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By W. B. Potter

THERE is probably no more interesting group of mineral fuels to be found in any country than that occurring within the limits of the new State of Colorado. The supplies are so abundant, and the occurrence and distribution are so favorable for easy development and transportation to the future manufacturing centres of the State, that they are destined to play a very important part in the material growth and prosperity of the region, the more so because of the rich and varied stores of ores awaiting metallurgical treatment, and the comparative scarcity of timber for fuel. From a purely scientific point, also, these lignitic coals form an interesting and important series. An examination of their geological occurrence and relations opens up new and important questions regarding the comparative value of various kinds of geological evidence, while a study of the character and composition of this class of fuels, which forms a connecting link, as it were, between the lignites and the true bituminous coals, may lead to a more thorough and accurate classification of mineral fuels. The analyses here presented are from samples, of not less than fifty pounds each, obtained by myself during the summer of 1875, and may be regarded as representing very fairly the average run of

Jan 1, 1877

By James R. Russell

Rock bolts are commonly used to support and stabilize the rock around excavated openings. The assumption is made that the less competent rock near the surface can be supported by bolting it to more competent rock away from the surface. Naturally, a rock bolt can be no more effective than its anchoring mechanism which induces a stress field into the surrounding rock. Details of various types of bolts have been described e1sewhere.l The purpose of the present investigation is to study the stress distribution around an expansion-type rock bolt anchor, using the theory of elasticity. The elastic stress distribution provides some insight into the behavior of rock bolt anchors which may eventually lead to improved designs. Very little information is available on the induced stress field which is rather complex; consequently, photoelastic techniques have been used to obtain a qualitative picture of the stress ditribution.2 The present work provides quantitative information on the stress field induced by an idealized distribution of surface tractions, provided that the assumptions of the linear theory of elasticity are approximately satisfied. FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM Consider an elastic region which extends to infinity and contains a circular cylindrical hole as shown in Fig. 1. The hole is assumed to be the bolt hole and the surface tractions shown are assumed to be caused by an idealized rock bolt anchor. The relationship between the idealized

Jan 1, 1972

By T. PH. D. Egleston

THE importance of making analyses of gases in furnaces which are used for metallurgical purposes is every day growing more and more evident. It is the only method of understanding the reactions that take place in the furnace, and of economically conducting the operations both with regard to the fuel used and the reactions which take place on the bodies to be subjected to the influence of the heat and gases. As a knowledge of the composition of gases is becoming every day more necessary to the proper conduct of furnace operations, it seems desirable that furnace managers should generally know that the analysis of gas for commercial purposes is neither difficult, tedious, or expensive, and that it does not necessarily imply the use of corrections requiring difficult instrumental observations and long and tedious mathematical calculations. Any method, therefore, which will tend to render these analyses simple will also tend to having them made and repeated as frequently as the analyses of the ores and other materials charged in the furnace. They should be made even more frequently, as their composition is affected by any change in the condition of the furnace, and a knowledge of their composition will give a ready clue to the unseen and otherwise not easily detected changes which are taking place. The only practicable method of making industrial analyses of gas is that of measuring volumes in graduated tubes. The methods by

Jan 1, 1877

By W. Kauenhowen

The production of petroleum in Germany during 1932 totaled about 1,608,558 bbl., a slight increase over the 1, 602,517 bbl. produced in 1931. A decline, as shown in Table 1, occurred chiefly in the Volkenroda (Thuringia) field. The total production of the other fields (salt domes), however. reached a new record, about 21 per cent above 1931. Table 1.—Oil Production of Germany by Fields and Oil Provinces, 1928-1932 (Barrels of 42 Gallons)" Salt Dome Province __________________________________________________|_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1928 274,323 322,742 679 46,319 644,021 644,315 1929 310,891 337,582 10,535 67,578 719,901 720,069 1930 586,404 427,539 100,716 72,485 1,186,969 29,806 1,220,296 1931 506,548 403,634 213,549 116,088 1,242,598 360,885 1,602,517 1932 769,405 366,982 230 979 130,711 1,498,077 110,481 1,608,558 " Official figures published in Germany are given in metric tons. For the above conversion into barrels a factor of 1 metric ton equaling 7 barrels has been used. Includes a very small production from Hcide, Holstein. c Includes a very small production from Tegernsee, Bavaria, and Bruchsal, Baden. Nienhagen-Hanigsen Field In 1932 the Nienhagen-Hanigsen yielded about 51 per cent of the production from the four German salt dome fields. During 1932 the productive area was again extended, chiefly towards the northwest in the so-called north district, to which the present drilling activity is confined almost entirely. Since the discovery of the north district in 1928, about 45 wells have been drilled in it, of which only two were

