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By L. B. Slichter

After statement of the principles of similitude which apply to electromagnetic modeling, charts showing the inductive response of conducting spheres as dependent upon frequency, conductivity, and size are exhibited in this paper. The shape of the curve which relates intensity of response to frequency is significant in indicating the advisability of low frequencies in the exploration for conducting bodies, when consistent with the securing of a large percentage of the ideally possible response. Comparisons of theoretical response and that observed with models are shown, and relationships with the subject of applied electromagnetic prospecting are indicated. Maxwell Field Equations The Maxwell field equations summarize the physical laws that govern electrical field phenomena; they are the basis for the solution of electromagnetic problems. These concise equations, with adequately formulated boundary conditions, specify the complete electrical condition of continuous media, and the development of their solution amounts merely to a more convenient re-expression of phenomena already completely described. Thus, the immediate content of the field equations themselves is sufficient and sometimes convenient for the treating of certain questions (such as those relating to electromagnetic models) which are independent of the special factors of geometry, or the nature of an impressed field. The four Maxwell field equations are written below, in c.g.s. gaussian units: curl E = -B/c [21 div eE = 4pp [31 div B = 0 [41

Jan 1, 1932

By Alan Probert

IN his inaugural address in 1949, President Truman made a policy declaration which launched the foreign technical assistance program known to the world as Point Four. Congress passed Public Law 535 defining the scope of the program and holding activities to certain limitations. It also provided $34.5 million for the first fiscal year. The Technical Cooperation Administration was established within the Department of State to coordinate and direct a program to include "economic, engineering, medical, educational, agricultural, fishery, mineral and fiscal surveys, demonstration, training and similar projects." The mineral programs of Point Four have been staffed and managed by two agencies of the Department of Interior, the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines. The Geological Survey is concerned primarily with water-supply problems, the discovery of mineral deposits, and the determination of habit, shape, and grade of mineral deposits. The Bureau of Mines is concerned with determining the commercial potentialities of mineral deposits, mineral technology, and the production and distribution of mineral commodities. Mineral projects comprised only 1 pet of the first year's budget. In spite of the relatively insignificant expenditure compared to those for food, agriculture, and health, a commendable record has been achieved.

Jan 1, 1952

By William P. Blake

In another paper I have described in general the close association of zinc-blende and iron pyrites in the ore-deposits of southwest Wis consin. These two minerals generally occur together at the same horizon, a sheet of one being overlain by a sheet of the other; and also the pyrites is disseminated through the blende to such a degree that the latter is rendered comparatively worthless for the produc tion of spelter. Ordinarily the pyrites, which is mostly the trimetric marcasite variety, occurs in about equal quantity with the blende and is separated by hand-culliug and chipping; but there are large de posits where the ores are so closely mixed that they can neither be separated by culling nor by any mechanical method. The specific gravity of the two minerals is so nearly the same that attempts often made to effect even a partial separation by jigging have proved un. successful. The smelters of zinc-ores in the Mississippi valley will not take ores which carry more than 7 per cent. of iron; and it is therefore necessary to cull the massive ('jack" with great care and at consid erable expense, in order to bring it up to the market-standard of purity. The results of trials to effect a separation of blende and pyrites in other regions have been equally unsatisfactory. The literature of this branch of metallurgy abounds in examples. In Wisconsin efforts have been made in the past to " burn " the mixed ores in heaps, in order to soften or destroy the pyrites, and facilitate its separation from the massive blende. The same method has also been resorted to when galenite is mixed through the substance of the blende, for the purpose of disintegrating the ore, so that it could be separated by jigging. The custom was to pile the ore and the fuel together. As might have been expected, the results were far from satisfactory. As is usual in heap-roast ing, some portions of the ore were overheated and decomposed; zinc was lost by volatilization; the galenite in some portions was

