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Emergence Of By-Product CokingBy C. S. Finney, John Mitchell
The decline of the beehive coking industry was inevitable, but it had filled the needs and economy of its day. A beehive plant required neither large capital investment to construct nor an elaborate and expensive organization to run. The ovens were built near mines from which large quantities of easily-won coking coal of excellent quality could be taken, and handling and preparation costs were thus at a minimum. The beehive process undoubtedly produced fine metallurgical coke, and low yields were considered to be the price that had to be paid for a superior product. Few could have foreseen that the time would come when lack of satisfactory coking coal would force most of the beehive plants in the Connellsville district, for example, to stay idle; and if there were those like Belden who cried out against the enormous waste which was leading to exhaustion of the country's best coking coals, there were many more to whom conservation was almost the negation of what has since become popularly known as the spirit of free enterprise. As for the recovery of such by-products as tar, light oil, and ammonia compounds, throughout much of the beehive era there was little economic incentive to move away from a tried and trusted carbonization method simply to produce materials for which no great market existed anyway. With the twentieth century came changes that were to bring an end to the predominance of beehive coking. Large new steel-producing corporations were formed whose operations were integrated to include not only the making and marketing of iron or steel but also the mining of coal and ore from their own properties, the quarrying of their own limestone and dolomite, and the production of coke at or near their blast furnaces. As the steel industry expanded so did the geographic center of production move westward. By 1893 it had moved from east-central to western Pennsylvania, and by 1923 was located to the north and center of Ohio. This western movement led, of course, to the utilization of the poorer quality coking coals of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. These coals could not be carbonized to produce an acceptable metallurgical coke in the beehive oven, but could be so treated in the by-product oven. By World War I the technological and economic limitations of the beehive oven as a coke producer were being widely recognized. After the war the number of beehive ovens in existence dropped steadily to a low of 10,816 in 1938, in which year the industry produced only some 800,000 tons of coke out of a total US production of 32.5 million tons. The demands of the second World War led to the rehabilitation of many ovens which had not been used for years, and in 1941, for the first time since 1929, beehive ovens produced more than 10 pet of the country's total coke output. Production fell off again after 1945, but the war in Korea made it necessary once more to utilize all available carbonizing capacity so that by 1951 there were 20,458 ovens with an annual coke capacity of 13.9 million tons in existence. Since that time the iron and steel industry has expanded and modernized its by-product coking facilities, and by the end of 1958 only 64 pet of the 8682 beehive ovens still left were capable of being operated. Because beehive ovens are cheap and easy to build and can be closed down and started up with no great damage to brickwork or refractory, it is likely that they will always have a place, albeit a minor one, in the coking industry. The future role of the beehive oven would seem to be precisely that predicted forty years ago by R. S. McBride of the US Geological Survey. Writing with considerable prescience, McBride declared: "A by-product coke-oven plant requires an elaborate organization and a large investment per unit of coke produced per day. Operators of such plants cannot afford to close them down and start them up with every minor change in market conditions. It is not altogether a question whether beehive coke or by-product coke can be produced at a lower price at any particular time. Often by-product coke will be produced and sold at less than cost simply in order to maintain an organization and give some measure of financial return upon the large investment, which would otherwise
Jan 1, 1961
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Iron and Steel Division - Factors Affecting Deformation and Rupture of Metals at Elevated TemperaturesBy F. B. Foley
IT is with an unusual degree of personal satisfaction that I find myself in a position to pay tribute to the memory of Henry Marion Howe. One could not have spent any length of time in the presence of Dr. Howe without profiting intellectually. I do not hesitate to say that my years of association with him were the most stimulating of all my years of metallurgical study. He always impressed one with his own eager search for knowledge. Never dependent on the written word alone he sought information from anyone whose opinion he valued. His ability to piece together bits of apparently conflicting data from various sources so as to build up a logical hypothesis was unique. A small slight man with the intellect of genius he would have gone to the top in any endeavor he undertook and it was fortunate for metallurgy that its study attracted him as it did. Howe was a modest man. I like to recall an incident which left a lasting impression with me. The lab- oratory in his home, "Green Peace," was in the basement and access was by way of stairs leading down from his secretary's room. In using these stairs my attention was attracted many times to an ordinary cardboard shoe box which reposed on the shelf above the landing. It was crudely labeled on its side in black ink "Vanity Box." My curiosity was aroused to the point that I finally asked his secretary what it was. With some amusement she took the box from its shelf on the stairway, opened it and showed me its contents—numerous letters, from the foremost men of science of every civilized country throughout the world, commending his "Metallography of Steel and Cast Iron." I recall that in reply to one who thought there was not enough of Howe's own researches in his book he wrote, "Primarily I am a writer, secondarily an investigator." Howe wrote to make his readers think. No one ever strove harder than he to be right but above all, whether his viewpoint proved ultimately to be right or wrong, he was always content if by his stand, he provoked a reader to take the next step along the path to greater knowledge. I doubt that he was ever afraid to be wrong for he was always secure in the thought that his effort was guided by a sincere search for the truth. One continually searching for truth is entitled to occasional excursions up the wrong alley. A glance backward to the metallurgical confusion of some thirty to forty years ago, or need one go back so far, provides convincing proof of what a host of companions one may have in a common acceptance of ideas which the future will prove to be wholly untenable. Well over a hundred years have passed since investigators have interested themselves in the effect of increasing the temperature of iron and steel on their mechanical properties. We are told by Charles Walrandl in "Industrial Annals" for June 11, 1822, that bend tests, conducted in a Russian steel works of Prince Demidoff, on steel bars "highly heated" and bent during cooling became brittle when bent at an iris blue color. He concluded, "That when steel is heated to a temperature between 473°F and 662°F the mettle was more brittle between these limits than at a much lower or at a much higher temperature." It was a curious bit of information recognized as true to this day and still not explained satisfactorily. In 1878 Charles Houston in Annales de Mines associated this brittleness with an increase in tensile strength at 572°F. When this relatively low temperature is exceeded it is recognized that steel becomes weaker as temperature is increased up to the melting point, where no strength of practical importance remains. It is easy to believe, in fact it goes without saying, that this weakening as the temperature of a metal is increased is the result of the motion of the atoms making up the metal, a motion which itself is evidence of the temperature increase. However, if we are considering iron or steel we find that this decrease in strength is not a steady one, for, besides the increase in strength just referred to, one comes to a temperature, the critical temperature, where results of tests indicate the metal to be extremely weak and then as temperature increases to become sensibly stronger again. This apparent anomaly was made the subject of the first Howe Memorial Lecture, delivered by Albert Sauveur in 1924. It may be of interest to review these findings of Sauveur. He used two methods of investigation. One involved the twisting of bars. The bars were heated in an
Jan 1, 1951
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Institute of Metals Division - Diffusion in Bcc IronBy D. Y. F. Lai, R. J. Borg
Tracer diffusion of Fe59 has been measured in the a-stabilized Fe-1.8 at. pet V alloy from 700° to 1500°C. The activation energies are obtained in both the presence and absence of magnetic order. Furthermore, it is established that diffusion in the alloy is identical to that in pure iron and consequently the values of Do and Q accurately represent the temperature dependence for self-diffusion. The purpose of this investigation is to obtain an accurate estimate of the temperature dependence for self-diffusion in bee iron in both the presence and absence of magnetic order, and, in so doing, to establish the temperature range of the magnetic effect.'" As the temperature interval suitable for diffusion measurements is severely limited in both bee phases of pure iron because of the intervening fee ? phase, the experiments were performed on an a-stabilized alloy containing 1.8 at. pet V. This alloy is bee over the entire range from room temperature to the melting point. Although there have been several independent investigations of self-diffusion of iron in a, iron,1, 3-6 there still exists considerable disagreement regarding the values of Do and Q for the paramagnetic region. The two systematic studies of diffusion in 6 iron6, 7 previously reported are also only in fair agreement; but in view of the extremely small temperature range available for diffusion studies, i.e., 1390o to 1535oC, this is not surprising. It is comparatively easy to obtain accurate values of Do and Q for the a-stabilized alloy inasmuch as measurements can be made over the entire temperature range -700o to 1500°C. However, in order to assume that these same values apply to pure iron requires careful comparison of the data in the a, and 6 regions in both the alloy and pure iron. We have made several measurements in the appropriate temperature ranges and are unable to establish any systematic difference between the diffusion coefficients of iron in pure iron and in the alloy. We therefore conclude that the values obtained for the alloy are truly applicable to pure iron; the complete evidence favoring this conclusion will be discussed later in this paper. EXPERIMENTAL The experimental methods will be given here only in barest detail since they have been thoroughly de- scribed elsewhere.l, 7 The alloy was prepared by induction melting and chill casting under argon. Diffusion samples were machined from the ingot and annealed in hydrogen for several days at 900°C to give an average grain diameter of 1 to 2 mm. The penetration profiles of the tracer were established by a sectioning technique, the residual activity being counted after the removal of each section. The tracer used is Fe59 which emits two high-energy ? rays of 1.098 and 1.289 Mev, respectively; these were detected by a ? scintillation counter equipped with a pulse-height analyzer. For the measurements in the temperature range -700o to 1130°C the samples were vapor-plated with Fe59, encapsulated in quartz under vacuo, and annealed in resistance-heated furnaces which are controlled to ±1°C. The specimens diffused at higher temperatures are prepared as edge-welded couples, the two halves being separated by a thin washer of the alloy to prevent sintering. The diffusion anneal is then carried out by inductive heating under a dynamic vacuum. The temperature is monitored pyrometrically. RESULTS The diffusion coefficients are obtained from the penetration profiles in the usual way using the error-function complement relationship. The results over the entire temperature range are shown in Fig. 1. In the linear region, 900o < t > 1500°C the least mean squares (lms) values of the diffusion coefficients are given by D = 1.39 exp[-(56.5 ± 1) x 103/Rt] cm2/sec [l] The average departure of the measured diffusion coefficients from the values given by Eq. [1]In order to determine whether or not the slope is truly constant over the entire range from 900" to 1500°C, the data are arbitrarily divided into two groups, the first containing values between -900" and 1133°C and the second between -1133o and 1500°C. The lms values for the two groups are given by Eqs. [2] and [3]: D = 0.519 exp[-55.7 x 103 /RT](900° to 1133°C) cm2/sec [2] D = 1.45 exp[-56.7x103/RT] (1133° to 1500=C) cm2/sec [3] Thus, there is no significant difference between the high- and low-temperature segments of the linear region. This not only assures us of the consistency of the values obtained by induction heating as compared to those obtained from the resistance-heated