Jan 1, 1933

By Thomas M. Drown

THE means relied on to attain uniformity in Bessemer steel may be enumerated as follows : I. The appearance of the flame. II. The appearance of the slag. III. The spectrum of the flame. IV. Examination of the steel itself. At present, I wish briefly to bring forward a few considerations with reference to the last two mentioned, namely, the conditions favoring the employment of the spectroscope and examination of the steel. From the amount of careful investigation which has been devoted to the examination of the Bessemer flame by the spectroscope, both on the part of scientists and practical metallurgists, one might reasonably expect some results definite and satisfactory in their nature, first, as regards the nature of the flame, and second, as to the practical value of the spectroscope as a guide in conducting the process. We find, in fact, however, that uncertainty and confusion still exist. In Germany, where this subject has received the greatest attention, it is now very generally conceded that manganese is the cause of the well-known groups of dark bands that characterize the Bessemer spectrum. Nor is it easy to see how we can avoid accepting this conclusion, when Wedding and Von Lichtenfels have produced the manganese spectrum and found it to correspond closely with that shown by the Bessemer flame. But it is evident, on a moment's reflection, as Roscoe has recently brought forward, that manganese cannot be the only cause of the Bessemer spectrum, for we notice the characteristic bands quite as

The Library of the above-named Societies is open from 9 A.M. to 10 P.M. on all week-days, except holidays, from September 1 to June 30, and from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. during July and August. The Library contains about 55,000 volumes, including sets of technical periodicals and the publications of scientific and technical societies. Members of the Institute, with few exceptions, are forced to spend a portion of their time in localities isolated from sources of information. To these the Library can render valuable service through correspondence; letters requesting information will receive special attention. The Library is prepared to furnish references and copies of articles on mining and metallurgical subjects; to determine the existence of mining maps, and to furnish general information as to the geology and mineral resources of all countries. All communications should be made as definite as possible so that the information received. may be what is desired and not include collateral matter which may not be of interest. The time spent in searching for such collateral matter will be saved, and the information will be sent more promptly and in more usable shape. The members of the Institute can be of service to the Library by forwarding copies of mining reports, maps privately issued, and similar material, which will be classified, indexed, and made available to other members. Suggestions for additions to the Library, either by purchase or personal solicitation as gifts, will be welcomed. It is hoped that members while in the city will use the Library freely, and assurance is given that most careful service will be rendered to them.

Jan 3, 1915

By Woo-Zin Choi, Ting Chuen Pong, Roe-Hoan Yoon, James R. Craig, Robert M. Haralick

Detailed analysis by conventional techniques and by the General Image Processing System (GIPSY) has revealed that the conmunution of base metal-containing, complex, fine-grained sulfide ores results in the selective concentration of some ore minerals as a function of size fraction. The ores studied are massive, metamorphically recrystallized, pyrrhotite-rich masses with 10-30 percent pyrite and several percent each of sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and magnetite; gangue minerals - amphibole, mica, and quartz - constitute approximately 10 percent of the ore mass. Examination of samples from laboratory grinding experiments, - from +35 to -250 mesh - produced by both Impact and attrition grinding, reveals that there are significant differences in the mineralogical content of the various size fractions. No single fraction is representative of the bulk mineralogy of the sample. Pyrite is highly enriched in coarser fractions, whereas chalcopyrite, sphalerite, magnetite, and gangue minerals are concentrated in the finer size fractions. Concentration of the ore minerals in the finer fractions is attributed to their common presence as interstitial, grains along the grain boundaries of the more dominant pyrrhotite and pyrite. As such, they tend to be somewhat preferentially liberated as small fragments during the initial stages of crushing and grinding. The relatively coarse-grained pyrite, up to 1 cm cubes, is brittle and readily fractures into coarse fragments which are seen in larger size fractions.

