Search Documents

By M. J. Blackburn

The phasal equilibria in TI':Al alloys has been studied Ry transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and X-ray diffraction. It is shown that three-phase fields exist below the transformation, viz.: a disordered hexagonal solid solution a; an ordered hexagonal phase based on Ti3Al, aa; and a two-phase region. (a + (YZ) , occurring between the single-plzuse fields. The size. disiribution, and morphology of- the a, phase in the two-phase region is shown to be dependent upon the alloy composition and heat treatement. The ordering process in the a, phase leads to the formation of anliphase domain boundary networks; the contrast and stability of these networks is shown to be dependent on alloy composition. A new and relatively simple phase diagralil for the systemm is constructed. The phasal equilibrium at the titanium-rich end of the Ti:Al system has long been the subject of considerable controversy. crossleyl has recently reviewed the phase diagrams that have been advanced for the system and in his turn proposed yet another one. There would seem to be general agreement that a phase exists at a composition at or near Ti& with an ordered hexagonal DO,,-type structure. However, several other phases have been proposed; for instance, Ence and ~ar~olin's' diagram includes two phases, Ti2A1 and Ti3A1, in the region up to 25 at. pct Al. The position of the proposed phase boundaries varies over a considerable compositional and temperature range, a point graphically illustrated in Fig. 1 of Crossley's paper.' It is perhaps germane to briefly examine the techniques used by other workers in the establishment of the phase structure. These fall into three categories: 1) X-ray diffraction, the only limitation of which is the rather low intensity of superlattice reflections in this system.3 Thus, superlattice reflections become increasingly difficult to detect in the more dilute aluminum alloys. 2) A considerable amount of optical microscopy has been performed"2'4 and it will be shown in a later section that many of the obscure mi-crostructures that have been observed can be attributed to hydrogen contamination. It is concluded, therefore, that such observations should be interpreted with considerable care. 3) The variation of some physical property with aluminum content has been measured.5"7 These methods are a useful indication of the existence of a transformation, but are usually insufficient in themselves to identify the transformation. The results using these techniques will be considered in more detail in the discussion. In this paper, the phase structure of alloys containing up to 25 at. pct A1 has been studied by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray techniques, and the results are used to generate a new and relatively simple diagram for the titanium-rich end of the Ti:Al system. EXPERIMENTAL A series of alloys containing 5.05, 10.16, 13.39, 13.99, 14.40, 20.83, and 25.05 at. pct A1 were obtained in the form of hot-rolled sheet 0.02 in. thick. These alloys contained 0.10 to 0.15 pct 0. Thirty-gram arc-melted buttons were prepared from iodide titanium and 99.99 A1 which contained 16.1, 16.9, 18.2, 19.0, 21.6, 22.2, 23.0, and 23.9 at. pct A1 and had an average oxygen content of 0.03 pct 0. The differences in oxygen content did not appear to influence the nature of the phase transformations which were found. Oxygen content may affect the temperature of these transformations, but insufficient samples of the high-purity alloys were examined to answer this question. The heat treatment of alloys was performed in dynamic atmosphere and vacuum furnaces or in helium -filled silica capsules. A special vacuum furnace was constructed to provide a high quenching rate in which rates of 4000°C per sec were obtained using water as the quenching medium. As pointed out by Crossley,' it is important to avoid heat treatment in the a - [} phase field as the resultant segregation of the alloy into the two phases containing different amounts of aluminum can persist through subsequent treatments leading to ambiguous results. It will be demonstrated later that step cooling of specimens from the a phase region can also lead to anomalous effects. Thus, all solution treatments were carried out in either the a or 3 phase fields followed by water quenching and subsequent isothermal annealing at various temperatures. X-ray analyses were performed on a diffractometer on fine-grained bulk specimens. The value of long-range order parameter, S, wa_s calculated from the integrated intensity of the (1211) reflection. In general, the intensity of the (1011) superlattice reflection was compared with that of the (2021) fundamental reflection to correct for experimental differences between measurements. Thin foils for electron microscopical examination were produced by electropolishing using the technique described in an earlier paper.8 Dark-field techniques were employed to a large degree in this investigation using the gun-tilt method. Finally it should be noted that the lattice parameters of the D01,-type superlattice are approximately related to the disordered hexagonal phase parameters by Crf - c, and 2ad - a, where the subscripts s and d refer to the ordered and disordered unit cells, respectively.

