Search Documents

By Benjamin C. Craft

Operations on the Louisiana Gulf Coast during 1936 resulted in the discovery of five new fields and the proving of flank production or new sands on 12 of the older fields. This district gained the rank as the outstanding deep-drilling region of the world. At the close of the year. 10 wells had been drilled beyond 10.000 ft. One of the most important

Jan 1, 1937

By H. Reginald Hardy, Y. P. Chugh, Robert Stefanko

Many materials including rocks, ice, metals and their alloys, wood, etc., emit transient vibrations in the audible and subaudible range when stressed. In rocks, this phenomenon is referred to as "microseismic activity, " "rock noise, " or " seismo-acoustical activity. " In metals this phenomenon is often termed "acoustic emission." Each individual microseismic disturbance is generally referred to as a "microseismim" or an "elastic shock." The terms "microseismic activity" and "microseismim" will be employed exclusively in this chapter. Microseismic activity has been observed in many rocks loaded experimentally in the laboratory.1 The form of a group of typical microseismims is shown in Fig. 1. Quantitatively, the microseismic activity in rock under stress is most commonly described by the number of microseismims observed per unit time. This is commonly known as the "noise rate." The noise rate in general increases with increasing stress level and rises sharply just prior to failure of the material.2 The origin of microseismims is not well understood, but it appears to be related to processes of deformation and failure which are accompanied by a sudden release of strain energy. In a polycrystalline material, microseismims may originate at the micro-level as a result of dislocations or at the macro-level by twinning, grain boundary movement, or initiation and propagation of fractures through and between the grains. It is assumed that the sudden release of stored elastic strain energy accompanying these processes generates a stress wave which travels from the point of origin, within the material, to a boundary where it is observed as a

Jan 1, 1972

By D. J. Bourne, G. E. Atwood

The new potash refinery of Duval Sulphur & Potash Co. produced its first tonnage of muriate of potash in November 1951. Full capacity was attained in early 1952. Excellent extraction efficiency is being obtained by the process, which is basically froth flotation. System temperature control is practiced and has proved to be of great metallurgical value through high potassium recovery and. low reagent cost. WHEN Duval Sulphur and Potash Co. recently entered the established potash industry, the vast amount of pioneer work essential in an entirely new endeavor was unnecessary. Thus it was possible to screen and assemble proved techniques into a highly efficient process based on the combined knowledge of the industry. It is hoped that the refinements Duval has added to these cumulative achievements will contribute to the rapid advance of the potash industry and related enterprises. The process selected utilizes as raw material syl-vinite ore typical of the Permian Basin. This ore is principally comprised of interlocked crystals of potassium chloride, about 40 pct, and sodium chloride. Also there is as much as 1 1/2 pct of dispersed clay slime which, because of its nature, highly complicates beneficiation of these ores. The refining method is basically flotation in which the mineral sylvite is floated away from the halite-clay gangue to produce a 60 pct K,O muriate of potash product for the plant-food trade. It departs from established practice in the use of an improved reagent scheme, developed by the company's technical staff, and in

Jan 1, 1954

By John V. Beall

They came from Paris, Washington and Rabat; two directors, two chief geologists and the president of our own local subsidiary company. Such a meeting was not unprecedented, but it seeemed to us that our president was overzealous in arranging for inspections of each exploration site. One was a problem. Jacques, our president, had concocted the idea that we should lead this learned, mature (not exactly aged) group into the desert to see newly found anomaly. It was in virgin country and had been marked by dropping a flour sack on it from the air.

Jan 1, 1971

By Carl Trischka

During fifty-three years of mining operations in the Warren mining district, the mineralization has been found to cover an area roughly 2 miles long by 155 miles wide. Ore extraction from the richer portions of this area has been closely followed by surface subsidence. At the western end of the district, where the ore outcrops at the surface and oxidation is more complete over a wide area, intense surface disturbance is visible in the form of closely spaced open cracks and escarpments. As work has progressed toward the east, more unoxidized ore-bodies have been found and mining has been at increasing depth, for which reasons surface subsidence is less intense and subsidence blocks become larger and in general are bounded by open cracks, which persist over long distances. There may also be traced on the surface what appears to be a boundary crack, running in a northwest-southeast direction, marking the present southerly limit of subsidence of the district as a whole. It is not completely developed, and has not as yet appeared over the very deep mining operations in the extreme easterly portion of the district. Check surveys show that vertical and horizontal dislocation is still taking place. All of the various mining operations, including open-pit work in porphyry ore and underground mining of limestone replacement and porphyry ores, have had their influence in disturbing the surface. As these influences frequently overlap, and because the surface disturbance is continuous over practically all ore occurrences, it is virtually impossible to choose an area sufficiently isolated to ascribe the amount of subsidence to any definite volume of ore removed. After due consideration of all factors, there has been selected for discussion an area 1400 ft. long by 1200 ft. wide, which will be referred to as the Queen Hill block. It is bounded on all four sides by faults, which tend to limit subsidence disturbance to that caused by ore mined from within the block, and likewise to prevent subsidence cracks due to mining outside of the block from entering the area.

