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By M. Muskat, H. H. Evinger

Although the shooting of oil wells for the purpose of increasing production has been practiced since 1866, present-day shooting technique has been arrived at almost wholly by a process of trial and error. The difficulties attending either a theoretical analysis of the problem or an experimental attack become apparent when one actually embarks on a theoretical investigation or attempts to formulate an intelligent experimental program. The literature on the subject consists mainly of descriptions of current practice, scattered eye-witness accounts of events following the shooting of a well, and vague speculations on the mechanical processes involved. In contrast to quarry blasting, the results of oil-well shooting cannot be determined by means of visual inspection, and it is perhaps for this reason that only one attempt at what approaches a direct experimental attack has been reported in the literature.' In these experiments, charges of liquid nitroglycerin were exploded in holes drilled in a sandstone outcrop. In order to observe the character and extent of the resulting fractures, the rock was blasted away so as to expose the original shot holes. After all this had been done it was found impossible to distinguish the fracturing due to the original shots from that due to the subsequent blasting. The enlargement of the holes due to the pulverizing action of the shots was measured and an attempt was made to determine the effectiveness if sand tamping. Only five shots were made and few definite conclusions could be drawn. Some small-scale experiments to deter-mine the effect of tamping were performed by Snelling and IIalL2 Small charges (zo grams) of dynamite were detonated at the bottom of a cylindrical hole in a lead block and the resulting enlargement of the hole was taken as a measure of the effectiveness of the explosion. It was found that when the shot was tamped with a sufficient amount of sand or clay, the volume enlargement was approximately double that found when no stemming had been used. The properties of the explosives have been the subject of much study by the manufacturers, the U. S. Bureau of Mines, and various other agencies. For example, velocities of detonation for many commercial explosives are to be found in the Blasters' Handbook, issued by the Du Pont company. Many other properties are given in a treatise on the subject by Naoum.~ The shock wave that accompanies the detonation of high explosives has been studied photographically by Payman4 and others. The hydrodynamical theory of the shock wave has received much attention, and an extended theoretical treatment is given by Bateman.6 Two aspects of the well-shooting problem will be considered in this paper; namely, the fracturing of subsurface strata, and possible damage to casing. With respect to the former of these, several calculations have been made giving the stresses in the rocks surrounding the shot. In order to arrive at numerical results at all, however, it is necessary to introduce a great many simplifying

Jan 1, 1941

By STEPHEN L. GOODALE

THE question indicated in this title was put by letter to a number of my friends working in various industries, who have charge of young metallurgical graduates. The replies were almost unanimous in stating that the college training should cover in the most .thorough manner possible those sciences which are the fundamentals - of engineering. Mathematics, physics, mechanics, electricity, chemistry, physical chemistry, and their applications to actual problems of life were mentioned in most of the letters I received. Some writers added also business law, economics,. and finance. One reply expressed it: "These subjects, well founded, mixed with good judgment, well applied, should enable the .young man to carry on the art of life successfully." One answer stated frankly what is really wanted: "As much as possible.' ' This writer mentioned .the sciences as being very important, but he wishes men ' to be trained in metallurgy also, and he concedes the omission of some advanced chemistry and physic's to secure the metallurgy. He emphasized particularly. the a we. desirability of work in college to development' He concludes his letter with a repetition of his slogan that what is wanted is as much as is possible.

Jan 1, 1930

By J. W. Paul, J. N. Geyer

The measures overlying some coal beds are under stress as the result of geological movements after the measures have been deposited. The removal of the coal in the process of mining induces additional stress in the roof measures. Certain types of deposits have sufficient inherent strength to be self-supporting over definite width of excavations and the stress is adjusted without appreciable movement of the material, to the extent that no part of the material will become detached and fall. The uplifting of the measures in geological time often results in the establishing of cleat planes or planes of weakness in the measures overlying the coal, and these planes generally have a uniform direction. Measures that have not been subject to uplifts are less liable to have noncompensable stresses, although any method of underground mining results in the creation of stress in the roof measures over the excavations and over the coal pillars. The immediate roof measures extending upwards of 10 to 15 ft. above the coal give the greatest concern in maintaining the roof in the advance work in the solid coal. Immediate measures which are inherently weak often may be scaled and supported for indefinite periods by a system of timbering. As an excavation is made, the pillars adjoining must take on the weight previously supported by the coal removed. The roof over the excavations takes on the function of a beam and if too weak to be self-supporting it will fail either through shearing or bending, and the roof cavity may enlarge until a self-supporting arch is formed. As support is removed by taking the coal away, there is a tendency for the roof members to move toward the excavation in an effort to compensate the stress; particularly is this true where there is an overlying bed of clay, which may act as a lubricant on which adjoining members may slide. Unstabilized stresses, plus the force of gravity, plus the inherent strength of the material, govern the tendency of mine roof to fall when not supported by timber. In general, most mine roof depresses when the coal is removed. This depression may be in the nature of a sag as the result of bending, or the edges of the pillar may break away or the floor may come up or heave.

