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By C. P. Parsons

During the past year considerable interest has been shown in cementing operations for shutting off bottom water, whipstocking, etc. A number of plug-back methods have been used, with various adaptations for special conditions, but those described in this paper are representative of the methods now in use. Conditioning the Well Various preliminary operations for improving the results from plug-back operations have been evolved. In one method, a nitroglycerin shot is discharged at the upper portion of the formation to be plugged off, the purpose being to make a wide place in the hole in order to give the cement a more secure anchor against thrust pressure of the water against the bottom of the cement plug after the well is again put on production. Another is intended to attain a similar result by under-reaming a wide place in the hole by means of a rotary wall scraper. In one well in which this device was used there was a water sand at the bottom of the well immediately below the cap rock above which the oil sand occurred. Before the plugging back operation, the water sand was underreamed in an attempt to get a square shoulder on the underside of the cap rock, in order to prevent the water from breaking in over the top of the cement plug after the well should be put on production, and also to get a more secure anchor for the cement plug against the thrust pressure of the water against it. As an aid in calculating the amount of cement required to fill a given amount of hole to be plugged back, a device has been developed for measuring and recording the irregularities and cavities in open holes, called an "open-hole recording caliper." If consists of a steel shell, 5 in. in diameter, which encloses a recording mechanism that receives impressions from four movable arms that make sliding contact with the wall of the hole. The arms operate a ratchet, which raises and lowers a recording stylus against a chart. Each arm registers its own radius. The device is run into a well on a steel measuring line. While the device is being lowered, the arms are folded inside the shell; they are

Jan 1, 1936

LIST OF THE MEETINGS OF THE INSTITUTE AND THEIR LOCALITIES FROM ITS ORGANIZATION Transactions Number Place Date Vol Page 1 Wilkes-Barre, Pa May, ?71 1 3 2 Bethlehem, Pa August, ?71 1 10 3 Troy, N Y November, ?71 1 13 4 Philadelphia, Pa February, ?72 1 17 5 New York, N Y May, ?72 1 20 6 Pittsburg, Pa October, ?72 1 25 7 Boston, Mass February, ?73 1 28 8 Philadelphia, Pa May, ?73 2 3 9 Easton, Pa October, ?73 2 7 10 New York, N Y February, ?74 211 11 St Louis, Mo May, ?74 3 3 12 Hazleton, Pa October, ?74 3 8 13 New Haven, Conn February, ?75 3 15 14 Dover, N J May, ?75 4 3 15 Cleveland, 0 October, ?75 4 9 16 Washington, D C February, ?76 4 18 17 Philadelphia, Pat June, ?76, 5 3 18 Philadelphia, Pa October, ?76 5 9 19 New York, N Y February, ?77 5 27 20 Wilkes-Barre, Pa May, ?77 6 3 21 Amenia, N Y October, ?77 6 10 22 Philadelphia, Pa. May, ?78 6 18 23 Chattanooga, Tenn May ?78 7 3 24 Lake George, N.Y. Oct. ?78 7 25 Baltimore, Md. Feb. ?79 7

Jan 1, 1923

By W. Spencer Hutchinson

It is the purpose of this paper to describe a method used to determine the corundum contents of samples of hard crystalline gneiss containing both corundum and red garnet. A chemical analysis of the rock for alumina would not fix the amount of corundum became at least three other constituent minerals of the rock, mica, feldspar, and garnet, contain alumina combined with silica. Following are the principal minerals found in the samples, together with their specific gravity and hardness as given by Dana: The corundum occurred in crystals of a gray or bluish gray color, in minute grains and coarser up to 0.5 in., and no massive or block corundum was observed. The larger crystals were commonly quite slender, well defined, and the normal hexagonal form clearly developed. They lay with the structural planes of the gneiss, and sometimes appeared prominently in relief on weathered surfaces. In some cases these crystals had suffered partial or total alteration to mica, margarite, or other soft minerals, a condition illustrated by sample D, which appeared to be studded abundantly with corundum on the flat faces. Garnet, a striking feature of nearly all the samples, was present in small rounded crystals of a pink to red color. The samples were first broken to pass a No. 4 mesh screen. This was done with a hammer on an iron plate, particular care being taken to avoid the breaking of the crystals finer than need be to pass the screen. A portion of the sample weighing 500 g. was then taken and, with a little water added, was scoured round and round in an iron bucket with a wooden block, until the coarse crystals of corundum were cleaned of adhering pieces of mica. The bucket was then re-