Jan 1, 1934

By D. K. Crampton, H. l. Burghoff, J. T. Stacy

The study of copper alloys of the age-hardening type has received considerable attention, and, among the alloys which the authors have, considered, those containing small amounts of nickel and phosphorus as essential constituents seem especially interesting. Such alloys have attractively great capacity for being hardened and also have relatively high electrical and thermal conductivity in the hardened state. In addition, it has been found that the increase in hardness and strength imparted by aging can be greatly augmented by cold-working, so that excellent combinations of conductivity and strength are obtainnble. In view of the possible importance of the alloys, it was considered desirable to investigate the solubility relationships in the copper-rich portion of the copper-nickel-phosphorus system. This paper present's some of the results obtained in this investigation to date and also gives propertics of typical alloys that appear to be of commercial interest,. Review of literature Copper-nickel System,.—The binary coppcr-nickcl system has long been known to consist of a series of simple solicl solutions, copper and nickel being miscible at all tempcrat'ures and concentrations. This was establisl~cd by Guertler arid Tammannl in 1907 and confirmed by Tafel2 in 1908. Copper-phosphorus System.—The copper phosporus system has been studied by numerous investigators, so that the copper-rich portion is now definitely known. As most recently determined by Lindlief," his system has a cutectic at 8.38 per ccnt P, cuteetic temperature being 714° C. Components of the cutectic are Cu3P and alpha solid solution. Solid solubility of phosphorus in copper, according to Mertz arid Mathewson decreases from a maximum of about 1.75 per cent at 714' C. to about 0.6 per cent at 300' C.

Jan 1, 1940

By D. K. Crampton, H. l. Burghoff, J. T. Stacy

The study of copper alloys of the age-hardening type has received considerable attention, and, among the alloys which the authors have, considered, those containing small amounts of nickel and phosphorus as essential constituents seem especially interesting. Such alloys have attractively great capacity for being hardened and also have relatively high electrical and thermal conductivity in the hardened state. In addition, it has been found that the increase in hardness and strength imparted by aging can be greatly augmented by cold-working, so that excellent combinations of conductivity and strength are obtainnble. In view of the possible importance of the alloys, it was considered desirable to investigate the solubility relationships in the copper-rich portion of the copper-nickel-phosphorus system. This paper present's some of the results obtained in this investigation to date and also gives propertics of typical alloys that appear to be of commercial interest,. Review of literature Copper-nickel System,.—The binary coppcr-nickcl system has long been known to consist of a series of simple solicl solutions, copper and nickel being miscible at all tempcrat'ures and concentrations. This was establisl~cd by Guertler arid Tammannl in 1907 and confirmed by Tafel2 in 1908. Copper-phosphorus System.—The copper phosporus system has been studied by numerous investigators, so that the copper-rich portion is now definitely known. As most recently determined by Lindlief," his system has a cutectic at 8.38 per ccnt P, cuteetic temperature being 714° C. Components of the cutectic are Cu3P and alpha solid solution. Solid solubility of phosphorus in copper, according to Mertz arid Mathewson decreases from a maximum of about 1.75 per cent at 714' C. to about 0.6 per cent at 300' C.

Jan 1, 1940

By N. B. Gray, R. V. Culver, W. S. Boundy, N. W. Stump

The kinetics of sulfation of single crystals of lead sulfide to lead sulfate have been studied between 969" and 1073°K in gas atmospheres of known composition using a thermobalance technique. The data are described by an equation derived on the basis that diffusion outward through the Product layer is the major controlling step. The rate of sulfation is linearly related to the logarithm of the sulfur trioxide partial DESPITE its industrial significance the oxidation of lead sulfide has received limited attention. The oxidation reactions have been studied using beds, briquettes, single crystals, or thin films of lead sulfide. Lead oxide and lead sulfate (PbSO,) were formed when Mclntoshl and Gardner2 roasted beds of galena pressure and the temperature coefficient of reaction is 40 ± 5 kcal per g mole. Gold marker experiments show that the sulfate layer grows by outward movement of ions through the sulfate layer. Initially the PbSO, adheres to the PbS but later forms an irnpewious spheroidal envelope; PbS vaporizes and pb2' ions diffuse through the envelope to react at the external surface. in air at temperatures up to 800°C. In a more extensive investigation, Tchizhykov3 obtained Pb, PbO, and PbS04 in accordance with Eqs. [1] to [4], when a bed of -200 mesh galena was oxidized in O2-N2 mixtures at 700° to 900°C.

