from creep tests by various investigators, Tapselll said: "It is evident that if a material has a true elastic range, the elastic limit must represent the maximum stress for no creep." The presence of a definite elastic limit, represented in single crystals by a critical or threshold shearing stress, is claimed by Schmid2, Elam3 and others who have investigated the plastic deformation of single crystals. However, this "law of critical shearing stress" was determined2 from short-time tests, and the measurement of the deformation was made with apparatus primarily designed to observe large amounts of plastic deformation, not to detect elastic changes. Experimental data recently obtained with highly sensitive instruments by A. W. Hanson4 on zinc and by Podaschewsky5 on rock salt indicate that the elastic range in single crystals is considerably narrower than formerly was supposed. Moreover, a theoretical possibility of permanent deformation, under the influence of even the smallest shear stress in single crystals above a certain temperature (Td), has been developed by G. I. Taylor6. This evidence seemed to warrant an examination of the elastic limit in large single crystals by means of creep tests. The first metal chosen for examination was zinc. AppaRatus The creep-testing apparatus developed for this work is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The extensometer A is sensitive enough to detect changes in length of 3.3 X 10~6 in. per in., and yet can be used into the plastic range without injury to the apparatus. The specimen,

Jan 1, 1936

By B. M. Larsen, T. E. Brower

An increasing amount of attention is being paid to the possible influence of oxygen, in its several modes of occurrence in steel, upon some of the properties of the metal; but clearly investigations along this line are unlikely to yield significant results until reliable analytical methods for the determination of oxygen have been established. This paper presents some results of a study of an improved Ledebur method which aims to determine a definite portion of the oxygen; namely, that which presumably is present in diffusible form in the solid steel. These more or less preliminary results lead us to believe that the oxygen so determined has some significance; their presentation at this time will, we hope, stimulate discussion of, and focus attention upon, certain rather neglected aspects of the problem. Considerable work has been done recently on methods of estimating inclusions and on the vacuum-fusion method for oxygen; with results which, however, are of somewhat questionable significance. It is commonly presumed that the oxygen in a bath of molten steel in a furnace is present partly as a separate phase consisting of suspended particles of oxides or silicates, partly in solution, the latter being probably the more important. Upon addition of a deoxidizer, it reacts with some portion of the dissolved oxygen and precipitates it as additional suspended particles; the oxygen not eliminated in this way, which remains in solution in the liquid steel, may be regarded indifferently either as dissolved oxygen or as dissolved FeO. When the steel is poured, some of the suspended particles rise towards the surface, others remain trapped in the finished steel, appearing as nonmetallic inclusions in amounts corresponding usually to about 0.01 to 0.03 per cent Oz in the steel. The dissolved oxygen may be partly eliminated as CO during freezing of the ingot, but some remains either in solution or in part precipitated as FeO. Finished steels may thus contain oxygen in several forms: (1) In non-metallic inclusions which are probably quite insoluble in the solid metal at all temperatures; (2) in solid solution which at lower temperatures may be supersaturated; (3) in FeO particles produced by relief of this

Jan 1, 1932

By B. M. Larsen, W. E. Shenk, T. E. Brower

Shortly after our previous paper on this subject was printed1 we located a source of uncertainty in the results arising from the unexpected fact that hydrogen slowly reduces silica at 1100" C. in presence of iron, even when the iron nowhere touches the silica, although in absence of iron it does not do so. This difficulty has been completely obviated by the use of a small high-frequency furnace, which enables us to heat the specimen for analysis without raising the temperature of the silica vessel to a point at which any appreciable reduction of the silica glass occurs. We now describe this modification of procedure, and present some typical results obtained with it. For any given specimen of steel, the results are entirely definite and reproducible, but their precise significance is still open to some question, as indeed is true of all methods of oxygen determination SO far developed. Further elucidation of this question is to be expected from the cooperative comparison of the several methods now under way under the auspices of the Bureau of Standards at the instance of the Iron and Steel Division of the A.I.M.E. Apparatus The final form of apparatus we have used is identical with that described and illustrated in our previous paper, except for the substitution for the Globar furnace of a small high-frequency furnace actuated by a vacuum tube oscillator2 0f about 1.5 kw. capacity, and for a slight modification of the containing vessel. This transparent silica vessel is illustrated in Fig. 1 of this paper. Its enlarged portion is about 5 cm. in diameter and 13 cm. long. The silica tube for inlet of hydrogen is fused into this bulb and ends beneath the metal "bucket" holding the steel sample. This sample is in the form of fine millings. The "bucket" is suspended by a platinum wire from the cap of Pyrex glass. The high-frequency