Jan 1, 1914

By H. H. Campbell

In the extending employment of open-hearth steel for structural purposes, it is a matter of prime importance that the test-piece shall represent with practical accuracy the characteristics of every portion of the heat from which it comes. In ordinary practice this homogeneity is assumed; but inasmuch as leading exponents of the revolving-hearth system have claimed that a reasonable uniformity could be obtained by their method alone, it may be pertinent to offer a few facts on the subject. The following heats made by the Pennsylvania Steel Company, for bridge-work, were tested by casting two four-inch ingots, one being taken during the first third and the other during the last third of the cast. Test-pieces obtained from these small ingots usually give results inferior to those obtained from larger sizes; but for purposes of cornparison they are equally conclusive. Many of the tests were made for experimental purposes within a few hours of the time of rolling, and before sufficient time had elapsed for the usual molecular redistribution necessary for the best results. All the tests were made on 3/4-inch rounds just as they left the rolls and without annealing; the results, therefore, are subject to the errors caused by variations in the diameter, and in the temperature at which the bar was finished. The tests from any one heat, however, were always nude as nearly as possible under the same conditions; and inasmuch as these data include the results of every heat so tested, and inasmuch as the errors could not by any chance always support any single theory, we may be certain that the unanimons testimony of the experiments indicates a valid conclusion.

Jan 1, 1886

By M. Tanaka, S. Kita, Y. Jinnouchi, Y. Sawada

This paper generalizes the results of the recent theoretical and experimental investigations on the air-pulsated jigs in Japan. The pulsating mechanism is analyzed as a special vibratory system, and the jigging mechanism as a mass system subjected to the law of hindered settling. The results of investigations on the following items are reviewed: dynamics of the pulsating mechanism; pulsation in a practical TACUB jig development of a new type of air valve; uniform pulsation in a large Baum jig; motion and mobility of bed particles; separating speed in hindered conditions; and standard deviation in practical jigs.

Jan 1, 1985

By James Norman, E. W. Gieseke

SPODUMENE is a lithium-bearing pyroxene, and is an important source of lithium compounds. Because of its high alumina and lithia content. it might be a desirable constituent of glass batches. The use of spodumene in ceramics will undoubtedly increase, as it has been shown that a mixture of the proper proportions of this mineral with soda feldspar and potash feldspar has a much lower maturing temperature upon firing than has any one of the three components.1 The mineral spodumene seldom occurs as pure mineral, but ordinarily with feldspars, mica and quartz. All spodumene-bearing rocks tested contained these minerals as gangue. Small amounts of iron and manganese oxides also were present, usually as stains on the silicate grains. Mica associated with the spodumene carried a considerable amount of lithia. This was discovered in flotation tailings, which, although virtually free of spodumene grains when examined microscopically, showed 0.4 to 0.5 per cent Li20 on chemical analysis. The lithia content of micas picked from the North Carolina spodumene rock was variable. Some samples contained little lithia, others more than 3 per cent. In 1938, under the supervision of Oliver C. Ralston, [t] the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Tennessee Mineral Products Corporation, undertook to study the beneficiation of North Carolina spodumene by froth flotation. The Bureau had previously published investigations on the beneficiation of spodumene.2, 3 The methods described in the second publication3 did not give good results with badly weathered spodumene rock, so that more thorough investigation of the subject was warranted. STUDY OF METHOD OF FLOTATION SEPARATION Most of the work on concentration of spodumene was done with rock from near King's Mountain, North Carolina. Rock from two

Jan 1, 1940

By I. G. Grettum, Eugene A. Stephenson

The flooding process was originally the result of accidents to casing and tubing, but it has gradually passed from an accidental condition to a definite engineering procedure. In spite of the general sheetlike char-acter of the major sand body, the position of shale bands, their thickness, the size of the grain and variations in effective porosity all give the sand different characteristics in different layers and in different places in the same layer. This condition has an important influence on the movement of flood oil and water, and on the yield per acre, as well as a bearing on what shall be considered the best method of handling flood wells. . A valuation takes into consideration six factors: (1) Flooding methods, of which four have been in common use, as follows, in order of effective recovery, (a) circular flood, (b) line flood, (c) five-spot and (d) five-spot with delayed drilling; (2) recovery per acre, which is definitely related to the oil content, the porosity, the method of flooding, the spacing program, and the continuity of the water supply; (3) the rate of production per well per day, which is definitely related to the mcthod of flooding, the oil content and the porosity of the sands; (4) the operating cost of the well, including royalty, overhead, taxes, etc. (Operating costs are usually expressed as unit cost per barrel.); (5) the expected price per barrel. It is safer to use the average price over a number of years than to attempt to forecast future price fluctuations. The discount factor (the sixth factor) used in appraisal of Bradford flood properties should be less than that commonly applied to other properties, because the hazards of operations have been reduced almost to those of a manufacturing industry.

