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By AIME AIME

WITHOUT frills, but with an admirable program of technical papers and discussion, many opportunities for social contact, and all New York for a playground, the 142d Meeting of the Institute will make the Engineering Societies Building a lively place from Feb. 20 to 23. Prices are down, even in New York. Come and forget the depression listening to the stories of old friends. Hear at first hand what is going on in your professional world. The fare is varied, of wide appeal. The program on the opposite page has been arranged carefully to minimize conflicts between the subjects in which you are interested. If it is not possible to come for all four days, check over the sessions that are most important to you. No changes in the scheduling are likely.

Jan 1, 1933

By C. S. Smith, Chih-Chung Wang

TURNBULL and his collaborators1,2 have developed the theory of homogeneous nucleation as applied, inter alia, to solidification of liquid metals. Vonnegut³ and Turnbull4 have shown that if a liquid metal is subdivided into small droplets a vast majority of them will undercool very considerably before solidification, generally to as low as about 0.8 of the freezing temperature on the absolute scale. The nuclei effective at small degrees of supercooling in bulk metal seem to be internal or surface heterogeneities, relatively small in number. If the metal is subdivided, those droplets that happen to contain such nuclei will solidify at a temperature not greatly below the true freezing point, but only a small part of the whole volume will be affected and the majority of the drops will under-cool to the much lower temperature at which homo- geneous nucleation occurs as a result of fluctuations. It occurred to one of the authors that an appropriate subdivision to give effective freedom from random nuclei is produced during the solidification of many alloys that contain a minor amount of a phase of low melting point, and that one might then expect marked undercooling of the distributed phase. Experimental: The alloys selected for initial study were copper with minor amounts of lead and bismuth, and aluminum with tin. In all these alloys, the major component freezes at a temperature not much below that of the pure metal, and there is little further change in constitution on cooling until the lower melting point constituent freezes in an almost pure state. Cooling curves were taken using the controlled heat flow method permitting approximate specific heats to be obtained. Chromel-alumel thermocouples were used, with the standard emf tables, since extreme precision was not needed. The crucible (3/4 in. id, 5/16 in. wall) was made of B & W K-20 insulating brick. It held about 10 cc of the alloy being investigated. The cooling rate was 2.5" to 2.9°C per min under a controlled temperature difference of 20°. Approximate specific heats were computed from the inverse rate curves together with data from a blank run and from a standard run with a copper cylinder of known heat capacity. The alloys for investigation were made from high-purity metals (99.99+pct) and cast into graphite molds. The castings were machined to fit the crucible and to provide a hole for the inner thermocouple. Cooling curves were taken after heating to a temperature about 50" above the melting point of the minor, lower melting-point, constituent. Results The lead phase in an alloy of copper with 5 pct lead did not undercool more than 3" below the melting point of lead (327°C) either as cast or after annealing to produce a new dispersion of the liquid phase. A copper-zinc-lead alloy with 23.75 pct zinc and 5 pct lead undercooled more but showed no thermal effect below 319°C. A cast alloy of copper with 5 pct bismuth undercooled to 249°C (M.P. bismuth 27l °C), but once solidification started it was completed at the same temperature. This was anticipated, since the bismuth forms a nearly continuous phase between the grains of copper, and a solid crystal nucleated anywhere would rapidly* con- sume the entire network of liquid, unless the physical continuity of the liquid were broken through volume changes, inadequate fluidity, or gas evolution. Similar arguments apply in the case of copper-lead alloys, where the lead-rich liquid forms a network along grain edges, though not grain faces. In both cases there would be a few isolated particles

Jan 1, 1951

By P. M. Aziz, I. Markson, C. S. Barrett

The abnormal after-effect in twisted wires that occurs when untwisting is interrupted by etching con be brought under control and used to study the mechanical properties of thin surface films and how they are effected by reagents and heat treatment. Results are given of studies of oxide films on high purity aluminum. IF a wire is subjected to plastic deformation by torsion and then released, it untwists in the normal after-effect, but under certain circumstances the untwisting is abruptly lessened or reversed by the application of an etchant to the wire.1,2 This abnormal after-effect may occur, for example, if there is a coherent oxide film on the surface of the wire which is removed by the etchant. Following a suggestion of A. H. Cottrell that predicted this effect, it is attributed to dislocations that had piled up beneath the oxide layer and represents the rapid release of residual stresses caused by these dislocations. When the layer is removed, the stress relief may be by escape of piled-up dislocations from the metal, or by an activation of latent sources of dislocations located at the surface, together with rebalancing of elastic stresses to compensate for the loss of stressed material, as in a residual stress analysis determination, these mechanisms acting singly or in combination.' The slower the attack of the reagent, the more gradual is the stress relief and the smaller the change in strain rate when the reagent is applied. A study has been made of the factors that influence the magnitude of the normal and abnormal after-effects with the object of developing techniques suitable for a quantitative investigation of the influence of various surface films on dislocations in wires, and of the rate and extent of the attack on the films by different reagents. It was found that reasonable sensitivity and reproducibility could be achieved if a suitable choice of variables was made and if these variables were held constant through a series of experiments. The method was then applied to a study of oxide films produced and treated in different ways on the surface of high purity aluminum wires, and to a study of the damage to these films caused by various reagents. Experimental Procedure The material used throughout this work was prepared from 99.9968 pct Al. This high purity aluminum was melted, cast into 1/2 in. diameter ingots, and then swaged and drawn without intermediate annealing to 0.040 in. diameter wire. A sketch of the apparatus employed for twisting is shown in Fig. 1. The test wires were mounted into the apparatus by cementing one end of the wire to the beaker and the other to the tube with laboratory wax of high melting point. The length of the wire between the waxed joints was 4.2 & 0.2 cm. Extreme care was taken during mounting to avoid cold-working the wire. The wire was twisted through 335" in 2 to 4 sec by rotating the pinion on the gear box until the vertical post on the rotating table, which was initially touching the horizontal stop, was arrested by the stop. All the tests were conducted with apparatus and reagents at the same temperature (about 25°C). In all tests, except those where the duration of the initial torque was investigated, the torque was applied for a period of 2 min. At the end of this time the table was rotated back a few degrees away from contact with the stop and the wire allowed to untwist. The after-effects were measured by reflecting a beam of light from the mirror shown on the apparatus. After the wire had untwisted for 6 min, a reagent was carefully poured into the beaker and thereby applied to the surface of the wire.. In some tests the liquid in the beaker was removed after a few minutes and replaced by an-

