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By John F. Abel

At the spring meeting of the Open Pit Division of AIME's Arizona Section, I was asked a question which indicates the acceleration of technical advancement. The question was: "How does an engineer at a properly keep abreast of what is new?" The fact that some 200 Arizona AIME members were at the meeting is a testimonial to the desire of these men to do just that- keep abreast. There is a great deal of talk in academic circles about the built-in obsolescence of an engineering or scientific education, too. About 100 commencement speakers every spring are sure to admonish the graduates that education is a continuing thing. Mining engineers are a small fraternity. We keep informed by talking to one another. Talking shop is valuable but there is no substitute for reading.

Jan 1, 1970

Jan 1, 1881

By Lars Rossemyr, Terkel Rosenqvist

The equilibrium Mn + 2 IiCl = MnCl2(g) + H2 has been studied at 1090°C for pure manganese and for Mn-Si alloys. For this reoction a standard free energy of Fo1363, = - 19,700 i 300 col ioas found. Combined with other thermal data, the standard free energy of the reaction Mn(s, ß) + Cl2 = MnCl2(g) was derived: Fo=- 56,140 + 9.78 T log T - 40.10 T For the formation of the various manganese silicides the following free energies were obtained. 5 Mn + 3 Si - M1z5Si3 ?F°1363 = -41,500 i 1500 cal Mn + Si - h.lnSi ?F°1363= -10,000 i 500 cnl Mn + 2 Si = MnSiz ?F°1363= -11,500 ± 500 cal In the search for a method suitable for the study of thermodynamic properties of certain alloy systems, it was found that the heterogeneous equilibrium between the alloy and a gas mixture consisting of hydrogen chloride, hydrogen, and volatile metal chlorides has considerable advantages. In addition to giving thermodynamic information about the alloys, such measurements may be used to derive thermodynamic data for the volatile metal chloride itself. The present paper gives some results which were obtained for manganese silicides and manganous chloride. Similar studies are presently being carried out for the iron silicides. The phase diagram of the Mn-Si system is rather well known,' but no information exists to the authors' knowledge about the thermodynamic properties of manganese silicides or about the chemical activities in molten Mn-Si alloys. At elevated temperature, manganese may react with hydrogen chloride according to the equation: Mn(s, ß ) + 2 HC1 = MnC1, (g ) + H2 [ 1] with the equilibrium constant The value of K, may be determined from measurements of the gas composition in equilibrium with pure manganese. When this value is used in connection with measurements on manganese alloys, the chemical activity of manganese in the alloy may be derived. Initial calculations showed that around 1000" to 1200°C the equilibrium constant K1 has a value of a few thousand, i.e., the reaction is shifted far to the right. In order to study this rather unbalanced gas composition, a flow method was used in two slightly different modifications. For all experiments with manganese silicides and for some experiments with pure manganese the apparatus shown on Fig. 1 was used. A bed of the metal or alloy was placed in a tube furnace. The refractory tube had an internal diameter of 14 mm and the bed was 75 mm long. Electrolytic manganese of high purity and silicon, 99.95 pct Si, were used as raw materials. All alloys were prepared by melting weighed amounts of the elements in a high frequency induction furnace in argon atmosphere. The melting was done in a silica crucible which was placed inside a graphite shell. The alloys were crushed to - 10 +40 mesh and analyzed chemically. Also, for the pure elements, the same size fraction was used. A controlled gas mixture of purified hydrogen and from 3 to 12 pct HC1 was passed through the bed where it reacted with manganese according to Eq. [I]. The volatile manganese chloride was collected in a condenser placed in the cooler part of the furnace tube. The gas mixture before and after the furnace was sampled and analyzed by absorption of