Jan 1, 1984

By Richard P. Rothwell

The device to which I desire to call the attention of the members of the Institute consists of a water-tight caisson, which is connected By a stuffing-box with the tube to be laid, and the caisson is pushed forward with hydraulic jacks set against the end of the tube. The tube is of hard white iron, cast in chills in segments. These segments are carried from shore through the tube itself, in which a track is laid as the work progresses, and the segments are bolted together in the caisson, where there is ample room to work and proper appliances for handling heavy weights. As each segment is bolted on, the jacks are set against its forward end, and when the whole ring is complete, the caisson is pushed forward by the jacks, a trench having been dredged out in front of it, or, in very loose ground, jets of water under a heavy pressure can be thrown out to loosen the ground in front of the caisson. The direction in which the caisson is pushed is completely under control, and both the caisson and the tube are loaded to the amount necessary to overcome their buoyancy. I understand that Mr. H. H. Hall, of New York, the inventor, is negotiating for the construction of a 16-foot tunnel of this kind across the Straits of' Northumberland, between Prince Edward Island and the main-land, and for tunnels in several other places. 4 One of the most interesting uses of this system is in laying water mains out into lakes. The work can be carried on without inter-

Jan 1, 1886

By Aaron Miles

THE pressure distribution in a producing oil or gas reservoir has been obtained mathematically in a limited number of special cases where the boundary of the reservoirs are simple geometric figures with the wells conveniently located within them. Using some of the previous work as a basis, it can be proved that a number of additional problems of pressure distribution can be solved by use of soap film. This method is particu-larly applicable to a reservoir drained by a number of wells, or to a reservoir of irregular shape, or to both. Since this method obtains the pressure distribution, it also establishes the drainage boundaries of the wells. This paper derives the analogy between the equation representing the pressure distribution in a reservoir and the equation of the deflected membrane. It also describes the apparatus and the method of operation. The experimental method is employed to solve a problem whose mathe-matical solution is known and the results compared. These are found to be in good agreement. The method is applicable to any homogeneous liquid, compressible or incompressible, or to a gas, flowing in a reservoir of uniform thickness, permeability and porosity. The flow state may be either the steady state or the transient state wherein the density or pressure of the fluid in the reservoir declines at a constant rate.

Jan 1, 1938

By R. W. Raymond

The death of Professor Blake removes the oldest of American economic geologists and mining engineers, and deprives this Institute of one of its earliest and most illustrious members. To many of us it brings a personal loss also, the loss of a friend. William Phipps Blake was born June 21, 1826, in New York City. His father, Elihu Blake, was a surgeon-dentist of eminence, a direct descendant of William -Blake, who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony about 1630. He was prs pared for college at private schools in New York, and entered the Sheffield School of Yale, where he was graduated as Ph.B. in the chemical course, class of 1852, the first graduating-class of the institution. In the same year he became chemist and mineralogist of the New Jersey Zinc Co., and chemist of chemical works at Baltimore, Md. In 1853, he started the Department of Mineralogy of the World's Fair at New York City. In 1854, 1855 and 1856, he was mineralogist and geologist of the United States Pacific Railroad Surveys of Willianlson, Pope, and Whipple, and for the War Department at

Jan 1, 1911

By M. G. F. Sohnlein

IN a Bolivian tin concentrator an appliance was needed to furnish a suitable product for fine jigging from a pulp of the following composition: Mesh Per Cent. +20 8.0 +40 36.5 +60 9.0 +80 10.5 +100 5.5 +150 4.51 -150 25.0 99.0 Loss 1.0 IN the jigging process, particles of cassiterite as small as 0.1 mm. can be recovered, provided they are not present in excess, that is if the material treated on the jigs contains sufficient coarser sands to keep the interstices between the grains open. Removing the fine material from the pulp by screening, to prepare the jig feed, is impractical, because that means the use of an 80-mesh screen or finer, and is not as effective as hydraulic classification. A screen would eliminate mineral grains from the feed which can be recovered by jigging, and in addition would throw more gangue and low-grade middling on to the jig. Formerly a one-spigot Richards vortex classifier had been used to accomplish this separation, but the tangential openings through which the hydraulic water enters became clogged by fine vegetal matter with which the water was contaminated, and which it was impossible to remove from the water. Consequently the work of the classifier was imperfect and a good deal of slime was sent to the jig. When designing the plant referred to in this paper it was decided to use a hydraulic classifier as shown in Fig. 1. The essential features had been copied from the Anaconda classifier.1 This remodeled classifier consists of a truncated pyramidal wooden hooper A with an attachment of cast iron