Jan 1, 1954

By E. I. Salkovitz, F. W. von Batchelder

DURING the last few years several papers1-' have been published in which internal friction measurements have been used to determine the quantity of carbon or nitrogen dissolved in a iron. This method is based on the fact that, in pure Fe-N and Fe-C alloys, nitrogen and carbon cause peaks in the internal friction vs. temperature curve; at a frequency of 1 cycle per sec (cps) these peaks appear at $-200 and +360C, respectively, and if internal friction is expressed as Q-1, which is equal to times the logarithmic decrement, this figure will, by coincidence, give the weight percentage of nitrogen or carbon in solid solution.' In most of the studies published, very pure iron (Puron) was used. In one case the influence of manganese on the behavior of nitrogen in a iron was mentioned.4 It would be of great value, especially for the study of aging and related phenomena, if this method could be applied to commercial mild steel with norrnal percentages of manganese, phosphorus, sulphur, etc. As a rule, in such steels carbon and nitrogen are present together, and the amounts of these elements in solid solution should preferably be determined separately. The fact that their internal friction peaks appear at different temperatures (+36° and + 20°C in pure iron) seems promising for such a selective determination. It is necessary, however, that the peaks are narrow enough not to interfere with one another, and further, that there is no effect from carbon on the behavior of nitrogen in stress induced diffusion, and vice versa. According to Fast,' however, in the presence of manganese the nitrogen peak gets wider and appears at a higher temperature nearer the carbon peak, and thus the prospects for selective determination are reduced. (The carbon peak was not affected by the presence of manganese.) But even if fully quantitative de- terminations of the two elements are not attained, some relative figures on the sum of them and an indication of which one is the predominant one, would be of value. Some results from experiments along these lines will be reported here. An internal friction measuring device was assembled mainly following a description by KG." The measurements were also carried out as reported in that paper. Table I gives the chemical compositions of the four different materials used in this investigation. All materials were drawn to wires with diameter about 0.8 mm, and the analyses refer to these final shapes. Determination of Nitrogen Peak Wires from steels A, B, and C were decarburized in wet hydrogen (about 30 pct H2O) at 700°C until no carbon or nitrogen could be found by chemical analysis. No peak was then found in the internal friction. The wires were further annealed at 580°C for 16 hr in hydrogen bubbled through a solution of 6.8 pct NH3 in distilled water. Chemical analyses gave 0.04 pct N in A and C, and 0.06 pct in B. After annealing at 580°C for 15 min in a lead bath and water quenching, the internal friction was immediately measured. The resulting curves are shown in Fig. 1. At these high values of the internal friction the accuracy is comparatively poor; at Q-1 - 0.030 it is estimated to be 0.002. In order to make possible a calculation of the activation energy for diffusion of nitrogen, measurements were made at two different frequencies. Steel A shows rather broad peaks, and their temperatures can hardly be expected to be very accurate. Steels B and especially C are better in this respect. The finding of Fast' that manganese broadens the nitrogen peak is con-

Jan 1, 1953

By F. S., Mc Nicholas

A practical discussion of the theory of A block caving is presented which applies particularly to the physical conditions of the Climax orebody although the conditions are sufficiently characteristic of caving ore-bodies to provide valuable information applicable elsewhere.

Jan 1, 1950

By Paul Queneau

FEW of us who waded ashore on the Norman beaches realized the importance of coal to a successful invasion. General Eisenhower and his staff had been aware of the essential need for coal and an able Solid Fuels Section had been set up under the direction of Colonel Robert P. Koenig, of Indiana. This organization met the requirements of the invading armies on their march to the Rhine. East of the Siegfried Line enemy territory, the Army Engineers were called upon for assistance. When the Engineers were advised that, in addition to their normal duties, they were to occupy and place in operation the coal mines in the Twelfth Army group area, plans were drawn up overnight and action was initiated immediately. The Sixth Engineer Special Brigade, a versatile outfit which made a notable record D-Day on Omaha Beach, was selected to handle the operation. Within 48 hours of the new assignment an advance command post was set up cm the west bank of the Rhine at Homberg, just below German-held Duisburg. The 368th Engineer General Service Regiment was assigned to the Brigade, and the British 44th Pioneer Group, including specialist personnel, was also attached. This large British unit was added because most of the mines would shortly come within the British zone of