Jan 1, 1934

By A. Goldberg, T. E. Tietz, J. E. Dorn

Introduction The concept that the flow stress for plastic deformation of metals in the work hardening range is a function of the instantaneous values of the strain, strain rate and test temperature was promulgated by Ludwick' many years ago. This thought has been more or less a guiding principle throughout the immediate period of development and growth of mechanical metallurgy. It has been tacitly assumed or knowingly applied to many investigations on the plastic behavior of metals. Spurred by the theoretical interest and practical importance of the plastic behavior of metals, many investigators have attempted to determine empirical, semi-empirical, and theoretical equations2-l8 relating the flow stress with the strain, strain rate, and temperature. Although the applications of such equations have been extensive, the experimental verification of the existence of a mechanical equation of state is weak. Furthermore, some of the available evidence on plastic flow appears to suggest that no simple functional relation between stress, strain-rate, strain and temperature can exist. The mechanical equation of state demands that Where a = true stress = loadlinstantaneous area e = true strain _ Instantaneous gauge length ~ initial gauge length i = true strain rate T = temperature This formulation implies that da is an exact differential. Therefore the flow stress (a) is a function of the instantaneous values of the strain (c) the strain rate (i) and the temperature (T), independent of the previous mechanical or thermal history. Having reached a certain strain, strain rate, and temperature, by any path whatsoever, a definite and fixed value of the flow stress should be obtained. One check on the validity of the mechanical equation of state is easily obtained. Consider the following three tests on the stress-strain curve at constant temperature: A. Strain at rate :I B. Strain at rate it C. Strain at rate 11 to el and continue test at &. A graphical representation of possible results of such tests are shown in Fig I. If, for strains greater than el, test (C) data coincide exactly with the data from test (B), as shown in Fig ra, a limited verification of the mechanical equation of state is obtained for the range of strain rates from il to iz. But if the data from test (C) differ from those of (g) beyond strain t\ where the strain rate is changed from il to k2, the mechanical equation of state is not

Jan 1, 1949

By Charles Burrows

THE burden a man can endure depends on its magnitude and the number of tunes it is applied, as well as on many other factors. The resisting power of steel likewise is dependent on many factors. The maximum load it can support indefinitely is much less than its possible momentary burden. A light load straining the metal far within its elastic limit, if repeated indefinitely, ruptures the metal. The magnitude f the stresses that may be alternately applied and removed without rupturing the material depends on the number of repetitions of the cycle; the intervening periods of rest; the thermal, electric, and magnetic conditions, as well as the presence of secondary stresses. While we are unable to formulate the law between the magnitude f repeated stresses necessary to produce rupture and the length of time during which these alternating stress may be applied before rupture, my experience is that the time increases as the magnitude of the force decreases, according to a law which, to a first approximation, is exponential. In other words, F = Ce-t where F = magnitude f alternating stresses; = time for which stresses are continued; C = constant, which' depends on the conditions under which the operations are carried out. It is quite probable that the same type of law holds for the magnitude of a continuous force and its duration. When a rod of steel is subjected to the blows of a drilling hammer several things happen. First, one end is struck by the hammer and the other end is driven into the rock, thus causing a bodily displacement of the entire material of the steel drill. The greatest stresses involved in this bodily displacement are located at the two ends of the steel and manifest themselves by the distortion of these parts. Second, after the blow has been delivered the steel drill, due partly to its own resiliency and partly to the resiliency of the rock, experiences a vibratory motion as a whole, this motion is quite similar to the bouncing of a rubber ball thrown violently upon a smooth pavement. Third, the free vibration of the drill is determined only by its own natural period of vibration. This motion involves all the characteristics f any vibrating body emitting sound. Certain elements of the rod will experience alternations of condensation and rarefaction and, in these regions, the individual steel

