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By Lloyd C. Venburg

Analytical and computer models are used to evaluate information obtained for the design and development of mine water control systems. Geologic, hydrologic, geophysical, biological, and chemical data must be gathered for use during all stages of mine development. Models allow the geohydrologist to use these data to predict the amount of ground-water inflow, the impact of dewatering and stream diversion on the hydrologic regime, equipment needs, and dewatering schedules. Stratigraphic and lithologic changes, faults, recharge and discharge areas, and aquifer parameters should be incorporated into the model to design and develop an effective mine water control system.

Jan 1, 1982

By H. Ries

In the marketing of mineral products, it is always highly desirable for both the producer and the consumer to be able to discuss things in a common language, and this can only be done if there are standard methods for expressing the properties of the raw materials. Having developed such a form of expression, the next step would be the making of specifications, which may serve as a basis for selecting raw materials. Considering the large number of non-metallic minerals that are used, there are not a few for which there are no standard laboratory tests to be used in determining their properties, or even standard specifications on which grades or market price may be based. Indeed in many cases the consumer simply requests the producer to submit samples, and rejects or accepts them without any explanation. Could the producer know in advance just what the consumer needed, time and money might often be saved. It appears to the writer that it is of the highest importance to devise standard laboratory tests wherever possible, as this enables the consumer to state definitely what he needs, and is of great assistance to the producer. It should also work to reduce misunderstandings and disputes. In the case of sands, we find that they show a wide variation in their character, ranging from those that are so coarse as to be of gravelly nature to those that are so fine that they might be classed as silt; and from very clayey ones to those that are practically free from clay. For this wide range of sands, we have a corresponding variety of uses, which are based mainly on the physical properties of the sand, although these are not always very definitely stated. The chemical composition need rarely be considered, if the sand is of siliceous nature. To determine and express these properties there should be standard tests, which are to be followed in all cases where the material is tested in the laboratory. The use of sands for foundry work (making molds or cores) is old, and it has been recognized for some time that the important properties to be

Jan 1, 1926

By C. C. Clark, S. J. Jung

Determining the correct combination of mix components and water for high-density paste backfills that have the transport and deposition properties necessary for a mining operation is a difficult task. Rheologic properties cannot be determined without conducting full-scale pumping tests, and data from existing tests tire very limited. This paper presents the findings of investigations undertaken to determine if paste-backfill rheology can be determined using existing techniques and to determine which mix and system variables have the greatest influence on transport-pressure loss. Data from laboratory-scale pumping tests were used to produce a rheologic model of flow behavior for comparison, and a statistical analysis was conducted to determine the most significant factors affecting transport-pressure loss.

Jan 1, 1996

By Harrison Everett Ashley

Slimes are usually defined as all material passing a certain sized sieve, which is invariably the finest sieve employed by each metallurgist in his tests; 100-mesh and 200-mesh have been taken as the limits by different writers in recent volumes of the Transactions; 150-mesh is common practice. The reader of the first two volumes of Richards' is impressed by the inflexibility with which all grinding-arrangements are praised or condemned according as they make little or much slime. Until recently, one of the principal aims of the mill-man was to keep down the slimes. He was obliged to have separate apparatus for sand- and slime-treatment. The latter was sometimes puzzling and erratic. Often it was found most economical to omit treatment of the slimes entirely, or to store them in immense basins or heaps, waiting for possible future improvements in methods of treatment. Recently, improved processes of agitation and filtration have made possible the successful extraction of values from many slimes. The tendency, when the metal is exceedingly finely disseminated, is to cut out all sand-treatment and to slime everything. These processes have been almost entirely mechanical in their conception, and it is the object of the present paper to show that certain chemical considerations may greatly hinder or assist their successful operation. It has long been a source of dissatisfaction to chemists that their analyses fail to be of much help to the clay-worker; that it is a matter of common occurrence for clays of closely identical ultimate chemjcal constitution to show the widest possible divergence in physical properties.

