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By Gerard A. Flierman

INTRODUCTION There is a lot of discussion about the relative merits of sinter and pellets as components of a BF-burden. Many people claim that sinter is to be preferred and that the percentage of pellets in the burden must be restricted to 20%. During BF-trials in IJmuiden various amounts of pellets having various basicities were tried. It was concluded that there were no significant differences in furnace performance. Consequently the choice between sinter and pellets must be based on the local manufacturing costs (1). Table 1 gives a summary of the pellet experience in IJmuiden. [ ] Because the BF-trials were relatively short, a survey of published BF-operating data has been undertaken to investigate if differences between a sinter and pellet based BF- practice could be found. The comparison of BF-operating results has been restricted to coke rate and productivity.

Jan 1, 1977

By J. D. Dixon

Procedures are given for calculating stresses in underground tunnel supports which accounts both for the structural behavior of the support and that of the adjacent rock mass. Stresses in the support are caused by service loads and rock reactions. Service loads are due to rock pressures, hydrostatic and hydraulic pressures, selfweight of the support, or other utilitarian-type loads. Rock reactions, equal and opposite those in the support, are due to the deformational interaction that results as service loads deform the tunnel support against the adjacent rock mass. The procedures developed for solving this problem are an application of matrix structural analysis. The principles involved in this method allow for the consideration of the deformable characteristics of most tunnel support systems and an iterative solution procedure is applied to determine the areas of support-rock interaction. Numerical results of example problems are given.

Jan 1, 1972

By Harry Roe

THE power drag scrapers and the slackline cableway excavator have been called "long-range excavators." Broadly, their field of usefulness is restricted to work in which their long range of action permits them to operate economically, and which other, possibly more conventional, excavating units cannot do. Both of these machines dig or lift material and transport it to a clumping point. They combine these two functions in a single machine, nearly always in a single straight-line motion. FIG. I.-SIMPLE FORM OF POWER DRAG SCRAPER. The purpose of this paper is to examine the important features that distinguish the machines in this group from each other, as well as from other groups.

Jan 1, 1937

By E. W. Schilling

THE separation of hematite by hysteretic repulsion was first brought to the attention of the public in 1922, by W. M. Mordey1. Three years later another paper2 was published and after another four years a third paper3 appeared in the South African publications. Certain data were lacking in these papers. In order to continue the work intelligently a knowledge of the shapes of the hysteresis curves for certain minerals was very necessary. This information was not available until the present year4. It was known that reduction of certain ores rendered them amenable to this process of separation but definite data in the form of curves showing exactly the effect of such treatment were lacking. Prob-ably our best source of information on the separation of minerals by the use of alternating-current magnetic fields today is the reports from the U. S. Bureau of Mines 5-7. It is not the purpose of this paper to tell the reader in detail how to make a commercial separator. Experimental models have recently been made 7 and the results obtained have been so good that it is the opinion of the authors that the public will soon take an active interest in the subject and its development. The writers have constructed a separator that is considerably different in construction and operation from the two types described by Mr. Davis. This will be described, but the real purpose of this paper is to outline certain experiments and give curves showing data that have a fundamental bearing upon the practical construction of a separator of this type.

Jan 1, 1935

By W. W. Anderson

A formula for quantitative efficiency is proposed, in which the efficiency value is a function of the improperly distributed material at the gravity of separation effected by the cleaning equipment. The misplaced material is expressed as a percentage of the total material discharged from the equipment. Numerous examples are given, demonstrating application of the formula to various types of separation, including multiple-product separations.