Jan 4, 1916

By J. L. Leland Myer

Some of the early experiments on the oxidation temperature of coal1 were undertaken in England in connection with a study of self-heating, or spontaneous combustion. It was then suspected that coals with low oxidation temperature were most likely to ignite by self-heating, but further experiments showed that many additional factors were involved. The oxidation temperature has importance as a physical property or characteristic of the coal. While only a few of the physical properties have been studied, they appear to have basic significance2 in the ultimate classification of all coals. When reliable data become available on the oxidation temperatures, as determined by standard and adequate methods, it should provide an additional basis for classification and comparative evaluation. Oxidation Temperature Defined For such a heterogeneous substance as coal is known to be, no simple definition of oxidation temperature can be established on a theoretical basis. If coals were homogeneous and of simpler structure, the accepted definition of "ignition temperature " as applied to simple gaseous mixtures might be adopted; that is, the temperature at which self-heating of the mixture sets in. But most coals self-heat slightly even at storage temperature, as evidenced by spontaneous combustion, and the definition for gases cannot be applied to coals with any exactness. By subjecting coals to suitable experimental conditions various oxidation characteristics can be obtained and examined for critical or significant stages of the oxidation process. Oxidation temperature itself must then be defined on the basis of such experimental results. Experimental Methods Attempts to determine critical points in the temperature functions of coal undergoing oxidation have resulted in the following experimental methods:

Jan 1, 1932

By W. Joseph Schlitt

The characteristics of successful heap and dump leach operations are first reviewed in a general sense. Then attention is focussed on solution management as the key operating parameter in leaching. The first part of this study includes a detailed conceptual analysis of fluid flow. This identifies the relationships between the flow parameters and the chemical and physical properties of the rock. Then these relationships are extended to practical systems in order to establish optimum application rates and solution distribution methods for heaps and dumps. The study shows that there is a maximum effective application rate, qmax, that can be used without causing solution short circuiting. This rate is a function of the minimum permeability in the heap or dump. The expression for qmax is qmax (gal/ft2/hr)[~]0.9 k (darcies). Here k is the appropriate permeability coefficient. Using this equation, qmax is found to be on the order of 1 gal/ft2/hr (4 cm/hr) for a typical heap or dump leach operation.

Jan 1, 1984

By C. L. Sollenberger, Will Mitchell, Ford F. Miskell

Heat treatment of ore prior to comminution reduces power requirements for grinding, reduces grinding media wear, and improves recovery of iron values from a typical Minnesota magnetic taconite. Test data demonstrating this, as well as an analysis of the economics of commercial application of the technique, are presented. THE taconites in general are hard, tough ores, difficult to grind. Liberation of iron mineral constituents usually is accomplished by grinding the ore through at least 100 mesh, and often it has been found necessary to grind substantially through 325 mesh to achieve satisfactory recovery and grade in the concentration process. Because of the fineness of grind required and the enormous tonnages of material contemplated for treatment in the future, costs resulting from grinding media wear and power consumption, together with capital investment required for comminution, approach astronomical figures. Economy in any one of these elements per ton of material ground could very well reflect a considerable saving to the ferrous industry in yearly costs. With this in mind, the Research Laboratories of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. have launched a program to discover means of effecting this economy. The initial phase of the work as described here deals with a heat treatment of crushed raw ore, followed by thermal shock in cooling, for the preparation of rod mill feed. Several investigators1-" ave noted an improvement in the grindabilities of ores treated in this manner. One investigator2 subjected low grade iron ores to heat treatment in an electric furnace. Basing his conclusions on screen analyses of crushed products, he observed that treated ore was more easily crushed than the untreated. He reported that observation of the treated and untreated ore through a microscope revealed cracks following the grain boundaries in treated ore, whereas no cracks were present in untreated ore. However, few if any have quantified the improvement in terms of total hp hours saved, reduction of wear of grinding media, or reduction of capital costs of grinding equipment involved. By means of Bond rod mill and ball mill grindabilitiesh nd by comparative wear tests, the conditions maintained during this investigation have been definitely evaluated. Heat treatment experiments have been made on a batch scale in a muffle furnace, followed by continuous scale experiments in a rotary kiln under various conditions of temperature, atmosphere, retention time, and quenching to determine the combination that would give the greatest improvement in the grindability of a taconite without affecting adversely the magnetic susceptibility of the magnetite. From these data, relative costs have been calculated for grinding both untreated and heat- treated ore on a basis of plant capacity of 120 tons per hour. Heat requirements for a rotary kiln, as well as the kiln capacity required for the treatment, have been estimated. For these tests 50 tons of ore were obtained from the Aurora mine of the Erie Mining Co., Hibbing, Minn. The ore was reported7 to have been selected from the magnetic portion of the lower chert horizons. An average chemical analysis of' this portion is shown in Table I and an approximate mineralogi-cal analysis is shown in Table 11. No attempt was made to differentiate between the various silicates because the compositions vary widely on the different horizons and depend on the degree of oxidation. Minnesotite, however, is the predominant silicate. The siderite grains were dispersed throughout the ore but were essentially associated with the rock-forming minerals. In a series of preliminary tests in which batches of —6 mesh ore were heat-treated in a muffle fur-