Jan 1, 1911

By C. O. Tarr, G. V. Smith, R. F. Miller

METALLURGISTS have long recognized that the Fe3C type of carbide is not a stable phase in steel and that, given sufficient time, it will decompose with formation of graphite, at least at temperatures below about 2050°F.1 This slow graphitization has never been of much concern to users of hypoeutectoid steels, for in such steels it occurs only during prolonged exposure at elevated temperature. In 1935, Kinzel and Moore2 reported complete graphitization of the carbide of a 0.1 5 per cent carbon steel that had been in senrice for about 26,000 hr. at a temperature of about 1100° to 1200°F. In discussing this paper, both Mathews and Sauveur reported graphitization of slightly hypereutectoid steels. In an extensive investigation of graphitization of high-purity iron-carbon alloys, Wells1 produced graphite at 7o0°C. (1290°F.) in an alloy containing as little as 0.13 per cent carbon, and showed that graphite may precipitate either directly from austenite or from decomposition of Fe3C, also that the rate of graphitization tends to increase with increase of temperature, at least up to a certain point, and with the presence of graphite nuclei. Jenkins, Mellor and Jenkinson,3 studying the structural changes in carbon steels ranging from 0.17 to 1.14 per cent carbon during stress-rupture tests at elevated temperature, obsenred graphite in an aluminum-killed 0.40 per cent carbon steel after fracture in 4340 hr. under a stress of 17,900 lb. per sq. in. at 840°F. and in many of the steels after stress-rupture test at 1200°F. Unstressed samples of 0.60, 0.86 and 1.14 per cent carbon steels graphitized almost completely in 360 hr. at 1200°F., while samples of 0.90 and 1.10 per cent carbon steels were somewhat graphitized, and steels containing 0.24, 0.40 and 0.57 per cent carbon showed no sign of graphite. Their results indicate that graphite precipitates the more readily the higher the carbon content, though this tendency is influenced to some extent by deoxidation practice, and that graphitization is accelerated by plastic deformation. In a recent study of the graphitization of 0.4 and 0.6 per cent carbon steel strip, made by M. A. Hughes,4 it was found that at 1200°F. graphite appeared after 72 hr. in aluminum-killed but not in silicon-killed steel, and that the rate of graphitization was increased by slow cooling from 1600°F. and by cold-working prior to annealing. In creep tests of normalized o. I 5 per cent carbon steel killed with 2.5 lb. of aluminum per ton, at the U. S. Steel Corporation laboratory at Kearny, spheroidization and some graphitization were found after 3000 hr. at 1000°F. under a stress as low as 15m lb. per sq. inch.

Jan 1, 1944

By Reamy Joyce

CONDITIONS in underground mining are so variable that in approach-ing the problem of the economies effected by the use of pressure-treated mine ties and mine timbers, it is necessary to secure specific data for each mine. Facts must first be dug out to show the service life of untreated timber and the reason for its failure. Generally speaking, decay is the usual cause of failure, but in some mines mechanical destruction is an important factor. Occasionally the two causes combine to produce fail-ures, and it is difficult to determine positively which factor is responsible. In making comparisons, it is always necessary to start with the cost in place and for this reason there must be accurate information covering the labor cost of installation and the labor cost of renewals. When treated timber is used, it is necessary to know the specifications for the treating process, whether the timber was painted, dipped, treated open tank, or impregnated under pressure according to standard specifica-tions. It is also necessary to know the preservative used and the amount of the preservative that was retained by the timber after treatment. It is also well to know whether the timber was thoroughly air-seasoned before treatment or was green at the time it was treated. The kind of timber available, both untreated and treated, must be known and all of the factors listed above must be taken into consideration in the study of any problem.

Jan 1, 1939

By Levi de Oliveira Bueno

Constant stress testing was used for characterization of creep behavior of a 1Cr0.5Mo steel plate in the virgin condition. The tests were performed on creep machines equipped with Andrade-Chalmers type profiles, high sensitivity SLVC transducer extensometry, high stability temperature controllers, and facilities for monitoring the creep curves with an automatic data logging system. Ten creep machines of this type were used in this research, in an experimental work that lasted for one year. Three temperature levels were selected: 538, 565 and 593°C, with stress in the range from 69 to 258 MPa producing rupture times varying from 8 to about 4908 h. The creep curves were all followed with great scrutiny using data logger scanning rates which enabled storing thousands of readings in each case. The experimental analysis involved measurements of minimum creep rate, rupture time and final elongation at rupture. The data were analyzed according to the classical phenomenological / physical relations (Norton, Arrhenius, Zenner-Hollomon, Monkman-Grant) and also considering five traditional parameterization methodologies (Larson-Miller, Orr-Sherby-Dorn, Goldhoff-Sherby, Manson- Haferd and Manson-Succop). Comparisons are presented among the possibilities of data extrapolation from five different methodologies. Comparison is also made with creep results mentioned in literature for the same material in the virgin condition.