Jan 2, 1950

By John F. Shaw

The Denver Mining Research Center headquartered at Denver, Colo., is typical of the new research units recently activated as a result of increased emphasis by the U. S. Bureau of Mines on research concerned with metal and nonmetal (except mineral fuels) ore extraction. The Denver Center, together with the recently established Minneapolis Research Center and the Offices of Mining Research at Reno and Spokane, and the older, well-known Applied Physics Research Laboratory at College Park, Md., share the responsibility for the comprehensive mining research program. The Denver Center specializes in two areas of research: (1) The development of engineering principles and mathematical techniques applicable to exploration, development and operational problems in mining, and (2) the study of rock mechanics as applied to ground control. The first area presently includes three categories: research on methods of ore sampling, mine-systems analysis, and applications of statistics to problems of mineral exploration. The second area emphasizes research in two main categories: laboratory investigations designed to develop a fuller understanding of how rock be- haves under the loads imposed by mining, and field investigations to evaluate stress-strength relation- ships in full-scale, operating mines.

Jan 3, 1962

By Howard Smith

FOR several years this Institute has recorded in its TRANSACTIONS the various discoveries of potash? in America, and the successive stages in the development of an independent domestic potash industry. This paper is intended primarily to continue the record through the year 1935. In retrospect it is not inappropriate to note that public interest aroused in 1910 resulted in the production of some 1090 tons of pure potash in 1915, as a small beginning in the domestic inorganic potash industry, and that the infant industry thus begun reaches its majority this year, following a record production in 1935 of about 600,000 tons of potash salts and exports to no less than 22 foreign countries, including six countries in Europe. This production, with an estimated 200,000 tons of pure potash, may be compared with a production in 1934 of 430,157 tons with an equivalent of 144,342 tons of pure potash.

Jan 1, 1936

By Persifor Frazer

The structure of the Caucasus as made out by the Russian geologists and represented in Pamphlet XXII. of the Livret Guide, by Loewinson-Lessing, is an overturned anticlillal from Lars to Passanour; a distorted synclinal with monoclinal dip from Passanour to near the summit of the anti-Caucasus chain south of Tiflis; and another overturned auticlinal from this point to Erivan on the Armenian border. Ng—Neogene; Pg— Paleogene ; J,—Upper Junssic (and Cretaceolls in other parts of the chain) ; J1—Lias ; Pz—Paleozoic schists plicated ; yd—massives of granite and diabase; —porphyries ; —trachytes, andesites; Pz, Mz, plicated sedimentary deposits of Armenia. The details of the geology, however, are extremely complicated—so much so, indeed, as to make it impossible for any set of men to have worked them out in a single season. For 'the structure as a whole it will be necessary, therefore, to rely implicitly upon the labors of the Russian Geological Survey, and it is intended here only to state these, and to record a few notes supplementing them. Setting out from Wladikavkaz in the early morning, we pass

Jan 1, 1899

By Samuel S. Wyer

The magnitude and economic importance of the problem of correctly valuing natural-gas leaseholds become evident when me consider that: (a) Natural gas is handled in 55 per cent. of the gas distributing plants in the United States. (b) Present known natural-gas acreage forms 47 per cent. of the total known mineral-land acreage in the United States. (c) Five acres of land are now required to protect and maintain continuous service to each of the 2,000,000 domestic natural-gas consumers in the United States. (d) The cost of acquiring and maintaining this acreage of an expendible resource represents a substantial part of the cost of the natural-gas service to the consumer. (e) "The right of a citizen by means of his ownership of or his mining leases on land to draw gas from beneath its surface is property and sometimes valuable property."' A large number of other court decisions have established the basic legal principle that the right to drill for gas within a given area constitutes an interest in the land itself, and is necessarily an exclusive property right. Definition of Vested Interests or Rights "Vested interests are economic interests which are legally recognized to be such that they cannot be impaired by public action, directly or indirectly, without indemnification. Vested interests are largely property interests. The recognition of an interest as a vested interest gives it some of the attributes of property, and by American courts it would be comprised in their very inclusive concept of property. Otherwise than through property, vested interests generally arise through contract."

