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By W. R. Crane

The support of roof in mines is dependent largely on the character of the top rock and its occurrence. The formations overlying the orebed in the Birmingham district are sandstone and slate. The sandstone occurs in beds of sufficient thickness to constitute important elements in the system of support; the slate is relatively strong but is thinly stratified. The alternating beds of sandstone and slate furnish an excellent combination in that the former are strong and the latter are impervious; however, their continuity is broken by jointing or slip planes. The thickness, and consequent weight of the overlying formations, is important in so far as the size and arrangement of pillars are concerned but may be relatively unimportant, temporarily at least, as a factor in the support of the roof. The position of the respective beds of sandstone and slate, their relative thickness, and their inherent weakness because of the occurrence of faults and folds, may exert a predominating influence on their support in place, which is affected only in part by the weight of the cover. The only mine in this district that operates under a cover of approximately 2000 ft. (1900 ft.) is the Shannon so-called "twin slope," situated 14,000 ft. southeast of the portal of the No. 7 mine of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, & Railroad Co. The conditions in this mine indicate what may be expected in other mines when the same depth is attained; in fact, the effect of pressure is shown in several mines that have not reached two-thirds of that depth. It is evident, then, that conditions affecting the support of roof will not improve but rather will become more difficult with the extension of the mines into the valley under a constantly increasing weight of cover. Further, the difficulties will probably be augmented by the occurrence of faults and other disturbed ground, the presence and position of which at present are largely unknown.

Jan 1, 1925

By R. B. Woodworth

In the sinking of bore holes, there are but two fundamental operations —drilling and hoisting—which determine in the main the character of drilling mechanism and structures. There are endless ramifications, however, in the execution of these fundamental operations, according to the purposes for which the bore holes are drilled, their maintenance after completion, the protection and convenience of workmen, etc. The three main lines of use for bore holes are in mineral exploration, the sinking of water and salt wells, and the exploitation of pqtroleum and natural gas. This paper has to do more especially with the last. Here again there are many divergences. Wells may be drilled by either the percussive, the hydraulic, or the abrasive method. Finally, each of these methods, as applied by drillers of diverse nationalities, has followed somewhat different lines of development. The American system of cable-tool drilling has perhaps had the widest application; the hydraulic rotary is also in extensive use; but the Canadian system, the Galician system, and the Russian free-fall system all have their points of recognized merit and are preferred by operators accustomed to their use. These differences in drilling procedure, which rest ultimately on essential variations in geological conditions, are reflected in the drilling structures as well as in the drilling mechanism. The purpose of the present paper is to record those stages in the development of the application of steel to the construction of drilling mechanism and structures with which the writer has been intimately associated, and to contribute to the history of the art of drilling other data acquired in the course of his personal investigations. It is necessarily limited by reason of space to American practice, with especial reference, therefore, to the cable-tool system and the hydraulic rotary method of drilling wells for oil and gas.

Jan 1, 1916

The term "timbered stope" is here meant to denote stopes in which timbering is the predominant feature of the mining method. Stopes with stull sets, as in the Hecla mine, are types of timbered stopes; these types are probably the best-known. Timbering stopes by means of square sets is not as common as formerly, as the system is not often necessary, yet there are good examples and large tonnages are being mined by the method. The square set may be utilized in ordinary overhand stopes if the orebody is suitable. At some mines, square sets have been abandoned in favor of top-slicing; and at others, the square set has superseded horizontal cut and backfilling. A drift, either in the wall or orebody, is necessary before opening the sill floor. In wide deposits, there may be a grillage of drifts and crosscuts, and at least one raise to the level above is needed in each stope for ventilation and handling timbers and filling. The square sets are filled with waste rock from the hanging wall, sorted from the ore, from development work, or from the level above. As a rule, little timber is recovered. The examples include the Butte district, Mother Lode of California, Bunker Hill & Sullivan, Hecla, and Morning mines.

