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By AIME AIME

BEGINNING Thursday, July 16, the National Broadcasting Co. is broadcasting from 6:30 to 6:45 p.m., over its nationwide network and possibly also by short wave a series of eleven radio programs dealing with the contributions of engineers to the prosecution of the war. The series is being arranged and sponsored by a committee of representatives of the national engineering societies, R. L. Sackett, chairman. The committee began its deliberations before Pearl Harbor and had scripts under way on blackouts, bombs, and damage to structures. The declaration of war emphasized the importance of the proposed radio program. The National Broadcasting Co. and the Office of Civilian Defense enthusiastically endorsed the committee's proposal and have been generous in their help and approval of scripts so far submitted. Controversial matters are included in the broadcasts and changes will be made when requested by O.C.D. up to the minute that a program goes on the air. In this way the latest and authoritative information will be given.

Jan 1, 1942

By Albert Ledoux

SEVERAL years ago my firm was representing the Mt. Lyell Co. of Australia, which was shipping its blister copper to a refining works in the United States. After the contract had been running for many months, the superintendent of these works discovered that if water was poured upon the surface of the bars much of it would disappear into the interior through blow holes. -Some experiments made by him showed that this could be a considerable amount, so that copper which had been rained on before it was weighed, although the surface appeared dry, nevertheless would contain water. It had frequently occurred in our experience-as samp-lers that the drillings from a lot taken by boring would come out quite wet, and in some cases, indeed, water would drip into the sample pan placed below the bars, due to the fact that the drill had penetrated a cavity or cavities containing water, which presumably got into the cavities at the time the copper was water-cooled after casting, there being, perhaps, no outlet to the surface. So far as I know, until this discovery at the refining works, no. one had thought that rain could penetrate into the interior of blister copper; at least in any quantity sufficient to be considered.

Jan 10, 1922

By G. Y. Chin, M. T. Dolan, W. L. Mammel

We have obtained by computer methods the solutions of the Taylor analysis1 for axisymmetric flow in bcc metals. Four modes of slip have been treated in detail:2-4 (111), {112}(111), {123}( 111), and a mixture of all three. In addition to obtaining anisotropy of strength data for randomly oriented or textured polycrystalline material,4 we have also obtained the lattice rotation resulting from slip on the predicted systems. The patterns of lattice rotation are essential to an improved understanding of texture development during deformation. The present note shows the results of lattice rotation for 5 pct axisymmetric compression, for fifty-two axial orientations distributed at 5-deg intervals throughout the standard stereographic triangle. The data are presented in Figs. 1 to 4 for the four modes of slip. The lattice rotation is indicated by a vector, the ends of which correspond to the positions before and after the deformation. The different vectors emanated from a given orientation represent different combinations of five slip systems that satisfy Taylor&apos;s minimum shear criterion.&apos; Fig. 1 shows the results for {110}< 111> slip. They are similar to those obtained by Bishop5 for the case of (111 )(110) slip in axisymrnetric tension, since in axisymmetric flow the sense of lattice rotation for {111)( 110) in tension is the same as that for (110) (111) in compression. The pattern of lattice rotation may be divided into three regions: region A in which the rotation is toward [100]; region B, toward [lll]; and region C, toward either [ loo] or L lll]. Although some slip combinations in region C lead to [1101, the latter is not stable as continued activity of the same combinations will eventually move the axis toward [loo] or Llll]. It may also be noted that [loo] is itself not stable. However, close inspection of the vectors in region A shows that it is impossible for an axial orientation within A to rotate outside its boundary. Hence after heavy compression, all orientations from A and some from C are expected to form a diffuse band in the [100] vicinity. By far the largest region is B. Here all orientations rotate to [lll], which is a truly stable position. Thus the [111] texture component is expected to be rather sharp. For the case of (112 }( 111) slip, Fig. 2, region C is enlarged at the expense of A, with B about the same as for {110}( 111) slip. A significant difference, however, is that [loo], as well as [Ill], is now truly stable. Fig. 3 shows the results of slip on {123}( 111) systems. Region B is substantially enlarged at the expense of C, with A being intermediate in size between the {110}(111) and {112}(111) cases. Like the case of {110)( 111) slip, [100] is itself unstable. However, the lattice rotations here are confined to less than 5 deg; hence it may be considered "stable" for practical purposes. Finally, Fig. 4 shows the results of mixed slip. Here region B is the largest, and C the smallest, of all the cases considered. Both [loo] and [ill] are stable. The behavior of the three corner positions is, in fact, identical to the case of {112)( 111) slip, Fig. 2; it turns out that in these positions for the mixed slip case, all the active slip systems (based on Taylor&apos;s criterion) belong to pure {112}( 111) .4 In summing up the results for the four modes of

Jan 1, 1968

By Reinhardt Thiessen

UNDER sulfur in coal, is usually understood that form of sulfur which is combined with iron and known as pyrite. It occurs in the form of halls, lenses, nodules, continuous layers, thin sheets, or flakes, both in horizontal planes and vertical cleavage fissures. But pyrites also occur as very fine microscopic particles, or nodules, disseminated through the compact coal. This form has had but very little consideration. Finally, there is sulfur in coal in an amicroscopic form (not visible with an ordinary microscope), probably combined with the organic matter that exists -in tile coal. This form has had considerable attention from a scientific standpoint, but has probably not been recognized enough on the economic side. One or the other, or both, of these two latter forms may comprise the larger part of the sulfur content of coal, especially after it has been washed or otherwise prepared for use.