Jan 1, 1894

By H. M. Chance

In recent years an important function of the mining engineer has been the appraisal of the value of mining-properties required by those planning consolidations of a number of' individual operations. In no field of productive industry have the economic results attainable by consolidation been more clearly shown than in the mining-regions of the United States. In many important mining-centers unification of ownership of the most valuable properties has already partially or completely been attained, and, in other districts, projected absorptions and consolidations await only favorable financial conditions for their consummation. The iron-ore districts of the Lake Superior region, the coal-mines of Colorado, of Wyoming and of Utah, the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania, the Connellsville coking-coal mines, and large areas of bituminous coal-land in Pennsylvania, in Ohio, in the Indian Territory and in other portions of the United States, are now largely controlled by a few corporations operating on a large scale, or by a number of corporations working in harmony because of an affiliation and interleaving of interests. The tact of keen financiers and the diplomacy of men of great administrative ability are the chief operative forces in conceiving and accomplishing such consolidations, but in formulating and maturing them, the services of the mining engineer are often required to supply the facts upon which they must be based. For this purpose the expert is expected to furnish full and complete reports covering the quantity of ore, coal or other mineral available, its value per ton, cost of mining and treatment, etc. In reporting upon gold-, silver-, lead-, zinc-, copper- or iron-

Jan 1, 1905

By G. P. Connell, R. E. Gilmore, J. H. H. Nicolls

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a procedure for indicating the dividing line between noncaking coals and those that have weakly caking properties. A laboratory agglomerating test as an aid in classifying weakly caking coals is outlined and its merits in comparison with the standard agglutinating method advanced by the U. S. Bureau of Mines are discussed. No attempt, however, is made to discuss in detail either the different methods for determining "caking" and "agglutinating" indices or the various systems of classification. Two methods, differing somewhat in procedure, have been employed and recognized as suitable for determining the caking or agglutinating values of coals; namely, those in which an inert material such as sand, electrode carbon, etc., has been mixed with the coal before being heated, and those in which the coal is carbonized alone. In all such methods, the coal with or without the inert material is in the finely divided state and the index or value sought is derived from the examination of the residue after heating in a closed crucible or other container. The procedure outlined by Selvig, Beattie and Clellandl is the most recent representative of the method using sand as inert material, while the agglomerating test described below is representative of the method in which the coal is carbonized alone. The standard volatile-matter determination affords a means for observing the coking properties of a coal, and this has been described by Rose2 as the simplest of all coking tests. According to him, "the resulting coke button will indicate whether the coal is noncoking, feebly coking or strongly coking," despite the fact that "almost every condition in this test is at variance with large-scale carbonizing practice." Lessing,3 the

Jan 1, 1934

Oct. 8-13, 1917 COMMITTEE ON ARRANGEMENTS H. A. BUEHLER, Chairman, W. E. McCOURT, Secretary, C. J. ADAMI, Southeastern, J. A. CASELTON, Entertainment, F. W. DEWOLF, Book, , E. F. GOLTRA, Finance, L. L. HUTCHISON, Tulsa, E. McAULIFFE, Transportation, P. N. MOORS, Reception, MRS. P. N. MOORE, Ladies, J. D. ROBERTSON, Publicity, VICTOR RAKOWSKI, Joplin., H. A. WHEELER, Excursions, A. THACHER.

Jan 7, 1917

By Z. T. Bieniawski

The efficient and safe design of room-and-pillar coal mines still remains as one of the pressing problems facing the mining industry in the United States. Present day design is a trial-and-error approach based mostly on experience. Although much research has been directed to stability of mine roofs and coal pillars, no generally-accepted design method has been formulated. This paper reports on a three-year research effort directed to an improved design of room-and-pillar coal mining in the U.S.A. Essentially the study consisted of three aspects: (i) determination of stable roof spans; (ii) determination of the strength of coal pillars; and (iii) determination of safety factors for room-and-pillar coal mining in the United States. Furthermore, three novel approaches were utilized during this research: i) the "petite sismique" technique was assessed for possible determination of coal pillar deformability ii) the "Geomechanics Classification" was extended for determination of safe roof spans in room-and-pillar coal mining. iii) a national survey of the current design practice and mining dimensions was performed with the aim of assessing factors of safety for room-and-pillar coal mining The outcome of this work, which is summarized in this paper, is a design code for room-and-pillar mining in the United States.