Jan 1, 1968

By R. K. Datta

Eluropium -activated yttrium vanadate, excited by short- and long-wavelength ultraviolet radiations, shows enzission lines near 6100A, the principal ones correspondirzg to transitions of EU+3 ions from 5Do to the F2 energy level. The ~neclmlallistns of absorption and etnissiorz of this phosphor have been empirically studied. The absorption is caused by two separate processes in the matrix. The phosphor YVO4:Eu and tlie matrix YVO, haue essentially the same resectance spectra in the region 2500 to 4000if. There are two broat ah~o?~ption bands: natnely, around 2600 and 3600A regions. Whet? compared with the reflectance spectra of the constituent oxides, namely, Y2O3, V205, Eu2 03, the absorption bands of the tnatvix and the phosphor in the short- and long-wavelength ultraviolet regions can be interpreted as due to charge-transfer processes involving i) Y-O and ii) 17-0, respecti~~ely. The excitation spectrum' of the phosphor has two broad bands with peaks at about 2600 and 3600A regions. U can be postulated that enevgy absorbed under short- crud long-wavelength ultraziolet excitatzon, respectzcely, by Y-0 and V-O parts of the niatrix is transferred by radcatio~zless process to EU+3 ions. Thzs postulate can empirically be proved on the basis of the spectra of the systems (YVO4,-YPO4,):Eu. PO? ~ons do not have' any appreciable absorption in the short or long uv regions. When P0't3 ions are substitlited for v0i3 ions in YVO,:Eu phosphors, the absorption and excitation in the lo~zg uv region are gradually reduced. Ailoreover, the £«+3 emission under 3650A excitation is decreased zuitlz increase in PO^ content, lt~lzereas the emission under 253711 excitation remains esserztially constant with as IILUCIL as 60 mole pct of YPO, in YVO,:En. EUROPIUM-activated yttrium vanadate (YV04:Eu) is a well-known phosptor.'-3 When excited by cathode rays, 2537, or 3650A radiations, YV04:Eu emits typical narrow-band spectrum of EU'3 fluorescence in the region of 5900 to 7100A, a very strong maximum occurring at about 6190A. This emission is considered to be due to 5Do — 7F2 transition of excite: EU*3 in 4f state. Moreover, the emission under 3650A excitation increases with temperature markedly. Because of these properties, YV04:Eu phosphor finds wide application in industries, namely, in color television tube, laser, and high-pressure mercury-vapor lamps. It is the purpose of this paper 1) to present the empirical study of the mechanism of absorption and excitation of YV04:Eu phosphor by ultraviolet radiation, and 2) to offer an explanation for the process of emission. It should be mentioned that a theoretical discussion on the mechanism of absorption in terms of the crystal or ligand field theory is beyond the scope of this paper. Empirical studies presented here are based primarily on spectroscopic and crystal-chemical investigations. EXPERIMENTAL i) Preparation of Materials. The synthesis of vanadate phosphorinvolves preparation of (Yi-.tEuj^Oj, blending the mixed oxide with an oxidic compound of vanadium, such as V205 or NH4V03, and firing the mixture at about 1000°C for several hours when YVO4:Eu forms as a primary phase. (Y1-xEux)203 compositions are prepared by coprecipitation of oxalates, and igniting them at about 1000°C. The vanadium compound is added in excess of the stoichiometric proportion for fluxing purposes. The charge is cooled, ground, and the excess of vanadium is removed by a hot wash (-80°C) of alkali or ammonia. Y(VP)04:Eu samples are prepared by mixing (Yi-xEux)203 with stoichio-metric proportions of (NH4)2HP04 and the vanadium compound. The mixtures are prefired at 700" to 800°C for 1 or 2 hr, then ground and refired at 1150°C. The firings of the phosphors are done in silica crucibles, and the homogeneity of the final products checked by X-ray diffraction analysis. ii) Spectroscopic Measurements. Diffuse reflectance sqectra of the samples within the range 2500 to 7000A are obtained by using CaF2 as standard in Cary Recording Spectrophotometer, Model No. 14. The emission spectra from phosphor plaques, excited under different ultraviolet sources, are obtained by a direct-recording spectroradiometer4 adapted with a grating monochromator with nearly constant dispersion. Maximym sensitivity in the spectral region from 2500 to 7000A is obtained with a quartz-windowed, S-20 response p$otomultiplier. The total' band pass is kept about 30A. The spectra are calibrated against the light from a standard tungsten filament lamp reflected from a magnesium-oxide plaque. Brightness data given throughout this report $re measured from the height of the main peak (6190A) of the emission spectra. The excitation spectra are measured using sodium salicy-late as standard. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The diffuse reflectance spectra of both pure and activated YV04, along with their constituent components, are shown in Fig. 1. YVO4 shows two broad absorption bands, namely, around 2500 and 3600A, respectively. Since there is little difference between the reflectance spectraoof YVO4 and YVO,:Eu in the uv region (2500 to 4000A), it can be postulated that excitation of the phosphor is mainly due to absorption by the matrix, i.e., YVO4. The question, now, is whether the matrix (Yv04) is excited as a whole, or different components are responsible for the two absorption bands. The characteristic absorption spectra of molecular ions involving transition metal ions, both in aqueous solutions and in crystals, are due to electronic transi-