Jan 1, 1925

By Alden Greninger

METALLURGISTS have long believed that martensite in steel forms as plates along the octahedral {111} planes of austenite. Much has been written about mechanisms whereby units of the austenite lattice are pictured as transforming to martensite by shearing movements initiated along the octahedral planes of austenite, supposedly resulting in plates of martensite lying parallel to these planes of shear. A critical inspection of two or three photomicrographs of quenched hypereutectoid steel led us to the conclusion that the orientation habit of martensite, at least in hypereutectoid austenite, could not possibly be octahedral. Inasmuch as recent studies30,31 of the martensite-type reaction in nonferrous alloy systems have established the irrational orientation habit as characteristic of this type of lattice transformation, the need for a thorough restudy of the crystallography of martensite formation in steel was evident. The present paper reports the results of such a study, extended to include both cementite and some of the products of constant-temperature decomposition of austenite. Also reported are a few of the results obtained from a microscopic and X-ray study of the austempering process in very high-carbon steel.

Jan 1, 1940

By R. Ward Grosz

Reasonable and timely solutions to the complicated mathematical calculations involved in the mine planning, economic evaluation and slope stability studies related to the Ruth Mine would not have been feasible without the modern digital computers. The Ruth Mine was a prosperous underground copper operation in east central Nevada from 1915 to 1948, when rising mining costs finally exceeded the value of the ore. A substantial reserve of porphyry copper remained in the ground, but until recently all economic evaluations indicated that it was at best a marginal operation and a relatively poor risk of capital. There has been a steady progress in improving all aspects of surface mining since the first steam shovel started stripping overburden; however, developments in just two rather specialized areas proved to be critical in changing the Ruth Mine from a reserve of mineralized rock to an economically attractive orebody. One involved the progress made in recent years in the science of slope stability. Applying the latest techniques in this field to mine planning resulted in reducing the stripping ratio from 6.0:l to 4. 2:l. The other major factor was the efficiency and cost performance of large capacity haulage trucks which made it feasible to go down over 1100 ft. in an open pit and recover ore with a high stripping ratio economically.

Jan 1, 1969

By Edgar S. Cook

The Warwick furnace at Pottstown, Pa., constructed for anthracite fuel, is, as may be remembered, 554 feet high, with 15; feet bosh. The actual working height from stock-line to bottom is only 474 feet, the bell-and-hopper taking up 8 feet. During the year 1886 we used mixed fuel, in the proportion of three-fourths anthracite and one-fourth coke. The total product of iron was 30,6299 tons of 2280 lbs., being a weekly average of 589 tons, including all ordinary and extraordinary stoppages. Deducting the latter, the weekly average would be about 600 tons. The fuel-consumption for the year was 1.2 tons per ton of iron, while the ore-mixture yielded 52 per cent. of iron. For about two months during the summer of 1887 we were obliged to run on anthracite exclusively, owing to the Connellsville coke strike. In the fall of 1885, in relining the furnace, the crucible had been built 8 feet 9 inches in diameter, with the view of using regularly one-quarter of coke (the largest previous diameter having been 7 feet 5 inches), and we felt somewhat apprehensive of the results when compelled to use anthracite only. The average of seven weeks' run on coal, as compared with the average of the seven corresponding weeks of 1886 (using one-quarter coke), was as follows:

Jan 1, 1889

By W. R. Crane

MINING of the red iron ores of the Birmingham district has been carried on energetically during the past 50, years, and their development has created a large iron and steel manufacturing, center, the only important one in the South. The district produces approximately 10 per cent. of all the iron ore of the United States (80 per cent. of the Alabama ore mined is red ore) ; also, 43 of the 419 blast furnaces of the country are in the district tributary to Birmingham. The rapid growth of the district has been made possible through investigations that resulted in radical changes in furnace practice, and a still greater impetus will come from the study of the low-grade, high-silica ores, as a result of which they will be made amenable to treatment by concentration. Mining practice in this district has been comparatively simple because of the occurrence of the ore; but with the-rapid extension of the work-ings and the disturbed condition of the ore bed at some distance from the outcrop, more difficult conditions are encountered and the tendency is toward worse rather than better conditions. Should the high-silica ores of the lower bench of the Big Seam become available through beneficiation, mining practice will have to be modified to meet the new conditions, which will be rendered more difficult by the increased weight of cover that will exist at considerable distances from the outcrop. Support of workings will require greater attention and the efficient and economical operation of the mines will depend largely on the successful solution of the problems of working-and handling the ore.