Jan 1, 1983

By J. D. Grace

Screening by centrifugal force is a unique subject, for all vibrating screens, with but one exception, depend on gravity alone to pass material through a sizing mesh or screen cloth. Centrifugal screening is one of the greatest advancements made in screening since the development of vibrating screens. It makes possible sizing in a range previously im-practical by mechanical methods. The centrifugal screen is specially designed for fine sizing from No. 4 separations to finer than No. 100 separations. Centrifugal force provides a positive control of factors that make fine particle separation practical and effective as opposed to gravity which is a fixed force acting only in a fixed direction, The centrifugal screen provides a control of the force of material against the screening surface, and also controls the distance of departure of the material from the surface and its rate of return. The centrifugal screen has a rotating drum that becomes a natural fan blowing air outward through the material being screened and carrying float dust and fines through the apertures with it. Screening by centrifugal force is an unique subject, for with the exception of only one vibrating screen presently on the market, all vibrating screens depend upon gravity to pass material through a sizing mesh or screen cloth. This one screen that sizes by centrifugal force and utilizes gravity only to convey material along the screen, is the Symons V-Screen. The requirements of the industrial minerals industry to meet ever-increasing stringent fine sizing specifications by a practical mechanical method accentuates the weakness of gravity, a fixed force acting in a fixed direction, as a prime force for fine sizing. It was apparent a force other than gravity was needed. This led to the development of a centrifugal screen to meet modern demands for practical fine sizing operations. Gyratory-type screens in use today were originally designed in a day when a 1/4-in. separation was normally considered fine sizing and 1/8-in. separations were extremely fine sizing. Although gyratory-type screens are sometimes used for separating below 1/8-in., they are not practical screens for this purpose. They were not designed to do this type of work. A growing demand for a practical means of making positive mechanical separations in a range of from 1/8 in. downward led to the development of the vibrating screen. These screens utilize higher speeds and lower amplitudes of vibration than

Jan 1, 1967

By H. H. Evinger, M. Muskat

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

Jan 1, 1941

By R. M. Larsen

The Rocky Mountain region is defined with some variations for different purposes or by different organizations. For oil and gas development, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, and Utah are included in the order of their apparent importance. Portions of adjoining states, such as North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Arizona, Nevada, and Idaho, arc attributary to this region, but have little or no oil or gas production. Nebraska and New Mexico are considered separately (see pp. 412 and 415), and most of the discussion in this report will be confined to Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. Utah has produced about 200,000 bbl. of oil from the San Juan and Virgin fields, which are isolated and shut in at present. The Clay Basin field in northeastern Utah produces natural gas and distillate, and the Farnham field in central Utah produces carbon dioxide gas. Other Utah areas of some interest are listed in Table I. The Cedar Creek (Baker-Glendive) field in southeastern Montana extends into North Dakota, but is listed under Montana. The other states are in the main wildcat areas, and exploration in 1944 was at a minimum. However, geological and geophysical parties are reviewing them for further testing. Oil production in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming was 459,000 bbl. more than in 1943. Increases of 713,000 bbl. in Colarado and 731,000 bbl. in Montana offset a loss of 985,000 bbl. in Wyoming. This was the first decline in Wyoming since 1938. Field production figures and state totals are given in Table I. Total drilling activities in these three states and Utah increased from 687 wells making 1,442,511 ft. of hole in 1943 to 916 wells making 2,245,803 it. in 1944. Wildcat drilling increased from 163 wells making 331,193 ft. of hole in 1943 to 171 wells making 389,144 it. in 1944. These figures include all drilling wells making footage, not starts or completions, and represent an all-time high in drilling. The year 1944 witnessed the greatest concentration of seismograph activity that the region has had. The Rocky Mountain Oil Scouts Association reported that in 1943, the previous peak year, 91 crew months of work were performed; in 1944, the time was 254 crew months. About 67 per cent of the work was in Wyoming, 18 per cent in Montana, and 12 per cent in Colorado. Twenty-three blocks totaling 400,000 acres were reported assembled in Colorado, and 161 blocks totaling 4,000,000 acres in Wyoming. Information about other states was not given. Fourteen unit agreements were approved by the Department of the Interior, as compared with 13 in 1943. The 1944 agreements were all in Wyoming. In five of the unit areas, oil or gas discoveries were made, four were dry, and five were drilling Or pending' Oil companies find it advantageous to unitize blocks containing any proportion of public domain. Units for