Jan 1, 1934

By Robert T. Pring

In addition to the humanitarian aspects of a dust-control program, certain economic benefits are becoming more fully recognized and now furnish a greater incentive to the mill operator to eliminate the dust from his plant. It is well known that a favorable working environment promotes increased efficiency and improves the morale of employees, with a consequent decrease in labor turnover rates. One progressive mining company' estimates its direct and indirect labor turnover costs at from $40 to $50 per man; for skilled labor, such as machine operators, the cost may approach $100 per man. While these figures may not be typical of every plant, they do indicate a potential savings in operating costs. Dust signifies waste; its elimination decreases maintenance costs of mechanical and electrical equipment; its recovery is often justified from the standpoint of values contained in the collected material, although in large-scale milling operations handling low-grade ore this may not be an important factor, Perhaps the most significant trend in industrial sanitation is that dust-control equipment and procedures are becoming recognized as integral parts of the mill flowsheet. Exhaust ventilating systems are now afforded equal care in design and maintenance to that given other machinery more closely related to the Process. Methods of Dust Control "Dust control" is a general term descriptive of a number of methods used singly or together to prevent particulate atmospheric contamination. These methods are: in order .of their desirability, as follows: 1. Change of process. 2. Isolation of process. 3. Wet methods. 4. Ventilation. a. Local exhaust ventilation. b. General ventilation. 5. Personal respiratory protection. In ore-concentration plants it is seldom prac tical to change a process to eliminate the dust it creates It is possible in some cases to isolate a particular dust-producing operation from the rest of the plant, provided that constant attention on the part of the operators is not required. Frequently water is used in fine crushing and fine grinding, primarily to facilitate the processing of the ore and incidentally to allay the dust produced. Wet methods, however, are not feasible in coarse and secondary crushing operations, because of the relatively great volume of water required in instantly wetting each freshly fractured rock surface. Such quantities of water would entail conveying and storage difficulties. Local exhaust ventilation is the most effective and most commonly applied control measure, wherein directional air currents through the zone of dust production draw the contaminants into a duct system. Unfortunately, only a limited amount of reliable information on exhaust ventilation is available.2-5 of necessity these publications are rather general, being primarily concerned with engineering fundamentals. While many organizations have successfully

Jan 1, 1943

By Robert T. Pring

In addition to the humanitarian aspects of a dust-control program, certain economic benefits are becoming more fully recognized and now furnish a greater incentive to the mill operator to eliminate the dust from his plant. It is well known that a favorable working environment promotes increased efficiency and improves the morale of employees, with a consequent decrease in labor turnover rates. One progressive mining company' estimates its direct and indirect labor turnover costs at from $40 to $50 per man; for skilled labor, such as machine operators, the cost may approach $100 per man. While these figures may not be typical of every plant, they do indicate a potential savings in operating costs. Dust signifies waste; its elimination decreases maintenance costs of mechanical and electrical equipment; its recovery is often justified from the standpoint of values contained in the collected material, although in large-scale milling operations handling low-grade ore this may not be an important factor, Perhaps the most significant trend in industrial sanitation is that dust-control equipment and procedures are becoming recognized as integral parts of the mill flowsheet. Exhaust ventilating systems are now afforded equal care in design and maintenance to that given other machinery more closely related to the Process. Methods of Dust Control "Dust control" is a general term descriptive of a number of methods used singly or together to prevent particulate atmospheric contamination. These methods are: in order .of their desirability, as follows: 1. Change of process. 2. Isolation of process. 3. Wet methods. 4. Ventilation. a. Local exhaust ventilation. b. General ventilation. 5. Personal respiratory protection. In ore-concentration plants it is seldom prac tical to change a process to eliminate the dust it creates It is possible in some cases to isolate a particular dust-producing operation from the rest of the plant, provided that constant attention on the part of the operators is not required. Frequently water is used in fine crushing and fine grinding, primarily to facilitate the processing of the ore and incidentally to allay the dust produced. Wet methods, however, are not feasible in coarse and secondary crushing operations, because of the relatively great volume of water required in instantly wetting each freshly fractured rock surface. Such quantities of water would entail conveying and storage difficulties. Local exhaust ventilation is the most effective and most commonly applied control measure, wherein directional air currents through the zone of dust production draw the contaminants into a duct system. Unfortunately, only a limited amount of reliable information on exhaust ventilation is available.2-5 of necessity these publications are rather general, being primarily concerned with engineering fundamentals. While many organizations have successfully