Jan 9, 1924

By H. B. Smith, B. Egererg

In a previous paper1 the authors dealt with the physical properties of cold-rolled and heat-treated Britannia metal of the approximate composition Sn, 91 per cent., Sb, 7 per cent. and Cu, 2 per cent. It was found that cold rolling to more than 50 per cent. reduction produced a continuous softening of the metal when measured by the Brinell machine, whereas the Shore instrument indicated increased hardness; that the strength of the material followed the Brinell hardness and that the metal therefore became weaker the more it was cold-rolled; and further, it was found that hardness and strength could be largely restored to the cold-rolled metal by "baking" for about one hour at any temperature between 200" and 450" F., the melting point. The higher the baking temperature, the more effective was the heat treatment as far as increased hardness was concerned. It seemed to be of little importance whether the metal was soaked or not at the baking temperature for a great length of time and the rate of cooling seemed to be immaterial. The present paper deals with the same alloy and more particularly with the resistance towards various forms of stress — tensile, bend and deep drawing. The metallography of Britannia metal has in part also been covered and an explanation attempted for the abnormal behavior of this alloy. Tensile and Bend Tests Two ingots 73/4 in. wide, 11 in. long and ¾ in. thick were cast from the same pot. One ingot was cold-rolled in one direction to a strip 0.241 in. thick, which furnished the tensile test specimens; the other ingot was rolled in the same way to 0.253 in. and furnished the specimens for the bend tests. The ingots were cast as described in the previous paper and cold-rolled in six passes.

Jan 1, 1930

By J. C. Bradbury

The year of the Centennial is upon us. Not only is AIME marking its 100th birthday, but the cement industry is also celebrating 100 years of activity (see article by Roy Grancher, page 48). Fort Dodge, Iowa, and gypsum also tried to get into the act but missed by one year. Frank Apple-yard's gypsum article (page 53) informs us that the Fort Dodge area has been producing gypsum continuously for 99 years. That would seem to make AIME and the industrial minerals doddering oldsters. Not so-our Institute shows more energy than ever, and the word for industrial minerals is growth. These are the mineral resources of the future, the raw materials for the abundant life to come

Jan 1, 1971

By C. O. Burgess, W. D. Forgeng

The results of an investigation of the ternary system iron-chromium-silicon were reported in 1936 by the present authors.l Partly for the sake of theoretical interest, and partly because of the possible commercial importance of these alloys, the present investigation was undertaken to determine the effect of some of the commoner elements likely to occur, deliberately or otherwise, in such alloys if made on a commercial scale. The elements thus added were carbon, nickel or manganese. The alloys studied were, therefore, parts of quaternary systems. This investigation was concerned primarily with the effect of these additional elements on the alpha-iron phase and the boundary between this phase region and the alpha plus sigma two-phase region. The sigma phase is a ternary solid solution based upon the compound FeCr. The work was performed mainly by X-ray methods, but a number of microscopic examinations were also made and are reported. While isolated alloys in the composition ranges studied may have been discussed in metallurgical publications, no systematic investigation of any assistance to us was found. Of the earlier work, the investigations on the iron-chromium-carbon system and on the chromium carbides by Westgren and his coworkers2'3 enabled us to identify the carbide phase. Several articles appeared after the present experimental work had been completed. Lucas and Wintrup4 determined the solubility of carbon in molten iron-chromium-silicon alloys. Tofaute and his coworkers5'6 have made detailed studies of the iron-chromium-carbon system, which will be referred to later. Materials and Methods Materials.—The iron, chromium and silicon used were essentially the same as those used in the investigation of the ternary system.l The