Jan 1, 1917

By L. P. (Les) Haldane

Building a small underground coal mine is a risky endeavor, especially in the recent economic environment. ARCO's Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine, located in western Colorado, was designed and built as a small expandable speculation mine with initial production to be sold on the spot market, so it was very important to minimize capital exposure. This mine, operated by West Elk Coal Company, a subsidiary of Anaconda Minerals, was successfully built under budget at $35 million, and has been operating successfully since completion of construction in late 1982. The initial planning phase of a project is extremely important for testing the economic and technical feasibility of a proposal. The construction phase, by contrast, carries with it significant cost and quality risks which can relate to long-term economic and operating problems and therefore directly affect the viability of the project. This paper discusses several different aspects of the cost overrun risk involved in building an underground coal mine, and how attempts were made to minimize these risks during construction of the Mt. Gunnison Mine. Good people, construction planning, and execution are essential factors in assuring a quality, cost-effective project, with corresponding risk minimization during the construction phase and long term favorable implications for the operating phase.

Jan 1, 1985

By E. T. Turkdogan, L. S. Darken

Using the quadratic formalism, thermodynamic equations are derived for the composition dependence of the heat and entropy of mixing. The applicability of these equations is confirmed by available experimental data on the activities and heats of mixing for binary metallic systems of Group ZZB elements. In a recent paper arkeen' introduced a quadratic formalism describing the composition dependence of the activity coefficient in the terminal regions of binary metallic solutions. That is, in the terminal region, which may extend to as much as 60 at. pct, the logarithm of the activity coefficient, log y,, of component 2 is a linear function of (1 - N,)' where N2 is the atom fraction of component 2. Similarly, for the other component, log yl is a linear function of (1 - N,)'. A number of iron-base binary liquid alloys were shown to obey this quadratic formalism. arkeen' extended this formalism also to any corner of a ternary system and showed that the activity coefficients of the components 1, 2 and 3 (1 is taken as the solvent) can be represented by quadratic terms involving five parameters, four of the binaries and one for the ternary system. Numerous examples given by arkeen' demonstrated the general applicability of the quadratic formalism to iron-base systems over a wide composition range. In this paper further examples are given of binary liquid systems (Group IIB elements, Zn, Cd, and Hg) and of several solid solutions, again demonstrating the appropriateness of this concept. A further purpose of this paper is to extend the quadratic formalism to the enthalpy and excess entropy of binary metallic solutions and to test the equations so found using available experimental data. QUADRATIC FORMALISM FOR HEATS AND ENTROPIES OF MIXING OF BINARY METALLIC SOLUTIONS The following equations, reproduced from Darken's paper, are for the two terminal regions of binary systems. at infinite dilution and a's are temperature dependent parameters to be determined from the experimental data. Although the quadratic formalism is an assumed representation of the data, Eqs. [I] to [4] are thermo-dynamically consistent with the Gibbs-Duhem relation and satisfy Raoult's and Henry's laws as limiting cases. As pointed out previously,' the following form of the Gibbs-Duhem equation facilitates the integration in general but particularly in regions I and 11, where each of the derivatives is constant. The partial molar enthalpy of solution i, (and i; the value of i, at infinite dilution) are related to the activity coefficients y, and y," by the thermodynamic relation Differentiating Eq. [l ] with respect to 1/T and substituting the above thermodynamic relation gives for region (I) It is reasonable to assume that over a temperature range of experimental interest, the enthalpy of mixing is essentially independent of temperature, implying from Eq. [7] that the derivative da,,/d(l/) is also independent of temperature. On the basis of this argument, the temperature dependence of a has the form where £ and S have the units of enthalpy and entropy respectively; they are characteristic parameters for a terminal region of a binary system, e.g. for region (I), C12, S12 and for region (II), d:,,, S2,. Using this equation gives for dff ,/ d(l/), From Eqs. [7] and [9] an expre_ssion is obtained for the composition dependence of L,. Similar calculations are made for El and the results are summarized below for the two terminal regions. For region (I), The corresponding expressions for the molar heat of solution, AHM, are readily obtained from the above equations for the two terminal regions: For region (I),