Jan 1, 1953

By H. P. Leighly, J. W. Marx, H. L. Walker

A relationship between recrystallized grain size and prior deformation is predicted from elementary statistical considerations, and reasonable agreement with experiment is obtained. RECRYSTALLIZATION phenomena have received much theoretical and experimental attention, and very adequate discussions of the various mechanisms suggested have been given by Anderson and Mehl,' Cook and Richards,' and Burgers," and others. It suffices to note here that the initial concepts fitted one of two general hypotheses: I—The new crystals are nucleated within microscopic regions at which there is a concentration of internal stress, i.e., volume elements of maximum strain energy. 2—The new crystals have their inception in volume elements of minimum strain energy. In a comprehensive early review of the subject, van Arkel' considered both possibilities and came to the conclusion that hypothesis 2 was inconsistent with the experimental fact that the number of nu-cleations increased with increasing deformation. He suggested that, if allowance was made for a preliminary atomic rearrangement at the points of large internal strain, hypothesfs 1 provided the more reasonable concept. Following the initial observations of Collins and Mathewsonb nd Crussard,Y he systematic X-ray investigations of Cahn' and Guinier and Tennevin" established the existence of a polygonized structure in metals that had been cold-worked, and subsequently annealed, under conditions such that re-crystallization did not occur. This new experimental evidence by no means disproved the first nucleation hypothesis, a fact recognized by both Beck" and Cahn,10 who independently suggested nucleation mechanisms based on the idea that regions of large strain might polygonize before the bulk of the less deformed material. These mechanisms, together with others recently proposed," are dependent upon the prior existence of some degree of polygonization in the deformed material. On the other hand, a critical examination of the published data leads to the supposition that polygonization may not be the necessary precursor of recrystallization, but merely its favored energetic competitor. In regions where the lattice distortion is not too severe, the limited adjustment afforded by polygonization may permit the lattice to drop to a relatively stable low energy state in which the nucleation of a new crystal becomes improbable, even at elevated temperatures. Such structures, of course, might provide a fertile field for the growth of nuclei, if these could be introduced. In regions of concentrated lattice distortion, polygonization alone may not be able to accomplish an adequate strain reduction, and in these volume elements sufficient thermal activity permits the more drastic atomic rearrangement involved in nucleation. Completely polygonized structures are known to withstand extended heating close to their melting points," with no other effect than a slow enlargement of some of the subgrains at the expense of others. Once started, macroscopic recrystallization might be expected to go to completion in a matter of minutes under similar heat treatment. Crussard12 and his coworkers have found that recrystallization may occur in single crystals of impure (about 99.7 pct) aluminum without any detectable prior polygonization. The indication here is that large Cottrell impurity atmospheres inhibit dislocation movement, thus suppressing polygonization to such an extent that the alternative process, recrystallization, dominates the lattice restoration. Experimental studies relating recrystallization directly to stored energy have not, at the present time,