Jan 1, 1938

By C. O. Burgess, W. D. Forgeng

The results of an investigation of the ternary system iron-chromium-silicon were reported in 1936 by the present authors.l Partly for the sake of theoretical interest, and partly because of the possible commercial importance of these alloys, the present investigation was undertaken to determine the effect of some of the commoner elements likely to occur, deliberately or otherwise, in such alloys if made on a commercial scale. The elements thus added were carbon, nickel or manganese. The alloys studied were, therefore, parts of quaternary systems. This investigation was concerned primarily with the effect of these additional elements on the alpha-iron phase and the boundary between this phase region and the alpha plus sigma two-phase region. The sigma phase is a ternary solid solution based upon the compound FeCr. The work was performed mainly by X-ray methods, but a number of microscopic examinations were also made and are reported. While isolated alloys in the composition ranges studied may have been discussed in metallurgical publications, no systematic investigation of any assistance to us was found. Of the earlier work, the investigations on the iron-chromium-carbon system and on the chromium carbides by Westgren and his coworkers2'3 enabled us to identify the carbide phase. Several articles appeared after the present experimental work had been completed. Lucas and Wintrup4 determined the solubility of carbon in molten iron-chromium-silicon alloys. Tofaute and his coworkers5'6 have made detailed studies of the iron-chromium-carbon system, which will be referred to later. Materials and Methods Materials.—The iron, chromium and silicon used were essentially the same as those used in the investigation of the ternary system.l The

Jan 1, 1938

By Frank J. Tolonen, Nicholas H. Manderfield, Paul Jasberg

EARLY in the study of the low grade iron formations of Michigan, wide variations in their structure and texture became evident. Because of these variations no simple method of concentration is possible, and those portions of the formations that can be exploited profitably under a given stage of metallurgical progress and existing economic conditions must be searched for carefully. Both structure and texture of the formations have an important bearing on their amenability to beneficiation. By structure is meant the banding planes of easy fracture, the porosity, and the degree of leaching. Texture, which includes grain sizes, shapes, and degree of interlocking, determines the amount of grinding necessary to liberate the mineral grains. Structure determines the liberation of portions richer in one mineral. Structure and texture may be termed the gross features of the formation

Jan 11, 1957

[NORTH AMERICA UNITED STATES Alabama BIRMINGHAM BURROWS, WILLIAM C. CORD, RICHARD H. COSTON, OTIS D. JR. FAIRHOPE RUFFLES, WILLIAM R. HUNTSVILLE WAGGONER, JERRY B. MOBILE PETROUTSON, PETER C. SELMA JONES, JAMES J. JR. UNIVERSITY CUDWORTH, JAMES R. JONES, WALTER B. RICHARDS, EDWARD F.]

Jan 1, 1961

By A. W. Hahn

THE importance, to geologists and metallurgists, of knowing the mineralogical forms in which the silver occurs in ores has increased during the past few years, and will continue to increase as long as working hypotheses are converted into proved theories and rule of thumb methods are supplanted by scientific data. The methods used for the determination of these silver minerals have been: (1) careful study of polished ore sections with the microscope, and more recently, (2) metallurgical separation of the ground ore by flotation, tabling and panning, supplemented by microscopic examination of these separated minerals, and chemical analyses. During the course of some experimental work carried on by the testing department of the International Smelting Co. and myself, it becomes important to determine, in a general way, the distribution of the silver values in the minerals, as they exist in Tintic Standard and North Lilly siliceous oxidized lead-silver ores. These mines are in the East Tintic Mining District, State of Utah. In this work the second method was used. Differential flotation tests were run, separating the sulfide from the oxidized minerals, and the products were assayed. Various concentrates were carefully panned and the separated products assayed; special samples of ore were selected and assayed. The microscope was used only for the purpose of determining whether the individual minerals were in the so-called "free" state.

