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By Robert J. McKay, O. B. J. Fraser, H. E. Searle

The practical study of corrosion requires consideration of its economic aspects. It must be based on sound scientific principles, but it should be borne in mind that probably the most important object of a corrosion test is to determine what metal in corrosion-resisting construction will produce the greatest operating profit. Thus the corrosion test must be directly connected with money values or it is not a practical corrosion test. This, perhaps unusual, connection between corrosion and economics is partially due to the fact that corrosion deals only with the time factor or duration of equipment, and it is almost the only test which deals with this feature. In these statements a departure is made from the academic definition of the word corrosion and it is done deliberately. The use of the term corrosion is unusual. It is as though we spoke of a tensile test as a "breaking" test. We are not interested primarily in the break but in the strength of the metal. There is no English word which expresses our main interest in corrosion-testing, but let us have clearly in mind that we make corrosion tests to prevent corrosion. Our real interest is in this corrosion-prevention, not in the corrosion. Previous to 1922, it was common comment that "it is impossible to determine the course of corrosion by laboratory testing.'' This statement was true at that time in that the technique of laboratory testing for corrosion resistance was so vague that tests in the laboratory gave untrue results almost as often as true ones. This was so, even in the simple case of determining which one of two metals better resists a given solution. While this is no longer true the number of misleading "corrosion tests" still being ground out by laboratories is too large in the light of our present knowledge. There are two important features of corrosion testing whose neglect is a large contributing factor to misleading results: (1) The economic relations of the corrosion tests to other tests; (2) testing technique. Regarding economic relations J. F. Thompson l has said: "The use of any particular metal is rarely based upon the sole property of resistance to corrosion. In fact, I should like to venture the assertion

Jan 1, 1929

June was the month in which AIME was founded in the year of 1871. For some reason, February was selected as the month for the legal Annual Meeting. One can't help thinking wistfully of Annual Meetings in June but of course this is not the reality. Because the Centennial Ceremonies are taking place in February, that month has been chosen as the one in which MINING ENGINEERING, the monthly magazine of the Society of Mining Engineers, a constituent society of AIME, is publishing its Commemorative is- sue to celebrate the event. SME and ME take a proprietary air about AIME. This is mostly because AIME started as the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Metallurgy was added to the name in 1919 and Petroleum in 1956. The official abbreviation of "AIME" has been retained, however.

Jan 1, 1971

By T. E. Leontis, F. N. Rhines

THE oxide scale that forms upon magnesium at elevated temperatures is nonprotective in the sense that the rate of oxidation is constant and thus does not decrease with the growth of the scale as it does with other common metals. This generality was first stated by Pilling and Bedworth1 and has been verified by Suzuki2 and by Scheil.3 Pilling and Bedworth argued that the nonprotective characteristic could be predicted from the fact that magnesium oxide occupies less space than does the metal from which it springs, wherefore the scale is not expected to cover the metal so completely as to exclude all direct access to the atmosphere. Linear oxidation is thought by Scheil to be common to all cases where the reaction occurs at the oxide-metal interface. According to Suzuki,2 the product of high-temperature oxidation in the air is MgO contaminated with no more than traces of a nitride. When the metal is allowed to burn freely a fume composed of cubic crystals of Mg04 is given off. Delavault5 observed that excrescences form upon liquid magnesium and alloys in the course of oxidation. Beyond this it is known that the use of atmospheres containing small quantities of sulphur dioxide6 or carbon dioxide serve to retard the oxidation of solid magnesium and that beryllium7and calcium8 minimize the oxidation of molten magnesium exposed to the air. Many studies have been devoted to the nature and rates of "protective" oxidation, as exemplified by the cases of copper and iron, wherein the rate is characteristically parabolic. The theory of parabolic oxidation is well developed.9 Linear oxidation, on the other hand, has received but little attention and the theories proposed by Pilling and Bedworth and by Scheil have yet to withstand careful examination. There exists no comprehensive survey of the high-temperature oxidation of magnesium (or of any other metal that exhibits linear oxidation) over a broad range of temperature, under a variety of atmospheric conditions and covering a large group of alloys. It has been the purpose of the present investigation to provide such a survey, with the object of gaining a fuller understanding of linear oxidation, especially as applied to magnesium. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE AND RESULTS The experimental studies undertaken were of two kinds: (I) measurement of the rate of oxidation as influenced by the