Jan 1, 1945

By J. L. Wyatt

THE smelting of ilmenite to produce a slag rich in titanium, with pig-iron as a byproduct, introduces new concepts in electric smelting metallurgy. Titanium slags are characterized by low electrical resistance, thereby requiring a different type of electric furnace operation, and power supply sources substantially different from those encountered in normal steel melting and siliceous ore smelting furnaces. This paper describes special apparatus for determining specific electrical resistivity of titanium slags, and reports the values obtained on slags encountered in the process of smelting ilmenite ores. In an induction furnace under conditions approximating normal furnacing operation, 25 general heats and 6 special standardization and comparison heats were run. Results indicate relatively low resistivity. Resistivity depends primarily on slag composition, and, to a lesser degree, on temperature. During the summer of 1947 a cooperative project between the National Lead Co. and the Bureau of Mines was conducted at Boulder City, Nevada, in the Electrometallurgical Laboratories of the Bureau. The project involved smelting of ilmenite ores in electric furnaces, and has been reported in detail.' The author participated as a member of the staff of the National Lead Co. during the entire campaign. One outstanding characteristic of the titaniferous slags, their apparently excellent and variable electrical conductivity, was considered sufficiently important to warrant further study. Although little electric smelting of iron ores has been done in the United States, a certain amount of information is available for comparative purposes. Personal experience in smelting siliceous iron ores in electric furnaces furnished further information for comparison. In general, silicate slags are relatively poor conductors of electricity. Current flow during smelting operations may be maintained through a floating layer of coke on top of the slag bath, or through a bath of molten iron, beneath the slag. Silicate slags are not sufficiently conductive to furnish a path for current passage when normal furnace voltages are used. Experimental smelting of a silicate iron ore was undertaken for comparative purposes. A fluid melt was not obtained until the FeO content was reduced to 15 pct. The resistivity increased as the FeO content decreased, FeO compounds being the most conductive of the various oxides in such a normal slag system. The converse appears to be true in slags containing large percentages of TiO2. It has been found that titanium slags become molten with FeO percentages in excess of 30 pct, and that the conductivity becomes generally better as the FeO con-tent of the slag diminishes. This phenomenon was demonstrated in the furnacing operations at Boulder City. During the initial smelting period furnace electrodes could be held immersed several inches in the slag, with tap selectors set for a no-load voltage of 70 v. As the FeO content decreased, the furnace electrodes would "walk up," until at one point in the process the tips would break the surface and arc on top of the slag. This was undesirable since direct arcing caused losses of important flux additions. The slag compositions under study at that time were such that losses due to surface arcing sometimes caused viscous slags to be formed. Forcing the electrodes into the slag bath by manual control to prevent surface arcing resulted in excessive power input and lack of control. Suitable low voltages were not available. Measurement of the electrical resistivity of titanium slags at various operating temperatures and slag compositions was undertaken. It was believed that this information would be of use in the design of electric furnaces suitable for smelting ilmenite, with voltages, electrode sizes, and electrode spacing adapted specifically to titanium slags.

Jan 1, 1951

By M. Muskat, H. H. Evinger

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

Jan 1, 1941

FRIENDS of the late Charles F. Rand presented in 1930 a sum of money from which the income is available to support various phases of the work of the Institute in which Mr. Rand was so deeply interested. At present the fund amounts to $10,400. The specific terms of the deed of gift are as follows: "The fund collected to establish a memorial to the late Charles F. Rand shall be placed in the custody of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, to be set up as a trust to be known as the `Charles F. Rand Foundation,' the income of which shall each year be applied to a distinct purpose to be decided upon in that year by vote of the Board of Directors. This purpose shall be such as to promote the general welfare of the Institute and to constitute a permanent memorial of the usefulness of Mr. Rand, who for many years gave unstintingly of his time and talents in its service. "It shall be within the discretion of the Board of Directors to establish a medal to be known as the Charles F. Rand Memorial Medal to be awarded at such a time and under such rules as may be determined by the Board of Directors, for Distinguished Achievement in Mining Administration." The establishment of this medal was announced at the annual meeting in February, 1932, the term "mining" being defined in its broad sense to include metallurgy and petroleum. Robert Linton is chairman of the Charles F. Rand Foundation Award Committee.