Jan 1, 1962

By Harrison R. Cooper

Computer process analysis and control techniques are overcoming major hurdles to acceptance in the mineral industry. With the growing list of new advances characteristic of a rapidly maturing discipline, management of the companies on the leading edge are keenly aware of the advantages of using computer methods in process applications. Significant advancement is already evident in such technical areas as operations research, mathematical modeling, statistical methods, and computer-based procedural techniques. The early advances during the past decade are already documented in prior symposium proceedings of this series. Thus, the currently active areas of the advancing technology are emphasized here. This section deals with applications in pyrometallurgical and kiln processes. The two sections which follow deal with concentrating operations from two points of view: 1) mathematical modeling, and 2) on-line control. In the metallurgical field, emphasis on developing effective process computer applications for the steel industry began in the late 1950's. Simulation techniques also received substantial attention. The steel industry was soon joined by the cement industry in the development of computer methods for process applications. Computers were in use for feed-material blending and kiln control in the early 1960's. Computer development in other pyro processes, such as aluminum reduction and glass-making, also marked significant advances by the mid 1960's. Aluminum smelter potline control is a nearly universal application at this point, and the development of glass furnace computer process control represented a recent important technical advance in digital control techniques. Steel Hot strip rolling was the earliest significant process computer application in the metallurgical industry. Computer control of rolling mill operations is now a steel mill standard component, particularly in plants newly placed into production. 1, 2 Initial computer installations principally carried out procedural routines in setting mill clearances for production lot control. Recent developments are leading toward feedback control based on mathematical model techniques. 3

Jan 1, 1969

By Earl A. Trager

The broad picture of world petroleum production at the present time is one of an excessive supply. In any consideration of corrective measures to be applied in the future, it will be necessary to include all the producing areas of the entire world. To illustrate, United States production during 1931 was 48 million barrels1 less than 1930, whereas world production exclusive of the United States increased, owing principally to increases in Russia, Rumania and Persia. Domestic Peoduction Let us first consider the domestic production situation. Due to the fact that United States production was maintained below current demand, about 40 million barrels of oil were withdrawn from storage during 1931. Consumption increased about 1.5 per cent over 1930, which is less than the recent annual rate of increase of 8 to 11 per cent. If the machinery to prevent waste in the petroleum industry operative for more than a year will continue during the coming year and drilling is held to the 1931 level, there will be a decided improvement in the domestic situation by the close of 1932. This will be due in large measure to the drastic reduction in exploratory work and drilling which has been in effect for more than a year. Looking ahead for two or more years, probably there will be a shortage of domestic production in relation to domestic demand, unless there are discovered several large pools comparable to Oklahoma City or East Texas. Were the United States isolated, our problems in so far as petroleum production is concerned might be considered well along the road to recovery. To maintain this perspective will require the cooperation of foreign producers in the future, or protection of United Statcs markets from foreign invasion. Let us review briefly the present situation in the United States. East Texas has been the most important factor during 1931. The large initial production of individual wells and the rapid rate of drilling

Jan 1, 1932

By W. C. Coons, E. H. Rennhack, R. A. Perkins

THE constitution of Ti-N alloys containing up to 17.5 wt pct N has been investigated by Palty, Margolin, and Nielsen.1 Their results, which confirmed earlier work

Jan 1, 1969

In accordance with the provision of the Constitution, notice is here given to all Members, Associates, and Junior Members, that the clues of the year 1918 will be payable on Jan. 1. 191.8, at the office of the Secretary. The dues for Members and Associates are $12 per year and the sum of 83 additional is asked of those Members and Associates who desire to have the three volumes bound in the Institute's standard half morocco binding. The dues of Junior Members are $5 per year.

Jan 12, 1917

By J. L. Huiatt, M. C. Fuerstenau, M. C. Kuhn

Dithiophosphatogen is the species responsible for flotation of pyrite when dithiophosphate is added as collector. Oxidation of collector apparently occurs by reaction with oxygen adsorbed on the pyrite surface. Oxidation of dithiophosphate and xanthate is also effected with Cu++, Cu(OH) , and Fe+++ and rates of oxidation are presented as a function of pH. Reasons for the selectivity observed when dithiophosphate is added as collector in a natural ore system as compared to xanthate are presented and discussed.

Jan 1, 1972

By A. B. Parsons

When the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund was established in. 1929 the donors mentioned certain types of projects to which preference might be given in selecting those to he financed by the income from the Fund. One suggestion. was that the projects "be of particular benefit to young engineers." This modest little book meets this specification most aptly. It seeks to guide the engineer-particularly the young one-with the least loss of time and effort to the most convenient source of authentic information regarding any topic in which he may at the moment be interested. Knowing the best place to find the literature on a subject is almost as valuable-and far more practicable-than maintaining a library of one's own large enough to provide the information.