Jan 1, 1968

By Ralph K. Foster

During five underground mine fires which occurred in Arizona during 1980 and 1981, sealing the fire area became necessary. To minimize leakage into the fire area, ventilation control measures were instituted to balance pressure across the bulkheads. Problems en- countered in sealing the fire areas and measures taken to improve these conditions are discussed. The routing of the ventilation and ventilation control to en- sure the workers' safety were also important considerations in reopening the mines. The use of continuous CO monitors is discussed. One important consideration was the condition of the fire, and chromatographic analysis was used to establish this. Graphs comparing the Trickett ratio, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and oxygen concentrations are given. The Trickett ratio was useful but needed to be augmented by the comparison of CO, C02, and 02. Problems with getting good samples from sealed areas and recommended procedures that were developed during these fires are discussed.

Jan 1, 1982

By Robert N. McIndoo, M. G. Woodle

10.5-1. Introduction. In the not-too-distant past, maintenance and the facilities for maintenance were considered a necessary evil to be given only secondary consideration in the development and planning of a surface mine operation. With the increasing sophistication of mining equipment and machinery, this concept has been replaced; and today's mine managers recognize that planning for adequate maintenance facilities is as important to a successful operation as a sound mining plan. This chapter will present the basic maintenance facilities and the fundamental considerations necessary to meet the varied requirements of surface mining. 10.5-2. Determination of Shop Facilities. The size, shape, and extent of maintenance facilities are contingent on the general mining plan, the location relative to outside facilities, and to the available capital. The type of construction employed is dependent on climatic conditions and preference. HAULAGE SYSTEMS. The type of haulage equipment used will dictate the kind of shops needed. Truck haulage requires entirely different facilities than rail haulage. Some mines will employ both systems, and can include hoists, skips, or conveyor belts in combination with locomotives or trucks. The requirements of each type will be discussed. MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION. The pre-planning decision as to centralized maintenance vs. area maintenance, or a combination of both, will greatly affect the maintenance facilities required. A single pit with relatively short travel from shops to pit will probably have a centralized maintenance system. Where more than one mine is involved, or where there are diversified sections or functions in a mine (mine equipment, mill, conveyor, or

Jan 1, 1968

COUNCIL OF SECTION DELEGATES Nicholas A D'Arcy, Jr, Chairman (Southern California Section) Charles Chapman, Vice-Chairman (Florida Section) Ben H Parker, Secretary (Colorado Section) Frontier Refining Co Boston Bldg Denver 2, Colorado

Jan 1, 1956

By Hans Lundberg

IN ORDER to comprehend the help and information that may be expected from electrical prospecting, it is necessary to have at least a general knowledge of the methods and principles involved in preparing and interpreting results obtained in the field. Electrical prospecting is rather complicated, both in theory and practice, and in order to make a brief description clear to the practical mining man it has been necessary to idealize and generalize the problems, at the risk of having such simplification criticized by the theoretical man. This simplification must not be misinterpreted as showing a lack of theoretical knowledge. FIG. 1.-FLOW OF CURRENT IN AND AROUND A CONDUCTING BODY. For its operation, electrical prospecting mainly depends on-the fact that most metallic ores conduct an electric current much more readily than barren rocks. If an electric current flows through a block of ground within which a body of chalcopyrite is enclosed in country rock of schist, the current will find less resistance to its passage through the chalcopyrite than through the schist, even though the passage through the latter be much shorter. This is because the longer path through the chalcopyrite offers less resistance, owing to the superior electrical conductivity of the chalcopyrite (Fig. 1).