Jan 1, 1946

By L. C. Brown, E. B. Hawbolt

The formation of grain boundary precipitates has been studied in Ag-5.64 wt pcl Al alloys at 688°C. Large-grain specinzerzs were used and the boundary misorientation measured by X-ray diffraction. At low-angle grain boundrrries Primary sideplates form. u)hile abore a 17-deg misorientation lenticular precipitates predominate. Growth of the lenticular precipitates was studied on individual grain boundaries using a statistical technique. The thickening and lengthening rates appeared to be independent of &apos;pain boundary misorientation, indicating that grain boundary diffusion was not significant in this system. The precipitates grew urith constant shape, with both the length and thickness increasing parabolically with time. The parabolic lengthening rates were unexpected since previous theory and experimerztal results had indicated linear growth. By approximating the shape of the precipitate to that of an oblate spheroid grouling with constant shape an equivalent diffusion coefficienl was calculated. The zlalue obtained was in good agreement with nleasurements obtained fron, diffusiorz couples. IF a single-phase alloy is heated or cooled to a temperature such that the phase becomes supersaturated, there is a tendency for a second phase to precipitate from it in order to remove the supersaturation. Precipitation takes place initially on grain boundaries due to preferred heterogeneous nucleation, but subsequently Widmans kitten plates may form in the grain interiors if the grain size and supersaturation are sufficient. The type of grain boundary precipitate formed depends on the nature of the boundary. Aaronson1 and clark2 have shown that grain boundary misorientation can be characterized by the simple parameter R, where and X, Y, and Z represent the minimum rotations about three orthogonal axes required to bring the two lattices forming the grain boundary into coincidence. The maximum value for R is 60 deg. In using this parameter the orientation of the grain boundary itself is, of course, neglected. However it was found in both Fe-si3 and A1-Ag2 that the precipitate shape depended only on the parameter R. Clark found that the vast majority of precipitates formed were allo-triomorphs— lens-shaped precipitates that grew along the grain boundaries. At low-angle boundaries, however, (R < 15 deg) Widmanstatten sideplates nucleated at the grain boundaries and grew into the adjacent grains. It has been reported that the rate of growth of grain boundary precipitates is controlled by diffusion within the supersaturated phase.&apos; The theories which have been developed for growth rates have assumed the diffusion coefficient constant over the composition range of the supersaturated phase. This is a fairly good approximation if the composition range involved is not large. Thickening rates have been calculated using the theory developed by Zener4 and by Frank5 for the growth of planar precipitates. A parabolic growth law

Jan 1, 1968

By L. J. Dijkstra

During the past several years an extensive study has been made of the internal friction of iron containing carbon or nitrogen in solid solution.1,2,3,4,5 It has been found that a sharp peak is observed in a plot of the internal friction vs. temperature of measurement. With a frequency of about one cycle per second, this peak occurs at 20°C for N and 36°C for C. The physical origin of this anomalous internal friction was traced by Snoekl to the local tetragonal symmetry of the interstitial positions in body centered cubic (bcc) iron. A change in stress induces a change in the equilibrium distribution of the interstitial atoms among the three types of interstitial positions, the three types corresponding to the three directions along which the tetragonal axis may lie. It is the continual striving of the interstitial atoms to maintain an equilibrium distribution that gives rise to a phase lag between strain and stress during oscillation, and hence, to internal friction. A similar type of internal friction has been observed in the bcc lattice of tantalum containing in interstitial solid solution C, N or 06. The theory of this anomalous internal friction leads to the prediction that its magnitude is strictly proportional to the concentration of either the carbon or the nitrogen in solid solution, provided the concentrations are small. This prediction has been verified3 for the range of solubilities ohtainable in alpha iron. This proportionality provides us with a new tool for the study of nitrogen and carbon in alpha iron. It thus enables one directly to follow the precipitation of either of these solute atoms from solid solution and also directly to measure their solubility as a function of temperature. A preliminary study of precipitation using this method has already been presented by the author.3 The purpose of this paper is to present more extensive observations upon the precipitation of N and C in alpha iron, as well as to present observations upon the solubility of N and C in alpha iron which, at least in the lower tempera- ture range, are believed more accurate than those previously obtained by other methods. The interpretation of the observations upon precipitation involves the use of the appropriate equilibrium diagrams. For ease of future reference in this paper the equilibriunl diagrams for the Fe-N and Fe-C systems are accordingly reproduced as Fig 1 and 2, respective]y. Experimental Procedure The specimens were made of West-inghouse Puron iron and consisted of wires 0.025 in. in diam and about 1 ft long. By a wet hydrogen treatment the specimens were purified of C and N. In