Jan 1, 1933

By S. R. B. Cooke, S. W. Clark

Adsorption of calcium and magnesium by quartz was determined over a wide pH range using flame photometry for solution analysis. A parallelism was noted between calcium adsorption at alkaline pH and flotation of activated quartz by means of various fatty acid collectors. Abstraction of calcium from 100 ppm solutions increased above pH 10.5 until all of the calcium was removed at pH values between 12 and 12.5. Calcium was desorbed from the quartz over the pH range 12.5 to 13.0 and returned to the solution. Precipitation of magnesium hydroxide prevented measurement of magnesium adsorption above a pH of 9.9. A calcium adsorption isotherm determined at pH 9 matched measurements of barium adsorption by other investigators over the range where adsorption corresponded to the equation of a Freundlich adsorption isotherm. In accordance with the Gouy-Chapman theory for adsorption in the diffuse layer, adsorption of the divalent cations under these conditions was four times the adsorption of monovalent sodium. Activation of quartz by multivalent metal cations in flotation using anionic collectors has been studied by many investigators. The occurrence of activator cations in the water of flotation mills makes depression of silaceous gangue very difficult. Alternatively, in some flotation systems it is practical to cause activation of quartz so that it is floated from the desirable mineral values. The present study was initiated to investigate the activation of quartz by measuring adsorption of calcium and magnesium ions as a function of solution pH. Early empirical tests showed that quartz would be activated to flotation using anionic collectors if any of a number of divalent or trivalent metallic cations were present in the pulp.1*2 Subsequent studies by Clemmer,3 Cooke and Digre,4 Cooke,5 Schuhmann and Prakash,6 and Cooke, Iwasaki, and Choi,7-8 showed that flotation depended strongly upon the alkalinity of the flotation pulp, the concentration of the activating cations, and the chain length and structure of the organic collectors used. The concept of the electrical double layer has been applied to the case of the quartz-aqueous solution interface by Gaudin and Fuerstenau,9-10 and by de Bruyn 11 to explain the activation of quartz by multivalent metal cations. Studies of the surface of quartz by Gaudin and Fuerstenau9,10,12 and by Li " using the streaming potential technique contributed much information on the electro kinetic condition of the surface of quartz in the presence of various organic and inorganic ions. Measurement of adsorption of ac-

Jan 1, 1969

By L. O. Howard

Much work has been done recently on the lead-antimony system' in connection with lead-rich alloys of commercial importance containing less than 20 per cent. antimony. Dean, Zickrick and Nix have called attention to the perpetuation in the literature of several erroneous data, such as a eutectic temperature of 228° C. at 12.5 per cent. antimony, instead of 247° at 13 per cent. The series is given as a classic example of a straight eutectiferous series in such late books as those of Heyn and Grossmann,2 Jeffries and Archer,3 Guillet and Portevin,4 Pulsifer,5 Rosenhain,6 and Liddell,7 as well as the somewhat earlier works of Hofman (1918), Wang (1909), and Williams (1920). The work of Dean has definitely shown a solid solution of antimony in lead at about 2.5 per cent. antimony. While lecturing to a class in general metallurgy at the University of Idaho, the writer had the students prepare a series of lead-antimony alloys for the purpose of illustrating methods of thermal analysis. Proper proportions of powdered antimony (sold as C.P.) and. test lead were mixed and melted in graphite crucibles under a reducing cover. Cooling