Jan 1, 1943

By Arthur F. Taggart

This paper proposes two units (believed to be new) for designating, respectively, capacity and efficiency for primary and intermediate crushers. Capacity Operators know that the tonnage of rock that can be put through a particular crusher in a given time depends primarily upon the crusher setting (open setting for jaw and primary gyratory types; closed setting for cones and rolls), and secondarily on the lithological character of the feed, its maximum size, the amount of fines that it carries, its moisture content, and the method of feeding. The proposed capacity formula states a relationship between all of these factors in one empirical equation, as follows: Tr = TR80K'K" [I] in which Tr, called "reduction tons per hour" is the new capacity unit; T = tons of feed per hour requiring crushing; R80 = "80-per cent reduction ratio"; and K, K', and K" are constants that approximate quantitatively lithological character, moisture content and method of feeding, respectively. T is the hourly weight of material in the feed that is coarser than the coarsest discharge of the crusher. (For marked departures from the normal specific-gravity range—2.5 to 2.7—T should be adjusted to corresponding volumes.) In the crushers under consideration, discharge from the crushing zone is limited by the minimum dimension of a particle. Passage of the particle through a square-mesh screen is limited by its intermediate dimension. Sheppardl has shown that the ratio of maximum: intermediate: minimum average dimensions of broken rock fragments may be taken as about 1.5:=:0,6 for nonslabby rocks such as are normally crushed, while for slabby rocks, such as thin-bedded sedimentaries, foliated schists and gneisses, and the blocky metamorphics, the ratio is of the average order I.3:I:o.3, with the possibility of an even smaller relative value for the thickness. Gaudin2 finds the corresponding ratio for —I50 + 200-mesh pyrite to be I.4: I:0.6. The hourly tonnage of crusher-plant feed, therefore, should be diminished by the amount thereof that would pass a square-mesh screen of which the aperture is S times the crusher setting, where S is a shape factor with the value 1.7 for rocks that break exceptionally cubic; 2 for ores and rocks that exhibit no appreciabie tendency to slabbiness; and 2.5 to 3, or, in exceptional cases, even larger, when the tendency to slabbiness is marked. R80 is the quotient of the theoretical square-mesh aperture that would pass 80 per cent of the feed, divided by the aperture that would pass 80 per cent of the product. It is best determined from screen tests. If, as is usual with primary crushers, a sizing test of feed is not available, the

Jan 1, 1943

By Arthur F. Taggart

This paper proposes two units (believed to be new) for designating, respectively, capacity and efficiency for primary and intermediate crushers. Capacity Operators know that the tonnage of rock that can be put through a particular crusher in a given time depends primarily upon the crusher setting (open setting for jaw and primary gyratory types; closed setting for cones and rolls), and secondarily on the lithological character of the feed, its maximum size, the amount of fines that it carries, its moisture content, and the method of feeding. The proposed capacity formula states a relationship between all of these factors in one empirical equation, as follows: Tr = TR80K'K" [I] in which Tr, called "reduction tons per hour" is the new capacity unit; T = tons of feed per hour requiring crushing; R80 = "80-per cent reduction ratio"; and K, K', and K" are constants that approximate quantitatively lithological character, moisture content and method of feeding, respectively. T is the hourly weight of material in the feed that is coarser than the coarsest discharge of the crusher. (For marked departures from the normal specific-gravity range—2.5 to 2.7—T should be adjusted to corresponding volumes.) In the crushers under consideration, discharge from the crushing zone is limited by the minimum dimension of a particle. Passage of the particle through a square-mesh screen is limited by its intermediate dimension. Sheppardl has shown that the ratio of maximum: intermediate: minimum average dimensions of broken rock fragments may be taken as about 1.5:=:0,6 for nonslabby rocks such as are normally crushed, while for slabby rocks, such as thin-bedded sedimentaries, foliated schists and gneisses, and the blocky metamorphics, the ratio is of the average order I.3:I:o.3, with the possibility of an even smaller relative value for the thickness. Gaudin2 finds the corresponding ratio for —I50 + 200-mesh pyrite to be I.4: I:0.6. The hourly tonnage of crusher-plant feed, therefore, should be diminished by the amount thereof that would pass a square-mesh screen of which the aperture is S times the crusher setting, where S is a shape factor with the value 1.7 for rocks that break exceptionally cubic; 2 for ores and rocks that exhibit no appreciabie tendency to slabbiness; and 2.5 to 3, or, in exceptional cases, even larger, when the tendency to slabbiness is marked. R80 is the quotient of the theoretical square-mesh aperture that would pass 80 per cent of the feed, divided by the aperture that would pass 80 per cent of the product. It is best determined from screen tests. If, as is usual with primary crushers, a sizing test of feed is not available, the