Jan 1, 1928

By Paul M. Tyler

Mineral raw materials, because they are essential to our industrial prosperity and military strength, must be made available in substantial quantities. regardless of cost. Variations in the cost of procuring minerals, as compared with the cost of obtaining other commodities, and changes in the cost of production of different minerals relative to one another, will naturally influence the quantities of a given mineral item that can be marketed readily. However, in the last analysis, the cost of winning minerals from the ground usually constitutes only a small fraction of the value of the end-use products and services derived from them. The miner's share of the cost of a typewriter, telephone circuit, or even a modem office building, is almost insignificant. Far more important to the ultimate consumer, therefore, than any minor saving in cost is the assurance of ample supplies of the minerals needed to aliment our expanding economy. To create a successful metal mining operation involves ( 1 ) the discovery and systematic development of a mineral deposit, (2) extraction of the ore, (3) the mechanical and metallurgical processing to eliminate worth- less or harmful impurities, and (4) the profitable disposal of the product. The first step of the technological process belongs chiefly in the realm of the geologist, the second is a mining engineer's job, the third is mainly up to the millmen and extractive metallurgists; whereas the fourth and equally important step poses a commercial problem that has aspects in common with the marketing of other products. Ore finding is far from being an exact science. There is no mathematical criterion for evaluating the efficiency of prospecting and exploration. Lady Luck shares the honors or assumes part of the blame along with the prospector and geologist. Marketing like- wise involves factors that seemingly defy engineering analysis. Although the other steps can be measured with some degree of mathematical accuracy, even they tend to vary so widely in basic principle, as well as in

Jan 1, 1959

By Theodor Knutzen, Charles H. Fulton

The plant of the National Smelting Co., a corporation controlled by the Horseshoe Mining Co., was built during 1901 to smelt the dry siliceous ores of the northern Black Hills, extracting the gold- and silver-values in a matte of low copper-percentage which is shipped to Omaha and Denver for refining. Originally, the plant was designed to collect the values of the siliceous ores in an iron-matte, which mas to be resmelted with lead-ores, in a lead-furnace, the lead-bullion produced to be refined into Doré bullion in English cupelling-furnaces. However, the scarcity of lead-silver ores in the Black Hills, owing to the present non-productiveness of the Galena district, led to

Jan 1, 1905

By Walter R. Hibbard, Walter L. Finlay

INTRODUCTION THE key feature of the lattice coherency theory of precipitation hardening1-6 is the forced coherence between matrix and precipitate which elastically strains both lattices and is believed to be the major source of strengthening in precipitation hardening. In systems exhibiting age hardening, the atom movements leading to precipitation are not at all extensive and are such as to require the minimum amount of energy to produce the interface; that is, the new lattice forms in such a way as to be as nearly as possible a continuation of the old with a matched, coherent plane at the interface at least during the initiation of the precipitation. The crystallographic sequence whereby regions of the matrix change to the precipitate lattice usually can be resolved into a set of shearing operations.5,6 Conversely, the perhaps novel speculation is made that solution of a second phase is accompanied by shearing movements which are possibly the reverse of the precipitation shearing movements. A basic premise of the investigation reported in this paper is that precipitation and solution shearing movements constitute structural weaknesses which might cooperate with applied stresses to facilitate plastic deformation. Another basic premise of the investigation is that the application of hydrostatic pressure to a precipitation hardening system will significantly alter the degree of disregistry across the matrix-precipitate interface and thereby significantly affect the course of age hardening. Two binary precipitation hardening systems were investigated: 12 pct zinc in aluminum which undergoes transformations, both precipitation and solution, by a simple crystallographic mechanism; and 4 pct copper in aluminum which undergoes a complex transformation in precipitating and dissolving a second phase. The effects of the application of uniaxial tensile creep stress during elevated temperature aging of both systems and of hydrostatic pressure during the elevated temperature aging of 12 pct aluminum-zinc were then investigated. Previous Investigations Van Wert in 1935,7 studied the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the room temperature age hardening of a few precipitation hardening systems. The latter were rather unfortunately selected since none is known to exhibit any marked volume change on aging and the majority were complex commercial alloys the precipitation mechanisms of which are not known. Jenkins, Bucknall and Jenkinson,8 in 1944, applied tensile creep stresses to a complex coppernickel-silicon alloy at various temperatures. The complexity of the alloy and the industrial objective of the work did not permit an appreciable addition to the theoretical understanding of either deformation or precipitation hardening.