Jan 1, 1930

By Peter Hood

Data on worldwide geophysical activity in mining exploration programs is collected annually by the Geophysical Activity Committee of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists as part of a continuing service to the industry. The data is obtained by sending out questionnaires to all organizations (which are) known to be carrying out mining geophysical work; the organizations canvassed include mining companies, contractors, government departments and universities. The questionnaire is divided into three sections, namely ground methods, airborne methods and research. In 1968, 515 questionnaires were circulated throughout the non-Communist world and 283 replies were received which is a 55% return. A 67% return was received from the U. S. organizations surveyed so the statistics quoted in this report for the United States are reasonably reliable. This report is published in condensed form, but with emphasis on the United States statistics, with the permission of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. It was presented at the 39th Annual International Meeting of the SEG in Calgary, Alberta, on September 15, 1969. Worldwide utilization of mining geophysical methods reached a new high in 1968 with total expenditures of United States $41.4 million, compared lo $32.3 million in 1967, representing a 28%, increase. The expenditure distribution by area and type of activity is shown in the graph on page 64. In terms of money spent, ground geophysical surveys accounted for 49% of the total, airborne survey's 36% and research 15%. The percentage of the money spent on ground geophysical surveys fell by approximately 7% from 1967, that for airborne surveys, increased by 5%, and for research the amount increased by 2%. Industry accounted for 79°1% of the total monies spent on mining geophysical activity in the world in 1968 and governments and universities 21 o%.

Jan 1, 1970

By J. E. Warren

To clarify the specific questions raised by J. E. Warren's discussion, the following remarks are offered. 1. It is correct that stratification is assumed in the application of the statistical zonation technique, but this does not constitute a limitation. If, in fact, the reservoir is not stratified the zonation technique will show it. The reservoir is then considered as one zone with a particular distribution of permeabilities. 2. The statistical zonation technique was intended as wells may not be an adequate measure of the lateral permeability changes; e.g., if the data presented in Table A-4 of the subject paper are evaluated on the basis of two crossed classifications with interaction, the variation between zones is significant with a probability greater than .99; however, the variation betwen wells is also significant with a probability greater than .87. It is apparent that the technique suggested by the author can be generalized to provide a powerful method for describing petroleum reservoirs. This generalization can be achieved by treating the core data as a two-way classification to determine the between-zones and the between-wells variations; then, the build-up permeabilities can be analyzed, perhaps on at least-squares basis, to establish the probable distribution of the permeabilities within the zones associated with the individual wells. an additional tool for the reservoir engineer to use together with other techniques and all available information. If pressure build-up permeabilities are available, they should certainly be included. Pressure build-up tests were not available for the reservoir considered in the paper. 3. The proposed correlation of zones between adjacent wells was the best of the techniques that I examined. It is not so much a "measure" as an indication of lateral permeability changes, regardless of whether they are seemingly random or form an obvious trend.

By E. C. Skinner

Cardox, which consists essentially of a steel tube containing carbon dioxide compressed to the liquid state, is a trade name designating a device used principally in coal mines to break down coal. The use of Cardox to break down coal was developed in the Middle Western coal fields around 1927 or 1928. At first, a large, heavy tube was used, requiring many parts. Through experimentation and technologic improvement, the weight of the tube has been brought down from 88 lb. to 20 lb. and the new, light tube makes use of larger volumes of CO2 at lower pressures than formerly was thought possible. This blasting method is extensively used today in coal mines and probably one tenth of the bituminous coal produced in the United States is prepared with Cardox. Construction and Application As used in the coal mine, Cardox looks like a piece of steel pipe 2 to 3 in. in diameter and 3 to 5 ft. long. When it is necessary to fire a shot, the tube is wired with two leg wires that are long enough so that when the tube is pushed the desired distance into the hole the wires will protrude 5 to 6 in. It has been found that No. 18 insulated copper annunciator wire is the best material for leg wires. A two-conductor rubber-covered shot-firing cable of sufficient length is then attached to the leg wires. A 2 to 6-volt current is applied, either by means of shot-firing batteries or the standard type of shot-firing generator. Upon the application of the current, the charge in the cartridge is set off. Because the breaking action upon the coal is supplied by the relatively slow physical expansion of the carbon dioxide gas rather than by the rapid chemical formation of gases as in more familiar explosives, the result is a slow heaving action, somewhat similar to that produced by black powder, rather than a shap detonating effect. Permissible powder does its work at roughly ten times the pressures in use with Cardox. The escaped gas from a Cardox shot apparently works along the planes of weakness in the coal face, such as the coal cleats, the edges of the cut, and along the top of the seam, breaking off the coal toward the free faces and heaving the mass of coal outward. Cardox tubes are manufactured in various sizes to take care of variable conditions of seam size, undercut depth, cleatage, coal hardness, and so forth. The tubes range in diameter from 2 to 3 in. (Table I) and the normal CO2 charge is from 24 to 96 oz. For any one tube size, several sizes of shear disks are available, thus excellent control of the type of shooting desired is possible. In general, local experience and experimentation dictate the size of tube chosen for any particular job. For high coal, and deeper or wider cuts, a larger size is chosen to start with, and the opposite is true for low coal, softer coal, or small cuts. After the tube size has been experimentally selected, tests are run in the mine to determine how many shot holes are needed and where the holes should be placed. The size of the disk,