Jan 1, 1954

By C. R. McEwen

This paper presents a technique for calculating the original amount of hydrocarbon in place in a petroleum reservoir, and for determining the constants characterizing the aquifer performance, based on pressure-production data. A method for doing this based on a least-squares line-fitting computationwus proposed by vanEverdingen,Timmerman andMcMahon in 1953. We found that their method would not work when there is error in the reservoir pressure data — even moderate error. The technique presented here appears to give reasonable answers when pressure data are uncertain to the degree expected in reservoir pressure determinations. The major change introduced in the present analysis is to limit the least-squares line-fitting to yield only one constant— the amount of hydrocarbon in place. The water-influx constant is then taken as proportional to the oil (or gas) in place. The constant of proportionality can be computed from estimates of effective compressibility and reservoir water saturation. It is also pointed out that the commonly used least-squares analysis assumes all of the uncertainty to be in the dependent variable. The material balance should be arranged so that this condition is fulfilled if correct inferences are to be made from statistical calculations. Examples are shown of the application of the new technique to gas reservoirs—both hypothetical and real—and to the oil-reservoir example of van Ever-dingen, Timmerman and McMahon. INTRODUCTION The amount of hydrocarbon originally in place in a petroleum resenroir can be estimated by means of the material-balance calculation. Simultaneous observations of pressure and amounts of produced fluids are required, together with the PVT data applicable to the reservoir fluids. If water encroachment is occurring, it is desirable to try to infer the behavior of the aquifer, as well as the original hydrocarbon in place, from the pressure-production data. This imposes additional demands on the method of calculation, and uncertainty in the data can result in large uncertainty in the answer. In addition, if the size of a gas cap is to be established, the whole problem becomes indeterminate, as pointed out by Woods and Muskat.1 Brownscombe and Collins2 simulated a gas reservoir and its aquifer on a reservoir analyzer and derived quantitative information on the effect of uncertainty in pressure and aquifer permeability on computed gas in place. Among the various techniques of estimating the performance of an aquifer, the method of van Ever-dingen and Hurst? based on compressible flow theory, seems to have been the most generally successful (see Ref. 4, for example). In this paper we shall confine ourselves to their representation of the aquifer. In 1953,' van Everdingen, Timmerman and McMahon5 introduced a statistical technique for deriving the amount of oil originally in place and the parameters which describe the aquifer. (We shall refer to this technique as the "VTM method'', as suggested by Mueller.6) Their example reservoir had no gas cap. It has been our experience that the VTM method gives a reasonable answer when the data are very accurate, but that inaccuracy (particularly in pressure) can cause the method to break down. The effect was first observed in gas reservoirs, but has since been seen in oil reservoirs also. In this paper we present another statistical method which has been successful in achieving a reasonable answer where the VTM method has failed. In the new method, one less parameter is derived from material-balance computations. It is assumed that values can be established for effective compressibility in the aquifer and reservoir water saturation independently of the material-balance calculation. The water-influx constant can then be obtained from these data and the quantity of hydrocarbon in place.

By H. Bernstein

Grain coarsening tests were carried out on AI-4.5 pct Cu and AI-4.5 pct Si alloys. The effects of three variables, melt composition, pour temperature, and mold temperature, were determined. It was found that the macrostructure generally coarsened with increased pour and mold temperatures. Coarsening was extreme in the unrefined alloys but was retarded by the active grain refiners like titanium and columbium. The effect of boron was spectacular in suppressing coarsening tendencies. The results of the investigation support the carbide theory of nucleation as opposed to the peritectic theory. A REVIEW of prior work on the subject of grain refinement in the light metals indicated that, for the most part, it had been concerned with the positive effects of addition agents upon structure. This work produced various theories of refinement. Prominent among them were the peritectic theory and the transition element carbide theory. Certain inadequacies in the former theory appeared to be explained satisfactorily by the transition element carbide theory. In order to appraise these theories further, a study was undertaken of the permanence of grain refinement effects when subjected to thermal or chemical variations. It was considered that a study of this kind would be of practical value, since the light metals are exposed to thermal and chemical variations in the normal course of foundry operations. Accordingly, two alloys of commercial importance were selected for this investigation, the A1-Cu and A1-Si alloys. Experimental Procedure and Results Raw Materials: The base alloys, A1-Cu and A1-Si, were prepared from virgin aluminum and hardeners, induction melted, and pigged for remelting. The grain refiners, including titanium, columbium, zirconium, and boron, were added as master alloys. Analyses of the raw materials and base alloys are listed in Table I. Melting and Casting Practice: The metals were melted in clay-graphite crucibles in a Hevi-Duty pit-type resistance furnace, equipped with a Leeds and Northrup Micromax Recorder and Controller. After melt down of the base alloys, the additions were made. For each casting, approximately 80 grams of metal were poured into a preheated graphite mold held in a transite flask. The mold (Fig. 1) weighed 320 grams. To determine the effect of superheat upon structure, a set of melts was heated successively to four temperature levels, 705°, 775°, 845°, and 915°C, and test specimens were cast at each level. Prior to each pour, the furnace temperature was held constant for 20 min. Next, a set of melts was put through a superheat cycle and test specimens were cast at melt temperatures of 705" and 915°C successively. The crucibles then were cooled in air to 705°C as deter-mined by immersion thermocouple and additional test specimens were poured. The cooling interval was approximately 1 min. Another set of melts was furnace cooled with the cover slightly ajar and test specimens cast as before. The interval in this case was 15 to 20 min, varying with the superheat temperature. The mold temperature for all these tests was 400°C. To determine the effect of cooling rate without superheat upon structure, a set of melts was heated to 705°C, and castings were poured at mold temperatures of 205", 400°, and 540°C. An interval of 15 min elapsed between each pour. Mold temperatures were measured by a direct reading millivolt-meter, using a chromel-alumel thermocouple located at midwall thickness of the mold. To demonstrate the phenomenon of chemical coarsening, agents such as chromium and beryllium, which had acted as coarseners in a previous investigation,' were added to the A1-Cu alloy. Test speci-