Jan 1, 1948

The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period May 10, 1916, to June 10, 1916: ARCHIBALD, JOHN CHRISTIE, Min. Engr., Supt. of Cyanide Plant, Guanajuato Reduction Mines, Guanajuato, Mex. BRUNEL, FRANK P., Cons. Min. Engr Mitchell & Brunel, Ajo, Ariz. CALVERT, WILLIAM ROBERT, Cons. Geol. ...225 Kearns Bldg., Salt Lake City, Utah. CHAMPION, J. R., Supt The Yak Mining, Milling & Tunnel Co., Leadville, Colo. CHARLES, LAVERN JOHN, Construction Engr., Elephant Butte Dam, Elephant Butte, N. M. CHASTEL, ANDRE, Min. Engr., Societe Miniere & Metallurgique de Penarroya, 12, Place Vendome, Paris, France. CHRISTIE, WALLACE H., Vice-Pres. and Mgr., Alt. Bert Gold Dredging Co., 604 Mission St., San Francisco, Cal. CLARK, RONALD ..Hardinge Conical Mill Co., 120 Broadway, New York, N. Y.

Jan 7, 1916

P. H. ARGALL, Magdalena, N. Mex. (written discussion *).-The Chilean mill has generally been considered a fine-crushing machine and as such has had many advocates; it has also. had quite a number of denouncers; hence, the action of the Portland engineers in using the Chilean mill for the preparatory work usually accomplished in, rolls or rock breakers and adding a ball mill to do the fine grinding is novel, though of doubtful utility in the long run, even though a fair efficiency is obtained for the combination machines, as measured by Chilean mill practice. In order to follow the development of Chilean mill practice on Cripple Creek ores, I might say that two 6-ft., Chilean mills were placed in operation in Stratton's Independence mill in April, 1908, treating ore crushed by rolls to pass Y4 in. screen aperture. Screening was, however, found to be an unnecessary refinement, as was also the use of plows in the mills; both screening and plowing were abandoned before the Portland engineers finished the experiments in stamp milling upon which they were then engaged. Two additional 6-ft. Chilean mills were added in the spring of 1911, three of them giving the required 10,000 tons per month capacity, one being always in reserve. The Portland company began using Chilean mills in June, 1910, at its Victor mill, and the same company purchased the Stratton's Independence mill in June, 1915, and remodeled it; it is now known as the Independence mill. A description of Stratton's Independence milling practice, is given in the November, 191.1, issue of Mining Majazine (London). These Chilean mills were used as fine grinders and that they accomplished their purpose is shown by the screen analyses, in which 62 per cent. of the pulp passed 150-mesh screens. To make coarse crushers of these Chilean mills, the Portland engineers have increased the speed, substituted steel in various parts for cast iron, provided new and enlarged thrust bearings to take care of the centrifugal force incident to higher speed, and have, thereby, greatly increased the cost of the machines. They have also reduced the width of the tires and dies from 8 in., as used in the original mill, to 7 in., a reduction of 12 ½ per cent. in the crushing surfaces, to say nothing of the loss of abrasion or attrition incident to the larger surface. At the same time, they have apparently increased the weight of the rollers by using tires 5 7/8 in. thick as against tires varying between 3 and 4 in. on the original mills, thereby increasing

Jan 4, 1920

By M. E. Tyrrell, Alan H. Goode

The application of a simple, two-dimensional computer technique for evaluating rock burst potential in cut-and-fill stopes was investigated. The principal purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of high-modulus fill and destressing as aids in the control of rock bursts. Two conclusions that are probably of general applicability are drawn. First, high-modulus fill is ineffective as a means of increasing the mine stiffness and acts to control rock bursts only if it supports enough load to reduce substantially the stresses on the unmined vein material. Second, destressing is most effective if it is performed when the vein material is near the point of failure.