Jan 1, 1943

By R. L. Fleischer, B. Chalmers

In order to observe size effects associated with a grain boundary, aluminum single crystals and bicrystals of various cross-sectional dimensions were deformed in tension. Typical stress-strain curves are presented in conjunction with measurements of the effects of changes in crystal dimensions. Some effects of the growth rate used in preparation of crystals are also described. It is indicated that the macroscopic constraints at a grain boundary are responsible for the most prominent grain-boundary effect, the production of multiple slip. Two measurements of the width of the region of double slip are in agreement. It is concluded that the yield stress of aluminum is affected markedly by the inherent oxide coating. THE general problem to be examined is that of dimensional effects in the plastic deformation of metal crystals. These effects will be termed "size effects" and are here defined as follows: A size effect occurs in a series of crystals if their plastic-deformation properties are a function of crystal dimensions. Clearly then size effects depend on the nature of the boundary conditions imposed on the crystal. Crystal boundaries can be of three types: interphase, inter-crystalline, and free surface. Such deformation effects as are caused by distribution of phases, grain size, lineage structure, and single crystal external geometry are specific types of size effects. This discussion will be confined primarily to grain-boundary and single-crystal size effects, though in practice most "single crystals" not only have a number of small angle boundaries but also have one or more surface phases, so that the boundary conditions appropriate to a free surface do not necessarily apply. Hence, to this extent interphase size effects will be considered. The question of size effects associated with grain boundaries (called here intercrystalline size effects)

Jan 1, 1959

By F. M. Lewis, J. F. Meyers

This second progress report of grinding presents comments regarding ball consumption and data pertaining to the hydroscillator, which is closed circuited with the tricone mill. A study and postulate of how balls function is presented. The paper summarizes cost reduction obtained by the method of "grinding for the tail race" rather than for "mesh tons." AT the Regional meeting in Columbus, Ohio, in September 1949, the authors presented a progress report of the first year's operation with a Hardinge tricone mill in closed circuit with a Dorr hydroscillator. The present report covers our findings on this grinding circuit to January, 1950. In order to clarify our position, the authors wish to state that no invention or discovery is claimed. The Tennessee grinding circuit is simply an engineered arrangement of known equipment arranged to incorporate all of the recognized efficiency factors of comminution as they are known today. As we concluded our first report, it was not clear how effective the Tennessee mode of operation would be on harder ores. The only information we had at that time was that the Bond grindability test at 48-mesh gave 6.04 g of undersize per revolution. A later test on the same sample at 100-mesh reduced this to 2.04 g, which is definitely in the harder ore class, and which makes the reported 8.80 kw-hr per ton of —200-mesh produced a very creditable figure. Hydroscillator Operation The machine as now developed has proved dependable and easy to operate. It starts easily under full load and responds quickly to operating adjustments. The hydraulic holes in the oscillating plate do not plug when shut down under full load. Absolutely clean hydraulic water is essential. An Elliott water screen or similar device should be an essential part of the machine to keep all scale and trash of all kinds from the hydraulic compartment. The shift operators have expressed approval of the machine. In table I we show a typical screen analysis of the hydroscillator rake sand as compared to conventional classifier rake sand on our ore. We have previously reported that of the 28.7 pct reduction in power, the hydroscillator contributed 6 pct, on a —200-mesh basis. This is a conservative figure. Some of our test runs indicated that the saving was as high as 10 pct. Laboratory studies by the Dorr Co. engineers indicate that still greater efficiency is possible. Nevertheless, the 10-ft plate is overflowing 2100 tons per day at 3 to 4 pct + 65-mesh, which is a very creditable performance by