Jan 1, 1955

By D. M. Warner, Samuel Daniels

In this paper are given the mechanical properties, determined by the Engineering Division, Air Service, U. S. A., of the 94 per cent. aluminum, 5 per cent. copper, 1 per cent. silicon alloy as 8and-cast and as heal-treated commercially to Air Service Specification No. 11,300. This particular alloy was tested both in the cast and in the heat-treated condition. Tension and tension modulus values were obtained from machined and from un-machined test specimens; while data for shear, compression, impact, torsion, and for Brine11 and Rockwell hardness were found from machined bars. Specific-gravity tests were made on sanded, un-machined specimens. The metallography of the alloy is useful as a control to heat treatment and presents some interesting peculiarities in regard to the two iron-bearing compounds. The demand for an aluminum alloy, suitable for sand castings, that may be heat treated to meet requirements of high strength, ductility, shock and corrosion resistance, and ready machineability has led to the commercial development of a proprietary material that contains from about 4 to 5 per cent. of copper, 1 per cent. of silicon, and such impurities as iron, up to a maximum of 0.75 per cent., and manganese, in quantity usually less than 0.1 per cent.' Magnesium is not generally present, for it tends to nullify the beneficial influence of the added silicon by forming magnesium silicide. The function of the silicon is to minimize casting difficulties and, structurally, to favor the precipitation of (insoluble) iron-bearing skeletons rather than the needles, which prevent full realization of tensile properties from heat treatment by stimulating intergran-ular fracture. The amount of silicon necessary to counteract the ill effect of iron is equal to or slightly more than the content of iron; the excess of silicon over this ratio, under certain conditions of heat treatment, enters with CuAl2, the principal hardening constituent, into solid solution and contributes somewhat to the strength of the alloy without appreciably impairing its ductility. The schedule of heat treatment of this alloy depends on the design (cross-sections) of the castings and on the nature of the tensile properties desired. Essentially, the process consists in heating the material at about 950" F., quenching in oil or in cold or boiling water, and artificially aging