Jan 1, 1944

By E. C. Skinner

Cardox, which consists essentially of a steel tube containing carbon dioxide compressed to the liquid state, is a trade name designating a device used principally in coal mines to break down coal. The use of Cardox to break down coal was developed in the Middle Western coal fields around 1927 or 1928. At first, a large, heavy tube was used, requiring many parts. Through experimentation and technologic improvement, the weight of the tube has been brought down from 88 lb. to 20 lb. and the new, light tube makes use of larger volumes of CO2 at lower pressures than formerly was thought possible. This blasting method is extensively used today in coal mines and probably one tenth of the bituminous coal produced in the United States is prepared with Cardox. Construction and Application As used in the coal mine, Cardox looks like a piece of steel pipe 2 to 3 in. in diameter and 3 to 5 ft. long. When it is necessary to fire a shot, the tube is wired with two leg wires that are long enough so that when the tube is pushed the desired distance into the hole the wires will protrude 5 to 6 in. It has been found that No. 18 insulated copper annunciator wire is the best material for leg wires. A two-conductor rubber-covered shot-firing cable of sufficient length is then attached to the leg wires. A 2 to 6-volt current is applied, either by means of shot-firing batteries or the standard type of shot-firing generator. Upon the application of the current, the charge in the cartridge is set off. Because the breaking action upon the coal is supplied by the relatively slow physical expansion of the carbon dioxide gas rather than by the rapid chemical formation of gases as in more familiar explosives, the result is a slow heaving action, somewhat similar to that produced by black powder, rather than a shap detonating effect. Permissible powder does its work at roughly ten times the pressures in use with Cardox. The escaped gas from a Cardox shot apparently works along the planes of weakness in the coal face, such as the coal cleats, the edges of the cut, and along the top of the seam, breaking off the coal toward the free faces and heaving the mass of coal outward. Cardox tubes are manufactured in various sizes to take care of variable conditions of seam size, undercut depth, cleatage, coal hardness, and so forth. The tubes range in diameter from 2 to 3 in. (Table I) and the normal CO2 charge is from 24 to 96 oz. For any one tube size, several sizes of shear disks are available, thus excellent control of the type of shooting desired is possible. In general, local experience and experimentation dictate the size of tube chosen for any particular job. For high coal, and deeper or wider cuts, a larger size is chosen to start with, and the opposite is true for low coal, softer coal, or small cuts. After the tube size has been experimentally selected, tests are run in the mine to determine how many shot holes are needed and where the holes should be placed. The size of the disk,

Jan 1, 1944

By Donald W. Gentry

The recently established SME-AIME Education Board has completed its first full year of operation, and its six constituent committees-Accreditation, Career Guidance, Continuing Education, Educational Statistics, and Scholarship-have been extremely active in identifying and initiating programs to serve the educational needs of the Society of Mining Engineers and its members. The Continuing Education Committee-primarily concerned with the needs and problems associated with providing a continuing education program for SME members-is responsible for: (1) determining the need for short course offerings; (2) developing needed courses, along with new means and opportunities of presentation; and (3) scheduling and evaluating course presentation. In response to this charge, the committee has sponsored two short courses at the SME-AIME Fall Meeting in St. Louis and three short courses at the AIME Annual Meeting in Denver. Its major effort, however, has been directed toward the 1978 SME-AIME Fall Meeting to be held in Orlando, Fla., where 18 days of short-course instruction have been scheduled. A portion of these courses will be presented prior to the meeting, with the remainder to be presented in Nassau, Bahamas, immediately following the meeting.