Jan 1, 1965
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What Graduates Expect Of The Coal IndustryBy William N. Poundstone
What attracts young engineering graduates into the coal industry? What do these young men expect of a career in coal mining? These questions are often asked and debated by mining men throughout the country. In order to present a comprehensive answer to them, an opinion survey was conducted at West Virginia University's School of Mines among the junior and senior classes and part of the sophomore class. The tabulation of the answers showed that the present-day mining engineering student is an older, more mature individual as compared with former years and as compared with other present-day college students. The average age of the country's record-breaking 150,000 college graduates is 24 years. Among this year's mining graduates at West Virginia University, 78% are of this age or older. Over half (54%) of those polled in the survey are married. This is com- pared to 30% as a national figure. Of those married, 38% have one child and over 6% have two children. The entire senior group covered by this survey has averaged almost three years in the armed forces. An article entitled "The Class of '49" in the June issue of Fortune magazine states that this year's class is the oldest, most mature class in history. Our survey indicates that the mining engineering students at West Virginia University are well above the average in this respect.
Jan 1, 1949
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Simulating Natural Light In MetallographyBy H. S. George
A method of illumination that enhances the value of microscopic study of opaque materials, as in metallography. By simulating natural lighting, structures. That possess relief are given a natural appearance. An example is included of the revelation of a hitherto invisible microconstituent. Erroneous interpretation is avoided. For example, etching figures in ferrite, heretofore considered to be pits, are revealed as pyramids, standing in bas-relief. Suggestions on technique are given, for, while the method is obvious, practice and attention to detail are requisite. ON one occasion when it seemed desirable to reveal under the microscope not only the metallic structure of an alloy, but certain small non-metallic inclusions, that are ordinarily obliterated by etching, it was discovered that, by partly eclipsing the illuminating pencil of light rays, the residual light was thrown on the object from one side and the structure was brought out in relief. At the same time, the non-metallic inclusions were retained in clear view. In this first demonstration of lighting obliquely through the objective a card was thrust part way into the light beam between the arc iris, and the light filter; the shadow of the card on the filter served to locate its position. Next several stiff-paper disks of various diameters were mounted on flexible wires some plasticine on the other end of the wires made it easy to adjust and maintain a disk at any desired position in the light beam. To facilitate manipulation, an assortment of disks, was mounted on a wheel, as shown in Fig. 1. The purpose of partly eclipsing the light beam was discussed in an earlier paper.1 There it was pointed out that the usual methods of illuminating opaque objects for microscopic examination lend an, un-natural appearance to, the view, while the new method, which has been termed conical illumination, revels the true relationship of constituents by simulating natural lighting.
Jan 3, 1924
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Drilling - Equipment, Methods and Materials - Circumferential-Toothed Rock Bits - A Laboratory Evaluation of Penetration PerformanceBy H. A. Bourne, E. L. Haden, D. R. Reichmuth
A circumferential-toothed bit with novel tooth form gave improved penetration performance. In this design the exterior flank of all teeth were vertical when in rolling contact with the hole bottom. Rock chips were generated by the interior flank of the tooth displacing the rock inwardly and downslope toward the center of the hole. A unique two-cone laboratory bit assembly enabled evaluation of numerous cone and tooth configurations. Some of the variables investigated, in addition to weight on bit, rotary speed and rock type, were tooth interference, percent tooth, hole bottom angle, attack angle and relief angle. Most tests were conducted dry on a brittle synthetic sandsone or a ductile quarried limestone. Tooth configurations were found to be more significant in the ductile material. This was attributed to the deeper tooth penetration before rock failure. These studies showed that the attack angle (angle beween interior flank of the tooth and rock surface) was the controlling variable; changing the tooth configuration from the assymetric or semi-wedge to the more conventional symmetric or wedge form reduced penetration performance; and penetration performance of circumferential-type cutters was directly proportional to rotary speeds up to 200 rpm. INTRODUCTION Much of the published literature on rock-chisel interactions describe experiments wherein symmetrical wedges are vertically loaded or impacted against a smooth rock surface.1-6 are is usually taken to insure that the indentation is not made near the edge of the rock specimen less erroneous data be obtained. The literature describes relatively few studies in which the investigator deliberately attempted to take advantage of an edge or free surface. In contrast, anyone who chips ice or breaks up a concrete sidewalk almost always works near an edge. Chisel "indexing," which has been considered by some investigator1,2,6,7 makes limited application of an edge or free surface. Probably the best documented investigation into applying this idea to drilling was that of Drilling Research Inc. at Battelle Memorial Institute.' Their "annular wing" percussion bit consisted of paired asymmetric chisels oriented so as to produce and move chips to the center of the hole. They predicted that the lowest energy requirement for chip generation would be achieved with a stepped hole bottom having a median angle of 45" to the horizontal. Results from limited tests showed that approximately 50 percent of the rock fragments were large and semi-circular in shape, as would be expected by a chisel impact near an edge. The remaining 50 percent were fine chips produced by the chisels in re-establishing the steps or ledges. Initial penetration rates with this bit were high, but they rapidly decreased. This was the result of excessive tooth wear caused by the constant friction on the gauge surfaces. The basic idea — circumferentially placed asymmetric chisels — still appears to have merit. If the concept could be applied to a rolling cutter bit, two of the shortcomings of the fixed chisel design could be overcome: (1) reduction in tooth friction, and (2) greatly increased cutter surface. Adapting asymmetric chisels to cutters rolling on an inclined hole bottom is restricted by bit geometry. The basic elements of roller rock-bit construction prevents the practical attainment of a 45" hole bottom angle. Nonetheless, experimentally it was considered desirable to investigate the influence of hole bottom angle to at least 40". This paper describes the laboratory studies conducted in evaluating the circumferential-toothed roller cutter rock bit. EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE BIT ASSEMBLY The cost of constructing a sufficient number of conventional three-cone rock bits to investigate circumferential cutter performance was prohibitive. Instead, a novel two-cone laboratory assembly which used an external bearing system was designed and constructed. The external bearings made it possible to alter the journal bearing angles and thus allow a wide flexibility in cutter configuration. Fig. 1 shows the laboratory bit assembly, the various bearing mount plates and the appropriate roller cutters for drilling shallow holes having hole bottom angles of 0, 10, 20, 30 or 40". The bit was limited to a drilling depth of 1 1/2 in. at the gauge teeth and a hole diameter of 43/4 in. This more or less intermediate size bit was chosen because it gave a more realistic match between bit teeth and the rock than would a microbit. Also, the rock sample size required was convenient and easy to obtain. CIRCUMFERENTIAL CUTTERS The tooth configuration used in our initial studies is shown in the upper half of Fig. 2. All cutters used in this series had the same tooth form — 43" included tooth angle, 2" positive relief angle and a horizontal tooth flat width of 1/32 in. Each cone cuts alternate rows except for the gauge row. The row-to-row spacing in view was 1/4 in. Static loading tests conducted earlier with asymmetrical chisels had been used to establish this spacing. These tests showed energy requirements for chip production increasing rapidly as the distances to the edge increased beyond
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Minerals Beneficiation - Analysis of Variables in Rod MillingBy H. M. Fisher, R. E. Snow, S. C. Sun
SEVERAL constructive and fundamental studies have been made in the analysis of data obtained from experiments carried on with batch ball and rod mills. The operating characteristics of ball milling in small continuous circuits have also been appraised. It is from these analyses that some of the theories of comminution have been developed. Relatively few studies of continuous rod milling have added significantly to the fundamental concepts, because seldom have they yielded sufficiently consistent results. Perhaps they have been too limited in their scope. Careful control of the variables in batch grinding is simple compared with that encountered in a continuous operation. This factor alone has discouraged many investigators. Occasionally results of systematic changes made in industrial rod mill circuits have been published, but usually the data are sketchy and are restricted because of the unwieldiness of the equipment used. The work, in general, has not been comprehensive; nevertheless it has provided empirical relationships that have bridged the gap between postulate and practice so that by proper manipulation of formulae, a mill designer can anticipate mill size and power requirements.14 Although operating variables of a small continuous mill are not so easy to control as with the batch mill, with present day devices, and with careful experimental work, consistent results can be obtained. Nearly four years ago, in the Process Laboratory, Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co. began a systematic study of the effects of several variables upon the performance of the pilot rod mill. A mill was built in the laboratory to provide the versatility required for the proposed study. It was constructed in sections so that it could be operated, with a few modifications, as a rod mill 30 in. x 8 ft or 30 in. x 4 ft. The discharge end of the shell was flanged so that either an end peripheral discharge or an overflow discharge could be installed. Thus the performance of at least four types of mills could be studied merely by changing the type of discharge or the length of the mill shell. The grinding experiments were designed so that a study could be made of the way in which the mill speed, feed rate, and pulp density influenced the performance of both overflow and end peripheral discharge rod mills. Four sets of