Jan 1, 1950

By G. R. Countryman, G. H. Thomas, I. Fatt

Miscible displacement in both thewetting and non-wetting phase has been studied in two-phase systems. Experimental data show that dispersion is a function of saturation and cannot be predicted from dispersion theory developed for single-phase miscible displacement. Some of the effect of saturation on dispersion is a result of the development of dead-end pores or a dendritic pore structure in multiphase systems. The presence of dead-end pores or dendritic structure is confirmed by pressure transient studies. INTRODUCTION Displacement by flooding with a miscible liquid is a possible means for recovering the estimated two-thirds of the oil that remains behind after primary production. The immense economic importance of a process that can recover such large quantities of oil has led to extensive laboratory studies of miscible displacement. As usual in production research, most laboratory studies of miscible displacement have not attemped to reproduce all of the conditions existing in a petroleum reservoir. In the early stages of investigation the need has been for information on the broad, basic principles of the phenomena involved in miscible displacement. The effects of overburden pressure, reservoir temperature, and wettability have been considered of secondary importance. However, one property of a petroleum reservoir which is expected to be of major importance and yet has been omitted from many laboratory studies is the presence of interstitial water. Two possible effects of interstitial water on the displacement mechanism in the hydrocarbon phase immediately come to mind. First, from the general1y accepted theory that capillarity governs the distribution of oil and water in porous rock one would expect that for water-wet rock the water will be in the small pores and oil in the large pores. A miscible displacement of oil carried out in the presence of water is operating in a pore size distribution shown in Fig. lb, whereas if the same test had been performed with only one phase present the pore size distribution is as shown in Fig. la. Although there is not yet a theory of miscible displacement which explains in detail the effect of pore size distribution, one would expect the differences between Figs. la and lb to influence the displacement efficiency. A second factor which may make a multiphase system different from a single-phase system is the presence in the multiphase system of dead-end pores or dendritic structure. Experiments of various kinds on reservoir rock have led to the belief that all pores in the network structure of a porous rock take part in conducting fluid during single phase fluid flow.1,2 There are then no dead-end pores and no fingers or dendritic structures containing stagnant fluid. In a multiphase system, however, the second phase may

By W. A. Backofen, D. Lee, F. S. Jabara

THE empirical character of plasticity analysis insures a continuing need for measurements of the yield surfaces of anisotropic materials. Recently, Wheeler and Ireland (W-I) proposed that an octahedral yield locus could be constructed on the basis of six Knoop hardness indentations. Such simplicity would have obvious appeal, if it led to consistently dependable results. In other recent work, a much more straightforward (and more tedious) method of measurement was used to establish all quadrants of the plane-stress yield loci for two substantially anisotropic titanium alloys.2,3 The same materials have since been reex-amined by the W-I method with results being reported here. A full description of the stress state under a Knoop indentor would be complex. In principle, however, this can be avoided in relating the hardness number to a plane-stress yield locus, by the expedient of superimposing the appropriate hydrostatic component on that state of stress. Six possible orientations of in-dentor on orthogonal (symmetry) planes, along (principal) coordinate directions, are illustrated in Fig. 1(0). Pictured in Fig. l(b) are normal-stress components nominally associated with indentation n: o2(H), directly proportional to the Khn in this case, together with By overlaying a hydrostatic tension, ah, that in general is equal to the stress state around the indentation is reduced to one of plane stress in the x-y plane for which the stress ratio is a The key step in the W-I yield-locus construction is to represent the Khn for any indentor orientation as a vector quantity on the octahedral plane. In the plotting, the vector is given as deviatoric stress components along the principal axes in the ratio , where represents the direction of the minor (width) diagonal and 1 that of the major (length) diagonal. There is no attempt by W-I to justify the 7/1, although it might be supposed that the value originates in the usual ratio of major to minor diagonals in a Knoop indentation of about 7/1. If that were its origin, the link to the deviatoric stress ratio would presumably be made by first taking 7/1 and then turning to the Levy-Mises equation for isotropic material: Interpreted in this way, the W-1 approach seems arbitrary and even contradictory. Yet it would still be favored by two circumstances: the deformation under a Knoop indentor approaches plane strain: when dcw/del =a; and the shape of the locus where plane strain is represented is not overly sensitive either to the exact value of dc,/dcl or to the degree of anisotropy, within a rather wide range of both variables. The second point is illustrated below, after a few additional comments on applying hardness

Jan 1, 1968

By Jr. J. L. Ryon.

Experimentation with ammonium nitrate-fuel oil mixtures at three underground salt mines revealed its excellent applications at those properties. The author relates the present blasting practice used at these mines by the Intemzational Salt Co. The International Salt Company is presently performing blasting operations with a pneumatically -placed ammonium nitrate-fuel oil mixture at three rock salt mines, and plans its use in the near future at its new Cleveland mine. Use of ammonium nitrate is saving the company approximately $250,000 annually. With rapidly increasing operating expenses and increasing competitive pressure resulting in lower prices, savings such as those realized through the use of ammonium nitrate are vitally important. ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION AND EXPERIMENTAL ACTIVITIES The three mines presently involved are located at Detroit, Mich.; Avery Island, La.; and Retsof, N. Y. Initial experiments were conducted at the Detroit mine where a detailed investigation was carried on to determine the significance of the static electricity factor when blowing ammonium nitrate into drill holes in which millisecond delay electric blasting caps had been placed. Although the information developed at the Detroit mine was passed along to the other mines, each mine independently pursued its own course of inves- tigation. This fact, plus the differing mining conditions, resulted in slightly different operational procedures at each mine. Some of the varying statistical data are shown in Table I, and data common to all three International Salt Company mines are shown in Table 11. BLASTING PROCEDURE AT THE DETROIT MINE This mine has been using the ammonium nitrate-fuel oil mixture for more than two years on a full time production basis and represents the successful detonation of several hundred thousand holes. Results have been excellent and the blasting cost has been reduced many times. The actual operation at Detroit consists of adding the fuel oil to the bags of ammonium nitrate by means of a portable fuel oil tank complete with hose, nozzle, and metering device. The bags of the ammonium nitrate-fuel oil mixture are transported to the working face from the oiling area by means of a jeep-drawn trailer. At the face, the ammonium nitrate is placed on the elevating platform of a powder-load ing rig which consists of a pneumatically-tired, large fork-lift truck with a fully insulated elevating platform constructed on the forks. The placement of the dynamite primer and the pneumatic placement of the ammonium nitrate is a two-man operation. First, one cartridge of the primer is placed in each hole on the line of holes which can be reached from the loading rig platform. The plastic hose is then inserted into the hole and pushes the primer to the back of the hole. The proper charge of ammonium nitrate is then placed in the pneumatic placement machine and,