Jan 1, 1946

The Sub-committee on Coal Mining, since its appointment, has been collecting data about subsidences in coal mines in this country, and thinks that almost all of the available data about occurrences of this sort in bituminous mines has been collected. Similar data is being compiled for the anthracite regions, which it is hoped will be ready for the 1927 meeting. As most of the bituminous seams are nearly level, the records obtained give the problem in its simplest form, without complications due to the pitch of the seam. Copies of the questionnaire, Appendix A, were mailed to all of the coal operators' associations, to most of the large operating companies and to many engineers, with the request that any data on the subject be returned to the committee, or that advice of any subsidences known be given: the replies to most of the questionnaires were general, although some specific cases were given. Many of the companies were unable to reply to all questions, as they lacked the necessary data, but in nearly every case where accuratc data was available, it was cheerfully furnished, and any additional information requested was secured. All specific cases of subsidence were followed up by correspondence, and in several cases by personal inspection. Figs. 1 to 31 were made from the information furnished. Table 1 gives measurements of elevations taken in one case at intervals from October, 1913, to May, 1918. With one exception, where the evidence cannot be released on account of a lawsuit, it is believed that the cases submitted with this report include practically all that have happened in bituminous coal mining in this country of which actual measurements were secured. Some of these have been published by Young and Stoek,l and some have been secured from other publications. In collecting these data, the subcommittee had the Engineering Societies Library extend its bibliography to date; this list is given in Appendix B. To assist in the study of the problem, all of the subsidence literature in English was examined for cases in which spccific measurements were given, and the essential data for each case are shown in Appendix C.

Jan 1, 1927

By B. H. Caudle, L. G. Davies, I. H. Silberberg

This paper presents a method of predicting the recovery and performance of a five-spot steam injection project, in which a realistic approach to pattern sweepout efficiencies is made. Published methods for radial systems were modified for the five-spot pattern by approximating the stream lines with straight lines radiating from the injection well and then converging to the producing well. In each radial segment, the position of the steam front and the temperature profile ahead of the steam front were determined by heat balance equations, which included an estimation of heat losses to surrounding formations. The location of the saturations behind the cold water front was determined from a Buckley-Leverett solution to the material balance equation. Results from this program show steamflood recovery in a five-spot pattern to be considerably less than that predicted for true linear or radial flow systems. For a specific reservoir containing 900-cp oil, a steamflood in a purely radial flow system was predicted to recover more than 75 percent of the original oil in place when 2 PV of water had been injected as steam. A five-spot steamflood with otherwise identical properties was predicted to recover 10 percent of the original oil in place when 0.15 PV of water had been injected as steam and to recover almost no oil thereafter. A cold water five-spot flood in this system was predicted to recover approximately W percent of the oil in place with I PV of water injected. For a five-spot pattern in an example reservoir with 10-cp oil, steam injection similarly showed lower ultimate recovery than water injection but no improvement in recovery rule. Introduction The thermal recovery method considered in this study is steam injection in a five-spot pattern. Pattern steam injection has been given little attention in the past, possibly because of some rather obvious disadvantages. Unless steam temperature is maintained throughout the entire swept area, the process will revert to simple waterflood with all heat being lost prior to reaching the oil bank. Also, the oil viscosity reduction takes place near the steam front and not around the producing wellbore, so that low producing rates must still be endured. This is the reason for the success of the steam stimulation, or cyclic injection, in which the fluids are produced from the same well used for injection. On the other hand, steamflooding can offer some advantages. Oil displacement is by four methods: (1) mechanical displacement by the condensed water, (2) viscosity reduction of the crude oil, (3) swelling of the crude oil, and (4) distillation of the crude oil in the steam zone. Although dependent upon the crude, laboratory experiments have shown displacements up to 80 percent by steamflooding. In addition, steam is a good heat transport medium, since it is cheap and has a high heat content. Previous Investigations Previous publications have reported methods for predicting recovery in a steamflood for linear and radial systems. Since no pattern sweep efficiency is taken into consideration, the recovery even from a radial system must be greater than from more realistic geometries such as the very common five-spot patterns. Probably the broadest coverage is given by Willman who reported experimental results and offered a method of predicting recovery for a radial flow system. They concluded that both hot water and steam injection recover more oil than an ordinary waterflood, and that steam injection could yield recoveries "as much as 100 percent greater than by water flood." They also concluded that both the heat requirements for a reservoir and the residual oil remaining in the reservoir after steam injection were independent of the amount of oil originally in place, that short exploitation times were desirable, and that a high percentage of net sand in the reservoir with a high initial oil saturation was desirable. The method assumes that the flood occurs in three concentric cylindrical zones: (1) an inner steam zone, (2) a central hot water zone, and (3) an outer cold waterflood zone. Displacement in the steam zone is based on laboratory-determined residual oil saturations while the hot water and cold water zones use the conventional Buckley-Leverett equations. Although the results shown by Willman et al. are for a radial system flowing out from the well to an assumed external circular boundary, their equations did