Jan 6, 1921

By A. L. Jamieson, H. Rosenthal

The action of mercury on stressed brass to produce cracks was known before Moore, Beckinsale and Mallinson1 showed that actual season cracking did not occur spontaneously but could be induced by ammonia. These investigators studied other substances, including diphenylamine, without finding that anything other than ammonia could cause season cracking Grimston2 reported season cracking in cartridge cases stored in wooden boxes wetted with dilute sulphuric acid pickling solution. Season cracking associated with sulphur dioxide, water vapor and air has been reported by Johnston,3 although he reported that trimethylamine and pyridine did not cause cracking. Jevons4 has ascribed season cracking of brass in certain instances to trimethylamine, "aldehyde amine," "ketone amine" and pyridine, but no experimental work was done evidently to prove this definitely. Pyridine was investigated by Morris,5 who found it to have considerable cracking power. In the present investigation, the object was a qualitative evaluation of a number of representative amines with respect to their ability to cause season cracking. Thus it was desired only that an appreciable vapor pressure of each amine be obtained in order to make the test as severe as possible, without attempting to test equivalent concentrations for comparative purposes. MEthods Specimens TWO types of specimen were used: 1. Unannealed 70-30 brass CUPs formed from 0.040-in. thick sheet. Height of cup Was 13/8 in. and diameter was 17/8 inches. 2. First draw pieces of caliber .50 cartridge cases in the unannealed condition (70-30 brass)- The cups were representative of a thin wall and thin base specimen, whereas the draw pieces have a thick base (1/4 in.) and a thick wall (approximately 3/32 in.). Both types of specimens contained high residual stress and cracked in less than one minute in a solution of I per cent mercurous nitrate and I per cent nitric acid provided that this was receded by a 30-sec. pickle in 40 per cent nitric acid. Specimens were prepared as follows: (1) degreased in trichlorethylene, (2) rinsed in H2O, (3) pickled 5 min. in 10 per cent by volume H2SO4 (1.84 SP. gr.), (4) rinsed in H2O, and (5) dried. Amirtes Tested In selecting the amines, representatives of the three series of amines, and one series of substituted amines were chosen. The aliphatic series was represented by the methyl and ethyl primary, secondary and tertiary amines. These are the simplest aliphatic amines. For the aromatic series, the phenyl primary, secondary and tertiary amines were selected as being the simplest. The heterocyclic series was represented by pyridine, which is a simple heterocyclic base (tertiary amine).

Jan 1, 1944

By THOMAS G. FEAR

THE COAL DIVISION started its share of the annual meeting Monday morning with a study of coal classi fication. A. C. Fieldner was in the chair. The report of the tellers of the ballot for division chairman, stating that Thomas G. Fear had been elected to that office, was read by M. D. Cooper. Mr. Fear acknowledged the honor in a few words. In reviewing the history of the Coal Classification Committee the chairman pointed out that this was its third symposium, the last previous one having been held at the 1930 Annual Meeting. Throughout its work the com¬mittee has had the active cooperation of the Canadian workers who are interested in the subject which should result in a uniform scheme of classification in Canada and the United States. F. E. Lathe, of the National Research Council, Ottawa, abstracted the first two papers of the session entitled "Determination of the Alkali-Soluble Ulmins in Coal," by Edgar Stansfield and K. C. Gilbart, and "Moisture Determination for Coal Classification," by the same authors. The third paper "Condition of Water in Coals of Various Ranks"' was presented by its author, A. W. Gauger. Written discussions of these papers were presented by H. C. Porter and Gilbert H. Cady. In the oral discussion which followed, W. T. Thom, Jr., brought out the advisability of considering age as a factor in classification. Mr. Fieldner favored retaining bed moisture as a partial classification basis, stating that a review of many coal analyses revealed a remarkable consistency in this item in samples from a given mine particularly where the moisture content was not high. Mr. Porter pointed out that the structure and porosity of coal often have much to do with its moisture content and that these vary in different parts of a seam, particularly in anthracite. Mr. Gauger expressed doubt as to whether the Stansfield method gives the true moisture content of coal, which is needed for classification purposes.