Jan 1, 1968

By R. T. ROLFE

IN this critical age, people are not content .with the judgments passed on men and things long ago, but must needs revise them. It is an excellent spirit, so long as we do not start out with the idea that old opinions must necessarily be wrong, and that all ancient malefactors must therefore be whitewashed. That interesting ogre, Gilles de Retz, to whom the process has recently been applied, is no longer with us, so no one will be the worse for it, but the old bugbear8 of the steelmaker, sulfur and phosphorus, still are, and now Mr. McIntosh, in a recent article in these pages, asks us to regard one of them in a new light.' This article is a most interesting one, with much of which one must agree. One of his -statements, how- ever, although correct, is somewhat' misleading, and he rather discounts the fundamental objection of the steelmaker to phosphorus, its dangerous propensity to segregate and the secondary effect on the carbon distribution and therefore on the homogeneity of the steel that is produced thereby. Further, the evidence on which he bases his claim that phosphorus does not lower the impact strength of steel is rather slight. The writer views with the utmost misgiving any proposal to increase the amount of phosphorus in steel, and cannot regard it in any other light than as a prejudicial impurity, to be kept down to as low a proportion as possible. It thus becomes necessary to examine the evidence upon which Mr. McIntosh's claims are based

Jan 1, 1926

By William H. Spice

The fault zone of south central Texas showed renewed activity during I940 along a trend roughly paralleling the old established Balcones fault-line group of producing fields. This was a result of the new discoveries in the Wilcox (Eocene) formation in southeastern Texas and Louisiana. As of the end of the year, one new field producing from the Wilcox formation had been discovered on the Washburn ranch in La Salle County, along the southwestern limits of the district, and several projected tests into that formation were under way. In the western part of the district, par-titularly in the part of the Rio Grande embayment that is in Dimmit, Webb and Zavala Counties, there has been renewed leasing activity with the shallower sands in the Navarro-Taylor formations (Upper Cretaceous) as the objective in several projected tests for the early part of 1941. Three new fields have been discovered along the old fault-line trend, but these have been comparatively small, producing either from Dale lime, Austin chalk or Buda lime. No new fields were discovered during the Year in the Edwards (Lower Cretaceous) lime horizon. Approximately 260 wells were drilled in the district during 1940, which resulted in four new oil fields. Twenty-seven new wells were completed in the Proven Edwards lime fields of Darst Creek, Luling and Salt Flat and seven were added to production in the Pearsall field. Approximately 160 wells in 18 counties were completed as failures during the year. The district produced 7,659,634 bbl. during 1940, which was a 9 per cent decrease under production for 1939. In all, 3559 wells were producing at the end of I940, compared with 3562 wells producing at the end of the previous year; 104 new producing wells were completed and 163 wells were abandoned in the producing fields of the district. During 1940 considerable exploratory work was carried on along the Wilcox trend within the district, particularly by major companies employing various types of geophysical methods, and leasing activity increased considerably. At the end of the year, the total number of acres of nonproducing leases held by major companies in the district increased about 10 per cent. It is anticipated that this activity will continue into the first part of 1941 and will be supplemented by several exploratory test wells. New Fields B,, Creek, Caldwett County.— . R. Ogden NO. 2 Talley, discovery well of the Bee Creek field, in the northeastern part of Caldwell County, was completed on March 16, I940, in Dale lime from 2091 to 2238 ft., pumping 85 bbl. per day, 39° A.P.1. gravity. The discovery of this field can be credited to a combination of subsurface geology and magnetometer work, which indicated the presence of a serpentine intrusion. At the end of the year, ,3 producing oil wells had been completed and the field has produced a total of 47,050 barrels.