Jan 1, 1961

By Donald T. Hawkins, Ralph Hultgren

The lorsion effusion method has been used to measure the vapor pressure of lead over pure lead and eight Pb-Sn alloys ranging from 9.1 to 87.9 at. pct Pb in the temperature range 950° to 1125°K. The resulting ?H°y 298 = 46,630 ± 200 cal per g-atow for pure lead is in excellent agreement with previous work. Deriued ?Gph values for the alloys were smoothed and correlated with previous heat of formation data to obtain entropies for the liquid alloys. values for the tin component were calculated by Gibbs-Duhem integmtion. Surfhce depletion of these liquid alloys was found to be absent, as shown by the fact that the measured pressure remained substantially constant with time in contrast with previous measurements on iron-rich solid Fe-Mn alloys. The activities and Gibbs (free) energies of the liquid Pb-Sn system are not well known although the heats of formation have been accurately determined by K1eppa.l Vapor pressure determinations of the activity of lead by Voronin and Evseev2 disagree with those of Predel.3 Elliott and chipman4 measured activities by the electromotive -force technique in the ternary Pb-Sn-Cd system. From the resulting values of the activity of cadmium, they were able to calculate the activities of lead and tin for the binary Pb-Sn system at the compositions xsn = 0.33 and 0.67. Atarashiya, Uta, Shimoji, and Niwa5 determined the activity of tin from Hz-H2O equilibrium measurements, but their results are subject to question due to uncertainty in the final state of their samples. To resolve these differences, measurements of the activity of lead were made using a torsion-effusion apparatus. Among other advantages, this apparatus rapidly detects errors caused by surface depletion, which tends to reduce the apparent vapor pressure of the more volatile component. If the measured torques remain nearly constant with time, only bulk depletion is occurring. This contrasts with the rapid decrease in torque found in solid Fe-Mn alloys at high temperatures and low manganese contents.6 EXPERIMENTAL 99.999+ pct Pb was obtained from the American Smelting and Refining Co. and 99.999 pct Sn from Vulcan Detinning Co. Eight Pb-Sn alloys were prepared by melting together weighed amounts of the pure metals in evacuated Pyrex tubes and quenching the melts in water. Loss of weight in preparation was less than 0.02 pct in all cases. The effusion cells were made from high-purity, nonporous graphite. Graphite was chosen because of its resistance to reaction with lead and tin and because it can be accurately machined with precision orifices. Two cells were used with overall dimensions as shown in Fig. 1. The orifices of cells 1 and 2 were, respectively, 1 and 1.5 mm in diam.

Jan 1, 1968

By R. E. Anderson, R. S. Busk

The mechanical properties of many nonferrous alloys can be modified by heat-treatment. This is almost always effected by controlling the amount of alloy in solid solution and the amount and distribution of second-phase material. The latter often is accomplished through precipitation or age-hardening treatments. The procedure is to solution-heat-treat the metal to provide a supersaturated solid solution and then cause precipitation of the dissolved material at some temperature below the solvus for the alloy. The generally used magnesium sand-casting alloys arc based on the ternary alloy system Mg-Al-Zn. Solid diffusion reactions in the system are slow enough so that a substantially completely supersaturated solulion is maintained even though the metal is relatively slowly cooled from heat-treating temperatures. Consequently, it is general practice to air-cool magnesium-alloy castings from the heat-treatment temperature prior to aging at an elevated temperature. Since it is necessary with many other alloys to cool quite rapidly before aging if optimum benefit from the aging is to be obtained, this study was undertaken to determine the effects of quenching on magnesium alloys. The] alloys used are shown in Table I, being selected as typical of the presently used magnesium alloys. Cooling Rates Since quenching is a means of rapidly extracting heat, there are two factors of interest in its study: (I) the rates of cooling that can be obtained and (2) the effect of various rates on the as-cooled as well as subsequently aged metal. The cooling rates were measured by drilling a hole 1/16- in diameter longitudi~lally in the center of a cylinder % in. in diameter and 3 in. long. The drilling was stopped to place the end of the hole at the center of the long axis of the cylinder. An iron-constantan thermocouple was inserted in this hole and wedged in place. The temperature drop during rapid quenching was recorded by a special1y built General Electric potentiometer recorder capab1e of measuring &apos; 500°F. temperature drop in 1/10 sec. For the slower cooling rates in air or oil, the temperature drop was measured by a Leeds and Northrup potentiometer recorder with the chart speed increased to One inch per minute&apos; The cylinder was heated to the desired temperature, quenched as desired, and the temperature-time curve recorded. The cooling rates in still air, in oil at 350°F., in water at 180°F. and in a cold, high-pressure water spray were determined in this manner. The results of this study are presented in Fig. I. There is a great difference between water quenching and either air or oil quenching. There is little difference between the hot water quench and the cold water spray. Cooling rates were also