Jan 1, 1928

By Arnulf Muan, R. W. Taylor

Activities of iron in Fe-Pt alloys have been dctermined by equilibrating mixtures of platinum metal and iron oxide at known oxygen Pressures in a thermobalance at 1300°C. Conzpositions and iron activities of the oxide phase at equilibrium are known from previous work, and compositions of the Fe-Pt alloy phase formed at equilibrium were detcvt?zined from the observed weight changes of the samples. The activity curve obtained shows a strow negative deviation from Raoult's law. THE present investigation was undertaken as part of a research program dealing with phase equilibrium relations existing among the oxides of iron and titanium at 1300°C. At low oxygen pressures of the gas phase in equilibrium with these oxides, the iron activity of the system is high, and considerable alloying of iron with the platinum used as a container material takes place. Thermodynamic data for Fe-Pt alloys at 1300°C are needed in order to evaluate quantitatively the extent of such reactions. Larson and chipmanlhave determined activities of iron in Fe-Pt alloys at 1550°C by equilibrating platinum metal with CaO-iron oxide-SiOzmelts in which the iron activities were known. Compositions of the resulting Fe-Pt alloys were determined by chemical analysis. Mundiath and Gerassimov2 have studied thermodynamic properties of Fe-Pt alloys by electromotive force measurements in the temperature range 550" to 1000°C. The experimental method used in the present investigation is a slight modification of that used by Grube and Ratsch3 in studies of NiCr-alloys. 1) EXPERIMENTAL METHOD 1) General. Mixtures of platinum metal and iron oxide were equilibrated at 1300°C in atmospheres of known oxygzn przssures, and the course of the reactions was followed by measuring the weight changes of the mixtures. The principles involved in the derivation of composition-activity relations from these measurements are illustrated by the composition triangle for the system Fe-FeZO3-Pt shown in Fig. 1. Take as an example a mixture of FeZO3 (hematite) and platinum such that the total composition is represented by point T. If this mixture is heated to 1300c in air (poz = 0.21 atm) and the oxygen pressure is then reduced gradually, the oxygen content of the oxide phase decreases and increasing amounts of iron enter the metal phase. As the oxide phase and the metal phase for all practical purposes are insoluble in each other, their compositions are represented by points moving toward Fe along the joins Fe-Fe,03 and Fe-Pt, respectively. The total composition of the mixture during this process also changes, but only with respect to oxygen content, because the vapor pressures of iron and platinum are negligible at 1300°C. Hence the change in total composition is described by a straight line (constant Fe/Pt ratio) radiating from the 0 apex of the composition triangle Fe-Pt-0, of which the triangle in Fig. 1 is a part. Only one such line ("oxygen reaction line", T-T",) is shown in Fig. 1. The total composition of the alloy-iron oxide mixture at any instant must, in addition, be located on the straight line (conjugation line) connecting the two points representing the compositions of the two coexisting phases. It therefore follows that the total composition of the mixture at any instant is represented by the point of intersection between the conjugation line and the oxygen reaction line. An example of the situation prevailing at a chosen oxygen pressure, po2, is shown in Fig. 1 by points a' (alloy composition), b' (oxide composition) and T' (total composition). Point b' is known from the work of Darken and Gurry,4 and point T' is experimentally determined by the observed weight change of the mixture (distance T-T). Hence, point a', the composition of the alloy, is determined from the above data as the intersection between the join Pt-Fe and the extension of the straight line bl-7'. The activity of iron in the alloy at equilibrium is identical to that of the iron oxide phase, if the same

Jan 1, 1962

By J. B. Newsom

In the Indiana limestone district, some 50 or 60 per cent of the merchantable stone in a quarry opening is waste, and only about 40 or 50 per cent of the stone from the opening is finally sold. So long as the present system of 'quarrying is used, the wastes measured and reported in this paper will continue. Comprehensive development of an entirely different method of quarrying, using wire saws for cutting, promises great improvement. Some of the savings to be expected are pointed out in the following pages. No attempt has been made to measure losses due to variations and natural flaws in the stone, since these vary greatly in different quarries, and accurate measurement would be difficult. The wastes that have been measured account for about 30 per cent of the total ledge, which leaves 20 or 30 per cent chargeable to unmeasured sources of loss. General Causes of Waste There are four general reasons for quarry waste: (1) the structure of the deposit, such as its shape, bedding planes, solution cavities and strain fractures; (2) efforts to quarry blocks which do not contain distinct color or textural variations; (3) the trade custom which permits purchasers to specify the size of the quarry blocks which they will buy, which is a matter of competition for business on the part of stone producers; (4) quarry methods, which cause the greatest amount of waste. Wide channeler cuts, hook holes, crooked splitting and uneven breaking on quarry floors are included in this category. Waste Due to Structure of Deposits The peculiarities of structure cannot be eliminated, but a chance for saving lies in quarrying to take advantage of them. The commercial deposits of Indiana limestone are lenticular masses from 20 to 70 ft. thick, and nearly horizontal. All of these deposits of good stone are in the Salem limestone, a bed in the sub-Carboniferous. The Salem is traversed by two systems of vertical fractures, a major system running from northeast to southwest and a minor system running from northwest to southeast. Where the stone is covered by an over-