Jan 1, 1929

By Robert Keeney

THE electric smelting of manganese ore and the production of ferro- manganese did not exist as an industry, in the United States or elsewhere, previous to the outbreak of war in 1914. Ferromanganese had been produced, electrically, during times of high prices by two companies at Niagara Falls and by several European companies, but the production. was spasmodic, and none was electrically produced when ferromanganese sold at from $35 to $40 per ton. Thus the electric smelting of manganese ore must be considered as a development caused by the high prices prevailing during the years 1916, 1917 and 1918, and the necessity of smelting domestic ore in order to fill the ferromanganese requirements of the steel industry of the United States, which increased from 189,088 tons in 1914 to 356,356 tons in 1918. The electric furnace is well adapted to smelting domestic-ore because it can be located in small units near the source of ore supply. In 1918, the ferromanganese production of the United States was 333,027 tons, of which about 7 per cent., or 23,000 tons, was produced in the electric furnace. The electric furnace not only assisted materially in the development of a domestic-ore supply but made a considerable saving of coke, as it requires about 1,4 tons of bituminous or lignite coal per ton of ferromanganese compared with a blast-furnace consumption of 2.9 tons of coke per ton of ferromanganese. Some of the plants in the United States that smelted manganese ore in the electric furnace during the war and in 1920 are listed in Tabled. From early in 1919 to about February, 1920, little ferromanganese was produced in the electric furnace. During this period the price of ferro-manganese (78 to 82 per cent. manganese) was about $100 per ton. During the first half of 1920, several plants resumed operation when the, price of. ferromanganese (76 to 80 per cent. grade) gradually increased to $200 per ton, delivered.

Jan 2, 1921

By H. A. Stacy

THE ability of galvanized sheet steel to withstand severe bending is of very great importance as relates to all such sheet material which, in service, is not used in the flat condition in which it is purchased. A "bend-test" clause is found in, all specifications for material of this kind. In the attempt to draw up a specification for galvanized sheet steel the subcommittee of the Federal Specifications Board having this work in charge, soon found that there was a surprising lack of published data and apparently very little available from manufacturing sources upon which to sustain or reject the various requirements embodied in the tentative specification which, in turn, had been based largely upon other specifications submitted to the subcommittee for this class of material. Specifications from 25 sources were received; 10 Government specifications, 10 from private users of such material, and five from manufacturers. The main points raised were: (1) The minimum mandrel thickness, expressed in terms of the thickness of the sheet tested, over which sheets with different weights of coating can be bent 180°, without serious damage to the coating; (2) the minimum radius of curvature on the inside of the angle in 90°-bends in such material; (3) effect of double seaming on the coating; (4) uniformity in the thickness of coating over a sheet, particularly as relates to the results of bend tests. In view of the uncertainty existing, it was considered very desirable for the subcommittee to conduct a series of tests in order to secure reliable information.