Jan 1, 1975

[IRVING, JOHN D. :-(Continued.) Some Features of Replacement Ore-Bodies, and the Criteria by Means of Which They May be Discovered, XLII, [xlvii]. Discussions: on A Concise Method of Showing Ore-Reserves, XLIII, 714; on The Iron Deposits of Daiquiri, Cuba, LIII, 65; I on Recrystallization of Limestone at Igneous Contacts, XLVIII, 214; I on To What Extent is Chalcocite a Primary, and to what Extent a Secondary, Mineral in Ore Deposits, XLVIII, 194. minerals of gold deposits, Homestake belt, Black Hills, S. D., XLII, 54.]

Jan 1, 1918

By J. E. Forciea, O. E. Palasvirta, L. G. Hendrickson

All pilot and commercial plants working with Mesabi Range taconite employ wet magnetic separation. Progress is being made with a dry magnetic process,9-11 but this has not yet been applied to taconite except in the laboratory and pilot plants. Flowsheets in all five plants are similar, including multiple stages of grinding, each followed by magnetic separation, which rejects a finished tailing. The flowsheet in Fig. 1 is used in the preliminary and commercial plants of the Erie and Reserve mining companies and in Unit C of Oliver's Pilotac plant. At Erie the desliming operation is omitted. In the Reserve plants two ball mills are used with each rod mill. Pilotac uses flowsheet 2 in Unit A-B and has also tested flowsheet 3. Principal differences in the three flowsheets are the number of grinding stages and the type of roughing. The terms open- circuit roughing and closed-circuit roughing are best defined by the diagrams.

Jan 12, 1958

By Arne Westgren

ONLY in exceptional cases can the ordinary methods of chemistry be used for determining the constitution of compound metallic substances. Recourse has therefore been taken to special methods, the main expedients of which are, as we know, thermal analysis and metal microscopy. To these may be added-though more accessory-the determination of electric conductivity, specific volume, hardness or other properties. The information obtained by these methods has been compiled in equilibrium diagrams. Naturally, the technically most important alloys, such as steel, bronze and some others, have been subjected to very close study, and many investigators have devoted themselves to the solving of their problems of constitution. The equilibrium diagrams of these systems are therefore known today with a comparatively high degree of accuracy, even though it must be admitted that many details regarding their transformation reactions still remain to be completely explained. The equilibrium diagrams of the other alloys as a rule have not been determined so accurately. Most of them are based only on approximate determinations of the homogeneity ranges of the various phases. Thus extensive, detailed studies remain before these diagrams may be considered as established. Unfortunately, it must also be admitted that many of the alloy diagrams given in the present handbooks are as a whole very dubious. As a matter of fact, many of them may really only be viewed as the results of rather superficial, orientating investigations. In fact, there also seems to be a general opinion prevailing in our day that much work still remains to be done before the equilibrium conditions of the alloys may be considered as fully explained. At present, in almost all institutes for research on metals, as well as in many university laboratories, investigations to this effect are being carried out. As a rule, the classical methods of metallography, the thermal analysis and metal microscopy are applied.

Jan 1, 1931

By W. O. Philbrook, R. H. Spitzer, F. S. Manning

A generalized mathematical model has been developed to describe the kinetics of the gaseous, topo-chemical reduction of porous hematite spheres. Gas-solid reduction is permitted at each of three advancing interfaces and is controlled by a complex series-parallel sequence of chemical and transport steps. Despite the fact that transport resistances are significant to the advance of each interface, little deviation from linear advance is predicted for the first 98 pct of reduction. Calculations to predict the movement of magnetite /wustite interface by a solid-state diffusion mechanism have been incorporated into the earlier dense-pellet model.' The porous-pellet model is found to give a better description than the dense-pellet one for McKewan's measurements2 of interface movements in dense polycrystalline hematite reduced in hydrogen-water vapor mixtures. THIS paper reports a continuation of work"3" directed toward the better understanding of gas-solid reactions and the development of mathematical models that may be helpful in the design or control of ore-reduction processes. Laboratory studies of the reduction of single oxide samples in tube furnaces normally employ an abundant excess of pure reducing gas. Reduction may appear to be adequately described by a model assuming gas-solid reaction solely at the iron/wustite interface.''' However, when iron ore is reduced in either a fixed bed or an efficiently operated counter-current column, there are portions of the bed where the partially spent gas is no longer capable of reducing wustite to iron. Nevertheless, the formation of the intermediate reaction products, wustite or magnetite, can and does continue. In order to account for this aspect of the reduction of beds of particles, three semiempirical mathematical models were devised.' One of these was for the limiting case of completely dense particles, and two alternatives were provided for porous particles. For purposes of the analysis, a dense pellet was defined as one in which the wustite and magnetite layers were impervious to the reducing gas when the atmosphere was capable of forming iron. In a porous pellet, the intermediate product layers were assumed to be sufficiently permeable to allow reducing gas to penetrate beyond the iron/wustite interface to form wustite and magnetite by removal of oxygen as a gaseous product rather than by a solid-state redfiction mechanism. Further progress required a better understanding of the reaction of the individual particles with the gas stream. A comprehensive mathematical treatment was developed' to describe the continually changing interplay of transport and reaction steps