Jan 1, 1969

By Alexandre Mitinsky

The theory of elasticity, the science of the strength of materials, and all our calculations regarding engineering structures are based on Hooke's law, that in loaded bodies the deformations are proportional to the load producing them. Without this law it would be impossible to design intelligently engineering structures such as bridges, frames, axles, etc. This being the case, the proportional limit,l that is, the point at which deformation ceases to be proportional to load, is the most important factor in engineering design. Further, the working fiber stress should be fixed in reference to the proportional limit instead of, as is usual, in reference to the ultimate strength. The incorrect use of the ultimate strength instead of the proportional limit in setting the working fiber stress is probably due to two reasons: (1) it is a more delicate operation to measure the proportional limit; (2) it is usually assumed, though incorrectly, that the proportional limit is determined by the ultimate strength. In Germany the poin't at which permanent set first appears is often taken instead of the proportional limit. The two points will coincide if Gerstner's law, that elastic deformations are proportional to the loads producing them both before and after permanent set, is true; and the limit of proportionality and the elastic limit or point of permanent set will both be represented on a stress-strain diagram, by the point at which the line ceases to be a straight line and becomes curved or changes its inclination. It is to be further noted that the difference in definition between proportional limit and elastic limit introduces a difference in methods of determination in the testing laboratory. The German method of determining the elastic limit by alternately loading and unloading the test specimen is a lengthy process and time has in itself a very considerable influence on the results of physical tests.

Jan 1, 1916

THE slag performs two useful functions in open-hearth steel- making. First, it is the means of disposal of all the impurities, save carbon, which are removed from the charge materials in refining the steel, so it must be suited to receiving and retaining as much as possible of undesirable elements with minimum loss of iron and useful alloying elements. Second, the slag serves as a buffer between the flame and the bath and transfers oxygen to the metal at a measured pace contrasted with the violent and difficultly controlled oxidation of the bessemer process. At the same time, the slag is a thermal insulator that limits the rate at which heat can be delivered to the metal from the flame, and a heavy slag blanket thereby serves as a brake on production rates. It has been said with justification that the secret of good steel- making is to make a good slag and the steel will take care of itself. In a broad sense, the subject of slag control includes not only the adjustment of the composition of the slag but also of its relative weight in terms of percentage of the metal-bath weight. The slag is made up essentially of: (1) oxides formed by oxidation of silicon, manganese, phosphorus, and iron in the charge, (2) Si02, MnO, MgO, and other oxides charged as such or introduced incidentally with ores or fluxes or by refractory erosion, and (3) lime charged or fed to the heat to neutralize the "acidic" oxides present (Si02 and P205). Obviously, if practically perfect control were possible over the composition of the charge as well as over the oxidation process during the melting period, both slag weight and composition would be very nearly predetermined; and the control problem would be solved. Unfortunately, only a somewhat imperfect control over these factors is possible, so the operator must begin during the lime boil and continue through the refining period to discover and correct departures from the normal pattern of slag development. To do this as the heat progresses, the first helper must be able to make quick estimates of the composition and physical state of develop-