Jan 7, 1978

ALLERTON S. CUSHMAN, Middletown, Ohio (written discussion*).¬ This subject is one to which I have given much thought and study and which I have frequently discussed informally with Mr. Cain and others. I have long been convinced that the gaseous elements, either combined or entrained (occluded), in steel play a much more important role than is ordinarily admitted. This is probably due to the difficulties encountered in the accurate quantitative estimation of gases, some of which Mr. Cain has referred to, as well as to the fact that, considered from the weight-percentage basis, gas content is measurable only in hundredths or even thousandths of 1 per cent. Volumetrically, however, the results ob-tained by modern research are startling, to say the least. Baraduc-Muller,1 as cited by Mr. Cain, pumped out of 1000-lb. ingots of basic Bessemer steel 2100 l. of gas. or about 75 cu. ft., at normal temperature and pressure, per ton of steel. In other words, we are to understand that Bessemer steel normally carries about fifteen times its own volume of gas. According to Baraduc-Müller's table of results, which is given here-with, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, and hydrogen are important consti-tuents of Bessemer steel, the latter gas being undoubtedly formed by the

Jan 11, 1919

By J. W. Dougherty, J. M. Douglas

THE Hollinger gold mine is in the Porcupine mining division, District of Cochrane, in the northern part of the Province of Ontario. The adjacent town of Timmins, with a population of 25,119, lies 490 miles by railway north of the city of Toronto. GEOLOGY The property is situated on the northwest limb of a major syncline, which pitches northeast at approximately 50°. The principal rocks of the Hollinger area are of pre-Cambrian age and consist of altered, schistose, Keewatin lava flows intruded by stocks of schistose, quartzfeldspar porphyry generally assigned to the Algoman period. The structure of the Keewatin series is extremely complex as a result of close folding and some faulting. The schistosity, trending north 70° east and dipping steeply to the southeast, is most highly developed along a subsidiary anticline in which the major porphyry bodies occur. The ore bodies, which exhibit three principal structures, consist of quartz veins and associated pyritized wall rock. Some lodes are composed of en echelon veins, others exhibit a main quartz body with branching stringers and a third consists of a single definite lead. Gold, in a coarse visible form, may be confined to quartz in some ore bodies but in others it is finely divided and is found not only in quartz but also associated with pyrite in the adjacent wall rock. In many veins the distribution of gold is such that there are several ore sections, separated by areas of low-grade material, in the same vein although its physical appearance remains unchanged. The veins form a very complex pattern in an ore zone which in places attains a length of 6000 ft. and a width of 4000 ft. They are most abundant in the Keewatin lavas in the neighborhood of the porphyry bodies. Few of the veins are persistent for long distances, though some

Jan 1, 1940

By Edward Thomas

THE late George S. Rice was active in the investigation of bumps, particularly in the last ten years of his career as chief mining engineer of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Since most of his investigation was carried out in Great Britain, continental Europe, and-to a lesser extent-Canada, his thinking on prevention was influenced considerably by the experience of those countries. It is not surprising, therefore, that when he was called upon a few years before his retirement to investigate bumps in the U. S. and suggest ways to prevent them, he turned to longwall mining. A longwall method had been most successful in combating the bump hazard in mining coal under deep cover, especially in Great Britain, but the prevailing method there at the time was advancing longwall mining, which he knew was uneconomical under U. S. mining conditions. For this reason he proposed a modified retreating longwall system that he believed included the best features of the advancing method. As brought out by Rice,1 if the cover is 2000 ft and 50 pct of the coal is extracted, the static load on the remaining pillars will be about 4000 psi, which exceeds the ultimate crushing strength2 in most instances. If the pillar coal is overloaded before a pillar line is established, then the abutment zone preceding a line of extraction is no place to split pillars or extract them by any method other than an open-end system. Rice therefore advocated open-end mining, preferably by longwall, but he was willing to compromise with long-face mining if the longwall method was not acceptable.

Jan 8, 1958

By Larry G. Hayes

Development of the Bowers-Campbell zinc deposit, located in the Shenandoah Valley two miles northwest of Timberville, Va., was commenced in 1956 by the Tri-State Zinc Co. The occurrence of lead-zinc mineralization in this area has been known for many years, but the first serious exploration program was initiated in 1951 by the geologic staff of Tri-State Zinc Co. Ordovician dolomites. The deposit is approximately 700 ft long, 100 ft wide, and 475 ft thick. Its projected plan has an elongated ovoid shape, where- as the profile appears boot-shaped with the upper portion outcropping. Vertical cross sections show the lense as having been thrust-faulted along certain bedding planes. The movement along these bedding thrusts varies greatly and in one case, has offset the deposit so as to divide it into an upper and lower orebody. The breccia lense strikes parallel to the N 34" E strike of enclosing strata.