Jan 1, 1945

By E. C. Houston, H. S. Rankin

Olivine is considered a valuable potential source of metallic magnesium in the chloride electrolytic process. Treatment of olivine with hydrochloric acid can be carried out under conditions that prevent the formation of gelatinous silicic acid, which would inhibit the reaction by forming a covering around the ore particles. It is our hypothesis that the formation of gelatinous silicic acid is avoided by the dehydrating action of the magnesium chloride, which takes up water to form a series of hydrates and leaves the silicic acid in granular condition. Leaching serves to separate the magnesium chloride from the silicic acid and unattacked ore, which can be treated with fresh acid in successive steps until extraction is essentially complete. The leach solution can be i purified by the addition of caustic magnesia and the precipitated impurities removed by decantation or filtration. The resulting magnesium chloride contains: Fe, less than 0.001 Per cent; Mn, 0.012 ; per cent; Ni, none. Chlorination† of olivine has two major defects: (1) a large part of the chlorine goes to form silicon and iron chlorides, (2) the anhydrous magnesium chloride is held by absorption in the finely divided silica. SupplY It is well known that olivine, a silicate of magnesium and iron, is present in large amounts in several localities in the United States. The largest deposits occur in the southeast and on the Pacific Coast.&apos; The southeastern deposits were surveyed by Lewis2 in 1896 and by Hunter3 in the period 1933-1940 It is estimated that high-grade olivine, conveniently located with regard to transportation and power, is present in excess of 230 million tons above local drainage level in western North Carolina and north Georgia. Previous Technical Work In the past few years, olivine has attracted considerable attention in the refractory field. In the chemical processing industry, however, it has long been thought axiomatic that the cost of processing silicates is an economic barrier to their utilization, especially where more reactive minerals, such as carbonates, oxides or salts, are available. This attitude is not entirely justified in connection with olivine. unlike most silicates, olivine is readily attacked by acids, chlorine and other reagents without resorting to fusion to break down the silicate structure. Olivine has been suggested as a raw material for making epsom salt by roasting with pyrites.4 Other processes include acid treatment6 and digestion with calcium chloride.6 Recently a small plant was built near Webster, N. C., for making epsom salt from olivine by treatment with sulphuric acid. This plant is now in commercial operation, producing approximately two tons per day. Olivine is also receiving attention from the fertilizer industry as an inexpensive source of soluble magnesium.

Jan 1, 1942

By O. B. Hopkins

The reports for the years 1942 and 1943 were written in 1943 and 1944, respectively, and were summarized at the meetings of the Institute in February 1941 and February 1944, but were held in manuscript form until released for publication in 1945. 1942 During the year 1942, developments in the Peruvian oil industry continued to be subject to repercussions from the swelling war effort, which steadily diverted more of the normal supply of men and materials into war channels, and necessitated the rerouting of supply lines. The result in Peru was an increasing demand for crude oil and products. The production of petroleum in Peru in 1942 was 13,626,259 bbl., as compared with 11,935,584 bbl. in 1941—an increase of 1,690,675 bbl., or approximately 14 per cent. The largest increase, amounting to over 61 per cent, was from the Lobitos fields, but this increase was caused largely by the subnormal production in 1941. International Petroleum Company&apos;s production in the La Brea y Parinas field increased 727,111 bbl., or 7 per cent, whereas the Peruvian Government&apos;s production in the small Zorritos field declined 10,380 bbl., or approximately 20 per cent. The final production figures for the Ganso Azul field at Agua Caliente were not available for 1942 at the end of the year, but the production was believed to have increased approximately 80 per cent from 1941, or from 13,750 to approximately 25,000 barrels. Development and Exploration Exploration in Peru in 1942 was very limited and confined to areas adjacent to the older producing fields, and the efforts there were largely expended in the extension and development of the producing areas. This situation resulted partly from the shortage of transportation and drilling equipment, and also from the strong demand for increased production of oil. . International Petroleum Co. completed 69 wells during the year, including seven exploratory wells, three of which added moderate extensions to the proven areas. Sixty of the completions were oil wells and nine were dry holes. Lobitos Oilfields, at Lobitos and Restin, is understood to have concentrated its drilling effort on development rather than on exploration. The Peruvian Government operating at Zorritos confined its drilling to the development of the small producing areas previously found. During the year it announced plans to drill three exploratory wells in the Pirin area of southern Peru (see map on p. 638). It was reported that the Government had made a survey of the Sechura area (representing the southern part of the Northern National Reserve as shown on the map), but no work under this arrangement was announced. The Cia. Ganso Azul, at Agua Caliente, completed its No. 6 well as a producer on March 27, and during the year it completed the installation of a 400-bbl. topping plant.