Aug 16, 2017

By T. L. Joseph

Sulfur balances calculated from operating data covering thirty-five blast furnaces indicate that approximately 92 per cent. of the total sulfur charged enters with the coke, 7 per cent. with the ore, and 1 per cent. with the stone.. Most of the sulfur is carried from the furnace by means of the slag, the total amount eliminated being the product of the slag volume and the percentage of sulfur it contains. Additional sulfur in the charge must be eliminated either by increasing the percentage of sulfur in the slag or the quantity of slag. From relations found between slag volume and coke consumption and sulfur in the coke and slag volume, curves have been prepared showing the relative value of blast-furnace coke as its sulfur varies from 1 per cent. CHARCOAL was the predominant blast-furnace fuel until 1838, when it was found, by the operation of a 2-ton experimental furnace, that anthracite could also be used. This information was a stimulus to the iron industry, particularly in eastern Pennsylvania where anthracite was available at low cost. The production of anthracite pig iron increased steadily and, in 1855, its tonnage exceeded that of charcoal iron. Of the 680 furnaces in operation in 1874, the 226 using anthracite produced nearly one-half the total tonnage. In 1869, the production of coke furnaces exceeded that of charcoal furnaces and, in 1875, coke surpassed anthracite as a metallurgical fuel. In 1907, the output of anthracite pig dropped well below a million tons and its present significance is largely historical. In recent years, the production of coke has gone hand in hand with the production of pig iron and it has gradually attained the position it now occupies as a universal blast-furnace fuel. Charcoal, however, has great merit as a blast-furnace fuel chiefly because of its freedom from ash and sulfur. The harmful effect of the latter and the necessity of keeping the percentage of this element in pig iron at a minimum are well recognized. Other contaminating elements can be reduced to specified limits in the steelmaking process, but the control of sulfur belongs essentially to the blast furnace. The purpose of this paper is to point out the distribution of this impurity in blast-furnace

Jan 9, 1924

By J. W. Rinard

This paper is intended to introduce "non engineers" to one of the more misunderstood pump performance parameters, NPSH (Net Positive Suction Head). This basic presentation and resultant review should provide a practical understanding of NPSH and what its importance is to pump operation and reliability.

Jan 1, 1996

By J. J. Donos

IN the operation of a smelter, continuous and accurate determination of smoke losses is essential for purposes of metals inventories and as a check on the efficiency of smoke recovery apparatus. Previous to the development of a continuous and automatic smoke sampler by R. MacMichael, in 1924, two methods were in vogue, and still are in some smelters, for measuring solids passing out of a flue or stack. These are: (1) the so-called dust concentration method whereby the gas volume passing through the flue is first measured and then the total amount of solids carried in the smoke stream calculated from the weight of suspended matter filtered out of a measured volume of gas; (2) the balanced tube method is independent of gas volume flowing through the flue, and relies for its accuracy on the fact that a true smoke sample may be taken if the velocity of the gas in the sampling tube is constantly maintained at a known ratio of the average flue gas velocity. The total amount of solids passing through the flue is then proportional to the weight of filtered solids and to the ratio of the area of the flue to the area of the sampling tube, corrected for the velocity ratio. The limitations of the first method lie in the uncertainty of the varying volume of gas arising from metallurgical operations and the unreliability of ordinary gas meters to hold their accuracy under

Jan 1, 1951

By D. K. Fountain

"High metal prices and advanced technology in open-pit mining methods have resulted in considerable interest in the development of large, low-grade mineral deposits. Brenda Mines Limited is presently testing such a deposit of copper-molybdenum mineralization near Penticton, British Columbia.The mineralization of economic interest at Brenda has a total metallic sulphide content of between 1 and 1.5 per cent. This sulphide content approaches the limits of detectability of standard geophysical methods. How-ever, due to a favourable geological environment, it has been possible to utilize the Induced Polarization Method to outline the mineralization at the Brenda property."