Jan 1, 1932

By Ralph H. Sweetser

IN the recent world-wide deflation of commodity prices the coal industry, including both anthracite and bituminous coal, had reached a level where the actual delivered market prices received by the operators were usually less than the cost of production. Many steel companies and public utilities, operating their own "captive" mines, could have bought coal during the past three years for less money than the true cost of coal produced at their own properties. Competition within the coal industry itself was cruel to the point of profitless operation, and the competition of other forms of fuel was bearing heavily on the coal producers. They were thus forced into methods of production and utilization that they had hitherto ignored; there had been almost complete absence of any appreciation (by the bituminous operators especially) of the necessity of real research work in finding better methods of preparing coal for specific uses, and in finding new and profitable uses for different kinds and grades of coal.

Jan 1, 1933

By Fleming, R. C.

ONE OF THE NEWEST developments of industry rising from the commercial application of scientific knowledge is in the making of solid carbon dioxide from the gas about 1925 the first efforts were made to manufacture "dry ice" on a large scale and at a price to permit widespread use. From that beginning the industry has grown to a consumption of 40,000 tons in 1930. Carbon-dioxide ice, as the name implies, is merely the gas compressed and cooled to a solid. The ice has a temperature of 109° F. below zero and is in many ways superior to water ice. It evaporates to a gaseous form so it is not wet and leaves no trace; in fact, one suggested minor use is as coasters under water glasses on the dining table. The gas is harmless except in large concentrations and. when the ice is used as a refrigerant, the resulting gas actually becomes a preservative, keeping oxygen away from perishable products. Not only does the ice have a greater amount of cold in a small volume than water ice but cooling is effected by direct contact of the resulting gas with the materials to be refrigerated rather than by convection air currents.

Jan 1, 1932

By F. R. Zachar

IT has always been understood, in northern West Virginia where both the Pittsburgh and Sewickley seams are mined, that pillaring or splitting in the lower Pittsburgh seam could break the interval strata and make mining in the overlying Sewickley difficult or impossible. In some instances, however, mining methods practiced in the overlying Sewickley have reversed the problem, resulting in a shifting of the intermediate layer and destroying valuable acreages of the Pittsburgh seam below. The Pittsburgh seam in this area is, on the average, 102 in. thick. About 18 in. of low-quality head coal are left for roof protection as it is mined. Immediately over the coal are two draw slates, two rider 'seams, and a good hard black shale, locally called black rock, which serves as a permanent roof where draw slates and riders are taken down on certain main haulroads. In most areas mined in this seam in the past the bottom has been satisfactory but soft. However, in areas now being mined by the Christopher Coal Co. in Monongalia County the bottom is very hard and unyielding. The Sewickley seam, lying 85 ft above the Pittsburgh, will average nearly 70 in. in thickness and is overlain by massive shales and sandstones. Much of the seam is mined only down to the "sheep skin," a hard band about 4 in. above the bottom, which is composed of relatively hard shale. Fig. 1 shows a typical cross-section through the Pittsburgh and Sewickley seams in the area being discussed. The thin Redstone seam is not deep-mined but is stripped in some locations where it outcrops. Most of the Sewickley seam in the Morgantown areas has been mined out from 10 to 30 years. There are at present only two large mines and five or six others of small production operating in that seam. Mining systems in the past were generally of the room and pillar type with some full pillar extraction. This seam in the Scott's Run area was operated by as many as thirty or forty different companies at one time, during an era beset with strikes, market failures, and depressions. Most of the barrier pillars along the many main haulroads were abandoned, and blocks of Sewickley coal that would be fully recovered with today's machinery were left unmined when conditions became anything less than favorable. Consequently the mined-out Sewickley is spotted throughout with solid blocks varying in size from 100x100 ft to 200x400 ft and larger. It is these unmined Sewickley blocks surrounded by worked-out portions that have caused transmissions of roof stresses to underlying Pittsburgh mining areas, see Fig. 2, resulting in untold difficulty. As the Christopher Coal Co. operates both the Pittsburgh and Sewickley seams, accurate maps of workings in both seams are readily available and are regularly consulted. The first Pittsburgh squeeze attributed to overlying Sewickley blocks occurred in the Arkwright mine, where a shuttle car crew was developing a section consisting of seven panel headings. These entries were being driven in solid coal 3400 ft from the nearest worked-out Pittsburgh area. As mining advanced it was noticed that certain ribs began to slough and certain areas to show signs