Jan 1, 1941

By William H. Spice

The fault zone of south central Texas showed renewed activity during I940 along a trend roughly paralleling the old established Balcones fault-line group of producing fields. This was a result of the new discoveries in the Wilcox (Eocene) formation in southeastern Texas and Louisiana. As of the end of the year, one new field producing from the Wilcox formation had been discovered on the Washburn ranch in La Salle County, along the southwestern limits of the district, and several projected tests into that formation were under way. In the western part of the district, par-titularly in the part of the Rio Grande embayment that is in Dimmit, Webb and Zavala Counties, there has been renewed leasing activity with the shallower sands in the Navarro-Taylor formations (Upper Cretaceous) as the objective in several projected tests for the early part of 1941. Three new fields have been discovered along the old fault-line trend, but these have been comparatively small, producing either from Dale lime, Austin chalk or Buda lime. No new fields were discovered during the Year in the Edwards (Lower Cretaceous) lime horizon. Approximately 260 wells were drilled in the district during 1940, which resulted in four new oil fields. Twenty-seven new wells were completed in the Proven Edwards lime fields of Darst Creek, Luling and Salt Flat and seven were added to production in the Pearsall field. Approximately 160 wells in 18 counties were completed as failures during the year. The district produced 7,659,634 bbl. during 1940, which was a 9 per cent decrease under production for 1939. In all, 3559 wells were producing at the end of I940, compared with 3562 wells producing at the end of the previous year; 104 new producing wells were completed and 163 wells were abandoned in the producing fields of the district. During 1940 considerable exploratory work was carried on along the Wilcox trend within the district, particularly by major companies employing various types of geophysical methods, and leasing activity increased considerably. At the end of the year, the total number of acres of nonproducing leases held by major companies in the district increased about 10 per cent. It is anticipated that this activity will continue into the first part of 1941 and will be supplemented by several exploratory test wells. New Fields B,, Creek, Caldwett County.— . R. Ogden NO. 2 Talley, discovery well of the Bee Creek field, in the northeastern part of Caldwell County, was completed on March 16, I940, in Dale lime from 2091 to 2238 ft., pumping 85 bbl. per day, 39° A.P.1. gravity. The discovery of this field can be credited to a combination of subsurface geology and magnetometer work, which indicated the presence of a serpentine intrusion. At the end of the year, ,3 producing oil wells had been completed and the field has produced a total of 47,050 barrels.

Jan 1, 1941

By J. S. Kasper, R. M. Waterstrat, B. F. Decker

THE existence of v phase in the Mn-Mo system was discovered in this laboratory several years ago,' but neither the conditions of its formation nor its composition were known, and preliminary attempts to reproduce the phase were unsuccessful. We wish now to specify the information appropriate to phase formation on the basis of experiments performed since that time. The starting materials were in every case electrolytic manganese and high purity molybdenum. Two methods of preparation were employed: l—arc-melting varying combinations of the elements in an inert atmosphere and subsequent heat treating, and 2—sintering compressed mixtures of finely divided powders of the elements. In the latter method, the powders were first passed through 200 mesh screen and then compressed into cylinders of % in. diameter and % in. length, which were sintered at elevated temperatures in an atmosphere of dry hydrogen. For some samples, the sintering temperature was 1200°C (for 1 hr), and these were then heat- treated at lower temperatures for times up to 24 hr. Eventually it was found, for the proper composition, that essentially pure a phase could be produced by sintering at 1125°C for 3 hr. Quenching to room temperature was effected by means of a stream of cold, dry hydrogen in a water-cooled chamber. The arc-melting procedure was found to be unsatisfactory after an investigation of many samples at different compositions and temperatures. Large quantities of manganese were vaporized during melting and none of the products were homogeneous or contained extended regions of pure phase. Nonetheless, these experiments established that no formation occurs in the Mn-Mo system below 1115oC, and indicated, at least roughly, the composition range of interest for further exploration. The more definite results obtained from samples produced by the second method are given in Table I. A portion of sample 2 heated for 16 hr at 1000°C in a Vycor tube transformed to molybdenum plus unidentified phases of complex X-ray pattern. From these few results it appears that the region of phase is quite narrow in composition. It is of interest that the composition is such as to make for difficulties in correlating this structure on an electron atom basis with other a structures of iron, cobalt, and nickel. In that respect Mn-Mo shows the same anomaly as Mn-Cr and Mn-V systems.' A second feature is that in common with the two other known molybdenum (Fe-Mo and Co-Mo), Mn-Mo v exists only at elevated temperatures. The X-ray powder pattern of the pure a phase of Mn-Mo is given in Table 11. It agrees well with the patterns established for other structures, especially with that for Fe-Mo as given by Goldschmidt.An attempt is being made to establish whether an ordering of the respective atoms occurs and such information will be reported in a future publication. Acknowledgment The authors acknowledge gratefully the assistance of Mrs. J. R. Belanger in some portions of this work. References 'J. S. Kasper, B. F. Decker, and J. R. Belanger: Journal of Applied Physics (1951) 22, p. 361. 2 A. H. Sully: Journal Inst. Metals (1951) 80, p. 173. H. J. Goldschmidt: Research (1949) 2, p. 343.