Jan 1, 1967

By J. Brett, S. Friedman

A study of the diffusion of nickel into both fibrous and recrystallized 0.065-in.-diam silica-alumina doped tungsten wire at 1200°C has been conducted. The diffusion profiles were determined by chemical dissolulion of successive circumferential layers and spectro-photometric determination of nickel in the etchant. It was shown that the diffusion of nickel into tungsten is markedly structure-sensitive. No significant amount of nickel could be introduced at 1200°C into tungsten which had first been recrystallized at temperatures of 2300°C, leading to an upper limit estimate for the bulk diffusivity of nickel in tungsten of 10-11 sq cm per sec at 1200°C. However, nickel did diffuse into initially fibrous wires, caused re crystallization, and was alsays present at the advancing recrystallization front. The accumulation of nickel in an initially fibrous region ceases when the recrystallization front arrives. The characteristics of the resulting diffusion profiles are explained in terms of the relation between diffusion processes and micro structural changes. WHILE it is well-known that the presence of nickel and certain other metals causes low-temperature recrystallization of the cold-worked fibrous structure of doped tungsten,''' the character of the phenomenon is not well understood. Recently it was shown that the recrystallization reaction can be induced at low temperatures by the presence of solid nickel on the surface of doped wire, but not by exposure to nickel vapors.3 Once recrystallization was initiated, a continued source of nickel was required for propagation of the recrystallization front. The phenomenon appeared to be a complicated solid-state reaction since, in addition to the change in structure of the tungsten from fibrous to equiaxed grains, diffusion of nickel from the surface into the recrystallized and fibrous structures was occurring with possible chemical reaction between nickel and tungsten at the surface and interaction of nickel with the dopants which ordinarily stabilize the fibrous structure within the wire. The objective of the present work was to study the diffusion of nickel into fibrous and recrystallized tungsten structures in order to clarify the relationship of the diffusion process to nickel-induced recrystallization. Studies of interdiffusion in the Ni-W system4"7 have been principally concerned with the mobility of tungsten in nickel. Information on diffusion of nickel in tungsten is meager, and there seem to be no studies of the mobility of nickel in tungsten which elucidate the structural aspects of the phenomenon. The present experiments were designed to determine the diffusivity of nickel at 1200°C in fibrous tungsten, in large-grained tungsten prerecrystallized at high tem- perature, and in tungsten recrystallized at 1200°C due to the presence of nickel. Although the concentration profiles were determined in these experiments, unexpected changes in boundary conditions or complex diffusion paths complicated the analysis of these profiles so that the interpretation could not be readily expressed in terms of simple diffusivities. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The experiments were conducted on Sylvania 0.065-in.-diam silica-alumina doped commercial tungsten wire, hereafter designated as ordinary doped wire. A special lot of 0.065-in.-diam silica-alumina doped low-nickel wire was also used. Impurity analyses of the wire are given in Table I. The experimental design is shown in Fig. 1. All heat treatments were conducted in vacuum. Two groups of ordinary doped wire were prepared for diffusion with nickel. One group in the as-received (fibrous) condition was elec-tropolished, nickel-plated, and annealed at 1200°C for 20 and 40 hr, or was exposed to nickel vapor at 1200°C for 20 and 40 hr. The second group was recrystallized to an equiaxed grain structure at 2300°C for 3 hr, electropolished, nickel-plated, or exposed to nickel vapor for anneals at 1200°C for 20 and 40 hr.