Jan 9, 1960

By D. T. Peters, J. C. Bisseliches, J. W. Spretnak

The pain boundary relaxation phenomenon in high-purity copper, 0FHC copper, and a precipitation-hardenable alloy o-fCu-2 uit pct Co has been studied by internal ,friction and elastic aftereffect techniques. The data were analyzed by assuming the broad distribution of relaxation times observed obeys a lognormal distribution law which enables calculation of the relaxation strength. Grain size had no effect on relaxation strength, although the peak width increased with increasing grain size and decreasing temperature. A double grain boundary peak was produced in high-purity copper by annealing to produce secondary recrystallization. The activation energy measured for 99.999 pct Cu is 37.5 * 3 kcal per mol and 46.5 kcal per mole for OFHC copper. A small peak in the Cu-Co alloy at about 220°C at 1 cps was deduced to be the grain boundary peak. Its height increased and its activation energy decreased with increasing aging time. Except for erratic peak positions the observations were consistent with the theory of pain boundary sliding. BEFORE the mechanism of the grain boundary internal friction peak in metals can be satisfactorily explained, the detailed characteristics of the relaxation process must be documented. Of interest are the effect of grain size on relaxation strength, the high-temperature background, and peak width and position. The effect on the grain boundary peak of a precipitate at grain boundaries and of the change in distribution of the particles with aging time must also be explained by any existing or forthcoming theory. The model which has received the most attention was proposed by KG' and zener2 and proposes that the anelastic strain results from sliding of adjacent crystals at grain boundaries. The sliding is limited by the interlocking of grain corners. It follows, according to this model, that the relaxation strength is independent of and the relaxation time is proportional to the grain size. The proportionality between grain size, D, and relaxation time, t, has been confirmed by K&' and Bisseliches . In this case, the internal-friction peaks of various specimens can be superimposed by plotting Q-' as a function of the parameter vD exp H/RT where v is the frequency and H the activation energy. However, the data of Starr et 01.' and Leak6 fit better to a parameter containing D to an exponent near two. A meaningful relationship is not always deducible from the shift of peak temperature with grain size. KG7 demonstrated that a twofold variation in grain size obtained by varying the amount of cold work followed by identical recrystallization anneals will cause a peak shift that is too large to be accounted for even by an exponent of two. Since the decreased grain boundary area existing with a larger grain size is exactly compensated for by an increased sliding distance, the relaxation strength should not decrease with increasing grain size. The height of the internal-friction peak has generally been observed to be rather insensitive to grain size as long as the average grain diameter does not approach the specimen diameter. Exceptions have been reported by Koster, Bangert, and Lang8 for copper, and by Leak6 for iron. The observations for copper could well have been confused by the presence df 0.3 pct0. The possibility that the peaks may simply be increasing in width with increasing grain size and that the relaxation strength, which is proportional to the area under the peak, may remain constant was not examined. his point has been checked in this investigation using high-purity copper. Atomic mechanisms to account for damping by sliding at grain boundaries have been proposed by KG7 and Mott. KG predicts the activation energy to be identical to that for self-diffusion. Mott's "island" model suggests the activation energy is nL where n is the number of atoms in an island and L is the latent heat of fusion per atom. Other authors have felt that a value equal to the activa-