Jan 10, 1926

By C. E. Sims, H. M. Banta, S. L. Hoyt

OVER the past few years, metallic arc welding has been extended to steels of the hardenable type. As compared with other methods of fabrication, production has been facilitated, service performance frequently has been improved, and the overall results have been so favorable that engineers and production men have placed great emphasis on this application of welding. The metallurgist and welding engineer, however, have been confronted with new problems, since, for one reason, the harder steels are more apt to crack and special precautions must be taken if sound joints are to be procured. Some of the factors that are pertinent to this problem are metallurgical, and it is an object of this contribution to discuss steel manufacture and processing methods and to show how their control assists in reducing the hazard of cracking. By this time, the problem of cracking specifically underbead cracking, or "hard cracks," or parent-metal cracks-is well known, and a large amount of work has been published, both here and abroad, dealing with this subject.1 The tests described are made under restraint to facilitate cracking and, are so designed that a semiquantitative, or at least a relative, value of the cracking tendency is obtained. As one would expect, it has been reported that the incidence of cracking increases with the carbon and alloy content of the steel. More specifically, the cracking tendency is said to increase with the hardenability of the steel, though it is now recognized that the situation is not so simple. The phenomenon itself, on the other hand, has been but loosely described, and it is in only broad generalizations that this cracking has been related to steel metallurgy. Thus, while it has been abundantly demonstrated that the hardenable aircraft steel, S.A.E. 4130, must tend to crack when arc-welded, the problem still remains of why two lots of the same composition and the same hardenability can vary so greatly in cracking tendency, or what it is about the prior metallurgical history that so strongly affects the results. Further, while the efficacy of preheating and postheating in preventing cracking is recognized and utilized in production, the mechanism by which they function seems not to have been described. These points are thought to be significant in the production of steel for fabrication by metallic arc welding and, hence, of interest to mill and process metallurgists and welding engineers. Consequently, it is another object of this paper to discuss the mechanism of parent-metal cracking, including the influence of the condition of the steel and the control of cracking by manipulation of the time-temperature conditions during and after welding. A new method of rating the cracking. tendency is also discussed, and the results of the test are related to steel composition and structure or prior history. The work to be described was the outgrowth of work in 1940-41 at Battelle Memorial Institute 0n two projects, one

Jan 1, 1945

By C. Baldwin Sawyer

During the last half century, much time has been devoted to investigations of the effect of nitrogen on the physical properties of steel, but in all discussions of results there is considerable doubt as to the accuracy and interpretation of analyses. No conclusions concerning the effects of nitrogen on the physical properties of steel can be more reliable than the methods used for determining the quantities of nitrogen present. The work described in this paper endeavors to establish some additional conditions required by the customary distillation method for reliable and nccurate determinations. Results by a combustion method of analysis for total nitrogen content are presented; these indicate that all of the nitrogen in steel, exclusive of that contained in blowholes, may be determined by the distillation method. Based on these more sound and more reliable analyses, results havc been obtained that bear on the following divisions of the general subject, nitrogen in steel: Nitrification of steel by melting in nitrogen, nitrification of steel by heating in ammonia, decomposition of nitrified steel by heating, and thermal analysis of nitrified steel. Consideration of Two Methods of Analysis and Some Results The details of the distillation and combustion methods are chemical in character and of little interest to most readers. They are therefore described in an appendix. The distillation method is essentially that described by Hurum and Fay1 and was generally used throughout this work. It is capable of the greatest accuracy and all results given are significant to the last, figure. Where analyses do not check, the samples

Jan 1, 1923

By C. Baldwin Sawyer

During the last half century, much time has been devoted to investigations of the effect of nitrogen on the physical properties of steel, but in all discussions of results there is considerable doubt as to the accuracy and interpretation of analyses. No conclusions concerning the effects of nitrogen on the physical properties of steel can be more reliable than the methods used for determining the quantities of nitrogen present. The work described in this paper endeavors to establish some additional conditions required by the customary distillation method for reliable and nccurate determinations. Results by a combustion method of analysis for total nitrogen content are presented; these indicate that all of the nitrogen in steel, exclusive of that contained in blowholes, may be determined by the distillation method. Based on these more sound and more reliable analyses, results havc been obtained that bear on the following divisions of the general subject, nitrogen in steel: Nitrification of steel by melting in nitrogen, nitrification of steel by heating in ammonia, decomposition of nitrified steel by heating, and thermal analysis of nitrified steel. Consideration of Two Methods of Analysis and Some Results The details of the distillation and combustion methods are chemical in character and of little interest to most readers. They are therefore described in an appendix. The distillation method is essentially that described by Hurum and Fay1 and was generally used throughout this work. It is capable of the greatest accuracy and all results given are significant to the last, figure. Where analyses do not check, the samples

Jan 1, 1923

By Charles W. Dickson

Jan 1, 1904