Jan 1, 1943

By John W. Bell

In the introduction to an excellent pamphlet, John Gross' makes the following statements: Although marked progress has been made along mechanical lines, the theory and conception of underlying principles have not advanced so rapidly. This lack of advance in theory may be attributed to the unfortunate situation resulting from the controversy as to whether the Rittinger or Kick law is applicable to crushing. Many pages of the technical literature are burdened with theoretical discussions in favor of one or the other of these laws, which have tended to cloud rather than to clear the atmosphere. Realizing the situation, the Milling Committee of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, through its secretary, E. A. Hersam, studied the milling industry and, because of the apparently hopeless lack of agreement in the Kick versus Rittinger dispute (5, 13, 14, 16, 18. 19. 21, 22, 23, 24, 30, 34). concluded that a foundation lor the theory of crushing was of primary importance. The numbers in the paragraph quoted refer to papers listed by Mr. Gross in his Bibliography on Crushing and Grinding.I One is obliged to infer that these papers show "hopeless lack of agreement in the Kick versus Rittinger dispute." No. 22 is a paper by Arthur 0. Gates2 and No. 23 is one by the writer.3 Employing the subject matter contained in papers Nos. 22 and 232,3 the writer will show that their authors formulated identical conclusions, based solely on experimental evidence. Exactly the same defect in the Stadler hypothesis was described in each of the two papers, although entirely different experimental methods were employed in uncovering it. Both of the authors, independently, formulated the conclusion that Rittinger's was a true hypothesis and Stadler's false. The evidence in a third paper4 will be employed to prove that Stadler's hypothesis, when examined experimentally, is worthless. Stadler's Hypothesis Worthless It is the writer's opinion that the evidence available in 1915 and the corroborating evidence in 1916 was amply sufficient to eliminate the need for any further consideration of Stadler's hypothesis. Certainly the evidence produced in 1918 dealt this hypothesis its coup de grace. It follows, therefore, that in the year 1918 there was only one credible hypothesis left—the Rittinger hypothesis. Gates' Opinion What information is available in Mr. Gates' paper?2 His conclusions are not consecutively summarized, none the less they are perfectly clear. On page 876, Gates says, and it is a very significant utterance: But my results show, among other things. that many more of Stadler's energy units are obtained per foot-pound-applied in coarse than in finc crushing. This suggests a doubt as to the correctness of his unit, since one would expect a foot-pound-applied to produce the same number of "energy units," whether the feed and resulting product were coarse or fine. When Rittinger's theory is applied, the number of mesh-tons (my unit of surface produced) is