experimental data were collected from the four mill arrangements. The mill in each set of experiments was fed at four rates of feed depending on the length of the mill, at four pulp densities, and at five percentages of critical speed. Electrical and mechanical controls were in- stalled to regulate all these independent variables, and auxiliary devices were used to verify the precision of the controls at each point. The dependent variables used to quantify the experiments were the reduction ratio and the hew surface area produced as calculated from sieve analyses. These were incorporated with the energy factor by the calculation of both the new surface produced per unit of energy and the Bond work index.' Rod wear, as a dependent variable, was not studied because of the short period of operation for each run. Exclusive of repeat runs, each set of experiments yielded 80 products, and the total study at least 320 products, all of which were quantified. With the operating information collected, these data presented a bewildering accumulation. Statistical analysis has been invaluable in unraveling the confusion and in presenting a means of establishing the nature and the magnitude of the significant variables. Data presented in this paper are those from the 30 in. x 4 ft end peripheral discharge rod mill, Fig. 1, when limestone was ground at feed rates of 1000, 2000, 4000, and 5000 lb per hr, at pulp densities of 50, 60, 70, and 80 pct solids, and at mill speeds of 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 pct of the critical speed. These 80 tests have all been run at least twice, and occasionally a third time, to prove that the data obtained were reproducible. The techniques of operation and the methods of quantification of results are described in the following pages and the results analyzed statistically to show the significant variables. The variables are plotted to show the relationships that exist. A massive dolomitic limestone from Waukesha Lime and Stone Co. was used for feed during these experiments because of its availability and its tex-tural uniformity. This limestone analyzed 28.7 pct CaO, 21.0 pct MgO, 6.0 pct SiO2, 0.4 pct A1²O³, and 0.3 pct Fe²O³ and had a loss on ignition of 44.1 pct. It had a rod mill grindability at 14 mesh of 9.6 grams per revolution from which a work index of 13.9 was calculated. The ball mill grindability at
Jan 1, 1955
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Part XII – December 1968 – Papers - The Use of Grain Strain Measurements in Studies of High-Temperature CreepBy R. L. Bell, T. G. Langdon
A technique was developed- for determining the grain strain, and hence the grain boundary sliding contribution, occurring during the high- temperature creep of a magnesium alloy, from the distortion of a grid photographically printed on the specimen surface. The results were compared with those obtained from measurements of grain shape, both at the surface and interrwlly, and it was concluded that the grain shape technique may substantially underestimate the grain strain and overestimate the sliding contribution due to the tendency for migration to spheroidize the grains. ALTHOUGH a considerable volume of work has been published on the role of grain boundary sliding in high-temperature creep, many of the estimates of Egb (the contribution of grain boundary sliding to the total strain) have been in error due to the use of incorrect formulas or inadequate averaging procedures.' One of the most easy and convenient measurements from which to compute Egb is that of v, the step normal to the surface where a grain boundary is incident. Unfortunately, this parameter is also the one associated with the treatest number of pitfalls. Values of v have been used to calculate Egb from the equation: egb =knrVr [1] where k is a geometrical averaging factor, n is the number of grains per unit length before deformation, v is the average value of v, and the subscript ,r denotes the procedure of averaging along a number of randomly directed lines. If the dependence of sliding on stress were assumed, it would be possible, in principle, to calculate k from the known distribution of angles between boundaries and the surface. This in itself is difficult because the distribution depends on the history of the surface,' but the problem is even further complicated by the fact that v depends on other factors such as the unbalanced pressure from subsurface grains.3 However, the great simplicity of the measurement procedure for v makes it highly desirable that this problem of k determination should be overcome. In the present experiments, this was achieved by the use of an indirect empirical method in which the grain strain, eg, at the surface was determined by the use of a photographically printed grid. The assumption here is that the total strain, et, is simply the sum of that due to grain boundary sliding, egb, and that due to slip or other processes within the grains, eg. SO that: Et = Eg + Egb [2] Thus k is given by: In practice, it is customary to indicate the importance of sliding by expressing it as a percentage of the total creep strain; this quantity is termed y (= 100Egb/Et). The determination of Eg from a printed grid within the grains avoids the difficulties due to boundary migration which should be considered when the grain strain is calculated from measurements of the average grain shape before and after deformation. As first pointed out by Rachinger,4,5 however, this latter technique has the particular advantage that it can also be applied in the interior of a polycrystal. Recently, several workers have produced evidence on a variety of materials6-'' to support the observation, first made by Rachinger on aluminum,4,5 that 7 can be very high, 70 to 100 pct, in the interior, even when the surface value, determined from boundary offsets, is very much lower.10'11 Although there have been criticisms both of the shortcomings of the grain shape technique'' and of the different procedures used to determine y at the surface,' it seemed important to check whether measurements of sliding by grain shape gave values of y which were truly representative of the material. In the present experiments, grain shape measurements were therefore made both at the surface and in the interior for comparison with one another and with the independent measurements of grain strain using the surface grid technique. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES The material used in this investigation was Magnox AL80, a Mg-0.78 wt pct A1 alloy supplied by Magnesium Elektron Ltd., Manchester. Tensile specimens, about 7 cm in length, were prepared from a 1.27-cm-diam rod, with two parallel longitudinal flat faces each approximately 3 cm in length. The specimens were annealed for 2 hr in an oxygen-free capsule, at temperatures in the range 430° to 540°C, to give varying grain sizes, and, prior to testing, the grain size of each was carefully determined using the linear intercept method. This revealed that the grains were elongated -0.5 to 5 pct in the longitudinal direction. Testing was carried out in Dennison Model T47E machines under constant load at temperatures in the range 150" to 300°C. At temperatures of 200°C and below, tests were conducted in air with the polished flat faces coated with a thin film of silicone oil to prevent oxidation; at higher temperatures, an argon atmosphere was used. To determine v,, each test was interrupted at regular increments of strain and the specimen removed from the machine. At the lower strains, when v, was less than about 1 pm, measurements were taken on a Zeiss Linnik interference microscope;
Jan 1, 1969
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Institute of Metals Division - Effects of Grain Boundaries in Tensile Deformation at Low TemperaturesBy W. A. Backofen, R. L. Fleischer
Single crystal, bicrystal, and polycrystal tensile tests of aluminum at 4.2°K, 77°K, and 300°K have been used to examine the role of grain boundaries in the deformation process. Results indicate that a grain boundary may affect the extent and slope of easy glide. The stage II hardening rate, on the other hand, is independent of the presence or absence of grain boundaries. This conclusion allows the size of the region of multiple slip caused by an incompatible grain boundary to be determined. For the size of bicyystal sample used in this study, multiple slip occurs in about half of the cross section. PREVIOUS studies of the stress-strain characteristics of bicrystals of face-centered-cubic metals have been limited to aluminuml-5 at room temperature. Recent results, however, indicate that the stress-strain curves of single crystals of such metals may be separated into at least three stages6 in which different deformation processes are occurring7 provided testing is done at sufficiently low temperatures.' Since for aluminum a well-defined stage II develops only below room temperature, previous studies have not been able to relate effects of grain boundaries to all of the three stages of deformation. It is therefore to be expected that low-temperature deformation of aluminum single crystals and bicrystals should clarify the effects of grain boundaries on the different processes of deformation. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Single crystals and bicrystals were grown from the melt by the standard techniqueg with aluminum reported by Alcoa to be 99.993 pct pure. Ridges in the boat were used to guide the grain boundary during growth, assuring that the boundary would bisect the sample.10 The rate of furnace motion during growth was 1.0 cm per hr. During growth zone purification resulted, as evidenced by the ability of the first material to freeze to recrystallize at room temperature following severe deformation. Samples were approximately 4.4 X 6.6 mm in cross section and 103.5 mm in length between grips. Samples were annealed at 635" i 5°C for 40 hr and furnace cooled over a 7-hr period. They were then electropolished in a solution of 5 parts methanol to 1 part perchloric acid at a current density of 15 amp per sq dm for about 30 min at temperatures below 0°C. Tensile testing was performed at 295" (room temperature), 77" (sample in liquid nitrogen), and 4.2"K (sample in liquid helium) on the hard-type machine indicated schematically in Fig. 1. The machine con- sists basically of a tube surrounding a rod; one end of the sample is attached to each member, and the rod is pulled up the tube to extend the sample. The rod is rigidly mounted and is moved vertically by a system described by asinski." The pulling force is measured continuously by an electrical strain gage load cell, and the relative displacement of the tube and rod is also recorded continuously by a soft cantilever beam with electrical strain gages. Maximum stress and strain sensitivities were ±2g per sq mm and * 3-10-5. In all tests the strain rate was approximately 5.10-5 per sec. The thin wires in the tensile apparatus introduce softness, which may be corrected for, however, by measuring load vs displacement with the sample replaced by an elastic member. For loads greater than 15 kg the spring constant is 1.875.106 g per cm. The flexible wires also served to reduce substantially the large shearing forces which may arise in the case of grips having horizontal rigidity.'' As in any gripping system, however, bending moments will arise in the course of deformation by single slip. Engineering stress, s = (load)/(original cross-sectional area), and strain, E = (increase in length)/ (original length), are used for stress-strain curves unless otherwise indicated. Tables list resolved shear stress, T=mo and shear strain ? = dm, where m is the usual Schmid resolved shear stress factor for the primary slip system at the start of deformation. The first group of samples to be described forms an isoaxial set, all of the crystals making up the single crystals or bicrystals having the same tensile axis, the orientation of which is indicated by the cross in Fig. 2. For this orientation the primary slip plane and slip direction make angles of 45 deg with the tensile axis and the Schmid factor m has its maximum possible value of 0.5. Rotations about the tensile axis are indexed by means of an angle 0 between the small-area surface of the samples and the projection of the primary slip direction onto the cross section, as defined in Fig. 3. In single crystals, values of 0 were 0 and 90 deg, while in bicrystals 0 values were (0 deg, 180 deg), (90 deg, 270 deg), and (0 deg, 90 deg) as indicated in Fig. 4.