Jan 1, 1932

By R. E. Reed-Hill

Recently Levine applied the Conrad-Wiedersich17 equation where H is the activation enthalpy, v the activation volume, T* the effective shear flow stress, T the absolute temperature, and ? the strain rate, to an analysis of titanium single-crystal data. The activation energy as a function of testing temperaturs obtained from specimens oriented for single (1010) prismatic slip is shown in Fig. 12. This diagram indicates a different linear dependence of H on T in the temperature interval from 220° to 300°K than from 0° to 220°K. Levine interpreted the break in this curve as indicating a change in the thermally activated mechanism controlling the flow stress. The purpose of this communication is to point out that the data in Fig. 1 is not consistent with the concept of a flow stress controlled by a simple thermally activated mechanism between 220° and 300°K. The Conrad-Wiedersich relation assumed that the strain rate can be expressed by:

Jan 1, 1968

Iron and Steel ALBERT SAUVEUR, Chairman. A. A. STEVENSON. Vice-Chairman. HERBERT M. BOYLSTON, Secretary, Abbot Bldg., Harvard Sq., Cambridge, Mass. GUILLIAEM AERTSEN, HENRY M. HOWE, E. GYBBON SPILSBURY, JOHN BIRKINBINE. ROBERT W. HUNT, J. 8. UNGER, WILLIAM H. BLAUVELT, J. E. JOHNSON, JR.. FELIX A. VOGEL, CHARLES A. BUCK, CHARLES KIRCHHOFF, LEONARD WALDO, ERNEST F. BURCHARD, RICHARD MOLDENKE. WILLIAM R. WALKER, FRANK D. CARNEY, CHARLES F. RAND, WILLIAM R. WEBSTER JAMES GAYLEY, JOSEPH W. RICHARD$, FREDERICK W. WOOD. HENRY D. HIBBARD, C. F. W. RYS,

Jan 1, 1917

By R. Maddin, N. Ujiiye

ALTHOUGH the cold-rolled texture for body-centered-cubic metals and alloys is well known (see, e.g., Barrett'), the pole figure representing the texture may be interpreted in two ways. It may be regarded as consisting of several ideal preferred orientations with an associated spread (a view which is shared among several investigators2), or it may be regarded as consisting of two sets of continuous preferred orientation also with an associated spread."." Recently, Chen and Maddin7 noted a stable (001) [loo] end orientation for molybdenum single crystals rolled at low rates of reduction provided the initial rolling. orientation" was close to the cube ori-

Jan 1, 1957

By G. W. Geil, D. H. Woodard, W. D. Jenkins

In a series of papers, the authors and their associates have shown the influence of four important factors on the technical cohesion limit.3-l6 By "technical cohesion limitv is meant the technically determin-able resistance to fracture. The four importarlt factors are the stress system, plastic deformation, temperature, and the strain rate, The influence of any one of these factors may be represented by a curve of cohesion limits, although only one point on the curve may represent actual fracture. As the term "fracture stress" has come into general use with the same significance as technical cohesion limit, the authors are here using the shorter term with the understanding that it does not always refer to actual fracture. The previously mentioned series of papers contains ample evidence that plastic extension increases the fracture stress of any polycrystalline metal, In a recent paper of the series,l5 moreover, it has been shown that the effect of plastic deformation on the fracture stress cannot be attributed to reorientation of internal flaws but is a work-strengthening effect, similar to the effect on the flow stress, $ Plastic deformation of steels, however, may not only cause work hardening, but may result in additional hardness because of strain aging. Some evidence that strain aging affects not only the flow stress but also the fracture stress, has been presented in a recent paper.14 In that paper, a study is made of the influence Of Plastic deformstion at room temperature on the fracture stress of ferritic steels at -188°C. The study is based on the results Of two-stage tests. In the first stage each specimen was extended a predetermined amount at room temperature; in the second stage the specimen was tested to fracture in liquid air. In most Of these tests the specimen remained in the testing machine during the interval of about one hour between the first and second stages, it was kept under a tensile load of about 500 lb and maintained at liquid air temperature. The effects of various amounts of .plastic deformation on the fracture stress were thus determined and curves were obtained to represent the influence of plastic deformation at room temperature on the stress at brittle fracture in liquid air.14 Two specimens Of ingot iron, however, were removed from the testing machine at the end of the first stage and several days elapsed before the specimens were tested to fracture in liquid air, As shown in Fig 8 of that paper," the points representing fracture of these specimens are far above the curve representing the results of two-stage tests without a rest interval between the stages. The evidence thus indicated that the fracture stresses of these two specimens were increased not