Jan 1, 1945

By H. S. Rankin, E. C. Houston

Olivine is considered a valuable potential source of metallic magnesium in the chloride electrolytic process. Treatment of olivine with hydrochloric acid can be carried out under conditions that prevent the formation of gelatinous silicic acid, which would inhibit the reaction by forming a covering around the ore particles. It is our hypothesis that the formation of gelatinous silicic acid is avoided by the dehydrating action of the magnesium chloride, which takes up water to form a series of hydrates and leaves the silicic acid in granular condition. Leaching serves to separate the magnesium chloride from the silicic acid and unattacked ore, which can be treated with fresh acid in successive steps until extraction is essentially complete. The leach solution can be i purified by the addition of caustic magnesia and the precipitated impurities removed by decantation or filtration. The resulting magnesium chloride contains: Fe, less than 0.001 Per cent; Mn, 0.012 ; per cent; Ni, none. Chlorination† of olivine has two major defects: (1) a large part of the chlorine goes to form silicon and iron chlorides, (2) the anhydrous magnesium chloride is held by absorption in the finely divided silica. SupplY It is well known that olivine, a silicate of magnesium and iron, is present in large amounts in several localities in the United States. The largest deposits occur in the southeast and on the Pacific Coast.&apos; The southeastern deposits were surveyed by Lewis2 in 1896 and by Hunter3 in the period 1933-1940 It is estimated that high-grade olivine, conveniently located with regard to transportation and power, is present in excess of 230 million tons above local drainage level in western North Carolina and north Georgia. Previous Technical Work In the past few years, olivine has attracted considerable attention in the refractory field. In the chemical processing industry, however, it has long been thought axiomatic that the cost of processing silicates is an economic barrier to their utilization, especially where more reactive minerals, such as carbonates, oxides or salts, are available. This attitude is not entirely justified in connection with olivine. unlike most silicates, olivine is readily attacked by acids, chlorine and other reagents without resorting to fusion to break down the silicate structure. Olivine has been suggested as a raw material for making epsom salt by roasting with pyrites.4 Other processes include acid treatment6 and digestion with calcium chloride.6 Recently a small plant was built near Webster, N. C., for making epsom salt from olivine by treatment with sulphuric acid. This plant is now in commercial operation, producing approximately two tons per day. Olivine is also receiving attention from the fertilizer industry as an inexpensive source of soluble magnesium.

Jan 1, 1942

Discussion of the paper of G. K. Burgess and J. J. Crowe, presented at the New York Meeting, October, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 82, October, 1913, pp. 2537 to 2591. HENRY M. Howe, New York, N. Y. :-I think we can hardly rate the importance of the entry of the Bureau of Standards into our field. There is no body in the world that is better fitted to undertake this work than that Bureau, and it is work which really calls for the aid of some national organization. The skill and care with which this work has been done speaks for itself. It is very striking that within a very few months the distinguished English investigator, Professor Carpenter, of whom I spoke before, thought that he had disproved the existence of beta iron by proving that the A2 retardation which Professor Burgess has now demonstrated did not occur. Dr. Burgess&apos;s demonstration of the existence of. this retardation makes the existence of beta iron very probable, in my opinion. Osmond used to call beta iron " decipuum." You knew of its existence as you know of the existence of certain planets, only by the perturbation which it caused. Certain phenomena could not be explained, except by assuming the existence of a third allotropic form, beta iron. The evidence that you got was always evasive and susceptible of other explanations, except that which we have to-day, which it seems to me is not capable of other explanation. Professor Carpenter proceeded in the same way that Dr. Burgess has, by taking the heating and cooling curves of exceedingly pure iron, and thought that he had shown that there was no thermal change, no absorption or evolution of heat at the supposed A2 point, and hence that the A2 point did not exist. This he did by a piece of reasoning which I think seems to most of us rather surprising. That is to say, if of ten witnesses, three have seen a thing and seven have not, the evidence of the seven who have not is set aside, and that of the three who have seen stands. In Dr. Carpenter&apos;s own experiments under certain conditions he found the A2 change, the heat evolution., under certain others he did not. That is like the three witnesses who saw and the seven who did not see. You can arrange your test so that this change will not become visible or so that it is masked. But though an existent change can be masked a non-existent one cannot be shown. So that the reasoning seemed to me wholly fallacious.

Jan 12, 1913

By P. K. Koh

Chi phase (body-centered cubic, a = 8.89A) was found in as-cast 23 pct Cr-10 pct Mo-Fe alloy as well as in heat-treated 316, 316L, 317, and modified 446 stainless steels. Chi phase resembles sigma phase in its metastability, chemical composition, and brittleness. Microstructure and some of physical properties of chi phase were developed. MOLYBDENUM has been established as a desirable alloying element for the enhancement of corrosion resistance in Cr-Ni steels and creep and rupture strength in high temperature alloys. On the debit side, however, the molybdenum addition has been known to stimulate u formation. When the molybdenum-bearing steels were subjected to prolonged heating at elevated temperatures, losses of corrosion resistance and/or ductility have been observed. Andrews1,2 first found the existence of a new phase among the anodic FeC13 extracts from type 316 stainless steel solution treated and then reheated from 800" to 1100°C. This phase was designated x and was identified by diffraction patterns as of body-centered cubic structure with a value equal to 8.89? and similar to that of a manganese. He found that the x phase in this steel always coexisted with s phase, but failed to distinguish one from the other by metallographic technique. No definite conclusion was drawn regarding the equilibrium temperature ranges of these two phases. The appearance of Andrew&apos;s work recalled an un- explained structure observed several years ago at the Allegheny Ludlum Research Laboratories during the investigation of an experimental alloy containing 25 pct Cr, 10 pct Mo, and balance Fe. X-ray diffraction patterns on the as-cast material revealed the presence of a body-centered cubic phase having a lattice parameter of 8.89?. The structure was sufficiently similar to that of y chromium that for a time it was thought that the structure might be caused by the presence of some undissolved electrolytic chromium particles. The alloy as-cast was so brittle that it shattered after the slightest hot reduction by hammer cogging. This paper gives the results of some metallographic and X-ray diffraction studies on x phase as found in several experimental alloys as well as a few molybdenum-bearing commercial stainless steels. The analyses of materials studied were as shown in Table I. Experimental Procedure Metallography: Solid specimens were polished mechanically and etched in boiling 50 pct HC1 solution in order to best delineate x and s phases in the alloys studied. X-Ray Diffraction: The difficulty of satisfactorily developing diffraction lines for s phase in solid specimens has been previously reported by Bindari, Koh, and Zmeskal.V or this reason all specimens used in this investigation were subjected to anodic