Jan 1, 1969

By W. B. Stephenson

In the pumping of sands, slurries and slimes, practices developed over the years are the real keystones of 'successful operation. These practices are necessarily based on modifications of familiar theories. Practical methods used in the solution of problems involving the pumping of materials are set forth in the following discussion. Basic Requirements To pump sands and slurries economically, a few basic requirements must be met by the pumping system as a whole. A pipe-line velocity must be established that will move the fluid mixture throughout the entire system without any possibility of the solids settling out. To accomplish this, the velocity of flow must be slightly in excess of the critical velocity of the mixture. The critical velocity of a mixture varies from 3 ft. per sec. to 18 ft. per sec., depending on the screen analysis, concentration, and specific gravity of the solids in the mixture. Most tailings are pumped at a minimum velocity of 4 ft. per sec. if they include slimes, whereas the pipe lines of sand and gravel dredges require velocities as high as 18 ft. per second. A number of articles have been written on the determination of the minimum velocities required to maintain solids in suspension. Studies have also been made on the friction and pumping heads developed when handling solids in suspension.1-4 Our experience so far has shown that, within the normal operating limits of a pumping system, the friction factor follows more nearly the basis described by Howard,' who says, among his conclusions: "... values of f (friction factor) . . . will decrease with an increase in velocity." This conclusion is borne out by our actual experience. When the velocity in a pipe line is not sufficient to keep the solids in suspension, the total friction head' is greater than when the velocity is increased to a point where the solids are in suspension. A slight increase in the volume of feed to the pump and a slight increase in the pump speed are usually all that is necessary to put the system in balance. Maintaining Constant Volume Within reasonable limits, the volume of mixture to be handled through a pipe line should be held constant, so that the required velocity will be provided at all times. There are several ways in which this can be accomplished. The commonest is to provide a sump of sufficient capacity to take care of slight surges in the volume of mixture being fed to the pumping systen]. This sump, however, should not be as large as a settling chamber. The use of a float-controlled, fresh-water make-up valve in a sump will guarantee a constant volume. Where variations in volume are slight,

Jan 1, 1947

By W. B. Stephenson

In the pumping of sands, slurries and slimes, practices developed over the years are the real keystones of 'successful operation. These practices are necessarily based on modifications of familiar theories. Practical methods used in the solution of problems involving the pumping of materials are set forth in the following discussion. Basic Requirements To pump sands and slurries economically, a few basic requirements must be met by the pumping system as a whole. A pipe-line velocity must be established that will move the fluid mixture throughout the entire system without any possibility of the solids settling out. To accomplish this, the velocity of flow must be slightly in excess of the critical velocity of the mixture. The critical velocity of a mixture varies from 3 ft. per sec. to 18 ft. per sec., depending on the screen analysis, concentration, and specific gravity of the solids in the mixture. Most tailings are pumped at a minimum velocity of 4 ft. per sec. if they include slimes, whereas the pipe lines of sand and gravel dredges require velocities as high as 18 ft. per second. A number of articles have been written on the determination of the minimum velocities required to maintain solids in suspension. Studies have also been made on the friction and pumping heads developed when handling solids in suspension.1-4 Our experience so far has shown that, within the normal operating limits of a pumping system, the friction factor follows more nearly the basis described by Howard,' who says, among his conclusions: "... values of f (friction factor) . . . will decrease with an increase in velocity." This conclusion is borne out by our actual experience. When the velocity in a pipe line is not sufficient to keep the solids in suspension, the total friction head' is greater than when the velocity is increased to a point where the solids are in suspension. A slight increase in the volume of feed to the pump and a slight increase in the pump speed are usually all that is necessary to put the system in balance. Maintaining Constant Volume Within reasonable limits, the volume of mixture to be handled through a pipe line should be held constant, so that the required velocity will be provided at all times. There are several ways in which this can be accomplished. The commonest is to provide a sump of sufficient capacity to take care of slight surges in the volume of mixture being fed to the pumping systen]. This sump, however, should not be as large as a settling chamber. The use of a float-controlled, fresh-water make-up valve in a sump will guarantee a constant volume. Where variations in volume are slight,