Jan 1, 1949

By W. C. Meyer

In an effort to conserve and extend oil resources, the use of powdered coal-in-oil mixtures (COM) as an alternate fuel in oil-fired boilers is receiving increasing attention. For the approach to be successful, some degree of stability of the suspension against settling is needed. The variety of means available to achieve stability of this nonaqueous slurry is reviewed along with some of the physical and chemical concepts which underlie each method.

Jan 1, 1983

By R. Raring, W. J. Harris, J. A. Rinebolt

The effects of additions of alloying elements on the true-stress, true-strain characteristics of 0.30 pct C, 1.00 pct Mn, 0.30 pct Si pearlitic steel were studied. The alloying elements investigated were C, Mn, Si, P, The alloys are compared on the basis of fracture stress, fracture strain, energy to fracture, rate of strain hardening, strain hardening exponent, height of the flow curve, and lower yield point. IN the past, nearly all studies of the effects of alloying elements on the tensile properties of metals have compared the conventional engineering parameters, namely, tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, and reduction of area. Recently, however, the true-stress, true-strain method of recording results from the tension test has been used; Lacy and Gensamer,' Hollomon," and French and Hibbard- are used this method to study the effects of composition on strength and ductility of metals. In this paper, the effects of certain alloying elements on true-stress, true-strain curves of steels with nearly constant grain size and pearlite spacing are presented. The notation employed in this paper is given in Table I. Since the definitions of stress and strain and the analytical geometry of the stress-strain curve have been explained previously, for example by Gensamer,' they will not be reviewed here. However, the method used for the determination of energy to fracture, E,, requires mention. These energy values were calculated on the assumption that the flow curve followed the idealized equation:' corresponds to the specific energy absorption to that strain value. There is justification for preferring the use of eq 1 for the determination of the energy to a particular strain rather than the area under the experimental stress-strain curve, since Gensamer showed that the use of the Bridgman correctione for stress at the neck of a tensile specimen brought the corrected experimental curve nearer to the idealized power-law curve than to the uncorrected experimental curve. However, it should be noted that the difference between the areas under the idealized curve and the experimental curve is not great for strain of less than 1.0, as can be seen from Fig. 1. In this figure, the true-stress, true-strain curve for a 0.01 pct C, 1.00 pct Mn steel is plotted through the experimental data points. From the value of a,, from this curve and the value of n as determined by the Inm-

Jan 1, 1952

By R. F. Slack, J. C. Draper, J. A. Younkins

In 1959, the Duquesne Light Co. was faced with the problem of moving more than 40 million tons of bituminous coal in Greene County, Pa. The coal had to travel a distance of about 4 ½ miles from a new mine portal in Rocky Run Valley to the company preparation plant and loading facilities on the Monongahela River. After careful study of this immense transport problem, Duquesne decided that the belt conveyor system described in the following pages offered the best solution. This system, now in operation, is probably one of the four or five longest permanent overland conveyor systems in existence. The general layout of the entire system is shown in Fig. I. A detailed description of the salient features of the system is presented below. THE MINE The valley of Rocky Run where the system begins is very, very narrow and very steep. It was chosen as the site of Duquesne's new mine portal because it was the only place on this particular property where the Sewickley coal seam cropped out. The valley also had two other advantages. First, it fronted on a state road and, second, it offered a site where some 4 million gallons of water could be stored for use in dust-allaying sprays needed in the mine. The company elected to construct a drift mine in the valley because this would require neither the hoisting time of a shaft mine nor the walking time of a slope mine. As part of the mine construction project, the valley was leveled by relocating its stream and filling its center with material cut from each side.

Jan 11, 1966