Jan 1, 1961
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Institute of Metals Division - Fatigue in Single Crystals of CopperBy W. A. Backofen, M. L. Ebner
SINCE the early work of Gough with Hanson and Wright,l-3 the study of fatigue has been characterized by experiments on single crystals only in recent times.9-10 Now, increasing attention is given to this aspect of fatigue research for the insight that it may provide into details of mechanism. The investigations have concentrated to a large extent on the development of deformation markings on fatigued crystals, and have shown the cracks to originate in slip bands possibly preceded or accompanied by slip-band extrusions. Experiments of special interest to the present work were conducted by paterson5 on copper crystals and involved both metallographic examination and measurement of change in flow stress. Crystals were cycled in alternating tens ion-compress ion with a constant plastic shear-strain amplitude of approximately 0.8 pct, and were particularly revealing for their demonstration of hardening with accumulated strain similar to that in unidirectional straining, through an easy-glide stage I followed by a stage II of rapid hardening; deformation was not continued beyond 40 cycles, however, so that the eventual course of the hardening curve could not be decided. For the conditions used by Paterson, surface slip markings were similar to those observed in unidirectional straining, but there were no X-ray asterisms and no deformation bands on the surface. In current thinking about the nature of fracture in fatigue, two views relative to mechanism are generally acknowledged, with the reservation that both could apply simultaneously in some measure. As one possibility, fracturing across a slip plane is regarded as a result of loss of cohesion from the creation of many point defects by dislocation movement under the cyclic loading.'' On the other hand, fracture has also been taken to follow as a consequence only of the geometry of slip at a free surface, consisting of offsets and crevices which eventually become fatigue cracks.12, l3 The work of McCammon and Rosenbergl4 showing fatigue in polycrystals at 4.2oK makes clear that any long-range diffusion of point defects is unnecessary, yet studies such as those of Forsyth and stubington15 show that accelerated diffusion may be a characteristic of deformation under fatigue loading. Interest in obtaining data of possible use for resolving such questions led to the experiments described below. Copper crystals were conveniently loaded in alternating four-point bending at constant deflection, a test condition shown to approximate a constant plastic strain amplitude for a wide range of axial orientations. The method of testing was not readily adapted to extensive study of temperature effects, but an investigation of the geometry of crack formation could simply be made by orienting,the slip direction at different angles to the surface. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Single crystals were grown by a modified Bridgman method in a stationary gradient furnace under an atmosphere of purified dry nitrogen. Purity of as-grown crystals was 99.999 pct as determined by spectrographic analysis plus vacuum fusion and gravimetric analyses for oxygen and sulfur, respectively. Crystals were of reasonable perfection as evidenced by a critical resolved shear stress at 10 deg from (110) of 60 g per sq mm and half-width of a (400) X-ray diffraction line from one crystal of
Jan 1, 1960
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Coal - Mechanized Cutting and Face Stripping in the RuhrBy R. R. Estill
THE rank of the Ruhr coal ranges from a high volatile bituminous coal to an anthracite, depending to some extent on the original depth of the seam. The average Ruhr coal corresponds to a soft bituminous American coal of a coking quality. The average thicknesses of individual coal seams being mined are also comparable (59 in. against 65 in. in the United States). However, consideration of seam conditions and mining conditions other than those just mentioned emphasizes differences rather than similarities with United States soft coal. In general, the Ruhr seams now being mined are much more folded and inclined than American seams. Dips of 20' and 30" are common in seams now being worked, and 30 pct of the coal reserves in the district are in seams dipping more than 35". Only on the tops and bottoms of folds do we find rather flat coal seams. In addition to the folding there is extensive displacement by cross faulting plus a certain amount of strike faulting of an overthrust nature, which results locally in doubling or omission of seams. Because of the long history of mining in the Ruhr, nearly all coal lying near the surface has long since been mined out, and we find that the average depth of mining is at present about 2300 ft below the surface. Deep mining, folding, and faulting result in seam conditions requiring a great deal more roof support than one finds in American soft coal mines. In fact only in the anthracite district and the Rocky Mountain and Pacific coal fields do we find somewhat similar conditions. It is easy to say, therefore, that the problem of mechanization of coal cutting and loading in the German mines is quite different from that which we have so effectively met in America with our mobile cutters and loaders, duck bill loaders, and a room and pillar system of mining our drift and slope mines. Partly because of more limited coal reserves, the traditional German mining system is largely the longwall method, which gives an almost complete coal recovery. Backfilling must be extensively practiced to protect the longwall faces, the over and underlying seams and workings, and especially the surface industrialized areas and barge canals. The German engineers have accordingly concentrated their efforts on the design of cutters, loaders, and conveyors suitable to longwall methods rather than room and pillar methods. Undercutters with cutter bars like American models have been in use in the Ruhr since well before World War 11. In 1941 they accounted for 8.5 pct of the production. This percentage, of course, includes coal which was undercut but nevertheless had to be broken down with air hammers or with explosives. The most common of these cutters is the Eickhoff Standard cutter (see fig. 1). This machine does about 95 pct of the undercutting in the Ruhr today, and is available with either compressed air or electrical power and in at least four different sizes. A variation of the cutter is this one with two cutter bars (fig. 2). At the end of 1947 about 200 of these machines and similar cutters were accounting for 13.2 pct of the total production, a production which was, however, only 60 pct of the 1941 production rate, so that the actual cutter tonnage was only up to a small amount over 1941. In 1941 about 3 pct of the production was accounted for by shearing machines making their cut perpendicular to the longwall face. They were similar to those used in the States. These machines are today considered obsolete and now account for only 0.7 pct of the total production. They are located at only a few mines and at present do not seem to have much of a future in the Ruhr. For the future, the Ruhr miner is looking forward to rather extensive mechanization of face work, with two major types of equipment being developed almost simultaneously. On one hand there is the development of cutter loaders for use in relatively hard coal. They represent the further extension of ideas developed after relatively long experience with the Eickhoff cutter. On the other hand there has been since 1942 an intense interest in the Ruhr in the development of face-stripping methods, particularly by the Kohlenhobel (coal plow) and its modification. At the end of 1947 these cutter loaders, Kohlen-hobels and scrapers together were actually accounting for only about 1.4 pct of total production while air hammers still broke 77.1 pct and as much as 1.2 pct was actually broken by hand picks. However,
Jan 1, 1951
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Coal - Mechanized Cutting and Face Stripping in the RuhrBy R. R. Estill
THE rank of the Ruhr coal ranges from a high volatile bituminous coal to an anthracite, depending to some extent on the original depth of the seam. The average Ruhr coal corresponds to a soft bituminous American coal of a coking quality. The average thicknesses of individual coal seams being mined are also comparable (59 in. against 65 in. in the United States). However, consideration of seam conditions and mining conditions other than those just mentioned emphasizes differences rather than similarities with United States soft coal. In general, the Ruhr seams now being mined are much more folded and inclined than American seams. Dips of 20' and 30" are common in seams now being worked, and 30 pct of the coal reserves in the district are in seams dipping more than 35". Only on the tops and bottoms of folds do we find rather flat coal seams. In addition to the folding there is extensive displacement by cross faulting plus a certain amount of strike faulting of an overthrust nature, which results locally in doubling or omission of seams. Because of the long history of mining in the Ruhr, nearly all coal lying near the surface has long since been mined out, and we find that the average depth of mining is at present about 2300 ft below the surface. Deep mining, folding, and faulting result in seam conditions requiring a great deal more roof support than one finds in American soft coal mines. In fact only in the anthracite district and the Rocky Mountain and Pacific coal fields do we find somewhat similar conditions. It is easy to say, therefore, that the problem of mechanization of coal cutting and loading in the German mines is quite different from that which we have so effectively met in America with our mobile cutters and loaders, duck bill loaders, and a room and pillar system of mining our drift and slope mines. Partly because of more limited coal reserves, the traditional German mining system is largely the longwall method, which gives an almost complete coal recovery. Backfilling must be extensively practiced to protect the longwall faces, the over and underlying seams and workings, and especially the surface industrialized areas and barge canals. The German engineers have accordingly concentrated their efforts on the design of cutters, loaders, and conveyors suitable to longwall methods rather than room and pillar methods. Undercutters with cutter bars like American models have been in use in the Ruhr since well before World War 11. In 1941 they accounted for 8.5 pct of the production. This percentage, of course, includes coal which was undercut but nevertheless had to be broken down with air hammers or with explosives. The most common of these cutters is the Eickhoff Standard cutter (see fig. 1). This machine does about 95 pct of the undercutting in the Ruhr today, and is available with either compressed air or electrical power and in at least four different sizes. A variation of the cutter is this one with two cutter bars (fig. 2). At the end of 1947 about 200 of these machines and similar cutters were accounting for 13.2 pct of the total production, a production which was, however, only 60 pct of the 1941 production rate, so that the actual cutter tonnage was only up to a small amount over 1941. In 1941 about 3 pct of the production was accounted for by shearing machines making their cut perpendicular to the longwall face. They were similar to those used in the States. These machines are today considered obsolete and now account for only 0.7 pct of the total production. They are located at only a few mines and at present do not seem to have much of a future in the Ruhr. For the future, the Ruhr miner is looking forward to rather extensive mechanization of face work, with two major types of equipment being developed almost simultaneously. On one hand there is the development of cutter loaders for use in relatively hard coal. They represent the further extension of ideas developed after relatively long experience with the Eickhoff cutter. On the other hand there has been since 1942 an intense interest in the Ruhr in the development of face-stripping methods, particularly by the Kohlenhobel (coal plow) and its modification. At the end of 1947 these cutter loaders, Kohlen-hobels and scrapers together were actually accounting for only about 1.4 pct of total production while air hammers still broke 77.1 pct and as much as 1.2 pct was actually broken by hand picks. However,