Jan 1, 1964

By J. E. Burke, A. M. Turkalo

IN 1923 Desch¹ pointed out that the grains in a metal which is anisotropic with respect to its thermal coefficient of expansion would contract differently upon cooling, and that the stresses developed might approximate the plastic strength of the metal. More recently Boas and Honeycombe2-5 studied the behavior of several metals upon thermal cycling and observed that the stresses developed in arlisotropic metals are great enough to produce slip lines in individual grains and a roughening of the specimen surface. This phenomenon they have named "thermal fatigue." The mechanism they propose involves essentially a kneading of the grains, the deformation being alternately in compression and tension in a given grain as the temperature is changed in one direction and then the other. The present work was undertaken to investigate the possibility that an additional mechanism might operate to produce plastic deformation during thermal cycling—a "thermal ratchet" that depends upon a combination of grain boundary flow to relax the stress that develops between differently oriented grains upon raising the temperature and transcrys-talline slip to relax the oppositely directed stress which develops on lowering the temperature. Thus, thermal cycling should produce a nonreversible distortion such that certain grains will change shape differently from their neighbors with a simultaneous displacement being produced at the grain boundary. Temperature Dependence of Grain Boundary and Grain Strength The critical resolved stress for the initiation of slip in metal grains is only mildly affected by temperature." For example, in cadmium it decreases from 0.15 to about 0.05 kg per sq mm when the temperature is increased from 20° to 458°K and further temperature increase causes little further decrease. On the other hand, the work of KG1 indicates that the grain boundaries behave in a viscous fashion that can be described8 by the expression: t = BVexp(Q/RT) [1] t is the shearing stress on the boundary; B, a constant; V, the flow rate at the boundary; Q, the activation energy for grain boundary flow; R, the gas law's constant; and T, the absolute temperature. Eq 1 indicates that the stress necessary to cause a given grain boundary flow rate, V, decreases rapidly with increasing temperature. The value of the constant B is such that at sufficiently low temperature and ordinary strain rates deformation will occur preferentially by slip rather than by grain boundary flow. There is considerable evidence to indicate Consider the bicrystal shown in Fig. 1. In grain 1 the slip plane lies 45 " to the boundary while in grain 2 the slip plane is 90" to the boundary. The coefficients of expansion of the grains in a direction parallel to the length of the crystal are a1 and a, with a, > a2 for the orientations shown. The sequence of events that can occur upon heating and cooling this specimen is illustrated schematically in Fig. 2. Initially there is assumed to be no stress in the specimen (A). Upon heating, grain 1 attempts to become longer than grain 2, but is constrained by grain 2. Thus grain 1 is loaded in compression and grain 2 is loaded in tension, and a shearing stress is present across the boundary (B). As the temperature is increased, the stress will build up, and finally grain 1 will be plastically deformed by slip, since the greater stress is resolved on its slip planes. Any further heating will result in more slip and the stress will remain constant until some temperature T* is reached where the stress can be relaxed by grain boundary flow.† At this relaxation temperature (C) a step will appear between grain 1 and grain 2. Further heating above T* will cause grain 1 to become relatively longer, but no stress will appear because the grain boundary is too weak to support the stress (D). Upon cooling again, at T* (E), the grain boundary will again be able to support a shearing stress, and upon cooling further, grain 1 will be loaded in tension and grain 2 in compression (F). When the decrease in temperature below T* is sufficient to impose the critical shear stress upon the slip plane of grain 1, it will be stretched by slip.

Jan 1, 1953

By B. E. Morgan, C. K. Dumbauld

The need for a low-strength cementing composition for use in well cementing is reviewed and results are presented of laboratory and experimental field tests of a modified cement having a controlled ultimate tensile strength of approximately 200 psi. The modified cementing composition may he prepared from either high early strength or normal portland cements by the addition of bentonite clay and a suitable agent for dispersing and controlling the set of the slurry. Substitution of the modified cement for conventional slow-set cements may give better completion results in many wells because the modified cementing composition has lower set strength, lower slurry density, and greater slurry stability than conventional cement slurrieh. The lower ultimate strength allows greater penetration with less shattering of the set cement when perforating casing and cement. The lower elurry density allows the placement of longer columns of cement slurry, and the greater slurry stability reduces the possibility of having an uncemented section caused by the settling of cement particles before the cement set.. INTRODUCTION High strength lias always been one of the accepted criteria of a good cement. During the early use of portland cement in well cementing. emphasis was placed upon securing cements with higher strengths. In 1931, Barkis' reported that, "Normal oil well cements have been improved to develop greater strengths and uniformity of product, which has aided in producing successful jobs in cementing the deeper strings." As long as most wells were completed by the open-hole method. the use of cements having high strengths seemed desirable, and there was no objection raised against high-strength cementing compositions. For a number of years. how-ever, the industry has been completing a large numher of wells by setting and cementing casing through productive horizons and then obtaining production by gun-perforating the section of casing opposite the desired interval. Although this method has been generally successful, difficulties have been experienced in some cases in completing or recompleting wells because of apparent lack of adequate penetration by the bullets through the casing and surrounding sheath of cement and into producing formation. In addition to the penetration trouble: there have been indications that fracturing and shattering of the set cement by perforating might he a contributing factor in causing the failure of some jobs to exclude water or gas from oil producing zones. The possibility that cements having high set strengths were contributing to til difficully ill obtaining satihfartory perforating results has re. ceived attention during recent years. Gun perforating tests conducted in 1944 showed that the depth of bullet penetration into set cement varied with the hardness of the cement, the greater the strength of the cement the less being the penetration. In 1946, Farris2 pointed out that high strength cements were not needed in well cementing, and in 1947, data published by Oliphant and Farris3 showed that set cement was perforated without shattering at approximately 150 psi tensile strength. whereas at approximately 300 psi tensile strength severe cracking and shattering occurred. Oliphant and Farris suggested that wells be perforated at the proper time interval after placement of the cement so that the set cement would have the desired strength. Several difficulties may he encountered in trying to perforate a cement job at the correct time to catch the tensile strength near 150 psi. The rate of strength development of different cements varies considerably. This fact is illustrated by results of tensile strength measurements presented in Fig. 1. These data show that at 175°F the tensile strengths of three conventional slow-set cements varied from 75 to 235 psi at the end of 12 hours. After 24 hours, the tensile strengths varied from 200 to 455 psi. The rate of strength development is affected. also. by the temperature of the forniation, and this adds to the uncertainty of perforating at the rorrect time, since accurate well cementing temperatures may not he known in many cases. Furthermore, in the recomple-tion of wells it is sometimes necessary to perforate cement which has set for a long period and has developed maximum or final strength. In view of the apparent need for a cementing composition having a controlled ultimate strength, an investigation was