Jan 1, 1954

By Robert Abbott

THE influence of various elements in retarding or accelerating the absorption of carbon during the process of carburization is fairly well known. In general those elements which forth carbides accelerate the absorption, while those which do not retard it. It has sometimes been wrongly stated that those elements which raise the temperature of the critical range increase the absorption, while those which lower this temperature decrease it. Silicon is a notable exception to this rule, for its influence is to raise the critical range but to lower the absorption of carbon. Some elements which do not form carbides have no apparent influence upon the absorption rate. Carbon itself retards the absorption rate. With a view to obtaining more exact data upon the subject the following experiments were undertaken : 208 steels of different chemical composition were selected to represent most of the types of modern constructional steels. Specimens 3 in. in diameter and in. in length were weighed to milligrams. They were then packed in the special carburizing box shown in Fig. 1, and kept in .the furnace for 10 hours at a temperature of 900° C. A duplicate experiment was conducted at 1,000° C. At equal' intervals of time the box was rotated in the furnace so that. two complete revolutions were made in the 10 hours. This precaution was taken to neutralize as much as possible any effect of unequal heating. At the end of the 10 hours the box was allowed to cool in the furnace with the doors open. The specimens were then weighed again and the increased weight (carbon) determined. In. the following table are given the analyses of the various steels, together with the. increased weight of .carbon expressed in milligrams.

Jan 10, 1913

By Walter R. Hibbard, Harold Margolin

The effect of ten ternary additions on the aging of a Cu-Ag alloy was measured by X ray, microstructure and hardness. A supersaturated copper-rich transition structure was found. The effect of the ternary element was related to differences between transition and precipitate lattice parameters and analogies with solution and strain hardening. IN addition to the prerequisite of diminishing solid solubility with falling temperature, the theory of coherency hardening1 proposes that the principal source of hardening during precipitation is strain caused by coherency between the matrix and precipitate. For a given system greater coherency hardening would result from lengthening the period of coherent growth and/or increasing the number of nuclei, other things remaining equal. However, the hardness change during aging is a function of a number of phenomena in addition to coherency hardening, such as dispersion hardening, loss of coherency, solute depletion, matrix recovery or recrystal-lization, coalescence, and their relative time sequences. The present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of ternary additions on the age-hardening of Cu-Ag alloy. For this purpose a series of alloys were made containing as ternary constituents Mg, Al, Si, P, Mn, Ni, Zn, As, In, and Sb. These elements were added to a master 5 wt pct Ag in Cu alloy in such amounts as to obtain alloys listed in Table II containing the following approximate atomic percentages: 96 pct Cu, 3 pct Ag, 1 pct ternary addition. A 97 atomic pct Cu, 3 atomic pct Ag alloy was used as a comparison standard. There have been numerous investigations of age-hardening in Cu-Ag alloys2-lo but few of ternary Cu-Ag alloys. Pfister and Weist" found that 1 wt pct Ni reduced the solubility of Ag in Cu above 600 °C and that the rate of precipitation was slower than in polycrystalline Cu-Ag alloys of similar silver content. More recently Hodge, Jaffee, Dunleavy, and Ogden12 investigated the effect of ternary additions of Mg, Li, P, Cd, Zn, Zr and Be on strength properties of Cu-Ag alloys. Mg, Cd, and P were found to increase strength in the aged and cold-worked condition. Experimental Procedure Charges weighing 7.5 lb were melted in a closed carbon crucible under a reducing atmosphere* of nitrogen and hydrogen. A Durville-type casting procedure with a hot-top arrangement was used to obtain a sound casting, 2x2x43/4 in. Prior to rolling and annealing of the ingots, a trial solution anneal of rolled sections of the hot-top portions indicated that at 780°C melting was avoided except for the Cu-Ag-Sb alloy. This alloy could not be produced as a single phase within the limits of temperature control. i 3" to 5oC, since melting occurred at 64O °C, and below this temperature precipitation was

Jan 1, 1952

By William G. Pariseau

A plasticity theory for anisotropic geologic media has been applied to the problem of quasi-static wedge penetration of rock under confining pressure. Numerical evaluation of the governing system of stress equations in the transversely isotropic and orthotropic cases using representative material properties shows that the consequences of initial anisotropy for the penetration process are by no means trivial. In the transversely isotropic case, a threefold increase in the vertical force required for penetration to a unit depth occurs as the inclination of the axes of anisotropy are rotated through 90° with respect to the penetration path. The horizontal force required varies from zero to a maximum at approximately 60° then back to zero as the axes of anisotropy are rotated. The maximum is of the order of magnitude of the force required in the isotropic case. Similar results are observed in the orthotropic case. Practical aspects of the post-elastic phenomena associated with anisotropic rock indentation within the context of drilling problems include: bit yaw, hole deviation and bending stresses in the drill rod, all of which vary with strata dip but which can be quantitatively evaluated given the bit geometry, interface friction and rock properties. In a broader context, the analysis reveals the necessity for well conceived experimental work and sound theoretical research concerning post-elastic behavior of geologic media as a function of confining pressure, the effects of induced anisotropy, and the variation of strength parameters with loading path changes in the post-elastic range.