Jan 1, 1943

By John W. Bell

In the introduction to an excellent pamphlet, John Gross' makes the following statements: Although marked progress has been made along mechanical lines, the theory and conception of underlying principles have not advanced so rapidly. This lack of advance in theory may be attributed to the unfortunate situation resulting from the controversy as to whether the Rittinger or Kick law is applicable to crushing. Many pages of the technical literature are burdened with theoretical discussions in favor of one or the other of these laws, which have tended to cloud rather than to clear the atmosphere. Realizing the situation, the Milling Committee of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, through its secretary, E. A. Hersam, studied the milling industry and, because of the apparently hopeless lack of agreement in the Kick versus Rittinger dispute (5, 13, 14, 16, 18. 19. 21, 22, 23, 24, 30, 34). concluded that a foundation lor the theory of crushing was of primary importance. The numbers in the paragraph quoted refer to papers listed by Mr. Gross in his Bibliography on Crushing and Grinding.I One is obliged to infer that these papers show "hopeless lack of agreement in the Kick versus Rittinger dispute." No. 22 is a paper by Arthur 0. Gates2 and No. 23 is one by the writer.3 Employing the subject matter contained in papers Nos. 22 and 232,3 the writer will show that their authors formulated identical conclusions, based solely on experimental evidence. Exactly the same defect in the Stadler hypothesis was described in each of the two papers, although entirely different experimental methods were employed in uncovering it. Both of the authors, independently, formulated the conclusion that Rittinger's was a true hypothesis and Stadler's false. The evidence in a third paper4 will be employed to prove that Stadler's hypothesis, when examined experimentally, is worthless. Stadler's Hypothesis Worthless It is the writer's opinion that the evidence available in 1915 and the corroborating evidence in 1916 was amply sufficient to eliminate the need for any further consideration of Stadler's hypothesis. Certainly the evidence produced in 1918 dealt this hypothesis its coup de grace. It follows, therefore, that in the year 1918 there was only one credible hypothesis left—the Rittinger hypothesis. Gates' Opinion What information is available in Mr. Gates' paper?2 His conclusions are not consecutively summarized, none the less they are perfectly clear. On page 876, Gates says, and it is a very significant utterance: But my results show, among other things. that many more of Stadler's energy units are obtained per foot-pound-applied in coarse than in finc crushing. This suggests a doubt as to the correctness of his unit, since one would expect a foot-pound-applied to produce the same number of "energy units," whether the feed and resulting product were coarse or fine. When Rittinger's theory is applied, the number of mesh-tons (my unit of surface produced) is

Jan 1, 1943

By Will H. Coghill, Fred D. DeVaney, R. G. O’Meara

The size of ball mills in the ore-dressing industry has increased from about 4 ft. in each dimension to 10.5 ft. in diameter by 8 ft. in length. In the cement industry they are as long as 45 ft. Plainly the trend has been toward larger mills. The common belief is that the big mills economize in floor space and first cost, but the advantage with respect to friction has not been clearly defined. In the ball-mill studies at Rolla, Mo., laboratory mills as small as 2 by 2 ft. have been found as efficient in terms of the amount of grinding per unit of net power as mills 6 by 4 or 6 by 12 ft. Therefore, if supremacy can be claimed for the big mills, advantage must come from other sources. The advantage to be considered here is reduced loss by friction or dead load. In the study to determine whether big mills have relatively less loss by friction the commercial catalogs were used for fundamental figures. The dimensions and weights of Table 1 are taken from the catalogs (the last line gives data on a Rolla laboratory mill). The net power—that is, the power expended within the mill for grinding—is calculated by a new formula.' The assumed speeds are each at 70 per cent of their theoretical critical speeds, and the mills are loaded to the center with balls. In other words, they are assumed to be working under analogous conditions and are set for good grinding. In the last column the ratio B: A shows that the larger commercial mills are lighter per unit of net power than the smaller mills, and more of the motor output should therefore go into grinding. The laboratory mill seems to have some advantage over the larger mills; it would be expected to be light because it has no liners.

Jan 1, 1935

By W. H. Coghill, A. M. Gow, M. Guggenheim, A. B. Campbell

The object of this paper is to discuss the fundamental principles of ball milling and to present some observations which have been made in laboratory and plant investigations. The discussion will be limited to wet grinding of ores in cylindrical mills, but doubtless many of the principles involved will be equally applicable in the other fields of fine grinding in which mills of the same type are used. In the concentrators of the United States there are about 650 ball, rod, or pebble mills, operating or ready to operate, and these have about 100,000 connected horsepower. For grinding in cement plants there is about three times this connected horsepower, and other industries have an unestimated amount, all used for the general type of grinding that is to be discussed here. It is true that these figures do not represent stupendous amounts of power, but when one considers that ball milling is often the ((bottle neck" in a concentrator and that it often accounts for the largest single item in the cost sheet, the importance of a comprehensive understanding of the principles of ball milling can be appreciated. Much of the past literature devoted to the subject has been concerned with the Kick-Rittinger dispute over evaluating grinding, or with dissertations on ball paths and the closely allied impact versus attrition hypotheses, or with the exclusive consideration of certain specific variables, such as mill speed or circulating load, irrespective of the other factors in operation. Such subjects may be dismissed with but little discussion in what may be called, by comparison, a new philosophy in the study of ball milling. Briefly, this '(new philosophy" consists of using power as an index of the mill operation, and investigating grinding from the standpoint of set and induced varisbles, with emphasis on the latter.