Jan 1, 1951

By R. B. Moore

Page History................................ 708 What is Radioactivity?........................ 710 Disintegration Series.......................... 711 Radium Ore Deposits......................... 713 Metallurgical Treatment........................ 717 Methods of Ore Concentration..................... 722 Future Supply of Ore......................... 723 Uses of Radium............................ 723 Mesothorium as a Substitute for Radium................. 724 Discussion.............................. 725 Probably no other metal excites as much interest, among both scientific men and the general public, as radium. This is due partly to the high cost of radium salts and partly to the peculiar properties of the element. Since radium-bearing ores were discovered in the United States, the interest of American scientific men has been stimulated and, at the present time, more radium is extracted and refined in this country than in all the rest of the world together. HISTORY The property of radioactivity was discovered, partly by accident, by Henri Becquerel, the French physicist, in 1896. He was experimenting with certain fluorescent substances in order to find, if possible, a connection between fluorescence and the recently discovered X-rays. Among other chemicals which possess the property of fluorescence, he was using salts of uranium. His custom was to expose the fluorescent substance to the action of sunlight and then register the effect of possible penetrating radiation on a photographic plate protected from ordinary light. Bec-querel's experiments gave positive results at once, and he at first believed that he had discovered a relation between fluorescence and X-rays. Later he exposed a plate to a uranium salt which had not been previously exposed to sunlight. To his surprise, on developing this plate, he found that he had obtained the same effect as he had previously secured when

Jan 1, 1919

By A. T. Goldbeck

THE use of stone as a building material in relatively large blocks is recorded in ancient historical records but only within the past 200 years has broken stone in small sizes begun to have extensive use, principally in highway construction. Tresaguet, in 1764, describing his method for highway construction in France, required the top surface to be built of stone about the size of a walnut, broken by the use of a hammer. It is said that the Romans, in the top layer of their rather massive roads, used large stones bonded together with lime mortar and bedded in small stones mixed with mortar. Much of the early macadam as built by McAdam around 1815 in England was made with hand-sledged broken stone. In 1858, the use of crushed or broken stone received a great impetus from the invention in that year by Eli Whitney Blake of what is said to be the world's first stone crusher. As a consequence of that invention, stone could be crushed to small sizes with considerable ease and, as a natural result, the use of crushed stone in macadam roads and as railroad ballast increased at a great rate. Also, as portland cement came into use, machine-produced crushed stone furnished readily available aggregate. Rapidly, other uses developed, such as for fluxstone in the production of pig iron and for other metallurgical operations and chemical utilizations. These utilizations made for the rapid growth of the crushed-stone industry and this growth is still proceeding with the growth of population and the development of new uses, notably the employment of limestone for the improvement of soils for agricultural purposes. The industries of which the production of crushed stone is a part have a tonnage second only to that of mineral fuel in the mineral industries of this country.