Jan 1, 1971

By J. H. Jackson, P. D. Frost, C. H. Lorig, L. W. Eastwood, A. C. Loonam

It is well known that for equal weights of material, thin sections of the lighter structural alloys are more resistant to buckling under a compressive stress than thin sections of more dense material. Therefore, structural parts having the same resistance to buckling stresses are generally lightest when they are made of magnesium alloys. Consequently, there is considerable interest in the development of strong alloys having densities equal to or lower than that of magnesium and strength-weight ratios equivalent to those of the strongest aluminum alloys. The development of commercial magnesium-base alloys has been very successful, and their importance among materials in the structural field has been amply demonstrated. However, an even wider structural application of magnesium alloys might be effected if improvements could be made in the cold rollability and cold-forming characteristics. Such improvements, along with production of less directionality in properties. could be effected if the hexagonal close-packed lattice of present alloys could be replaced with a cubic lattice. In 1942, a project, having as its objective the improvement of some of the characteristics of commercial magnesium-base alloys, was initiated at Battelle Memorial Institute under the sponsorship of the Mathieson Chemical Corporation. At that time, one of the authors,* then Chief Metallurgist for the Mathieson Chemical Corporation, postulated that the addition of lithium to magnesium in sufficient quantities to change the crystal structure of the resultant alloy from a hexagonal to a body-centered cubic lattice should produce a magnesium-rich alloy which would have the desired improvements in cold-working characteristics with less directionality in properties. To test this view, a series of alloys was made and was found to have many of the attributes that were predicted. The view that magnesium-lithium alloys were of structural interest was also held by others. In 1943 and 1945, Dean and Andersonl,² obtained patents on magnesium-base alloys containing from about 1 to 10 pct lithium, from about 2 to about 10 pct manganese, and the balance substantially all magnesium; and on magnesium-base alloys containing from about 1 pct to about 10 pct lithium, from about 2 to about 10 pct manganese, from about 0.5 to 2 pct silver, and the balance substantially all magnesium. They noted that an alloy containing 83 pct magnesium, 10 pct manganese, 5 pct lithium, and 2 pct silver could be cold rolled by any of the usual methods and that this alloy was considerably harder and stronger than most other magnesium-base alloys heretofore available. In 1945, Hume-Rothery, et al.,3 predicted that magnesium-lithium base alloys should be soft and ductile and that such compositions, to which was added a third element for the purpose of producing a precipitation-hardening type of alloy, should be ductile, strong, and lighter than magnesium itself. Hume-Rothery investigated the binary magnesium-lithium and ternary magnesium-lithium-silver equilibrium relations and criticized the existing equilibrium diagrams. The binary magnesium-lithium equilibrium diagram has also been investigated by Grube, Von Zeppelin, and Bumm, Henry and Cordiano, Sal'dau and Shamrai, Hof-mann,' and Shamrai.8 The work of most investigators agreed with that of Grube, whose constitution diagram is shown in Fig 1. From the standpoint of development of structural alloys, the room-temperature equilibrium relations are of great interest. An examination of Fig 1 reveals that, from 0 to 5.7 pct lithium, the existing phase is alpha, which is a solution of lithium in hexagonal magnesium. The boundary between the alpha, and alpha plus beta regions, occurs at a Mg/Li of 16.5, corresponding to 5.7 pct lithium by weight. Between 5.7 pct and 10.3 pct lithium, there exists a mixture of the alpha phase (lithium dissolved in hexagonal magnesium) and the beta phase (magnesium dissolved in body-centered-cubic lithium). The boundary of the alpha plus beta and beta regions occurs at a Mg/Li of 8.7, corresponding to a lithium composition of 10.3 pct. Much of the work described here was directed toward obtaining an alloy made up of a large proportion, or entirely, of the body-centered-cubic beta structure. In his early work, Loonam found that specimens of lithium-bearing alloys were very malleable. Ingots of alloys prepared at that time were extruded to 3/8-in. diam bars, and the mechanical properties and the effects of heat treatment were then determined. These data are given in Table 1. The outstanding ductility of the alloys, combined with their moderately high strength, evoked considerable interest.