Jan 1, 1951
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Open Pit Mining - How Far Can Chemical Crushing with Explosives in the Mine Go Towards Further Replacement of Mechanical Crushing in the Plant?By Charles H. Grant
Some of the limiting factors relative to explosive crushing of rock and ways to overcome a few of these problems are presented. Relationships between borehole diameters, bench heights, and spacings, along with a review of the influence geometry has on energy as these are changed, are discussed. Efficiency in use of explosives and the decay of energy as it moves through rock and is absorbed and dissipated, is described, along with fragmentation as a function of spacings and energy zoning, etc. Communications are one of the major problems encountered. In an effort to provide a better understanding of the use of explosives, it is necessary to take a little different view of what explosives are, how to look at them as tools to fragment rock, and some of the problems encountered in doing so. First, take the explosive: although there are many factors involved, consider these as being reduced to only two — shock-strain imparted to the rock by the high early development of energy, and the gas effect which is a combination of heat, moles of gas formed, rate of formation of these gases which develop pressures, etc. First, consider shock energy by itself and assume there is no gas effect in the reaction. Fig. 1 illustrates a block or cube of rock, in the center of which is detonated an explosive charge which is 100% shock energy. Tensile slabbing would be seen on the surface and probably the cube of rock would generally hang together even though microcracks were formed. If the situation is reversed and an explosive whch has no shock energy and only gas effect (Fig. 2) is considered, the cube of rock would act as a pressure vessel and contain the pressure from the gas effect until it exceeded the rock-vessel strength; then the rock would break in a few large pieces. If these two kinds of energy are put together and the area of shock-strain around the explosive (Fig. 3) is considered, the two energies will be seen working together to furnish broken rock. The gas effect applies pressure to the microcracks formed from the shock energy to weaken the rock-pressure vessel and propagate these cracks to break the rock apart. It not only will be broken more finely, but will break apart at a lower pressure than the gaseffect case, since the shock energy has first weakened the rock vessel. Although tensile spalling from the shock-strain imparts momentum to the rock, the main source of displacement comes from the gas effect. The term "rock" is being used to mean any material to be blasted. These energies are absorbed by the rock in different ways. First, classify rock into two main categories: "elastic" and "plastic-acting." Elastic rock should be thought of as rock which can transmit a shock wave and is high in compressive strength, such as granite or quartzite. Since this elastic rock transmits a shock wave well, it makes good use of the shock energy from the explosive-forming cracks, etc., for the gas effect to work on. Plastic-acting rocks are rock masses which are relatively low in compressive strength and absorb shock energy at a much faster rate, thereby making poor use of the shock energy by not developing as extensive a cracked zone for the gas effect to work on. Rocks of this type are generally softer materials such as some limestones, sandstones, and porphyries. For the most part, the shockenergy part of the explosive reaction is wasted in plastic-acting rock, leaving most of the work to the gas effect. Since the ratio of gas effect to shock energy is different in different explosives, it is easy to understand why some explosives perform well in elastic rock and poorly in plastic-acting rock, and vice versa. Some of the most difficult blasting situations arise when mixtures of plastic-acting and elastic rock are encountered (Fig. 4). Fig. 4 shows an example of granite boulders cemented together with something like a decomposed quartz monzonite which is plastic-acting. The elastic granite boulders will transmit the shock-strain within itself, but when this shock tries to move through the monzonite to the next boulder, its intensity is absorbed by the monzonite and little shock-strain is placed on the adjoining boulder. In addition to this loss by absorbtion, shock reflection at the surface of the boulder will effect tensile spalling. The net effect is poor breakage of the boulders which do not have drillholes in them as they simply will be popped out with the muck. The same is true (Fig. 5) when layers and joints make
Jan 1, 1970
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Logging and Log Interpretation - Automatic Computation of Dipmeter Logs Digitally Recorded on Magnetic TapesBy J. P. Timmons, J. H. Moran, G. K. Miller, M. A. Coufleau
A prototype equipment has been designed and built for the digital recording of well logs on magnetic tape at the same time that the regular film recording is made. The format of the digital tape produced is such that it can be used directly at the input of the ZBM 704, 7090 or other models of ZBM computers which accept digital magnetic tape. This apparatus has been used for the experimental field recording of dipmeter tape logs which were subsequently computed by means of an ZBM 704 or 7090. In this paper the equipment and the digital tape are described briefly, and their application to the computer-interpretation of dipmeter data is discussed. A principal element in the interpretation of the dipmeter log is the correlation of the three microresirtivity dipmeter curves to determine the depth displacements between them. Several correlation methods for computer use are considered, with particular attention to their sensitivity to error and their consumption of computer time. The tape data were used to compute information content of the dipmeter microresistivity curves in terms of their frequency spectra. The results show that the sampling rate used in recording the digital information is quite adequate and illustrate a use of the digital tape in evaluating the characteristics of new tools. Some examples of field results are shown. It can be foreseen that, when digital tape recording becomes available for general field use, a whole new realm of possibilities will be opened up for the processing of other well logs through computations, which hitherto were not feasible because they were too laborious and time-con.sunzing. INTRODUCTION The last few years have seen a revolution in the design and production of data-processing equipment. Stored-pro-gram digital computers have progressed from a research curiosity to the basis of a major industry. There are now hundreds of such machines in daily use in the United States. With the acceptance of a technique that was, in fact, already clearly described by John von Neumann in 1945, the last decade has seen great strides in the development'of components, reliability, programming systems and, most spectacularly, in the sheer number of machines built and in use. In 1957 there were enough digital computers available to the oil industry to justify the suggestion that it would be worthwhile to investigate the possibility of using these machines in processing well log data.' The first result of this investigation was the appearance of what may be referred to as the input-output bottleneck. Well logs are customarily recorded on film. To get these data into a machine required then (and still does): a time-consuming semi-automatic reading of the film; conversion of the log data to digital form; and recording these digital data in some medium acceptable for computer input, such as cards, magnetic tape, or punched paper tape. However, the recording, reading, and re-recording could only result in deterioration of the data. Therefore, it was concluded that the fist step should be the development of a new, more direct recording technique supplemental to the film recording, which would provide easy access to the digital computer. There are many solutions to the problem of recording log data in an easily recoverable form. After careful consideration it was decided to adopt the boldest solution which, it was felt, was also the most elegant. It was decided to record well logs directly, in the field, on magnetic tape in such a way that this tape could be used without further modification as an input to the IBM 704 or 7090 computer. To realize practical field recording of magnetic tape logs, it became necessary to develop in a rather small package, an analog-to-digital converter, a tape recorder, and the necessary multiplexing and control circuits to allow the simultaneous recording of a multiplicity of logging signals. The magnetic tape recording was to be made simultaneously with the conventional logging operation in such a way as not to interfere with it. Along with the development of hardware, it was necessary to begin development of interpretation techniques and machine programs that would exploit the power of the digital computer. Here, again, there is a long list of possible applications. After much consideration it was decided to concentrate on the interpretation of the dipmeter log as a first application. It is the object of this paper to describe in some detail the developments sketched in the last three paragraphs.