Jan 1, 1952

By A. H. Willis

In this paper the results of an exploratory study conducted by personnel of the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory on 18.6, 22, and 40 wt pct uranium-zirconium alloy will be presented. LARGE power output and long life or endurance from small, compact nuclear reactors require the use of enriched uranium for a fuel material. However, the ability to remove heat from the element, the tolerable fission product concentration, or some physical limitation of the system can limit the allowable fuel enrichment, or the volume of the fuel. In such an event, the fuel-element designer must find a suitable diluent for the uranium. Zirconium is an attractive material for such a purpose as it has good nuclear properties and a low absorption cross section. Because it has a good corrosion resistance in water, zirconium is a suitable cladding and the uranium-zirconium alloy makes a good core material. The alloy has a high thermal conductivity, a low elastic modulus, and a low thermal-expansion coefficient, all of which tend to minimize the thermal stresses in the core. Furthermore, the unirradiated material is reasonably ductile and has adequate strength. DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLES Two types of cylindrical samples were used in this study 1) short, 1/2-to 1-in.-long samples to test the irradiation stability of the alloy and 2) 2-ft-long samples to investigate the resistance of an element to longitudinal deformation. Composite samples having 0.060-to 0.140-in. core diameters and clad with a 0.010-in. thick zirconium jacket were fabricated by coextrusion and by hydrostatic pressure bonding of the cladding to the preformed core material. Both fabrication processes produced the uniform metallurgical core-to-cladding bond which was felt necessary to minimize the uncertainty of the central core temperature. Both consumable-arc and induction-melting techniques were used to melt the uranium-sponge zirconium core alloy. Since a graphite crucible was used in induction-melting this alloy contained more carbon impurity, which resulted in a finer grain size than the arc-melted alloy. The core to cladding interface was uniform in elements coextruded from the fine-grain, induction-melted core material, while those elements fabricated using arc-melted core material had very irregular interfaces because of the coarser grain size. Both cold-worked and heat-treated fuel materials were irradiation tested. Cold-worked alloys were swaged to about a 5 pct final reduction in area without subsequent annealing. The heat-treated alloys were heated to 800°C, held at temperature for 15 min and furnace-cooled to about room temperature. This

Jan 1, 1960

By Wilhelm in der Schmitten

A necessary condition for a uniaxial stress distribution in compression testing is that the specimen end surfaces make full contact with the apparatus compression plates. In addition all compression surfaces must be machined perpendicularly to the loading axis. In general this condition is not sufficiently fulfilled in a simple apparatus. Therefore on application of the load the compression plate may first touch the specimen at one point only. This may cause crumbling of the specimen if the material under investigation is brittle (e.g., ionic crystals). It also precludes a precise study of the beginning of deformation as the effective cross sectional area is unknown. In addition a complex stress state is set up which renders quantitative work impossible, e.g., on dislocation density and arrangement as a function of stress. To overcome these difficulties a "self-adjusting" upper compression plate is required. A simple and reliable method of achieving this is shown in Fig. 1: A steel hemisphere is placed on the specimen. As soon as the compression plate (which no longer needs precise machining) makes contact with this hemisphere the load is uniformly distributed over the whole specimen surface, and a homogeneous uniaxial state of stress results. An advantage of the method is that the loading is always central, even when the specimen surface is not parallel to the compression plate (Fig. 1, dashed line). Therefore to a first approximation a uniaxial state of stress is maintained if the misorientation of the specimen end surface is small. Two typical stress strain curves of identically prepared sodium chloride crystals are shown in Fig. 2; curve 1 was taken without and curve II with the hemisphere under otherwise identical conditions. The improvement in the accuracy of defining the beginning of elastic and plastic deformation is clearly indicated. The writer wishes to thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for financial support, and Professor P. Haasen for providing facilities for this work.