Jan 9, 1919

By A. N. Winchell

Petrographic studies of over 1400 rock and mineral samples, and studies of their field relations, show that there is a complete gradation between sandstone and limestone; the lime-silicate rocks were produced by recrystallization of limestone; mineralization and silicification occurred after silication and at considerably lower temperature; carbonation occurred at still lower temperatures. IN CONNECTION with law suits between mining companies at Bingham, Utah, a few years ago, the writer made petrographic studies of more than 1400 rock and mineral samples in thin sections, and also careful studies of their field relations. In petrographic studies, even when an area is studied intensively, attention is commonly centered very largely on the unusual features of special interest, so that the relative abundance of rock types (or minerals or textures) can only be determined by a study of map areas outlined largely by field methods, and cannot be based directly on microscopic work. It is very uncommon, and usually impossible, to take samples at regular short intervals along and across formations. It is precisely because such methods were used at Bingham that the work presents a rare opportunity for determining, on a microscopic basis, the relative abundance of rock types and the continuity of gradations between rock types. At the same time, a study was made of the alteration of sediments under the influence of igneous intrusions, with results that are believed to be of interest and importance.

Jan 3, 1924

By G. Sandoz, D. A. Meyn

The fracture surfaces of specimens of titanium a1loys which exhibited susceptibility to subcritical crack growth in a wide variety of environments, including aqueous solutions, alcohols, hydrocarbon gases, carbm tetrachloride, and dry air, were examined. The dominant and characteristic fracture mode was cleavage. which became mixed with an increasing porportion of ductile fracture modes (dimples. and so forth) as the applied KI was increased. The cleavage plane in all the alloys was oriented at 15 deg from (0001) of the a phase. No indices could be assigned to the 15 deg cleavage Plane because of uncertainty as to which zone it belonged to. SLOW crack growth and delayed fracture take place in certain titanium alloys at stress intensity (KI) lower than the critical values for complete fracture (KIc) found in short-time tests for plane strain fracture toughness.&apos; Such crack growth may take place in very dry air on sustained loading if the alloy contains a sufficient amount of hydrogen and if the stress intensity factor is higher than a threshold value designated KIH.2 Similarly, a number of environments such as water, alcohols, and hydrocarbons may cause slow crack growth provided the stress intensity factor exceeds the threshold value KISCC. In this paper it is intended to examine some fracto-graphic and crystallographic details of this subcritical crack propagation process as related to alloy composition, environment, and stress intensity. It has been previously reported that subcritical crack growth takes place in titanium alloys in aqueous environments by cleavage.2"6 The observations to be described here indicate that in the alloys investigated the mode of subcritical crack propagation is more dependent on the stress intensity during cracking than on the environment. The fracture mode is illustrated with photographs of the fracture surfaces at a wide range of magnifications. The crystallographic character of the cleavage mode is also presented and the results discussed. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH The studies were made on four titanium alloys— Ti-8A1-1Mo-lV, Ti-5A1-2.5Sn, Ti-7Al-1Mo-lV, and Ti-0.350. Of these four alloys the first two were mill annealed and fine grained. The latter two were noncommercial and coarse grained, having been prepared for other experimental purposes. The crystallographic studies required a large-grain size. Consequently the fine-grained alloys were an- nealed in a vacuum at 1950°F and furnace cooled to produce samples for these studies. This treatment did not alter the microstructure significantly except for grain size. All the aluminum-containing alloys showed primary a with a network of ß-phase particles within the a grains; Figs. 1 and 2 show this microstructure for the specific case of fine-grained Ti-8A1-1Mo-1V. The cracks in the figures will be discussed later. Fractographic studies were made on all the alloys, but the electron fractographs displayed herein are from the Ti-8A1-1Mo-1V alloy in the fine-grained condition. Emphasis was placed on this commercial alloy because considerable information was available on the stress-corrosion cracking characteristics in a variety of environments. Sufficient supplementary studies of the alloy after the anneal to produce large grains were conducted to establish that the stress-corrosion cracking susceptibility and fractographic characteristics were not changed significantly. Thus it could be inferred that the crystallographic data obtained exclusively on large-grained specimens would apply also to fine-grained specimens. Fracture surfaces for study were obtained using precracked cantilever beam specimens loaded as described by Brown. The precracked section of a specimen was immersed in the environment of interest. Values of initial stress intensity factor Kli were chosen slightly higher than KISCC in order to obtain a fairly extensive region of slow crack growth. Fracture surfaces representative of a variety of stress intensity levels could then be examined because in the cantilever beam test KI increases as the crack propagates.