Jan 1, 1964

By H. W. Mossman

Three aspects of magnetite smelting are discussed. The first is the working out of equilibrium conditions for eliminating sulfur. The second is the influence of magnetite solubility on the difficulty of tapping the reverb matte. The third is an approximation of the equilibrium conditions in the reverb gases which govern whether magnetite is mode or reduced in the reverb slag by these gases and by any iron sulfide in the slag. MAGNETITE has had a varied history in the Hurley Smelter since its start in 1939. Magnetite determinations on the smelter products are made regularly only on the monthly composite samples. Variations on the monthly averages are shown in Table I. Magnetite which drops from the slag and matte in the reverb has some slight bottom buildup which comes and goes, but no substantial accumulation from this source has been found at the end of a normal nine months' furnace campaign. However, there has been some low grade magnetite bearing material mixed with considerable A1,0,, which has slid down from the bottom of the sloping flue between the reverberatory furnace and the waste heat boilers. This accretion has required drilling and blasting near the skimming end of the furnace. The magnetite has interfered with tapping at times. When the smelter was first started, tapping trouble from magnetite was extremely severe. Increasing the reverberatory furnace temperature by putting in an air preheater and a Dutch oven has helped greatly, although there still is occasional tapping trouble. When the present series of physical chemistry articles on copper smelting started coming out in 1950, they were read with interest, but no immediate application was seen for them. Results of some laboratory work in 1952 aroused a much stronger interest in this physical chemistry. A series of melts was made on some converter slags, which had magnetite in very large grain sizes, with the object of reducing the grain sizes in the slag, as it was known that it was easier to handle in the reverb in that condition. Anything done in the tests greatly reduced the grain sizes—even in the controls, where nothing was done except melt the slag and cast it. There was more magnetite in the slags after the tests than before, and with wide variations. There were no obvious reasons lor much of what happened in these tests. Much of the base material published in English in this field was made available for study. Recalculations were made on many of the type problems, and part of the data was reduced to local temperatures and compositions. Explanations were found for what happened in the 1952 series of tests on converter slags, and the same principles turned out to be a description of much of what magnetite does in the reverb. This article is to present the results of that study, from the viewpoint of applying the technical material in definite numerical form to the operating conditions in both the converters and the reverberatory furnaces at the Hurley smelter. Table I. Magnetite Variations on Monthly Averages, 1939 to 1955 Pet Magnetite Lowest Highest Average Converter slag 13.6 43.3 25.4 Roverb slaa 2.7 20.9 8.7 Matte 28 15.9 98 In general it was found that magnetite is made or reduced in both the converters and the rever-beratory furnace, depending on variations of temperature, matte composition, and reverb gas composition occurring in ordinary plant operation. Within reasonable limits, the field conditions for formation or reduction can be predicted, and probably can be set up and maintained. Converter conditions affecting magnetite formation can be put into numerical values better than for the reverb from purely technical calculations. The converter can be operated so as to keep the magnetite in the slag down to between 12 and 14 pct and still give satisfactory life for the converter brick. This depends upon having converter flux available which will make a slag with a good separation without raising the temperature too high. In the Hurley reverb and others with similar conditions, it is likely that a compromise of conditions will give a reasonably good control of combustion and still keep the magnetite from building up on the bottom. This discussion consists of three main parts. The first is the working out of the equilibrium conditions in the converter for determining in which direction the reaction 3 Fe,,O, (s) + FeS (1) F? 10 FeO (1) + SO, will go under actual converter operating conditions. The second deals with the influence of the solubility of magnetite in the slag and matte in the reverb on the difficulty of tapping matte. The third is an approximation of the equilibrium conditions in the

Jan 1, 1957

By W. P. Sykes

Seven years ago, Dr. S. L. Hoytl presented a masterful discussion of the hard metal carbides and cemented tungsten carbide. His lecture summarized most of the data then available in the field; many of the details relating to the production, properties and structure of cemented tungsten carbide had never been previously published, for, in fact, this information was only then being acquired. During the intervening years, the cemented carbides have assumed a place of real importance in the commercial field, with an ever widening variety of applications due to constant improvement in the control of production technique and the unremitting search for new compositions that might better the performance of the alloys in one or another type of service. The most recent summary of production methods, properties and guides for the successful application of the cemented carbides appears in the 1936 edition of the Metals Handbook. Of necessity, much detailed information relating to structures and physical properties is not included in such a summary, and it is with such details that the present discussion is concerned. Steps in Preparation While the past 25 years have contributed a valuable store of working knowledge in the field of powder metallurgy, many of the process controls are derived entirely from experience and are not as yet finally explained by a specific physical or chemical phenomenon. For most of the cemented carbides such difficulties are aggravated by our lack of knowledge not only of the complex alloy systems involved, but also by the possible changes in structure and even in composition which may accompany variations in temperature, heating time, and furnace atmospheres. The principal steps in the preparation of these cemented carbide alloys are fairly well known, but to supply a foundation for discussion these steps are briefly outlined as follows : 1. Formation of the metal carbide in the form of powder by heating a mixture of carbon and the metal powder or oxide for several