Jan 1, 1962

By B. Amadei

INTRODUCTION Laboratory studies on the deformability and strength of intact rocks generally involve the uniaxial compression test, the standard triaxial compression test and direct or indirect tension tests. If [al ,a2 ,a3] are principal stresses [(al>a2>a3)] with compression taken as positive and tension taken as negative, the applied stress field for each one of these tests can be represented as shown in Fig. 1. However, for most in-situ conditions, such as those that exist at any point around an underground excavation, the stress field is truly three-dimensional or multiaxial [(al+ a2+a3)] and none of the tests shown in Fig. 1 can be used to predict the mechanical behavior of the rock. There are special cases for which one of the three principal stresses vanishes. Biaxial loading of rocks in-situ takes place, for instance, when rocks deform and fail in plane stress conditions. This can occur in a free unloaded surface of a rock structure such as in the wall of an underground excavation or a rock slope. Parallel to the free surface, the stress field components can be both compressive [(al>a2>0)], both tensile [(O>a2>a3)], or mixed, one component being compressive and the other one tensile [(U~>O>U~)]. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of 25 true biaxial tests that have been conducted on cubical specimens of Indiana Limestone using the multiaxial cell available at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The tests include uniaxial compression and tension, biaxial compression and combined biaxil compression- tension. Flexible fluid cushions and brush bearing platens were used for compressive and tensile loading respectively in order to minimize loading end effects on the test specimens. The paper begins with a review of previous investigations on the multiaxial behavior of rock. Then, test results are presented in terms of

Jan 1, 1984

By W. L. Phillips

The recovery properties of compression-deformed lithium fluoride single crystals were investigated as a function of prior strain, annealing time, and annealing temperature. The recovery process was studied by observation of etch pits and birefringence stress patterns. The recovery process involved first a redistribution of the dislocations and then a decrease in their number. Only by annealing at high temperatures after small strains (<0.02 in. per in.) was it possible to obtain complete recovery of mechanical properties. LITHIUM fluoride affords unusual opportunities to extend the knowledge of deformation mechanisms of nonmetallic crystalline compounds. Single crystals of high purity are readily available. These crystals deform by slip on the (110) <110> system.&apos; Unlike those of several other ionic crystals, the stress-strain curves of annealed lithium fluoride are reproducible.2 Dislocations generated in the crystals during deformation can be revealed by etch pits.3 This fact makes possible more detailed studies of mechanisms than is usually the case with metals. Also, because lithium fluoride is transparent, it is possible to follow the recovery process with birefringence stress patterns. It has been shown that with metals an increase in temperature increases the amount of recovery for a given time, and the amount of recovery increases with increasing time at the same temperature.4-6 The yield stress has also been shown to be dependent on the rate of cooling after annealing.&apos; Annealing germanium, a covalent-bond material, at high temperatures after deformation redistributes the dislocations and reduces their number. The purpose of the present paper is to extend the knowledge of recovery properties to an ionic crystal, lithium fluoride. The effect of strain, time, and temperature of recovery on the stress-strain curve was investigated. The recovery process was followed by observations of etch pits and birefringence stress patterns. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Specimens measuring approximately 0.10 by 0,10 by 0.30 in. long were cleaved from a single bulk

Jan 1, 1961

By A. Ahmadieh, J. E. Dorn, Jack Mitchell

A detailed investigation of the disloccrtion mechanisms controlling prismatic, slip in a solid solutions of magnesium containing up to 15.9 at. pel Li revealed that low-temperature prismatic slip is controlled by the Peicrl&apos;s mechanism for all alloy compositions. At higher temperatures slip in the 7.9 at. pet Li alloy was found to follow the diclates of the cross-slip mechanism from basal to prism planes, while the higlier-lilhium alloys exhibited an athermal dejormation process which might be due COARSE-GRAINED polycrystalline aggregates of distilled magnesium exhibit very limited ductility at low temperatures.&apos; The ductility of polycrystalline magnesium, however, is much improved by solid-solution additions in excess of about 8 at. pct to shot-range ordering. The major effect of lithium additions on the low-temperature Shear] stress. for prismatic slip appears to be due to its efftct in lowering the Peierl&apos;s stress whereas (1 increase in the shear stress with increased lithium conlent at higher temperatures might he due to short-range order strengthening. Additions rip to 7.9 (at. pel Li appear to have only minor effects on the slackiug-jaidt energy. Li.2 Although the relative amounts of basal slip and twinning are not materially altered by such alloying, a substantial change takes place in the relative amounts of prismatic slip. Whereas prismatic slip is negligible and limited to regions of high stress concentrations in the vicinity of the grain boundaries in pure magnesium, extensive prismatic slip over entire grains occurs in the higher lithium content alloys. Furthermore, as the lithium content is increased above 8 at. pct, the flow stress for polycrystalline aggregates decreases. Comparison of the single-crystal data on pure magnesium for basal slip by Sheely and Nash3 and those for prismatic slip by Flynn, Mote, and Dorn4 indicates that the critical resolved shear stress for prismatic slip is much above that for basal slip.