Jan 1, 1950

By P. Shahinian, R. L. Stegman, M. R. Achter

Creep strength has been determined as a function of oxygen pressure for nickel at 510" and 600°C. Creep-rupture life drops from its highest value at the ultimate vacuum of 10-7 torr to a high pressure plateau of nearly constant life which, at 600°C, commences at torr. This behavior is described in terms of a model that relates surface gas adsorption and the generation of fresh crack surfaces. In a calculation based a this model the predicted pressure beyond which the creep strength should not decrease further has been found to agree well with the observed value. The introduction of oxygen during creep in vacuum was found to cause a prompt rise of the creep rate. The magnitude of the environmental effect was much less than generally observed in fatigue and this is attributed to the diffarent crack morphologies in creep and fatigue. GASEOUS environments are known to affect creep resistance adversely1-5 but the effects have received less attention than the much larger ones in fatigue. At low temperatures it has been shown for nickel that the creep rates are faster and the rupture lives are shorter in air than in vacuum and that these environmental effects can be correlated with faster crack growth rates in the reactive environment.' In support of a mechanism of gas adsorption at the crack tip to explain the above effects, a calculation based on kinetic gas theory showed that surface coverage by gas was not as rapid as the exposure of fresh metal at the crack tip in the ultimate vacuum but was in air.7 In fatigue a number of investigations have demonstrated that the reduction of life with gas pressure usually follows a step curve with most of the reduction occurring in a transition range at intermediate pressures and little or no change at high and low pressure.8 There have been no studies, however, in which creep strength has been determined as a function of reactive gas pressure to see whether similar effects would be found. This investigation was undertaken to study the kinetics of the environmental effect in the creep of nickel. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES The environmental creep apparatus was constructed to minimize many of the experimental conditions which can cause scatter in data. Dead weight loading is employed and weights are contained within the environmental chamber to eliminate bellows and the necessity for compensation for gas pressure changes. Elongation over the specimen gage length is recorded from a Riehle Model DV Controlled Environment Extensometer which provides readout to 2.5 x 10- in. Temperature is monitored and controlled from a thermocouple at- tached to the specimen gage length to +0.5oC or better. The freon trapped oil diffusion pump vacuum system included an auxiliary liquid nitrogen trap and, with a wide range variable conductance leak valve, pressures from the ultimate vacuum of 10"7 to l03 torr of any desired gas are obtainable. Pressure is measured by means of a hot filament ionization gage below 10"3 torr and a NRC Model 530 Alphatron Vacuum Gauge above 10-3 torr. The oxygen, which was leaked into the environmental chamber, was an Aviator's Grade of 99.5 pct purity with a dew point of -80°F. Analysis of the nominal 99.8 pct Ni showed the following percentages of major impurities: 0.02 C, 4.01 Mn, 0.005 Si, 0.01 Cu, 0.02 Fe, and 0.034 Mg. Cylindrical specimens were machined with a 0.180

Jan 1, 1970

By G. W. Imholz

The effect of new discoveries and development of other pools recently discovered is reflected in the increase in production from 586,000 bbl. during 1940 to 758,000 bbl. during 1941 in Coleman County. The States Oil Company's No. I Hudson, Coleman County, was the discovery well of the Silver field, with a total depth of 3540 ft.; initial production, 10,000,000 cu. ft. of dry gas and 60 bbl. of oil per day from the Gray sand, topped at 3482 ft. The first well drilled in the new Jim Ned field was the Merry Bros. and Perini No. I Greer, also in Coleman County. It had a total depth of 3937 ft. and an initial production of 152 bbl. of 42" gravity oil in 6 hr., through I-in. choke, from Gray sand encountered from 3909 to 3937 feet. J. E. Farrell's No. I Rose, Haskell County, was a new discovery, around which no additional wells have been drilled. Total depth was 3002 ft., plugged back to 2780 ft. to test an oil sand encountered from 2663 to 2685 ft., which when perforated with 76 shots at that depth was good for 85 bbl. of 40" gravity oil. In Fisher County, General Crude drilled its No. 12 Flanagan to a total depth of 6746 ft. After plugging back to 4578 ft. to test a sand encountered from 4515 to 4528 ft. it was abandoned as a dry hole. The top of the Ellenburger was reported as 6094 feet. Interest in Jones County continued unabated, largely through the development of the Wimberly pool in the southern part of the county, where five Cisco sands are producing. At present the pool has been defined on the south and the southwest. The structure has 170 ft. of closure; the lower limestone pays producing on top of the structure and the fist pay encountered, the Akard sand, producing on the flanks of the structure. Five deep wells were drilled in Stonewall County (H. and T.C. survey)—the Shell Oil Company's No. I-A Patterson, in block D, with a total depth of 6827 ft., dry and abandoned; the Shell Oil Company's No. I Rutherford, block I, with a total depth of 6239 ft., dry and abandoned; the Leader Oil Company's No. I Bilberry, block D, with a total depth of 5700 ft., dry and abandoned; Forest Development Company's No. 2 Boyd, block D, with a total depth of 4753 ft., dry and abandoned; and the Hunter et al. No. I Boyd, block D, total depth 4757 ft., dry and abandoned. J. E. Farrell drilled his No. I Tipton south of a well that produced from a Strawn sand for some time, to a total depth of 5202 ft., where it was abandoned. The well is in the southwest corner of sec. 43, block 19, T. and P. survey, Nolan County.