Jan 1, 1938

By W. P. Sykes

Seven years ago, Dr. S. L. Hoytl presented a masterful discussion of the hard metal carbides and cemented tungsten carbide. His lecture summarized most of the data then available in the field; many of the details relating to the production, properties and structure of cemented tungsten carbide had never been previously published, for, in fact, this information was only then being acquired. During the intervening years, the cemented carbides have assumed a place of real importance in the commercial field, with an ever widening variety of applications due to constant improvement in the control of production technique and the unremitting search for new compositions that might better the performance of the alloys in one or another type of service. The most recent summary of production methods, properties and guides for the successful application of the cemented carbides appears in the 1936 edition of the Metals Handbook. Of necessity, much detailed information relating to structures and physical properties is not included in such a summary, and it is with such details that the present discussion is concerned. Steps in Preparation While the past 25 years have contributed a valuable store of working knowledge in the field of powder metallurgy, many of the process controls are derived entirely from experience and are not as yet finally explained by a specific physical or chemical phenomenon. For most of the cemented carbides such difficulties are aggravated by our lack of knowledge not only of the complex alloy systems involved, but also by the possible changes in structure and even in composition which may accompany variations in temperature, heating time, and furnace atmospheres. The principal steps in the preparation of these cemented carbide alloys are fairly well known, but to supply a foundation for discussion these steps are briefly outlined as follows : 1. Formation of the metal carbide in the form of powder by heating a mixture of carbon and the metal powder or oxide for several

Jan 1, 1938

By T. D. Yensen

I. INTRODUCTION IT is safe to say that of all the different materials that go to make up electrical machinery, iron is the most important. Upon its -magnetic and electrical quality depends not only the efficiency of the machine but, to a very large extent, the cost. Aside from the mechanical strength, there are three characteristics of iron that are of importance in this connection, viz., magnetic hysteresis, electrical resistance, and magnetic permeability. In the homopolar machine, where the magnetic flux is unidirectional, permeability is the only important factor, but in all other machines the flux is reversed in one or more parts and causes losses due to hysteresis and eddy currents. The eddy-current loss depends largely upon the electrical resistance of the iron; the higher the resistance the lower the loss, under otherwise identical conditions. These hysteresis and eddy-current losses cause heating of the machine, and as they depend upon the magnetic density in the iron, this density must be regulated so that the heating shall not be excessive. If the hysteresis and eddy-current Josses and the permeability of the magnetic circuit will permit an increase in the magnetic density, or, in other words, a decrease in the amount of iron, this in turn will mean a decrease in the amount of copper needed, with a consequent decrease in the copper loss. It is thus seen that; indirectly as well as directly, the above characteristics have an important bearing on both the efficiency and the cost of electrical machinery. In general, it may be said that iron for electrical machinery should have the following characteristics: (1) low hysteresis loss, (2) high electrical resistance, and (3) high permeability. These are the characteristics that investigators have been striving to attain since electrical machinery first came into use.