Jan 1, 1951

By C. K. Dumbauld, B. E. Morgan

The need for a low-strength cementing composition for use in well cementing is reviewed and results are presented of laboratory and experimental field tests of a modified cement having a controlled ultimate tensile strength of approximately 200 psi. The modified cementing composition may he prepared from either high early strength or normal portland cements by the addition of bentonite clay and a suitable agent for dispersing and controlling the set of the slurry. Substitution of the modified cement for conventional slow-set cements may give better completion results in many wells because the modified cementing composition has lower set strength, lower slurry density, and greater slurry stability than conventional cement slurrieh. The lower ultimate strength allows greater penetration with less shattering of the set cement when perforating casing and cement. The lower elurry density allows the placement of longer columns of cement slurry, and the greater slurry stability reduces the possibility of having an uncemented section caused by the settling of cement particles before the cement set.. INTRODUCTION High strength lias always been one of the accepted criteria of a good cement. During the early use of portland cement in well cementing. emphasis was placed upon securing cements with higher strengths. In 1931, Barkis' reported that, "Normal oil well cements have been improved to develop greater strengths and uniformity of product, which has aided in producing successful jobs in cementing the deeper strings." As long as most wells were completed by the open-hole method. the use of cements having high strengths seemed desirable, and there was no objection raised against high-strength cementing compositions. For a number of years. how-ever, the industry has been completing a large numher of wells by setting and cementing casing through productive horizons and then obtaining production by gun-perforating the section of casing opposite the desired interval. Although this method has been generally successful, difficulties have been experienced in some cases in completing or recompleting wells because of apparent lack of adequate penetration by the bullets through the casing and surrounding sheath of cement and into producing formation. In addition to the penetration trouble: there have been indications that fracturing and shattering of the set cement by perforating might he a contributing factor in causing the failure of some jobs to exclude water or gas from oil producing zones. The possibility that cements having high set strengths were contributing to til difficully ill obtaining satihfartory perforating results has re. ceived attention during recent years. Gun perforating tests conducted in 1944 showed that the depth of bullet penetration into set cement varied with the hardness of the cement, the greater the strength of the cement the less being the penetration. In 1946, Farris2 pointed out that high strength cements were not needed in well cementing, and in 1947, data published by Oliphant and Farris3 showed that set cement was perforated without shattering at approximately 150 psi tensile strength. whereas at approximately 300 psi tensile strength severe cracking and shattering occurred. Oliphant and Farris suggested that wells be perforated at the proper time interval after placement of the cement so that the set cement would have the desired strength. Several difficulties may he encountered in trying to perforate a cement job at the correct time to catch the tensile strength near 150 psi. The rate of strength development of different cements varies considerably. This fact is illustrated by results of tensile strength measurements presented in Fig. 1. These data show that at 175°F the tensile strengths of three conventional slow-set cements varied from 75 to 235 psi at the end of 12 hours. After 24 hours, the tensile strengths varied from 200 to 455 psi. The rate of strength development is affected. also. by the temperature of the forniation, and this adds to the uncertainty of perforating at the rorrect time, since accurate well cementing temperatures may not he known in many cases. Furthermore, in the recomple-tion of wells it is sometimes necessary to perforate cement which has set for a long period and has developed maximum or final strength. In view of the apparent need for a cementing composition having a controlled ultimate strength, an investigation was

Jan 1, 1951