Jan 1, 1954

By A. H. Daane, B. J. Beaudry

The uranium-antimony system has been investigated by metal-lographic, therma1, and X-ray methods. There are four intermediate phases present: USbz and U,Sb, which undergo peritectic decomposition at 1355°and 1695OC, respectively, and USb and UPSbs which melt congruently at 1850"and 1800°C, respectively. There is a eutectic between U4Sbs and USb which melts at 1770°C. USb,, UsSb4, and USb are line compounds while U4Sbs has a solubility range of approximately 1.5 at. pct at 1770°C. Single crystal studies of the cmpo,und U.,SbS show it to have a hexagonal unit cell with a, = 9.268A and c, = 6.201b;. The solubility of uranium in liquid antimony increases from 0.1 at. pct at 650°C to 1.5 at. pct at 900°C. The solubility of antimony in a, P, and y uranium is approximately 0.02, 0.1, and 0.05 at. pct respectively. IN nuclear reactors, uranium has been used mainly in the form of solid-fuel elements of the pure-metal or uranium-rich alloys. However, in attempts to overcome some of the difficulties inherent in solid-fueled reactors, reactor concepts hive been proposed in which the fuel would be a liquid metal, such as a solution of uranium in another metal. The liquid-metal fueled reactor (LMFR) designed by the Brook-haven National Laboratory of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission is an example. Fuel for this reactor is a solution of approximately 800 ppm enriched uranium in bismuth.&apos; To design such liquid-fueled reactors, a background of information on the solubility of uranium in various metals is obviously necessary. The present study was undertaken to pro- vide information for such purposes, and in addition, to study the uranium-antimony system as a whole. A preliminary literature search showed that some work had been done previously on uranium-antimony alloys, but no attempts had been made to make a complete study of this system. The solubility of uranium in antimony was studied by Cammack and Bridger&apos; up to 950°C and by Hayes and Gordon up to 900&apos;-C. Their data are plotted in Fig. 1. Ferro, in an X-ray structure study of some uranium-antimony compounds, found USg to be tetragonal with a, = 4.2724 and c, = 8.471A, U3S4 to be b.c.c. with aO = 9.095A and USb to be f.c.c. with a,= 6.191A. Colani reported the compound UsSba; however, work by Ferro and by this Laboratory showed that this compound does not exist. foote&apos; reported several intermediate phases in the uranium-antimony system, but did not identify them. Greninger&apos; re-ported finding an intermediate phase in a 5 at. pct Sb

Jan 1, 1960

By H. C. Fiedler

The solubility of sulfur in Si-Fe was determined by the metallographic examination of heat-treated and quenched samples. In the absence of manganese, the solubility in 3.1 pct Si-Fe was found to be about 0.010 pct at 1000o C, 0.015 pct at 11000C, and 0.020 pct at 1150°C, which is substatntially less than hitherto reported. Increasing the silicon content was found to decrease the solubility of sulfur, which is consistent with the increase in the activity coefficient of sulfur with increasing silicon content that has been reported for Fe-Si alloys. Manganese additions were studied in alloys containing 3.1 pct Si and between 0.013 and 0.015 pct S. At low manganese levels the solubility product of manganese sulfide was found to be lower than previously reported. THE solubility of sulfur in pure polycrystalline iron has been reported by Rosenquist and Dunicz1 and by Turkdogan et al.2 Samples were equilibrated in atmospheres containing different ratios of H2S/H2. Both groups of investigators found a solubility limit in y iron of 0.013 pct at 1000oC and 0.031 pct at 1200°C. In addition, Rosenquist and Dunicz1 found a solubility limit in a iron of 0.020 pct at 900°C. Ainslie, Hoffman, and seybolt3 found significantly higher sulfur contents in polycrystalline iron samples than in single-crystal samples after heating at 890°C in a sealed tube containing a mixture of powdered iron and FeS made with s35. Whereas the single crystals contained 0.013 and 0.016 pct S (± 0.005 pct), the polycrystalline samples contained between 0.016 and 0.026 pct S. Autoradiographs suggested that the excess sulfur in the polycrystalline samples was due to the segregation of sulfur in solution at grain boundaries. Ainslie and seybolt4 have reported on the solubility of sulfur in 3 pct Si-Fe. Their samples were sealed in capsules containing hydrogen and sufficient sulfur as cobalt sulfide to saturate the sample. After heat treating, the sulfur-rich phase on the surface was removed by abrading, and the sulfur content of the sample was taken as the equilibrium value for that temperature. Before the equilibrating heat treatment, the samples were heated to 1300°C to coarsen the grains. The resulting grain size, which was about 3/18 in. in diam, was considered sufficiently large to preclude a sensible increase in sulfur solubility due to grain boundary segregation. They reported the solubility to be 0.029 pct at 900oC, 0.063 pct at 1000oC, 0.076 pct at 1100°C, 0.122 pct at 1200°C, and 0.098 pct at 1300°C.

Jan 1, 1968