Jan 2, 1916

By Charles W. Eichrodt

So much has already been wimitten on this vast subject of ground movement and subsidence, and so many data collected and commented upon, that in this paper the author proposes to confine himself to the submission of some plans showing what has actually occurred in the mining of several of the orebodies which have come under his direction during the last 20 years or so at Rio Tinto, Spain. Some notes are added for the purpose of describing the plans. The author does not attempt to give his opinion as to the reasons why the subsidences have occurred in the manner in which they are found, but confines himself to giving as true a picture as possible of the movements that have taken place. Effects of Excavation on Ground Movement Broadly, the effects of excavations on the overhead or adjacent ground can be classified under three headings, as follows: 1. Ground movements due to excavations made from surface only, such as those made in opencasts where no excavations underlie them. The stability and strength of the ground to resist movement must determine the slopes. 2. Ground movements due to underground excavations only; i. e., where the surface is not removed. 3. Ground movements due to a combination of both; i. e., from excavations taking place from the surface for the purpose of stripping an orebody and recovery of the ore to a certain horizon combined with excavations being carried out below, at the same time, for the winning of the ore below the horizon at which mining by stripping or opencasting under the specific conditions is no longer economical. Nos. 1 and 2 represent independent and distinct problems and No. 3 is a combination, which presents results much more difficult of explanation. The accompanying plans and sections give examples of what has occurred under the three conditions. Unfortunately, the class of ground is not exactly the same in them all, but the difference is not greater than is generally encountered over districts of equal area. Excavations from Surface To illustrate No. 1 three cross-sections are shown, of excavations made for the stripping and excavation from three different orebodies

Jan 1, 1930

By Hjalmar Sjögren

Introduction.............767 Group I. The Ores of the Archean Crystalline Schists.... 770 Distribution............. 770 The Rocks.............770 Structures............772 The Rocks of Norrbotten..774 The Ores.............775 Type A. Apatite.Ores..........776 Type B. Mixed Hematite and Magnetite..777 Type C. Quartz-Banded Ores....777 Type D. The "Skarn" .Ores l..778 Type E. Limestone-Ores,..779 The Origin. of the Ore-Deposits......... 779 Arguments against the Sedimentation Theory,... 780 Concentration and Transformation within the Deep-Seated (Ana-morphic) Zone........783 The Chemical Changes.......784 Transformations in the Surface.Zone....789 The Graingesberg and Norrbotten Deposits,.....791 Analogous Deposits........794 Group II. The Ores of the Porphyries (Keratophyres) ... 796 Kiirunavaara. Luossavaara and TuoIlavaara....797 The Syenite.........799 The Porphyry of the, Foot. Wal1 .....799 The Porphyry of the Hanging-Wal1 ....799 The Ores.........800 The Forms and Dimensions of the Ore-Bodies ..802 Contact-Zones........803 The Genesis of the Deposits .......804 Mertainen and Painirova.......806 Ekatrömsberg..........808 Analogous Deposits,........808 Group 111. Magmatic Seregations in Basic Eruptives,... 809 Taberg in Smaland,.........811 Segregations in Diabase Younger than the Dala Sandstone, . 814 Iron-Ore in Nepheline. Syenite.......815 Ekersund and Soggendal in Norway......816

Jan 1, 1908

By E. C. Bain, E. S. Davenport

When annealed carbon, or low-alloy, steels are suitably heated the ferrite (alpha iron solid solution) and the carbide, of which they are composed, react together to form a single solid solution of carbon (and other elements) in gamma iron (austenite). This reaction may begin only at a certain minimum temperature called the eutectoid temperature. The first ferrite and carbide thus to react together do so in definite proportions known as the eutectoid composition. With further heating the original constituent that is present in excess is dissolved in the austenite until exhausted. Whether the excess constituent be ferrite (hypoeutectoid steels) or carbide (hypereutectoid steels) the procedure is much the same, and upon slow cooling the homogeneous austenite expels the excess of either (proeutectoid ferrite or carbide) until the eutectoid composition is reached. Thus the reaction upon heating is strictly reversed upon cooling and accordingly an equilibrium diagram of this process may be constructed. Such an equilibrium diagram concerns itself only with the temperatures involved and with the proportions and compositions of the phases developed under conditions that suffice to permit equilibrium. Specifically it has no concern for the type or mode of distribution of these constituents nor with any extra-equilibrium conditions such as undercooling, which is almost universally encountered in metals. Actually, however, of great importance is the sluggishness toward equilibration caused by the not inconsiderable time involved in diffusion. Thus instead of the theoretical transformation point AF, we find for a certain rate of heating or cooling the use of the designations Ar and Ac (transformation temperature found on cooling and upon heating). These figures obviously have no particular meaning except as measured and expressed for a definite heating or cooling rate, and represent the apparent temperature displacement caused by an inadequate time allowance. In this paper are presented the results of a study of the time required for the transformation of austenite to ferrite and carbide at a variety of temperatures and also of the time required for the reaction austenite? martensite at the temperatures at which this reaction occurs instead of