Jan 1, 1949

By N. F. Mott

Jan 1, 1961

By E. R. Gilbert, D. E. Munson

Creep of copper under 75 to 1.50 kg per sq cm stresses at temperatures near the melting point was found to he a complex reaction controlled by three mechanisms acting in parallel. In order of appearance with decreasing temperature, the auerage activation energies, Qc , are 168, 79, and 24 kcal per mole. Stress dependence of the minimum creep rate was found to he an exponential for the two high-Qc processes and a power law for the low-Qc, process. Transition of control occurs from one mechanism to another. The relative transition temperature depends upon the applied stress, and the range oiler which the transition occurs depends upon the difference in the activation energies of the mechanisms. The creep behavior at high temperature is explained by the climb of dislocations through thermally or mechanically formed jogs, CREEP in pure fcc metals at temperatures in excess of one half the absolute melting point is normally controlled by dislocation c1imb.1,2 A climb model which seems applicable, according to an extensive analysis of data,3 was derived by Weert-man.4 This model assumes jog-saturated dislocations and predicts an activation energy, Qc, nearly equal to that for self-diffusion, USd. Although the requirement of jog saturation is restrictive, agreement between theory and experiment seems adequate. Many other theoretical treatments, including an early model by Mott,5 include detailed consideration of jog formation as an initial requirement for climb. These models predict activation energies for creep which differ from those of self-diffusion. Seeger6,7 postulates an observed activation energy related to the stacking-fault energy. Thus, Usd <Qc<5Usd + Uj where Uj is the jog-formation energy. Seeger incorporated qualitatively the influence of the relative numbers of thermal and athermal jogs. Expanding this concept, Shoeck8 explicitly states a function based on formation mode and relative numbers of vacancies: e r ci exp {-uf/k T} exp {-Um/k T} [ 1 ] where Uf and Um are energies of vacancy formation and migration, respectively. The concentration of jogs, Cj, depends upon the manner of jog production. For intersection jogs, Cj is not sensitive E. R. GILBERT, Junior Member AIME, formerly with De- to temperature; for thermal jogs, Cj is proportional to exp {—Uj /k T}. Schoeck regards each mode as a distinct mechanism; therefore, the mechanisms may act together.299 The diversity predicted by theory, surprisingly, has not been substantiated by experimental results. A significant investigation must include the extremes in stacking-fault energy. Extensive creep studies of aluminum10 and nickel,11,12 high stacking-fault energy metals, have been made. Comparable studies on a low stacking-fault energy metal, such as copper, have not. It is the purpose of this paper to report the results of an investigation of the creep of copper under conditions which favor thermal jogs. EXPERIMENTAL Cylindrical compression creep specimens (0.240 in. in diameter by 0.400 in. long) were machined from cold-drawn rods of electrolytic tough-pitch copper containing 0.0007 Mg, 0.002 Fe, 0.001 Ni, 0.0005 Ag, Cd < 0.005, and Pb < 0.005 wt pct impurities. Undetected spectrographically was a nominal 0.04 wt pct 0, which occurs as a Cu2O constituent distributed discontinuously at grain boundaries. Vacuum annealing at 900°C for 15 min produced a stable 0.03-mm average grain diameter. Testing was carried out using apparatus similar to that described by sherby,13 modified by enclosing platens and a push rod in a vacuum cylinder. Normally this arrangement resulted in pressures less than 10 Only a slight surface tarnish, less than 0.0005 in. in thickness, occurred during the test. The applied stress, corrected for atmospheric pressure, was maintained within 2 pct of the desired true stress by the addition of lead shot at fixed strain increments. Creep strain was measured with dial gages as a relative displacement of the upper and lower platens; accuracy of measurement was 0.0001 in. Two creep-test methods were used, the differential or cyclic temperature14 and the isothermal, to obtain creep data at stress levels of 150, 100, and 75 kg per sq cm over the temperature range of 620° to 1032°C. Minimum creep rates were used from both test methods; this was considered proper because comparable temperature tests or cycling to the same temperature gave the same creep rate, within experimental error. The cold vacuum test chamber, with the unstressed specimen in place, was heated to temperature by placing a preheated furnace over the chamber. Temperature equilibrium was attained within 30 min. For the cyclic tests, the stress was removed during the 5 to 10 min necessary to effect the temperature change and re-

Jan 1, 1965

By R. K. Hopkins

For a great many years fusion welding has been used in and around petroleum refineries, but it is only within six or seven years that the more important pressure vessels have been constructed by this process, because before that time the properties of fusion welds would not with-stand such rigorous service. Since the adoption of fusion welding for the construction of this equipment, the refiner has required pressure vessels suitable for operation over a very wide range of conditions. On the one hand, vessels must operate at extremely high temperatures, in the range of 950° to 1000° F., and on the other vessels must be suitable for operation at sub-zero temperatures down as low as -75° F. Also, vessels are required suitable for operation at pressures upwards of 1000 lb. per sq. in., and as low as a 29-in. vacuum. In addition, vessels are required to withstand the attack of very corrosive mediums. It has been a rather difficult task for the fabricator to meet all of these require-ments, but as a result of the extensive research carried on by steel manu-facturers and several fabricators of class I vessels, practically all of these demands have been met. In order to meet the refiners&apos; requirements for this wide range of conditions, the fabricator has worked closely with the metallurgist. This has enabled him to choose the proper base metal for each service condition, but it has been the fabricator&apos;s problem to develop a welding rod and welding technique, as well as a heat-treatment, that would produce in the welded vessel characteristics in and around the weld comparable to those in the base metal. Where corrosion is not a serious problem, and where the operating temperatures are not too high, ordinary carbon steel has served very well. But when corrosion is serious, and/or when the temperatures are either very high or very low, it is necessary to use some form of alloy steel to give satisfactory service.

Jan 1, 1935