Jan 1, 1969

By Edwin R. Phelps, Charles W. Porterfield

BACKGROUND OF SURFACE MINING Surface mining refers to the process of removing the material (over- burden) overlying a coal seam and exposing the coal so that it can be loaded out and conveyed by trucks or other methods to the preparation plant or other facility. Surface mining has not always been important in the coal industry. In the early 1900s, almost all of the coal mined in the United States was mined by underground methods. In 1900, about 192 Mt (212 million st) of bituminous coal mere mined and less than 1% was mined by surface methods. The development and use of larger equipment has allowed surface mining to gain prominence throughout the years. Table 1 shows the total production of coal by mining method in the United States for ten-pear periods since 1920 and indicates the growth of surface-mined coal production. Surface mining will undoubtedly continue to account for a large percentage of the coal production in the US for many years because: 1) The capacity of surface mining excavators has continued to increase. Today, mining companies are using shovels (see Fig. 1) which are able to move up to 137.6 m3 (180 cu pd) in each bite and draglines (see Fig. 2) which move up to 168.2 m3 (220 cu pd) in each bucketful. 2) Increasing tonnage from the thick western coal seams is being produced by surface mining methods. 3) Surface mining has normally had lower costs and a better safety record than underground mining. 4) Surface mining normally recovers a much higher percentage of the coal reserve than can recovered by underground mining. 5) Some coal measures call best be extracted by surface mining

Jan 1, 1981

By C. D. Wiseman

THE concept of alloying to increase the strength of metals originated during the bronze age. However, at the present time there is no single theory capable of explaining all of the observed strengthening effects of alloying elements on the mechanical properties. In general, it may be said that solid solutions are stronger than the pure metal and that the strengthening effect increases with increasing alloy content. Various theories for solution hardening have been proposed, the first of which was presented by Rosenhain who suggested that the alloying elements roughened the slip planes, thereby requiring a higher stress to initiate slip. Recent work by French and Hibbard2 confirmed Norbury's3 conclusion that those alloying elements which cause a greater change in lattice parameter have larger effects on hardness. However, a given change in lattice parameter produced by different alloying elements does not cause the same change in hardness. A further refinement was suggested by Dorn, Pietrokowski, and Tietz4 who considered differences in valence between the solute and solvent with the change in lattice parameter to explain the plastic properties of aluminum alloys. Allen, Schofield, and Tate5 further investigated the valency contribution to solution strengthening by testing some copper-base solid-solution alloys having constant electron densities. Tensile tests performed on these alloys gave identical stress-strain curves even though the atomic size effect, which varied by a factor of two, was neglected. The advent of dislocation theory6-8 provided a new and powerful tool capable of explaining many phenomena of plastic deformation and indicated new approaches to solution hardening. The basic con- cept of recent theories is that solution hardening is not due to stresses associated with randomly dispersed solute atoms, but rather to a nonuniform distribution of the solute. This conclusion was reached by consideration of the effective tension present on each dislocation line and the ability of a dislocation to pass an obstacle. cottrell suggested the possibility that the internal stresses due to randomly distributed solute atoms would offer essentially no resistance to the passage of dislocations. He reasoned that an edge dislocation may be considered as a rigid line discontinuity. As the dislocation moved through a crystal, the random stress fields would be equally distributed along its length. Since half of the stress fields would be acting to move the dislocation forward and the other half trying to move it back, the net effect on the dislocation would be zero. Thus the randomly distributed solute atoms would not contribute appreciably to solution strengthening. Mott and Nabarro10 considered the dislocation as a flexible, rather than a rigid, discontinuity. They obtained a simple model for a dislocation moving in a lattice having precipated particles, where the dislocation would actually bend around the obstacle until it would loop back onto itself to rejoin and then continue onward. Their work indicated that the minimum radius of curvature of the dislocation line, under the action of an external stress and in the region of an internal stress, would be such that the dislocation would be unable to pass through a matrix containing small closely spaced precipates by the looping process. The dislocations would tend to remain rather straight, approaching the condition of Cottrell's rigid dislocation. Hence, the strengthening must not be due to random solute atoms; however, it might be due to the concentration of atoms, either as clusters of like atoms or as short-range ordered regions, or to the concentration of solute atoms around dislocations. To date, four mechanisms of solution strength-

Jan 1, 1959

Jan 1, 1904