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Part V – May 1969 - Papers - Predicting Ternary Phase Diagrams and Quaternary Excess Free-Energy Using Binary DataBy N. J. Olson, G. W. Toop
A series of equations previously derived for calculating ternary thermodynamic properties using binary data has been applied to the problem of predicting ternary phase diagrams and quaternary excess free energy. The methods are considered to be rigorous for regular ternary and quaternary systerns and empirical for nonregular systems. The equations have been used to predict ternary phase boundaries in the Pb-Sn-Zn system at 926°K and the Ag-Pd-Cu system at 1000ºK. Calculated quaternary excess free-energy values are presented for the Pb-Sn-Cd-Bi system at 773°K. A method for predicting the location of ternary phase boundaries would be a useful supplement to experimental measurements in ternary systems. This has been recognized with the considerable work that has been done to find models to predict or extend thermodynamic properties and phase diagrams in binary and ternary systems1-18 for which direct experimental measurements are limited. With the access to highspeed digital computers and mechanical plotting devices, it is currently rather easy to compare mathematical models with experimental data. The regular-solution model is consistent with systems which exhibit negative heats of mixing, positive heats of mixing, and miscibility gaps, and therefore it is applicable to simple phase diagrams. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of regular-solution equations to predict, empirically, phase equilibria in some types of nonregular ternary systems. Corresponding equations for regular quaternary systems are given and used to calculate empirical quaternary excess free-energy data. METHOD FOR PREDICTING THE LOCATION OF TERNARY PHASE BOUNDARIES USING BINARY DATA Meijerin1,6 has used the regular-solution model to calculate common tangent points to ternary free energy of mixing surfaces and hence to determine phase boundaries in ternary systems involving miscibility gaps. He used the following equation to calculate ternary excess free energy of mixing values: stants characteristic of the binary solutions, and Ni is the mole fraction of component i. An alternate expression which gives for regular solutions as a function of binary values of along composition paths with constant N1/N2, N2lN3, and N1/N3 may also be derived:15 ternary r xs 1 ?c-*n.Ti*.U*. This expression for is more useful for the empirical calculation of ternary excess free-energy values for nonregular systems because actual binary AFXS data may be used in the expression rather than attempting to find suitable constants for Eq. [I]. The results of this feature of Eq. [2] are illustrated in Table I where calculated excess free-energy values for the Ni-Mn-Fe system at 1232°K are compared with experimental data of Smith, Paxton, and McCabe.19 Although regular-solution equations have been shown to give calculated thermodynamic quantities which agree quite well with experiment for single-phase nonregular ternary systems,14,15 care should be exercised in the use of the equations to predict thermo-dynamic properties of multiphase ternary systems in which strong compound formation is suspected. This precaution is consistent with the simple regular-solution model which for negative values of ai_j will indicate a tendency toward compound formation but even for very large negative values of ai-jwill not give multiphase binary or ternary systems involving a distinct stable compound. Hence, calculated ternary free-energy data using Eq. [2] might be expected to vary between being rigorous and poor, in the following order, for ternary systems which are: a) regular solutions, b) nonregular single-phase liquids in which random mixing is nearly realized, c) nonregular single-phase solids, d) nonregular multiphase systems exhibiting miscibility gaps, e) nonregular multiphase systems with binary compounds but no ternary compounds, f) nonregular multiphase systems with highly stable binary and ternary compounds. The calculated data will be expected to be least accurate for the last two cases. The general method adopted in this paper involves two-dimensional plots of ternary activity curves. The principle used is that tie lines indicating two-phase equilibria join conjugate phases a and B for example, for which a1(a) = a1(B), a2(a) = a2(B), and a3(a) = a3(B). Tie lines may be determined by plotting the ternary activities of two components along an isoactivity line for the third component and the unique points where the above equalities hold may be found graphically.
Jan 1, 1970
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Coal - Evaluation of Washery PerformanceBy L. Valentik
Many attempts have been made during the last 40 years to evaluate the performance of gravity separation equipement, that is, the effectiveness with which light and heavy particles are separated. The most comprehensive treatment of the subject was made by Cerchar at the 1st International Conference on Coal Preparation held in Paris in 1950. The methods suggested by the Conference were accepted and very widely used in the last two decades. This paper discusses an improved method of evaluation in the light of the now-accepted standard presentation. The float-and-sink analysis of the product is presented on a Gaussian distribution curve, resulting in an easier visualization of the inherent difficulties of separation. The ogives of the distribution curve me then plotted, giving a quantitative measure of the deviation from perfect separation as an error distance instead of an error area. Illustrations of the new method are given both for gravel and for coal preparation, but the content is valid and applicable to other types of minerals which are separated by gravity methods. Many attempts had been made during the last forty years to evaluate the performance of heavy-media separation (HMS) equipment, that is, the effectiveness with which floats and sinks are separated.'-' The most comprehensive treatment of the subject was made by Cerchar at the 1st International Conference on Coal Preparation held in Paris. 6 The primary aim was the thorough understanding of the mechanism of separation and the unified presentation of data on gravity separation so that the evaluation and comparison of washery performance could be made from all over the world. No strict overall standardization has been achieved, but after the conference a more or less uniform presentation of performance was accepted, which, during the last two decades, has been very widely used. In this paper, illustration of the old methods and an improved method of evaluation will be given. HEAVY-MEDIA SEPARATION (HMS) PERFORMANCE CRITERIA In the ideal HMS process, all material lower in density than the specific gravity of separation (SGS) would be recovered as floats and all material of higher density would appear as sinks. In order to evaluate the misplaced material, the washery products are tested at the density at which the washing unit is operated. The original type of plot1,7, 8 is shown in Fig 1; this was developed primarily for coal cleaning units. The curve for raw coal represents the cumulative percentages of sink material. The refuse curve is also plotted as a cumulative sink, the percentages being expressed in terms of raw coal. This diagrammatic representation of the results of washing units has the merit of easy visual observance of the degree of separation obtained. The error areas (cross-hatched) are a measure of the amount of misplaced material and therefore they can be used to characterize the quality of separation. The ideal and actual separating performance between floats and sinks can be best seen from the partition curve developed by Tromp,2 where the ordinate is the percentage recovery of the sinks, and the abscissa is the specific gravity (Fig. 2). It can be seen from the shape of the curve that as the SGS is approached, the proportion of material reporting to the improper product increases rapidly. In fact, the SGS can be defined as the density of the material in the feed that is distributed equally between float-and-sink products. When the upper half of the curve is inverted, a shape similar to that of a Gaussian error distribution curve is obtained and therefore the analysis of gravity separation may be carried out by using the law of probability. The shape of the curve in Fig. 2 is determined partly by the density composition of the feed, and partly by the sharpness with which the unit separates floats from the sinks.9, l0
Jan 1, 1970
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PART VI - A Vacancy-Flux Effect in Diffusion in Metallic SystemsBy V. Leroy, A. G. Guy