Jan 1, 1968

By E. A. Nesbitt

The important permanent-magnet alloys 15 years ago contained carbon and depended upon it for their permanent-magnet properties. In recent years great advances have been made in a number of new alloys substantially free of carbon. These include Remalloy,' an alloy of iron, cobalt, and molybdenum, the various iron-nickel-aluminum alloys of the Mishima2 type, and the more recent Alnico V3 in which the best properties are developed by heat-treating in a magnetic field. The Mishima and the Alnico types of alloys are very brittle and after casting must be ground to size. This article describes a permanent-magnet material4 that can be machined as cast, and when handled with some care can be rolled to thin sheet and drawn to fine wire. Optimum magnetic properties are developed by a simple heat-treatment, and at this time the ductility of the alloy disappears. If the cast alloy is heat-treated without cold-working the mag netic energy product is about 1.0 X 106. This material is called Vicalloy I (pronounced vicalloy, V for vanadium, I for iron, and C for cobalt). When the alloy is first hot-worked and then considerably reduced in area by cold-swaging, drawing or grooved rolling, it is found that after heat-treatment the magnetic energy product measured in the direction of previous extension can be increased to 2.0 to 3.5 X 106. These higher values have been obtained only after reductions in area of 75 to 95 per cent, and since the material hardens considerably during working, the reduction ordinarily can be accomplished only in fine wires, although larger sizes can be reduced by the use of powerful machinery. When the material has been cold-worked in such a manner as to improve its energy product substantially, it is called Vicalloy 11. Commercial use of Vicalloy has been made in the recording of speech. Tape 0.002 by 0.050 in. has been found superior in quality to all others tried, and is now used in the Western Electric Mirrorphone 5 In a variety of forms Vicalloy I or I1 is useful in many laboratory instruments, and in experiments in which the sizes and shapes required cannot be obtained with the other more brittle permanent-magnet materials. In 1936, during a study of other age-hardening magnetic systems, it occurred to the author that some of the iron-cobalt-vanadium alloys might be suitable for permanent magnets. The proportions of iron, cobalt, and vanadium were varied and a range of alloys of particular interest was found, as shown by the indicated area in Fig. I. The limits of this range of composition are 30 to 52 per cent iron, 36 to 62 per cent cobalt, and 4 to 16 per cent vanadium. The compositions indicated by points outside this area were also tested. Preparation and Properties OF Vicalloy I The alloys were usually cast in graphite molds into bars 3/4 in. in diameter and

Jan 1, 1946

By D. Tsweleng

In the Evraz Highveld production process, iron ore is prereduced in rotary kilns prior to charging into submerged arc furnaces (SAFs). Owing to the highly aggressive slags that are formed within the combustion zones of these kilns, chrome-oxide-containing lowcement castables have been used for some years in the kiln lining. Due to concerns around the potentially harmful effects should Cr(V1) be present in the spent linings, Highveld and its suppliers of kiln castables devoted time to developing alternative chrome-free lining materials. Such materials needed to be cost-effective and ensure good performance and improved kiln availability. This paper discusses all the parameters surrounding this development. Keywords Low-cement castable, chrome-oxide free, chrome (VI), titaniferous magnetite ore, rotary kiln, submerged arc furnace, open slag bath furnace, Evraz Highveld Steel & Vanadium Limited.