Jan 1, 1926

By Will Mitchell, Ford F. Miskell, C. L. Sollenberger

Heat treatment of ore prior to comminution reduces power requirements for grinding, reduces grinding media wear, and improves recovery of iron values from a typical Minnesota magnetic taconite. Test data demonstrating this, as well as an analysis of the economics of commercial application of the technique, are presented. THE taconites in general are hard, tough ores, difficult to grind. Liberation of iron mineral constituents usually is accomplished by grinding the ore through at least 100 mesh, and often it has been found necessary to grind substantially through 325 mesh to achieve satisfactory recovery and grade in the concentration process. Because of the fineness of grind required and the enormous tonnages of material contemplated for treatment in the future, costs resulting from grinding media wear and power consumption, together with capital investment required for comminution, approach astronomical figures. Economy in any one of these elements per ton of material ground could very well reflect a considerable saving to the ferrous industry in yearly costs. With this in mind, the Research Laboratories of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. have launched a program to discover means of effecting this economy. The initial phase of the work as described here deals with a heat treatment of crushed raw ore, followed by thermal shock in cooling, for the preparation of rod mill feed. Several investigators1-" ave noted an improvement in the grindabilities of ores treated in this manner. One investigator2 subjected low grade iron ores to heat treatment in an electric furnace. Basing his conclusions on screen analyses of crushed products, he observed that treated ore was more easily crushed than the untreated. He reported that observation of the treated and untreated ore through a microscope revealed cracks following the grain boundaries in treated ore, whereas no cracks were present in untreated ore. However, few if any have quantified the improvement in terms of total hp hours saved, reduction of wear of grinding media, or reduction of capital costs of grinding equipment involved. By means of Bond rod mill and ball mill grindabilitiesh nd by comparative wear tests, the conditions maintained during this investigation have been definitely evaluated. Heat treatment experiments have been made on a batch scale in a muffle furnace, followed by continuous scale experiments in a rotary kiln under various conditions of temperature, atmosphere, retention time, and quenching to determine the combination that would give the greatest improvement in the grindability of a taconite without affecting adversely the magnetic susceptibility of the magnetite. From these data, relative costs have been calculated for grinding both untreated and heat- treated ore on a basis of plant capacity of 120 tons per hour. Heat requirements for a rotary kiln, as well as the kiln capacity required for the treatment, have been estimated. For these tests 50 tons of ore were obtained from the Aurora mine of the Erie Mining Co., Hibbing, Minn. The ore was reported7 to have been selected from the magnetic portion of the lower chert horizons. An average chemical analysis of' this portion is shown in Table I and an approximate mineralogi-cal analysis is shown in Table 11. No attempt was made to differentiate between the various silicates because the compositions vary widely on the different horizons and depend on the degree of oxidation. Minnesotite, however, is the predominant silicate. The siderite grains were dispersed throughout the ore but were essentially associated with the rock-forming minerals. In a series of preliminary tests in which batches of —6 mesh ore were heat-treated in a muffle fur-

Jan 1, 1953

J. B. Cohen (AVCO Mfg. Co.)-The model presented by the authors is only one of several possible mechanisms for low-temperature aging. It is true that the motion of dislocations to the copper atoms, followed by diffusion along the dislocation lines, is one such mechanism. However, the details of such a process which would :result in copper-rich platelets on (100) planes in the f.c.c. matrix are not clear. Furthermore, there is at least one other mechanism that may be used to e.xplain the authors' results, so that the data do not clearly favor the Turnbull model. The zones may form by "normal" diffusion. The diffusion constants would be higher at room temperature than extrapolated data would suggest due to vacancies trapped in the specimens in the quench. The diffusivity would then be multiplied by the ratio of the number of vacancies present at the solution temperature to that present at room temperature. These vacancies could remain in the alloy specimen for long times at room temerature, due to interaction with the copper atoms. ' The activation energy for diffusion is smaller than that for bulk diffusion at elevated temperatures for it is only that for the motion of vacancies existing after the quench; after these are used up, the aging process effectively ceases. It is somewhat questionable if the laws governing transformation kinetics can be directly applied to changes in elastic moduli, especially in the case of aging where the structure and the composition of the zones may be changing during aging, If such laws are assumed, it is possible to explain the exponential factor of % with this vacancy model. It is probable that the structure of the zones and the matrix match only on (100) planes. Certainly the precipitates that form in this system after various aging treatments show orientation relationships similar to those of the zones. Strains on the edges of the zone may set up fields which do not allow the zone to grow in an edgewise manner. The exponent in the growth of a thin plate in a direction perpendicular to its face would be %. It may also be that copper atoms are attracted to dislocations. If this is the rate-controllin factor in the growth process Ifthisthen an exponent of % or % may arise. The writer would like to know if the authors have tried plotting l/a; proportional to as might be expected for "dislocation drainage." R. H. Doremus (General Electric Research Laboratory)—An important new method for following the growth of Guinier-Preston zones is presented in this paper, and I wish to congratulate the authors on their experiments. Their interpretation of the results, however, is doubtful in certain respects. To determine the exponent m in Eq. [4] the authors plotted -log at against t to various powers (their Fig. 6). The initial value of frequency used for these plots was found by extrapolating the data to zero time. In Fig. A the data from their Fig. 2 are plotted against a linear, rather than logarithmic, time scale. To obtain graphs similar to their Fig. 6 for these data one must use an initial frequency of about 52720; such a plot for m = % is shown in Fig. B. The straight line in Fig. B fits the data in an intermediate range only. The curve drawn in Fig. A was mapped from this line; comparison of

Jan 1, 1960