Serious disagreements are often found between experimentally determined intrinsic diffusion coefficients and those calculated employing the usual form of the vacancy theory. In the new theory it is proposed that the total intrinsic flux, Ji, of component i, is the sum of a part, f, due to the usual random exclzanges of component i with the vacancies, and a second part, Ji, due to exchanges with the uacancies composing the net vacancy flux. The present treatment, while less powerful than that of Manning, has the advantage of easy uisualization and of facilitating the application of the vacancy-flux effect to complex systems. IT is becoming increasingly evident that there are serious deficiencies in the version of the vacancy theory of diffusion that has been widely used for the past 20 years. One type of evidence is the frequent lack of agreement between intrinsic diffusion coefficients and tracer diffusion coefficients, even taking account of the thermodynamic factor. A second kind of evidence is the observation of a Kirkendall shift larger than theoretically possible, that is, larger than can be accounted for without assigning a negative value to one of the two intrinsic diffusion coefficient.'- The thermodynamic factor could conceivably make both coefficients negative, but not just one. It is clear that a cause of these anomalies, apart from any inadequacy of the usual vacancy theory, might lie in an oversimplified treatment of the data. Adequate experimental techniques, including the use of moderate pressure during the diffusion anneal, are now available to insure that porosity, lateral expansion, and so forth, can be kept negligibly small in most cases. The effect of differences in atomic volume can be of major importance, and it is essential that one of the available methods4 be used to account for this factor. In the present treatment this is accomplished by the consistent use of moles per cubic centimeter as the unit of concentration. Of the various possible inadequacies of the vacancy theory, attention will be given here only to effects of the net vacancy flux. annin' has previously considered this question, beginning with an analysis of atomic jumping of tracer atoms. When he added the effect of a concentration gradient, new terms arose that could be associated with the flow of vacancies. The present treatment uses quite a different approach. The usual vacancy flux, J,, is introduced explicitly, and a simple analysis predicts major changes in the intrinsic diffusion coefficients from this cause. The usual assumptions are made that only a vacancy mechanism is operative, that the formation of voids can be neglected, and that changes in the partial molal volumes, vl and v2, are negligible. The significant diffusion coefficients for the present topic are Dl and D,, the intrinsic coefficients, which enter in the equations, where the flux Ji, moles per sq cm per sec, is that crossing the Kirkendall interface. The concentration, ci, is in units of moles per cu cm, and the concentration gradient, aci/ax, is evaluated at the Kirkendall interface. It will be recalled' that the calculation of Dl and D2 involves the measurement of areas on the diffusion curve with respect to the positions of the Kirkendall and Matano interfaces. In the case of the anomalies mentioned earlier, the Kirkendall shift is too large to be accounted for by the diiferetzce in fluxes (J2 -J1), given by Eqs. [I] and [2]. The logical inference is that the flux of the solvent atoms, J1, is actually in the same direction as the flux of the solute atoms, Jz. In terms of Eq. [I] this requires that Dl have a negative value. However, it would be somewhat misleading to state that the solvent atoms are diffusing up their own concentration gradient. The explanation that will be advanced here pictures competing processes producing the net flux of solvent atoms: 1) diffusion of the solvent atoms down their own gradient by random exchanges with vacancies; and 2) diffusion of solvent atoms in the opposite direction by exchanges with the net vacancy flux. ACTION OF THE NET VACANCY FLUX Theories of vacancy diffusion can be formulated with varying degrees of refinement, and the present theory has purposely been kept as simple as appeared adequate to explain the phenomenon in question. In particular the following aspects have been neglected: 1) the gradient of vacancy concentration in comparison to the gradient of the atomic species; 2) departure of vacancy concentration from the local equilibrium value; 3) variation of the jump frequency, LO, with the specific surroundings of the atom-vacancy pair being considered; 4) correlation effects. These and other refinements can be considered once the essential mechanism has been established. The essential idea of the present analysis is to calculate the total intrinsic flux, Ji, of component i as the sum, JlJ?±j{ [3] where J; is attributable to the usual random atomic jumping, and J{ is a contribution arising from the net vacancy flux, J,. The latter quantity, of course,
Jan 1, 1967
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Discussion - Interactive Graphics For Semivariogram Modeling - Technical Papers, Mining Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 9, September 1984, pp. 1332-1340 - Rendu, J. M.By M. S. Azun
M.S. Azun I have many objections to the content of the author's paper. Before discussing it, however, I would like to repeat the property of semivariogram function. Second order stationary properties of regionalized variables (ReV's) such as semivariogram function ?(h) are perfectly known in geostatistics. Also, the kriging equations in the language of mathematical statistics using second order stationary properties are well understood. However, the way to use the sample (estimated) semivariogram function in any one of the kriging procedures is vague. The sample semivariogram function is given as follows: [1 N-hy*(h) = 2(N h) i21 {Xi-Xi+h}Z, h=0, 1, N-1] where N is the total number of samples, Xi is the sample value at the i - th location, X i+h is the sample value at the i +h - th location, and h is the distance among the samples. An estimation variance of sample semivariogram function of first lag is smaller than that of higher order lag. The theoretical semivariogram function reaches the variance of samples asymptotically. But this is not easily observable because of the larger variation involved in the estimate of semivariogram function. In general, an estimation procedure is done for h = 0, 1, 2,…., up to the greatest integer less than N/2, even though sample semivariogram function can be computable through N-1. After estimating semivariogram function, the critical question of how to model sample semivariogram function arises. As seen in the above equation, sample semivariogram function is discrete and can be smoothed by the model being selected. Therefore, modeling of sample semivariogram function is the most important step in geostatistics. It not only smoothes a discrete function but also affects the results of the kriging procedure. When the only aim is to model the semivariogram function, which is the basic point of the author's paper, one can employ any fitting techniques, such as curve fitting, or any ar¬bitrary functions, which are called submodels in the paper. The term "arbitrary function" is used rather than "submodel" because there is no basic understanding of developing them. The author suggests that the sum of those submodels can also be used for the modeling of sample semivariogram function. The combination of any arbitrary functions brings many problems instead of giving an insight of the domain structure considered. The author used two arbitrary functions and the nugget effect in response to sample semivariogram function (Fig. 10). For the same example, he stated that the parameters involved in the mixed arbitrary function model can be accepted when the discrepancy between sample semivariogram function and the model is small visually. For verifying the fitting behavior of any selected model, one should not be contented with the visual satisfactory. Some statistical measure such as goodness of fit has to be used. The author's practice is no more than an exercise in curve fitting without any fundamental understanding or conceptualization of the underlying physical mechanism. Furthermore, the selection of any model is not an easy task if the purpose is the search for the "best" response to the observed second order properties of ReV's. I suggest that the Markovian model (Azun, 1983), on the basis of a theoretical understanding of underlying mechanism, which gives more information about the occurrence of regionalized variables, is used to respond all properties of ReV's. There are a lot of problems for modeling of onedimensional sample semivariogram function. Thus, it is not appropriate to go to higher order dimensional sample semivariogram function modeling. In the meantime, I would recommend that one can connect the values of standardized sample semivariogram function rather than simple values of semivariogram function in the two-dimensional estimation. The standardized values can be computed in dividing the semivariogram function value by the number of sample pairs involved in each lag regardless of the directions. In conclusion, geostatistics is an interdisciplinary area in mining that uses the principles of mathematical statistics. Thus, it should not violate any probabilistic and statistical rules. When Matheron was developing the theory of geostatistical study in the early years of geostatistics, many mining people had a reservation accepting the geostatistical tools. However, this does not mean that we, the geostatisticians, might try to convince those people using some "strange" tools or rules as some authors implied (Baafi and Kim, 1984). Instead, we have to develop and explain the geostatistical tools staying only in the framework of statistical concepts and properties. ? References Azun, M.S., 1983, "Stochastic Process Modeling of Spatially Distributed Geostatistical Data," Columbia University, Ph.D. Thesis. Baafi, E.Y., and Kim, Y.C., 1984, "Discussion - Comparison of Different Ore Reserve Estimation Methods Using Conditional Simulation," Mining Engineering, Vol. 36, No. 3, p. 280. Reply by J.M. Rendu The interactive method proposed by Rendu allows practitioners to develop semivariogram models that take into account not only the numerical information obtained by sampling, but also highly significant additional information that often cannot be quantified. The geology of the deposit - including hypotheses concerning its genesis, sampling methods, assaying methods, and mathematical methods used to calculate the semivariograms - all have an influence on the numerical results obtained and on how these results should be interpreted. If all the information concerning the spatial distribution of values in a mineral deposit was contained in the sample values, it could be argued that statistical techniques alone would produce optimum models. However, this is rarely, if ever, the case. Methods that allow the user to take into account his experience and his geologic understanding of the deposit should not be rejected for the sake of theoretical statistical purity. ?