Jan 1, 1947

By John Goheen

CONSIDERABLE work has been done in developing a pyrometer to measure the temperature of molten brasses, bronzes, and aluminum in the crucible. On account of the high melting points and the amount of zinc and sulfurous fumes given off from molten brasses, the conditions are somewhat severe for a thermocouple of standard design; but satisfactory results are obtained with a portable pyrometer, 3 ft. (0.9 m.) of connecting lead wire, and a special 5-ft. nickel-nickel chromium thermocouple, composed of rods ¼ in. (6.35 mm.) in diameter. The lower 12 or 24 in., as desired, may be made detachable so that new tips may be connected at little trouble or expense. The portable instrument need not be of the extreme high-resistance type, as the movable parts of the galvanometer of a lower resistance instrument may be better constructed to withstand the continuous handling such an instrument receives. Platinum-platinum rhodium thermocouples, protected with porcelain and graphite tubes, have been used, but the lag in registering the temperature is too great. It has been found that the range of temperature for various brasses is as follows: Red brasses 2200-2250° F. (1205-1234° C.) Yellow brasses 2250-2400° F. (1234-1318° C.) Bronzes 2300-2550° F. (1260-1400° C.)

Jan 11, 1921

By T. B. Crowe

MucH has been written upon the precipitation of metals from cyanide Solution by zinc. We often read of the many factors that influence precipitation, such as zinc surface, purity of zinc, percentage of lead, temperature of solutions, strength of solutions in cyanide or alkali, etc. -Little do, we hear, however, of the part that oxygen plays in precipitation. Caldecottl says: "As the dissolving of gold is essentially an oxidation process, so its precipitation is one of reduction." All who have studied or worked with cyanide solutions will agree that Caldecott's statement is true.' . In the cyanide work in the mills of the Portland Gold Mining Co., we have always found oxygen to be the greatest enemy to precipitation. Oxygen Antagonistic to Good Precipitation A few years ago, while making some experiments on the effect of pressure upon the dissolving rate of gold from our ores, to prove a point, I made some bottle tests under vacuum. The results were surprising, and showed that under vacuum practically no gold dissolved, which confirmed my belief that Elsner's equation was true and also led me to investigate the amount of dissolved air carried by solutions at atmospheric pressure. The experiment consisted in partly filling an acid-bottle with mill-solution and connecting it by a rubber hose to a vacuum pump. When the vacuum was suddenly applied, a cloud composed of thousands of small air bubbles rose out of the solution, showing qualitatvcily' the amount of dissolved air that was contained in the solution, and also proving that the relief of atmospheric pressure on the solution permitted this dissolved air to escape. In studying literature on the subject, we find Henry's law—"The amount of gas dissolved by a liquid is proportional to the pressure to which the gas is subjected."