Jan 1, 1965

By Harry A. Lipsitt, Rollins E. Hook, Attwell M. Adair

A necessary condition for a uniaxial stress distribution in compression testing is that the specimen end surfaces make full contact with the apparatus compression plates. In addition all compression surfaces must be machined perpendicularly to the loading axis. In general this condition is not sufficiently fulfilled in a simple apparatus. Therefore on application of the load the compression plate may first touch the specimen at one point only. This may cause crumbling of the specimen if the material under investigation is brittle (e.g., ionic crystals). It also precludes a precise study of the beginning of deformation as the effective cross sectional area is unknown. In addition a complex stress state is set up which renders quantitative work impossible, e.g., on dislocation density and arrangement as a function of stress. To overcome these difficulties a "self-adjusting" upper compression plate is required. A simple and reliable method of achieving this is shown in Fig. 1: A steel hemisphere is placed on the specimen. As soon as the compression plate (which no longer needs precise machining) makes contact with this hemisphere the load is uniformly distributed over the whole specimen surface, and a homogeneous uniaxial state of stress results. An advantage of the method is that the loading is always central, even when the specimen surface is not parallel to the compression plate (Fig. 1, dashed line). Therefore to a first approximation a uniaxial state of stress is maintained if the misorientation of the specimen end surface is small. Two typical stress strain curves of identically prepared sodium chloride crystals are shown in Fig. 2; curve 1 was taken without and curve II with the hemisphere under otherwise identical conditions. The improvement in the accuracy of defining the beginning of elastic and plastic deformation is clearly indicated. The writer wishes to thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for financial support, and Professor P. Haasen for providing facilities for this work.

Jan 1, 1962

By H. C. van Elst

Ultrahigh-speedphotographic and electronic meth-ods were applied to an investigation of details of brittle-fracture propagation in steel. The brittle fractures studied were obtained in steel plate with the aid of a Robertson apparatus. It was found that a brittle fracture proceeds by discrete steps ranging from 30 mm near the stop temperature to less than 2 mm at lower temperatures. The halting FROM prior metallographic observations of brittle fracture in steel&apos; it could be concluded that the distribution of mechanical twins along a brittle fracture was similar to the distribution of mechanical twins induced by explosive deformation. It was therefore assumed that a running brittle fracture created stress waves, cf. Refs. 2-7. An emission of stress waves by a brittle fracture, however, seems only conceivable if the fracture propagates by discrete steps. For this reason a study of the details of times between successive steps drop in this tem-perature region from 20 usec to about 1 psec. The stepwise propagation mechanism is accompanied by an intermittent emission of stress waves of the order of 100 to 200 kg per sq mm. These stress waves seen1 to play an important role in the mechanism of brittle fracture as will be discussed. brittle-fracture propagation was undertaken to investigate the possible determination of the fracture steps and the emitted stress waves associated with the assumed mechanism. The more practical object of this work is the development of a test method for the determination of the ductile-brittle transition in small specimens. This has special advantages for the study of irradiation damage in steel. In this test method, which will be published in a following paper, the stress waves emitted by an actual brittle fracture are reproduced with explosive or electrical means and are then transmitted through small specimens at various temperatures. In the present paper only the results of the brittle-fracture study will be reported.