Jan 1, 1930

By Elmer A. Jones

Like the caboose on the end of a long freight train L made up of mineral and metal processing and consuming industries, the mining industry progresses according to the movement of the train to which it is coupled. Sometimes the caboose rolls smoothly; occasionally it bumps along on the ties; almost always it is under criticism from someone for being too small, too large, too expensive, foolishly progressive, or hopelessly out of date. We who ride in the caboose are used to the rough by now, but it is nice now and then to have a bit of the smooth. Last year the train of industrial production rolled ahead swiftly and smoothly, and, except for a hot-box caused by strikes in copper mines, so did the caboose. As is brought out elsewhere in this issue, the outlook for 1956 is for more of the same.

Feb 1, 1956

By Ellis Clark

The mining town of Pribram is situated in Central Bohemia, on the western slope of the Heiliger Berg. 30 miles southwest from Prague. Birkenberg, the village ill which most of the shafts and ore-dressing establishments are situated, is built on a mountain of the same name. It is about a mile from Pribram, is 1700 feet above the sea, and is surrounded by graywacke rocks of Silurian origin, which arc intersectd by greenstone dikes, and in the southerly, southeasterly, arid southwesterly direction are bounded by granite. The graywacke formations consist on one side of graywacke sandstone and quartzite, and on the other of graywacke slate. These last are separated from the first in the immediate vicinity of the mines by a graywacke seam converted into clay. For many years this so-called clay seam (lettenkluft) was considered as a boundary of the ore deposits in both zones of graywacke. The graywacke formation L divided according to its harduess, structure, texture, and color, into fine, coarse, compact, slaty, whitish-gray, reddish-gray, and black graywacke. The miner divides the formation into four divisions. The first or lowest division, which is in contact with the granite, consists of a fine-grained dirty gray slate; the -second is a very fine to a very coarse schist, white to reddish-gray in color, and rich in quartz, but containing little mica; the third consists of a slate with a confused cleavage, which has a dirty gray, dark gray, and very often black color and is often graphitic in its composition; the fourth consists of a fine to coarse-grained graywacke schist, of a grayish-white or reddish-gray color, and rich in quartz. The cleavage in all four divisions strikes from northeast to southwest, and the dip is sometimes northwesterly, sometimes southerly, and often vertical. All four zones are cut through by a great number of diorite arid greenstone dikes and chimneys. The thickness of these dikes, which are of

Jan 1, 1881

Jan 1, 1957

By E. Heaton Hemingway

DURING the past year, the Watertown Arsenal has been interested in the occluded gas and oxide content of certain ordnance steels in order to determine, if possible, whether some of the peculiar failures in their physical properties might not be traced to these causes. For the purpose of best accomplishing a study of this nature, it was decided to heat the various samples of steel in a vacuum for definite periods of time at high temperatures and carefully examine the quantity and composition of the gases evolved. By the use of a fused quartz tube fitted with a water-cooled, ground-glass stopper, it was possible to maintain a vacuum at a temperature of 1000° C. for 10 hr. without perceptible leakage being evidenced as measured by a McLeod gage. The silica tube was connected with an evacuating system so constructed that the volatilized gases could be removed from time to time and a low vacuum of 0.002 to 0.0010 mm. of mercury continuously maintained. At no time during the period of heating or in the removal of the gases did the evacuated system come in contact with rubber stoppers or any rubber connections, making contamination from such a source impossible. In other words, the only volatile products that could be obtained must necessarily have come from the steel itself or from the glass and fused quartz system or from the mercury used as a sealing agent. In the earlier experiments, the steel treated was in the form of turnings, but this practice was discarded because the weights of the turnings before and after being heated were widely inconsistent, even when taken from the same piece of steel. This discrepancy developed largely through variation in the amount of metal volatilized with the gases; this metal could always be seen in the form of a ring where it condensed in the cooler portion of the tube either in the amorphous or crystalline condition. Because of the frequency in occurrence and the variation in the manner of deposition, this material was roughly analyzed and found to consist for the most part of iron. At the same time two samples of steel that had been