Jan 1, 1942

By G. W. Imholz

The effect of new discoveries and development of other pools recently discovered is reflected in the increase in production from 586,000 bbl. during 1940 to 758,000 bbl. during 1941 in Coleman County. The States Oil Company's No. I Hudson, Coleman County, was the discovery well of the Silver field, with a total depth of 3540 ft.; initial production, 10,000,000 cu. ft. of dry gas and 60 bbl. of oil per day from the Gray sand, topped at 3482 ft. The first well drilled in the new Jim Ned field was the Merry Bros. and Perini No. I Greer, also in Coleman County. It had a total depth of 3937 ft. and an initial production of 152 bbl. of 42" gravity oil in 6 hr., through I-in. choke, from Gray sand encountered from 3909 to 3937 feet. J. E. Farrell's No. I Rose, Haskell County, was a new discovery, around which no additional wells have been drilled. Total depth was 3002 ft., plugged back to 2780 ft. to test an oil sand encountered from 2663 to 2685 ft., which when perforated with 76 shots at that depth was good for 85 bbl. of 40" gravity oil. In Fisher County, General Crude drilled its No. 12 Flanagan to a total depth of 6746 ft. After plugging back to 4578 ft. to test a sand encountered from 4515 to 4528 ft. it was abandoned as a dry hole. The top of the Ellenburger was reported as 6094 feet. Interest in Jones County continued unabated, largely through the development of the Wimberly pool in the southern part of the county, where five Cisco sands are producing. At present the pool has been defined on the south and the southwest. The structure has 170 ft. of closure; the lower limestone pays producing on top of the structure and the fist pay encountered, the Akard sand, producing on the flanks of the structure. Five deep wells were drilled in Stonewall County (H. and T.C. survey)—the Shell Oil Company's No. I-A Patterson, in block D, with a total depth of 6827 ft., dry and abandoned; the Shell Oil Company's No. I Rutherford, block I, with a total depth of 6239 ft., dry and abandoned; the Leader Oil Company's No. I Bilberry, block D, with a total depth of 5700 ft., dry and abandoned; Forest Development Company's No. 2 Boyd, block D, with a total depth of 4753 ft., dry and abandoned; and the Hunter et al. No. I Boyd, block D, total depth 4757 ft., dry and abandoned. J. E. Farrell drilled his No. I Tipton south of a well that produced from a Strawn sand for some time, to a total depth of 5202 ft., where it was abandoned. The well is in the southwest corner of sec. 43, block 19, T. and P. survey, Nolan County.

Jan 1, 1942

By W. P. Haynes

No wildcat operations are recorded from France during the past year, and no new discoveries have been made. In northern Africa, in Morocco, some prospecting continued in the Gharb and Tselfat regions. Only very small production or shows were found. At the close of the year one cable-tool well (depth 400 meters) was drilling in the Tselfat district, and one rotary well in the Gharb. In Tunisia one well was drilling at Sloughia. Refinery building has been active under the new petroleum law, no less than six plants now being under construction. At Pechelbronn, it is estimated 130 wells were drilled, of which 73 wells, or 56 per cent, were productive. Total drilling was 45,000 m. One new Jurassic horizon was discovered. In the mining area approximately 17,500 m. of new gallery were driven. Production at Pechelbronn for the first nine months was as follows: From wells, 233,013 bbl.; from mines, 164,815 bb1.—a total estimated production for the year of 532,000 bbl. Production at Gabian was 3780 bbl. for the year. In Algeria production from Tliouanet was small, being estimated at 6510 bbl. This production is from Helvetian sands (Miocene) around a salt plug. Italy Production for the year was 211,500 bbl., an increase of 62 per cent over that of last year. Drilling to the extent of 97,000 ft. was done mainly by the A. G. I. P., the government company in the Province of Emilia. More locations are being tested in this area, where geophysical results have shown indications of buried uplifts. Oil has been encountered on two of these structures, at Fontevivo and Podenzano, but the wells have given trouble with salt water. The chief producer is the Societa Petrolifera Italiana at Salsomaggiore and Valezza. The production is from sand lenses at relatively shallow depths. New concessions of 2000 hectares were granted at several points in the Po Valley, and geophysical work is being carried on. The A. G. I. P. is working on a five-year program of exploration to test new areas.

Jan 1, 1933