Jan 1, 1964

By N. G. W. Cook

When an excavation is made underground the original rock stresses are removed from the surfaces of the excavation. These surfaces converge to partially close the excavation and the superincumbent rock mass moves down towards the excavation. If the convergence of the surfaces of the excavation were controlled, energy generated by their motion against the controlling forces could be extracted. Since the total forces in the rock mass are not significantly affected by the excavation, stress concentrations arise around the excavation, which compensate exactly for those stresses no longer transmitted through the excavation. These phenomena give rise to two general principles which provide the basis for analyzing the effects of making any underground excavation. The first of these is that the total force resulting from the stresses across any plane in the rock, including any plane through the excavation, must be the same before and after the excavation is made. The second of these is that energy must necessarily be released as a result of making an underground excavation. It is instructive to consider the implications of these two principles for two extreme cases of material behavior between which the actual behavior of rock must lie, namely, the behavior of a fluid and the behavior of an elastic solid. For the purpose of analysis in this paper, an underground excavation is defined as an excavation in which the smaller horizontal dimension of any open void at a particular horizon is less than the depth of that horizon below surface. In the case of a fluid, any unsupported excavation would fill immediately, as a fluid cannot sustain shear stresses. For the same reason, stress concentrations could not arise and the forces across any plane would necessarily be the same before and after excavation. If the filling of the excavation were controlled by forces applied to the surfaces of the excavation, an amount of energy equal to the product of the fluid pressure

Jan 1, 1967

By Charles H. White

Discussion of the paper of A. L. Sweetser, Tress., xxxviii., 236. CHARLES H. WHITE, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. (communication to the Secretary*) :-Those interested in leaching-processes gladly welcome contributions on either laboratory-tests, such as are reported by Mr. Sweetser, or mill-tests made on larger quantities of ore; and especially valuable are such reports, even with negative results, if the methods adopted are the outgrowth of an intimate knowledge of the conditions to be met. It seems very desirable, therefore, that as complete details as possible be given in reporting on such tests, particularly with respect to the character of the ore under examination. The questions of prime importance in the sampling of ore and in the making up of charges for laboratory-tests are those respecting its grade and uniformity. In Mr. Sweetser&apos;s paper the first of these questions is answered definitely, but the answer to the second, although apparent on inspection of the results, might be more strongly emphasized with advantage, since it is only on account of the extreme uniformity of the ore that the satisfactory results obtained could have been expected. It seems advisable to call attention to the fact that for average ores, and more particularly for uneven, or 11 spotted ores, the quantities used by Mr. Sweetser are not usually regarded as sufficient to insure satisfactory results. Let us examine the method somewhat in detail. The ore was crushed to pass a 5-mesh screen, and a sample of 45 lb. was taken out for assay and tests. The diameter of the largest grain of this ore, according to Richards,1 was 2.67 mm.-assuming here, as in the following cases, that the wire of the screen was of the largest size used for the purpose, thereby giving any possible advantage in this respect in favor of the method. The table in Richards&apos;s book, p. 852, shows that 45 lb. is a sufficient quantity for a fair sample with uniform ores, but not sufficient

Jan 7, 1908

"In the mines producing over 500 tons per day, skips have replaced the old method of hoisting ore by cars run onto cages. In the car and cage method, two men (station tenders) trammed the loaded cars onto the one-deck cage, and as the production increased the one-deck cage was increased to two decks and later to four decks. Landing chairs at the underground stations were necessary in this method and were the cause of many serious accidents by being carelessly left in the shaft by the station-tenders when leaving one station for anotherabove. The labor and time occupied in loading the leaving cages were con¬siderable, and, at times of rapid hoisting, four men were necessary in taking off empty and caging loaded cars. This also required at the surface landing, as many as ten men on a shift to remove the loaded cars and replacing them with empties, and tram the loaded ones to the surface ore bins, where the railway cars were loaded.The skips used in Butte are generally of 100 cubic feet capacity and hold five tons of ore, and weigh 7,500 lbs. The cage above, to which the skip is attached, weighs 2,300 lbs. The skips dump automatically into a pocket of 50 tons capacity. Two men are with the skips underground and load them from 125 ton capacity ore-pockets, under each station, the bottoms of the pockets having an inclination of 50 degrees from the horizontal. At the bottom of these pockets a gate is operated by compressed air. The labor of loading the skips amounts only to the opening and closing of a valve in the air-line, the ore running by gravity into the skips.Besides the saving in labor, the use of the skips has removed the necessity of underground landing chairs in the shaft and the accidents which are inevitable where such chairs are used."

Jan 1, 1913