Aug 1, 2013

By J. Geertsma, F. de Klerk

During the hydraulic fracturing treatment of an oil or gas well the liquid pressure in the borehole is increased until tensile stress in the surrounding rock exceeds tensile strength. Once a tensile fracture is initiated, it is penetrated by liquid from the borehole and fracture propagation under continuous hydraulic action takes place. The fracturing liquid carries a propping agent to ensure a highly permeable flow channel after pressure release. Field results range from failure to obtain increased production to outstanding success. In all cases, however, it unfortunately remains uncertain whether the values chosen for the operational parameters, such as injection rate, pumping time and fluid viscosity, were in fact the ideal ones. Though experience provides a lead, a more satisfactory way to predict results would seem to be to subject the fracture propagation process to a theoretical analysis that (1) makes the maximum use of the relevant physical information and (2) so simplifies the resulting calculations that the field engineer gets practical data that he can handle comfortably. We are attempting here to do this in connection with the prediction of fracture width and areal extent before pressure release. What remains of the fracture afterwards depends on the distribution of the propping agent between the fracture walls, and that is a separate story. Idealization of the Problem To keep the problem tractable, a number of simplify- ing assumptions have had to be made: 1. The formation is homogeneous and isotropic as regards those of its properties that influence the fracture-propagation process. 2. The deformations of the formation during fracture propagation can be derived from linear elastic stress-strain relations. 3. The fracturing fluid behaves like a purely viscous liquid; i.e., any peculiar flow behavior due to the addition of gelling agents or other additives is neglected. Moreover, the effect of the propping agent distribution on the distribution of fluid viscosity in the fracture is not taken into account. 4. Fluid flow in the fracture is everywhere laminar. 5. Simple geometric fracture-extension patterns are assumed — either radially symmetrical propagation from a point source (Fig. 1A) or rectilinear propagation originating from a line source (Fig. 1B). In the first case the periphery of the fracture is circular, in the second case it is rectangular. 6. A rectilinear propagation mode can be accomplished only by injection over a large perforated interval, thus forming a line source. Such a rectilinear fracture must therefore be located in the vertical plane. A circular propagation mode might be expected from injection through a narrow band of perforations. This forms a point source. Because gravity effects are excluded from our considerations, the fracture propagation plane may in this case assume any angle with respect to the wellbore as far as the

Jan 1, 1970

By P. Keller, T. E. Lister, G. G. Clark, L. A. Diaz

As electronic technology continues to evolve there is a growing need to develop processes which recover valuable material from antiquated technology. This need follows from the environmental challenges associated with the recovery of raw materials and fast growing generation of electronic waste. Although present in small quantities in electronic devices, the availability of raw materials such as rare earths and precious metals becomes critical for the production of high tech electronic devices and the development of green technologies (i.e. wind turbines, electric motors, and solar panels). Therefore, the proper recycling and processing of electronic waste presents an opportunity to stabilize the market of critical materials, providing a proper disposal and treatment of a hazardous waste stream. This paper describes the development and techno-economic assessment of a comprehensive process for the recovery of value and critical materials from electronic waste. This hydrometallurgical scheme aims to selectively recover several value streams (base metals, precious metals, and rare earths) present in electronic waste. The economic feasibility for the recovery of rare earths from electronic waste is mostly driven by the efficient recovery of precious metals, such as Au and Pd (ca. 80 % of the total recoverable value). Rare earth elements contained in magnets (speakers, vibrators, and hard disk storage) can be recovered as a mixture of rare earth oxides which can later be reduced to the production of new magnets.

Jan 1, 2016

A mining operation can be identified as demonstrating prudent management when a number of vital characteristics are evident.All risks and opportunities that are critical to the on-going success of the operation have been identified and are being effectively managed. All significant tasks and events are plan driven. All levels of management visibly support the policies of the operation through their attitude, behaviour and actions as well as words. Supporting evidence for required activity and the outcomes is readily available. Improvement mechanisms are working to advance the key business processes. Everyone is working towards satisfying the needs of the stakeholders of the operation. When these characteristics are integrated with the satisfaction of all legislative requirements, all industry codes and optionally all relevant international management system standards then an operation is fulfilling all the requirements of a Due Diligence Process. The majority of mining operations do not show all of these characteristics and therefore unnecessarily suffer from missed profit opportunity and constant cost pressure, less than acceptable safety and health and environmental performance and consequent poor relations with employees, unions and regulators. In these operations the characteristics to be observed are quite different.Serious incidents are occurring with no sign of a rate decrease. The operation lurches from one panic ituation to another. Management are absent in their leadership, but very active in developing rules and enforcement methodologies. The operation has no history. Re-inventing the wheel with employees who come and go at an alarming rate seems to be forever occurring. All efforts are directed at controlling the business outputs with a strong emphasis on blame. Everyone is trying to look busy to avoid the ever-present cost reduction threats. To change to more prudent management utilising a Due Diligence Process is not theoretically difficult. However it does take clear direction, focussed efforts, supporting actions with appropriate tools and perhaps most importantly an internal desire and drive to become such an operation. A Due Diligence Process is about doing the important things that have to be done, providing the understanding of why they are important, demonstrating proof of activity and effectiveness, and leading the way through effective management.