Jan 8, 1920

By M. Cohen

THERE seems to be a natural urge for the human mind to wonder about the beginning of things. When an explosion occurs, we immediately inquire "what set it off?" If a person contracts a disease, we are likely to ask "how did it happen?" On a much loftier plane, when we reflect about the universe, there is the inevitable question "what, or rather Who, started it all?" In principle, these varied queries have at least one attribute in common: they are attempts, whether earnest or casual, to search out the origin of events in nature. Accordingly, they involve not only scientific, but philosophical and even re1igious matters of deep concern. It is evident that, in a broad sense, the phenomenon of nucleation is enmeshed in this enticing concept of "the beginning", but we must extract the scientific component of the problem for our present purposes. Nucleation, as in the case of phase transformations, is best regarded from the standpoint of kinetics. There are then two main steps, which may come in either order: (a) Experimentally, one attempts to measure the frequency with which transformation centers spring into existence; and (b) theoretically, one seeks a model that will account for this observed birth-rate. Temperature, composition, strain, and prior history are some of the important variables that must be considered both experimentally and theoretically when dealing with nucleation in the solid state. Such interaction of theory and observation is an integral part of science in general, but it is particularly significant in the nucleation problem because the very beginning of a phenomenon invariably occurs on too localized a scale in both space and time to be detected with available techniques. Thus, there is little hope of making direct measurements on the nucleus during its birth or to ascertain the exact nature of the process; one can only infer the details of nucleation from the model whose predicted behavior seems to harmonize best with the measured rate of nucleation and its dependence on known parameters. In the field of solid-state nucleation, both theory and experiment call for much ingenuity, but somehow the conceptual schemes have spawned faster than they can be tested by observation. This is not to say that there are many basically new ideas in modern nucleation theory; rather, as we shall see, it is because the required fine-scale measurements are of immense technical difficulty. Quite likely, some of the nucleation models existent today have survived only because of the latitude permitted by meager data. There is great need to bring theory and experiment into better balance in this important area of physical metallurgy. Although one can

Jan 1, 1959

By R. F. Mehl, B. Lustman

THE formation of intermediate phase layers in cementation processes has been subjected to extensive qualitative investigation though to relatively little quantitative study; this work has recently been fully summarized by F. N. Rhines.1 It is necessary here only to enumerate the general conclusions drawn concerning the kinetic laws governing the growth of intermediate layers and to state what is known concerning the structural changes accompanying the generation of phase layers. I. When the intermediate phase is protective in type-i.e., when its density is less than that of the base metal, so that a continuous coating is formed and maintained the isothermal growth of the phase follows a simple parabolic equation: X2 = kt [I] where X is the thickness of the alloy layer, k the reaction rate constant, and t the time. The applicability of this equation to diffusion processes is tested by plotting the square of the thickness versus time, or by plotting the thickness versus the square root of time; the resultant achievement of a straight line in such. a plot has been con¬sidered sufficient proof of the validity of this equation. Exceptions have been found where liquid phases are involved in the reaction, where the diffusion layer is cracked,2 and where thin semimetallic oxide and sulphide coatings are formed on metals.3 In the first two cases the thickness increases linearly with time, and in the latter it is a logarithmic function of time. 2. The rate of thickening varies with temperature according to the Arrhenius equation k = Ae-Q/RT [2] where k is the parabolic rate constant of Eq. I, or some other rate-descriptive function, A is the action constant, e the base of natural logarithms, Q the heat of activation, R the gas constant, and T absolute temperature. This equation has been found to be generally valid except when transformations occur during reaction in either the base metal or in the reaction layer; in such instances Eq. 2 is still applicable with different values for the constants A and Q above and below the transformation temperature. 3. All phases that are stable at the temperature at which diffusion occurs will appear in the interdiffusion of two components. In some cases certain of the phases may be too thin to be observed and identified easily. Nonequilibrium phases have never been noted in thick reaction layers; i.e., layers of a thickness that may be discerned microscopically. The relative, thickness of each phase in a diffusion layer is proportional to the concentration gradient and to the rate of diffusion in that phase .4 The reaction layers tend to have a

Jan 1, 1942