Jan 1, 1919

By H. R. Peiffer

Composite alloys of silver and alumina are shown to resist flow above the melting point of the continuous matrix. The ability to resist flow depends on the fineness of the dispersion and the oxygen content of the silver. It is believed that the oxygen influences very strongly the bond between the molten silver and the finely divided alumina. RECENT needs for materials with high strength and creep resistance at high temperatures initiated mechanical property studies on dispersed phase materials to near the melting point of the continuous matrix material. Results' of these investigations have shown that certain of these materials do have promise for high-temperature applications. Experiments performed on composite materials of silver and alumina by the author have resulted in the discovery of an interesting effect above the melting point of the silver. In these materials the silver was continuous and the alumina very finely divided (Linde B). It was observed that these materials exhibited strength and resistance to flow above the melting point of the silver matrix. The purpose of this paper will be to describe these properties. METHOD OF PREPARATION The materials were prepared by mixing the proper amount of Linde B alumina and high-purity silver oxide. The alumina content was varied from 5 to 20 wt pct alumina in silver in 5 pct steps. The materials were mixed by blending the constituents in an ordinary food blendor using ethyl alcohol as a vehicle. Enough alcohol was added to the powders to form a mixture with the consistency of a thin mud. After blending for about | hr the material was dried and the silver oxide reduced by heating to 450 OC. The material was then pressed at 25 tsi into a -in. billets 3 in. long. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The specimens were horizontally supported at either end by knife edge supports of cold-rolled steel. This holder was then placed in a "globar" furnace and a chromel-alumel thermocouple placed very close to the specimen recorded its temperature to within 10°C. Each specimen was heated rapidly to 900°C initially. The specimens were held at temperature approximately 30 min and then the temperature was raised 50 deg. The procedure was repeated until deformation was noted. Photographs were made of the specimens at various temperatures and increments of time using a Polaroid Land camera. RESULTS Fig. 1 shows the 5 pct by weight "Linde B" alumina and silver material after reaching 980 °C. Failure occurred after 15 min at this temperature. There were two points of failure and silver collected at them. No additional flow of the molten silver was noted at any other place. Fig. 2 shows a 20 pct by weight "Linde B" alumina in silver specimen. After 30 min at 1400°C, bowing of this material was observed. Other concentrations of alumina were added to

Jan 1, 1961

By S. F. Willey

Difficulties encountered in justifying replacements for overage mobile mine equipment at the Gay mine are common to most mining operations. More critical management reviews, resulting from ever rising capital expenses, increased such difficulties. These increased difficulties are especially apparent to those who are primarily operators and are not statisticians, mathematicians or computer men. The Gay mine is located 17 mi east of the town of Fort Hall in southern Idaho. This open pit operation annually supplies the J. R. Simplot Co. and the FMC Corp. with 1.5-2.0 million tons of phosphate ore. Stripping ratios average approximately three bank cubic yards of waste per ton of ore mined. The mobile mine equipment fleet consists of ten 24-cu yd scrapers; twenty-one 30-50-ton end-dump trucks; four 3%-4%- cu yd shovels; fifteen dozers in the D-8 and D-9 classes; and three road patrols. Equipment replacement is based on the results of evaluations made on individual units.

Jan 9, 1972

By V. R. Garfias

EVEN before the arrival of Cortes in 1519, the history of Mexico was closely linked to that of its mineral production; the mining activities of the Aztecs being thus described by Clavigero, one of the early historians: In the mountains of Anahuac there abound in veins all kinds of metals, and infinite variety of other fossiliferous products. The Aztecs obtained gold from the countries of the Cohuijques, of the Mixtecas, of the Zapotecas and from various other places. They gathered that precious metal usually in grain, from the sands of the rivers, keeping a certain portion for the crown. They obtained silver from the mines of Taxco, of Tzumpango and others; however, this metal was not as esteemed by them as by other neighboring nations. They had two kinds of copper; one hard, which they used instead of iron to make sickles, lances and all kinds of rural and military instruments and another, soft, with which they made kettles, goblets and other receptacles. This metal abounds mainly in the province of Zacatula and in that of Cohuijques, which at present is in the kingdom of Michoacan. They obtained tin from the mines of Taxco and lead from those of Izmiquilpan, located in the country of the Otomiea. From the tin they made money, and the lead, we know they sold in the market places, but we ignore the uses to which they applied it. They also had mines of iron in Tlaxcala, in Taxco and in other places; but they either had not discovered them, or did not know how to make use of the metal they contained. In Chilapa there were mines of mercury, and in other places there were mines of sulphur, alum, vitriol, cinnabar, cohre and of a white earth which they esteemed highly. As regards mercury and vitriol, we do not know of what use they were to them; the other metals they used in paintings and dyes. There were then great abundance of amber and asphalt-bitu- men of Judea--on the coast of the seas and many cities of that territory paid tribute of one and the other to the kingdom of Mexico. They mounted the amber in gold, and it was only used as ornament and display by them. With the asphalt they made certain perfumes. The following extracts dealing with pre-Colonial gold are taken from the famous "Cartas de Relación" to Charles V, in which Cortea described the progress of the Conquest: . . . here there came two chiefs who owned lands in the valley; one four leagues down the valley and the other two leagues up the valley and they gave me some gold necklaces of little value and seven or eight girls. . . . . . . that day I left the City of Churultecal and traveled four leagues to some villages of the City of Cuasucingo where the natives received me very well and gave me women and pieces of gold. . . .