Jan 1, 1935

By Walter L. Maxson, Fred C. Bond

There is more information contained in a screen analysis than is ordinarily recognized, and there is an increasing need for methods of making this additional information easily available. As more comprehensive studies of crushing and grinding are made, and as the possibilities of decreased expense and increased extraction through a closer control of grinding are explored, methods of interpreting screen analyses assume an importance which they have not had heretofore. The information commonly desired, which can be determined from a complete and carefully made screen analysis, includes: (1) the size distribution of the material passing the finest screen, (2) the presence of a hard grinding fraction, (3) the location of natural grain sizes, (4) the presence of different materials with markedly different grinding characteristics, (5) the presence and amount of finely divided material such as clay, which is merely unlocked in grinding, and (6) the total surface area of the ground product. It is necessary to know the fundamental law of size distribution of a homogeneous material in order to correctly resolve a screen-analysis curve, and to understand the variations and anomalies that a sample may exhibit when compared with the ideal curve. This fundamental law was developed by Gaudin,1 who showed that when the logarithm of the per cent weight retained on any screen and passing the next larger screen in the Tyler standard screen scale was plotted against the logarithm of the screen aperture the resulting curve for the finer sizes of a homogeneous crusher or grinding-mill product would be a straight line. Gross and Zimmerley2 experimentally confirmed Rittinger's law, which states that the useful work done in crushing a homogeneous material is directly proportional to the new surface area produced; and showed that in the larger screen sizes resulting from impact crushing a

Jan 1, 1935

By F. Cadena, Fred C. Bond, Walter L. Maxon

Grinding is one of the major problems in present-day milling practice, and in many cases, it represents one of the main items of expense. It becomes necessary from time to time, to compare grinding practice in one plant with that in another plant, and in making such comparisons, it would be very desirable were there available accepted standards of grinding resistance for the materials involved. Such a set of grinding constants would also be of considerable value in planning new grinding installations. There have been some tests published, notably those of Lennox,' which have been generally cited as a basis for such comparisons. Most of the tests made have been based upon open-circuit grinding, in which a weighed sample of the ore was crushed to pass a certain mesh, and was then ground under certain conditions, either wet or dry. Grinding was continued until a certain desired fineness was attained, and the comparisons based on the grinding time, or the samples were all ground for a certain specified length of time and comparison based upon the screen analysis of the products. Such methods have been acceptable where the ore was to be ground in open circuit. However, in modern milling practice, many grinding problems involve closed circuits wherein the oversize returns to the mill and a large circulating load builds up. A method of testing that does not take the circulating load into consideration might yield results quite different from those to be expected in practice, because the minerals in the ore that offer maximum resistance to grinding will accumulate in the circulating load up to an equilibrium value. Thus the nature of the ore charge in the mill at any instant may differ greatly from that of the new feed, with a consequent error in the rate of grinding determined by such a method. For example, let it be assumed that an ore to be tested consists of equal parts of difficult grinding mineral and easy grinding mineral. This is to be compared with an ore used as a standard, and consisting of minerals which are all of about the same grindability. If a comparison