Jan 1, 1998

Modelling and simulation are important aspects of flotation research, which may assist in the design of new circuits and the optimisation of existing ones. Flotation research in the AMIRA P9 project has developed a methodology for flotation plant modelling based on determination of cell (pulp) characteristics. froth characteristics, and ore floatability (using floatability components). The implementation of this methodology requires the determination of ore floatability, to which end a small flotation pilot plant known as the Floatability Characterisation Test Rig (FCTR) has been designed and then built and kindly made available to the AMIRA P9 project by Baker Process. The FCTR has a 2 tph capacity and consists of six 130 litre rougher/scavenger cells and six 50 litre cleaner/recleaner cells. The Mintek FloatStar pulp level control system is used to control the pulp level in all cells. A number of experimental procedures have been developed for using the FCTR to obtain the data required for the P9 flotation models. These procedures include how to determine the floatability parameters, Pi and mi, the bubble surface area flux, Sb, the mean residence of the pulp in the cell, t, water recovery. Rw, froth zone recovery, Rf, and the degree of entrainment, ENT. The flexibility of the FCTR allows it to be used in numerous flotation studies such as stream characterisation, reagent testing, grinding experiments, power studies, oxidation studies, and scale-up and simulation studies. This paper will describe the design and operation of the FCTR and the procedures that will be used to obtain data from the rig for modelling purposes.

Jan 1, 2000

By J. B. Macelwane

GEOPHYSICS differs from geology and physics in many respects. In the first place, geophysics is a complex science embracing the fields of seismology, geomagnetism, geoelectricity, geodesy, meteorology, volcanology, physical oceanography, physical hydrology, tectonophysics and exploration geophysics. Geology is also a complex science and so extensive in its various fields that no one can master them all, and no part of geology deals in any sense with several of these fields of geophysics. In the second place, geophysics makes use of methods and instruments that are derived primarily from the science of physics. Geology, on the other hand, has methods of its own and it draws its borrowed techniques and its instrumental equipment not only from physics but also and perhaps primarily from chemistry and biology. The difference, therefore, between the geophysicist and the geologist lies partly in the phenomena that are observed, partly in the methods and instruments with which each carries on his exploration; but partly also, and perhaps principally, in the habitual attitude of mind and in the background of specialized training with which each approaches the problems presented by this planet of ours. The geologist as such, therefore, is no geophysicist. On the other hand, the physicist is not a geophysicist either. Isolation of each problem in a closed laboratory system under complete control is fundamental to the methods of the physicist. The geophysicist must apply physical instruments and physicomathematical reasoning to the study of physical quantities in their undisturbed natural environment. What, then, is a geophysicist? In the sense that he is a trained expert in all of the geophysical sciences, I do not believe that such a person ever existed. It would be beyond the possibilities of a single lifetime. I think there is confusion in our ideas and in our use of terms. We are not all thinking of the same thing when we say geophysics or geophysicist; yet we seem to talk as though we were. It is as absurd to say that the whole of geophysics belongs to geology because the field of a particular type of geophysicist-the exploration geophysicist -calls for some knowledge of geology as it would be to say that the whole of biology belongs to geology because a particular type of biologist-the paleontologistneeds some knowledge of geology. DEVELOPMENT OF A GEOPHYSICIST Since it is impossible to become an expert in all the fields of geophysics, and since students entering college seldom know the field they will choose as a career, what would we suggest as the best general preparation for work in geophysics, whether as a meteorologist, an oceanographer, a seismologist, a geodesist, a geomagneticist, a volcanologist, a tectonophysicist, a hydrologist, or an exploration geophysicist? We may distinguish five phases in the development of a geophysicist: (I) his mathematical and scientific studies in high school; (2) the general mathematical and scientific