Jan 1, 1937

By Clarence A. Seyler

The object of all classification is to group together things which are alike, and separate those which are unlike. This object is essentially a practical one, enabling us to apply past experience to new conditions. Many costly large-scale experiments lose half their importance for want of proper description of the coal used, and the consequent impossibility of predicting that other coals will behave in the same way. I do not, therefore, make a fundamental distinction between "scientific'' and "use" classifications, except in so far as use depends on conditions, such as size or impurities which are not related to the nature of the coal substance itself. The characters chosen to define the classes of coal must be such as are accompanied by as many other properties as possible. It is not to be expected that any system of classification will enable us to predict every property of coal, since all specimens have an individuality of their own. But specimens can be grouped by a number of resemblances into species. Further, species which resemble each other can be grouped into genera. Elementary Composition as a Basis of Classification There can be little doubt that the ultimate or elementary composition of "pure coal" is the best basis of classification. It was soon after the perfection of the method of elementary analysis of organic substances by Liebig that Regnault, the distinguished chemist and physicist, laid down the principle that coals of the same kind vary only between narrow limits of elementary composition. This is still the widest generalization that can be made about coal. Upon it the metallurgist Gruner based his classification. In some quarters the value of the ultimate composition was denied, Stein going so far as to say that it teaches us nothing of importance about coal. One still hears statements that it is like crushing a work of art in a mortar and analyzing the powder, or like counting the number of times a given letter occurs in a sentence. Such comparisons are misleading, and the criticism might be applied to organic chemistry as a whole. Nor is the existence of isomerism, or of entirely different substances which

Jan 1, 1928

By John Freeman

THE die pressing of brass may be described as a method of producing irregularly shaped parts of brass and other copper alloys by hot deformation in a die under pressure. Die pressing of brass was first developed as an improvement on sand castings in order to obtain irregularly shaped articles of brass with superior surfaces, a closer tolerance in dimensions, a denser structure, freedom from porosity and elimination of the relatively large amount of scrap invariably attached to sand castings. The freedom from sandy surfaces with consequent greater tool life in machining operations was also recognized as well as elimination of losses due to the uncovering of blowholes in machining operations. Die pressing also gave alloys of superior strength. Die pressings today are made from extruded rod or shapes, according to design of the part to be made. The greater number of pressings are made from round rod, because of its relatively lower cost and ease of handling. The rod is first sheared or sawed into desired lengths, the diameter of rod used and length of "slug" or "rivet" depending upon ultimate weight and shape of the die-pressed part to be made and design of die. The dimensions of the slug are figured so as to give the, minimum amount of scrap to be sheared from the pressing as it comes from the-die. Extruded shapes having I, T or X sections are often used when the finished part is to have a similar shape or heavy sections are joined by relatively light sections of considerable length. A rod bent in the shape of a U is also used on occasion, for similar reasons. Proper shearing of the slugs is of considerable importance. The sheared ends of the slugs should be as flat and straight as possible. Improperly sheared ends having an angle to the axis of the bar or a rough, uneven surface are liable to give folds or laps in the finished pressing and proportionately high rejections. The property of shearing varies considerably with different alloys and should be considered in the selection of a material for a given part. Where satisfactory shearing is not possible, the slugs may be cut from the bar by power saws. Extruded

Jan 1, 1931