Jan 1, 1986
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Minerals Beneficiation - Progeny in ComminutionBy D. F. Kaufman, H. R. Spedden, A. M. Gaudin
MANY studies of comminution have been made to ascertain the size distribution of the product and to evaluate the work of comminution in the light of the size distributions of the feed and product. Up to now, these studies have been essentially statistical in character, that is, a certain lot of feed was subjected to comminution in some specified way, and the aggregate product was fractionated into sizes, thereby losing all knowledge of individual relationship of feed to product pieces. Radioactive tracers offer a means to do something in this respect which could not be done before, namely, to follow the rupturing of some particular piece in its normal environment of other pieces. That is, it permits going beyond the usual statistical limitations of size distribution studies to what may be termed a personalized or individualized study. The purpose of this paper is to present some preliminary experiments conducted with this tool. The method employed was to mark radioactively some constituent of a feed. It is possible, of course, to consider the preparation of two lots of material of which one is radioactive and the other is not, and to blend the two ahead of the comminuting step; but to do so is open to the objection that the two preparations may not be identical. Therefore a technique has been chosen that removes this objection by merely taking out a size fraction of a comminution feed, rendering that fraction radioactive by exposure to a neutron flux, and then by returning it to Table I. Size Distribution of Offspring Albite Particles Originally 28/35 Mesh and in Admixture with Other Sizes After Grinding 2 min in a Steel Ball Mill Specific Activity ' Cumu- Corrected Distrl- latlve Size for Back- butlon In Distri- Fractlon ground, Weight, Product, button, of Product, cpm/gm g Pctb Pct Mesh (A). (W) (P) (ZP) + 28 0 56.0 0 100.1 28/35 62.6 54.0 24.8 75.3 35/48 62.8 59.4 27.7 47.6 48/65 41.1 53.0 16.2 31.4 65/100 29.6 45.7 10.2 21.2 100/150 23.7 37.0 6.6 14.6 150/200 23.3 25.1 4.4 10.2 200/270 20.1 19.0 2.9 7.3 270/400 17.8 21.2 2.9 4.4 -400 22.9 25.2 4.4 — 100.1 a These activity determinations were made in rapid succession in the order given. The specific activity (Ao) of the active 28/35 mesh fraction of the feed was measured at the beginning, after the measurement on the 65/100 mesh size fraction of the product, and; The end. The decay-corrected activities at those times were 246.7, 241.0. and 236.9 cpm per gm. The weight (W0) of the active 28/35 mesh fraction in the feed was 55.0. b Example of calculation for P in the 65/100 mesh oroduct frac- A W tion; A = 29.6, W = 45.7, Ao = 242.7, Wo = 55.0: P = — x — Ao Wo = 0.102 = 10.2 pet. the remainder of the charge for the comminution experiment. A relatively simple procedure was developed by which albite, containing sodium, was activated in the M.I.T. cyclotron. The cyclotron makes highspeed deuterons which impinge on a beryllium target, thereby producing a concentrated neutron flux. The mineral was exposed to this flux for 2 hr. This treatment changed enough of the sodium to sodium 24 (14.8 hr half-life, 1.4 mev ß) as to make detection and measurement easy. The nuclear reactions taking place were: 11Na23 (n,?) 11Na24 (irradiation) 11Na24 ß,?,? 12Mg24 (decay) The detailed technique of the experimentation was as follows: 40 kg of hand-sorted, lump albite were crushed to pass 10 mesh. After careful mixing of the lot, a screen analysis was made. The whole lot of material was fractionated on standard Tyler screens from 14 down to 200 mesh. Samples for experiments were compounded from these fractions in accordance with the screen analysis. When it was desired to make an experiment in which, for example, the 28/35 mesh size fraction was to be studied, the blend of size fractions was made as indicated above, except that the 28/35 mesh size fraction was added only after irradiation in the cyclotron. The blended charge containing the activated albite was ground for 2 min in a laboratory ball mill with a steel ball charge of controlled size distribution. The ground product was carefully sized on a set of Tyler screens in a Ro-tap. Each size was analyzed for radioactivity by the use of an end-window Geiger-Mueller counter and standard scaling circuit. This analysis was carried out in detail as follows: a 20-g sample was placed in a Petri dish, packed carefully to obtain reproducible geometric distribution with reference to the Geiger-Mueller tube, and the activity was counted for a 2-min period. Several determinations of the activity of the active size fraction in the feed were made at various times to establish the decay in activity with time. Linear interpolation was used to evaluate the activity that the active size fraction in the feed would have had at any given instant. The ratio of the observed activity in a size fraction of the product to the activity that the active size fraction in the feed would have had at the same time gives the fraction in the product size that came from the irradiated size in the feed. The general formula for finding the distribution, P, of a specific individual size fraction in the feed
Jan 1, 1952
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Part VII – July 1969 - Papers - Some Observations on Alpha-Mn, Beta-Mn, and R Phases in the Mn-Ti-Fe and Mn-Ti-Co SystemsBy K. P. Gupta, P. C. Panigrahy
The stabilization of the R, a-Mn, and 0-Mn phases have been studied in the Mn-Ti-Fe and Mn-Ti-Co systems. Iron and cobalt both appear to stabilize the (Mn-Ti) R phase to almost the sarne extent. The R-phase region was found to extend from the lowest e/a to slightly beyond the maximunz e/a limit known for this phase. But, while iron appears to stabilize the a-Mn phase, cobalt tends to stabilize the p-Mn phase. In the two systems manganese appears to get replaced by iron and cobalt in each of the mentioned phases. The instability of the a-Mn phase in the Mn-Ti-Co system and the /3 -Mn phase in the Mn-Ti-Fe system cannot be explained on the basis of adverse size effects because atomic diameters for both iron and cobalt (C.N. 12 at. diam) are ziery similnr and not much different from manganese which they replace. Qualitatively, the reason for the stability of the a-Mn and the p-Mn phases can be traced to the more favorable e/a ratio prevailing in the respective systems and to a competing tendency between the two phases. In transition metal alloy systems the o, p,P, R, a- Mn,' and p-Mn2 phases have been claimed as electron compounds. A large volume of work has been done to establish the criterion for the formation of the o phase but until very recently practically no systematic work was done on the a-Mn and the /3-Mn phases. A recent investigation on the P-Mn phase3 indicates the e/a criterion for p-Mn phase stabilization. Since the R phase was first known to appear only in certain ternary systems1 no detailed work was then possible for this phase. The R phase has been recently discovered as a binary intermetallic compound in the Mn-Ti~ and Mn-si~-' binary systems. The existence of binary R phases opens up the possibilities of studying the effect of alloying elements on the stabilization of the R phase. Of the two binary systems possessing an R phase, the Mn-Ti system appears to be more interesting because at a suitable high temperature it is possible to find the three electron compounds, the a-Mn, p-Mn, and R phases, side by side and it is possible to study the effect of a third transition element on these three electron compounds. For the present investigation iron and cobalt, so called B elements for the formation of electron compounds, have been used as the third element to study the stabilization of the a-Mn, P-Mn, and R phases. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The alloys were prepared by using 99.9 pct pure electrolytic Fe and Mn, 99.5 pct Co, and crystal bar titanium, supplied by Semi Elements Inc., New York and Gallard Schelsinger Mfg. Co., New York. Weighed amounts of the components were melted in recrystal-lized alumina crucibles in an inert atmosphere (argon) high-frequency induction melting unit. Titanium was made into fine chips for easy dissolution and a special charging procedure was adopted to avoid contacts of titanium chips with the alumina crucibles. Up to 20 at. pct Ti, the maximum titanium content in the investigated alloys, there was no visible sign of reaction of titanium with the alumina crucibles. With a careful control of melting time and temperature the losses were minimized and were always found to be below 0.1 pct. Because of such small and almost constant weight losses, the alloys were not finally analyzed. The alloys were wrapped in molybdenum foil and annealed in evacuated and sealed silica capsules at 1000" * 2°C for 72 hr and subsequently quenched in cold tap water. Annealed samples were examined metallographically and by X-ray diffraction. For all high manganese alloys oxalic acid solutions of various concentrations and 1.0 pct HN03 solution were found suitable as etching reagents. Best contrast between the a-Mn and the R phases could be obtained by using freshly prepared 60 pct glycerine + 20 pct HN03 + 20 pct HF solution. For high iron and cobalt containing alloys, especially for alloys containing the a-Fe, y-Fe, and P-Co phases, 15 cc HNOJ + 60 cc HC1 + 15 cc acetic acid + 15 cc water solution was found to be the best etching reagent. All X-ray diffraction work was carried out (using specimens prepared from annealed powders) with a 114.6 mm diam Debye-Scherrer camera using unfiltered FeK radiation at 25 kv and 10 ma. All calculations for X-ray diffraction work were carried out using an IBM 7044 digital computer RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The two ternary systems, MnTiFe and MnTiCo, were investigated near the manganese rich end, Figs. 1 and 2, and show some common features. In both alloy systems large extensions of narrow R phase regions occur at almost constant titanium contents. At titanium contents higher than that of the single phase R-phase alloys, the same unidentified X phase was found in both ternary systems. The extensions of the X phase close to the Mn-Ti binary indicate that this phase could be the TiMns phase. Too few X phase diffraction lines were present in the diffraction patterns to make positive identification of the X phase. In contrast to this similarity the two systems show opposite behavior in the extensions of the a-Mn and 8-Mn phase regions; while iron tends to stabilize the a-Mn phase, cobalt
Jan 1, 1970