Jan 1, 1935

By A. W. Farenwald

Fine grinding cannot be accomplished in machines in which the component parts move in definite and restricted paths with respect to each other. Such machines are crushers. A "grinding mill" may be defined as any machine in which the crushing elements are free to make direct contact with each other but are kept from doing so by the sand to be crushed. Such a machine must possess the ability to give numerous contacts per unit of time. Upon consideration, one will see that this definition nearly includes the old Chilean and Huntington mills, the "rolls" and the stamp mill. It definitely includes all forms of ball, pebble and rod mills. The ideal (perfeet) grinding mill may be defined as one in which the crushing elements are identical in shape and substance and possess perfect freedom of motion with respect to one another. Of the mills mentioned, only the ball and pebble mills come under this definition of the ideal mill. Even the rod mill fails to get a place under this definition of the perfect mill. Modern Fine-grinding Mill In current practice fine grinding is performed in rotating cylinders1 partially loaded with hard objects, the agitation of which accomplishes the crushing or grinding of the rock or ore. The hard objects called "grinding media" nearly always are steel or some other alloy of iron. Hard rock (flint pebbles) have been and still are used to a limited extent. When steel is used as the grinding substance, the form is the sphere or "ball." The combination of rotating cylinder and steel-ball grinding media is termed "ball mill." Shapes other than the sphere have been tried. Cylindrical grinding media also have been and are now used in grinding mills. When cylindrical media are used the mill is termed "rod mill." Mechanical Elements of Grinding Mills The mechanical elements of a grinding mill arc: (1) the rotating element, (2) the grinding media, (3) the rotating means.

Jan 1, 1935

By John Gross

The study of the energy used in crushing operations has advanced from a period of perplexing confusion to one of greater clarity. Only within the last few years has any true conception of the work in crushing been possible, owing to the chaotic state of theoretical knowledge. For some 20 years a controversy existed between those advocating the Rittinger law and those advocating the Kick law. The Kick law now appears to be definitely out of the picture, and crushing efficiency may be based confidently on the Rittinger theory. There also seems to be a generally crystallized conception as to the meaning and nature of sub-sieve material. There is needed a simple, direct method for determining surface on a crushed ore product, and also a simple and accepted method for size determination on minus 400-mesh material. The Crushing Law The Rittinger(l)‡ theory of crushing was advanced in 1867 and the Kick(3) theory in 1885. While the Rittinger theory might have been accepted without much question and actually had been accepted by many investigators, a serious doubt as to its validity was raised by Stadler(10) who upon purely theoretical grounds proclaimed the Kick "law" as the true law of crushing. According to Rittinger the energy required in successive steps in reduction increases geometrically, while according to Kick the energy increases arithmetically. These "laws" therefore are at variance, and the establishment of the true law was recognized as of first importance. Many simple experiments have been made to demonstrate the application of the Rittinger theory to crushing, and it would seem that its simplicity should favor its acceptance. Experimental evidence, however, was not convincing, as no reliable data could be obtained on the finer material from a crushing or grinding operation. Gates,(13) Bell,(19)

Jan 1, 1935

By R. G. Hall

The method of crushing rock by throwing with violence against a resisting surface does not differ in principle from the method of dropping it from a height upon a specially arranged surface. The former is applied in various mills now in use, especially those for reduction of the softer rocks and minerals. The latter is the principle of the Hadsel mill. Probably not new, but Hadsel's method of approach is at least novel, and applicable to hard as well as softer rocks. An elevating wheel raises the rock and drops it from a height upon a hard metal plate or series of plates. The first commercial mill consisted of two units, one on each overhung end of a horizontal shaft, driven by a gear train from a 100-hp. motor. A description of this machine, then in operation at a mine at Georgetown, Calif., was printed in the Engineering and Mining Journal (April, 1932) and need not be repeated here. That machine took mine run ores of a size up to 12 in. and successfully produced a pulp of approximately minus 60 mesh, suitable for flotation. The mills were each 24 ft. in diameter and 3 ft. in width of face. The elevating buckets were formed of steel plates, extending inward from the periphery, inclined to the tangent at 75". This plate was 3 ft., the width of the wheel, and 2 ft. deep. One side of the wheel towards the carrying shaft was closed, the other was open except for the rim plate enclosing the ends of the buckets and extending inward about 5 ft. on the radius. About a 90" arc was immersed in a concrete tank, which acted as a classifier. The breaking plates, seven in number, were carried cantilever through the open side of the wheel. The lowest plate was placed just above the water level. The illustrations (Figs. 1 and 2) make plain the general arrangements. The plant set-up was somewhat crude but worked well enough to demonstrate the weak points of the mill. In this operation it was early apparent that, considering all the factors from delivery of the mine run ore to the final pulp for flotation or cyanida-tion, the Hadsel mill offered possibilities of great simplicity of plant and savings in power. Continuous operation developed mechanical weaknesses, some of which were readily discernible in details of design, some became more apparent as operations progressed.

Jan 1, 1935