Jan 1, 1941

By C. F. Jenkins, G. V. Smith

Serrated plastic flow in stable austenitic alloys based on Fe/Ni has been shown to be related to the presence of carbon and/or chromium in the systems. Strength peaks and plateaus in the serrated-flow temperature region for a commercial alloy correlate with an increased dislocation content, arising, presumably, from enhanced multiplication as a result of a strong interaction between dislocations and solute atoms. The data generally support a mechanism controlled by migration of vacancies, with the energy for vacancy motion being modified by the presence of chromium. Chromium atom -dislocation interaction is responsible for effects above 500°C, whereas the defect interacting with dislocations between 200" and 500°C is suggested to be a carbon-vacancy Pair. ThE phenomenon of jerky flow, serrated flow, or the Portevin-le Chatelier (P-C) effect in austenitic stainless steels is usually attributed to substitutional at1,2 mospheres1,2 or to precipitates&apos;-4 which form at dislocations during plastic deformation. On the other hand, evidence exists which supports a direct inter-stitial-dislocation interaction mechanism for serrated flow in fcc Ni-C,5,6 Ni-H7-9 and in nickel-austenites containing carbon." The present work consists in a study of serrated plastic flow in stable austenitic al-loys. The effects of carbon and of chromium were investigated separately, and a commercial stainless steel with different levels of interstitial impurity concentration was studied in an attempt to delineate the combined effects of the alloying elements. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES a) Materials and Fabrication. A commercial AISI 330 stainless steel and several specially prepared aus-tenitic alloys have been studied. The experimental alloys were prepared by arc melting the constituents under purified argon. Analyses of the materials are given in Table I. The commercial alloy was obtained as 5/8 in. bar stock and rolled to 0.092 in. sq, with several intermediate anneals. At this stage some of the material was annealed in Pd-purified hydrogen at 1100°C to establish different levels of interstitial content. All other heat treatments were in vacuum (10-5 torr). The "pure" alloy ingots were swaged to 0.120-in. rod and annealed in Pd-purified hydrogen at 1100°C. The analyses for these conditions are also contained in Table I. Following the above treatment, the final wire sizes Table I. Chemical Analyses of Test Materials Hrin Hydrogen at Cr, Ni, Alloy 1lOO°C wt pct wt pct C, ppm* N, ppm* Type 330 As-received 14.78 33.25 430 300 Type 330 64 14.78 33.25 40 50 Type 330 200 14.78 33.25 27 21 Fe/35 Ni 72 - 35.10 <10 62 Fe/35 Ni 200 35.10 <I0 44 Fe/35 Nil15 Cr 72 14.95 34.94 <I0 61 Fe/35 Ni/15Cr 200 14.95 34.94 <10 45 Fe/35 Ni/C $ 35.OM 380 *Sensitivity: N t 5 ppm Ct10ppm. f Nominal Ni content. % A master NiC alloy was used in preparation of this material; courtesy of D.E. Sonon. were obtained by either swaging or cold drawing. The test results did not vary with these techniques. b) Specimen Preparation. Two sizes of specimen and two gripping systems were used. i) 0.070-in. wire with a chemically milled gage section: 0.75 in. long, 0.060 in. in diam. These were fastened into grips containing tapped grooves. ii) 0.050 in. wire, gage length 1.5 in. Ball bearings were welded to the ends of the wires and the gage length was taken to include all material between the welds. Socket-type grips were used with these specimens. With specimens of type ii), joining was performed in a specially constructed brass jig, under argon, and automatic timing was utilized in the procedure. No adverse effects of welding were noted. Specimens were encapsulated and solution treated for 1 hr at temperatures selected to produce the same average grain size, -50 µ. Annealing twin boundaries as well as normal crystal boundaries were counted. The temperatures used are listed in Table 11. Table 11. Specimen Size. Temperature of Heat Treatment and Resulting Grain Diameters for Test Materials Recrystallization Resulting Material Condition Temperature Grain Sue AISI 330 Not H purified 0.070 120O°C 45 to 55µ in, wire AlSl 330 H , pure, 0.070 in. 1150°C 45to55µ wire Fc/35Nil15Cr Pure, 0.070 in. wire 1000°C 45tossp Fe/Ni Pure. 0.070 in. wire 775°C 45 to 55µ Fe/Ni/C Pure, 0.050 in. wire 850°C 10 to 20p AlSl 330 Not purified, 0.050 1150CC 45to55p in. wire AlSl 330 ti, pure, 0.050 in. 1150°C 45to55p wire

Jan 1, 1970

Jan 1, 1938