Jan 1, 1970

By W. E. Gaby

INTRODUCTION SINCE the time of their discovery, the genesis of the ores at Mount Morgan, and the nature of the changes which have affected the surrounding rocks, have been the subject of investigation and speculation by geologists and mining engineers. Developments at this mine, for a long period the greatest gold producer of the world, show that with depth the orebody grades into copper, of which metal it now furnishes a large output, exceeding in value the gold. In earlier times, the purity of the gold and the first extremely heterogeneous character of the ore made it an interesting problem. Now, the probable depth of the copper enrichment, genesis, and true relations of the neighboring rocks furnish equally profitable material for investigation, and the present somewhat detailed description of these ores and rocks, from microscopic study, may prove of interest. The mine occupies a highly silicified portion of a belt of quartz-porphyry, which is believed to be the oldest rock of the region. This belt of quartz-porphyry and allied rocks runs north and south between two areas of a later intrusive granite, as shown on the geologic map,1 Fig. 1. Near the orebody the quartz-porphyry has been intruded by a dense basaltic mass called the "Old Basic." Cutting all three of these igneous masses are two sets of basaltic dikes, one running northwest-southeast, and the other, cross dikes, northeast-southwest. These dikes may be contemporaneous with, instead of later than, the ore. Their number has caused peculiar difficulties in extracting it, as the clay selvage of decomposed material affords no adhesion between dike and ore, causing great blocks to loosen and come down.

Jan 9, 1916

By D. J. Reed

Concord coal mine near Bessemer, Ala., built, owned, and operated by Tennessee Coal & Iron Div., U. S. Steel Corp., produces only a metallurgical grade for use as coke in blast furnaces of the division at the Fairfield and Ensley works. Capacity of the operation is approximately 800 tph, half of which is delivered to the coke and coal chemical plant at Fairfield after beneficiation to metallurgical grade coal. The remaining portion of the mine run is rock and refuse removed during preparation. Concord mine coal is hoisted to the surface coal preparation plant by an underground slope conveyor. The slope conveyor is 2449 ft long and has a lift of 729 ft. At time of installation the Concord mine slope conveyor was the largest single conveyor unit ever made with respect to belt horsepower and total lift. After several years it became necessary to determine the cause of slope conveyor cover wear.

Nov 1, 1956

By E. J. Ripling

TUBES may be produced by a large number of forming processes, the most common of which will be discussed analytically in this paper. In no case will the stress analysis for any given tube producing process be derived formally for where such analyses are available, they may be referred to readily. Rather, emphasis will be placed on the interpretation of the theory of the different processes, few of which are developed to a state that will allow rigorous mathematical analyses, in an attempt to give a rational description of the effects of the different variables involved in each method. Tube producing methods can be divided into two groups: Those used to form shells, and those used to further work these shells into a shape more suitable for their final use. Among the first group are included roll piercing, extrusion and cupping for seamless shells, and bending with welding for welded tubes. The re-forming processes include sinking, drawing with a plug, and drawing with a rod. Only the plastic forming operations will be discussed here; other forming processes such as casting shells will not be considered. PRODUCTION OF SHELLS Shells for Seamless Tubing Piercing: The extremely important process of forming an axial hole in a billet by oblique rolling never has been analyzed satisfactorily, although a certain amount of experimental work relating to this process has been conducted. There are a number of factors that make piercing difficult to analyze; one of these is the fact that piercing is not a problem in plasticity, but one in fracturing, and the laws of fracturing are even less well understood than those of plasticity. If, however, it is assumed that fracturing occurs on a surface as a result of tensile stresses acting normal to this surface, piercing can be analyzed qualitatively by examining the stresses established in the oblique rolling process. To determine the origin of the tensile stresses that are thought to effect piercing, it will be necessary to know the angular relationships between the maximum stresses that are established in piercing. These angles quite frequently can be determined in a plastic deformation process by an examination of the deformed product. For example, consider the stresses established when a tensile test is conducted on a rectangular cross-sectional specimen of pearlitic steel. When stretched, this material first flows plastically, exhibiting the well-known yield jog on a stress-strain curve. The formation of the slip areas that give rise to the yield jog can be detected during the straining, since these flowed areas cause depressions on the specimen surfaces which can be seen if the surfaces are polished highly. The plastically strained areas also can be found after the specimen has been stretched to a strain not exceeding the yield jog, by sectioning the test piece and. etching these sections with Fry&apos;s etch. With this etchant, it is possible to dis-

Jan 1, 1951

By AIME AIME

THE difficult problem of visitors is being met by the Hudson Coal Co. at Scranton in an ingenious fashion. The Company had long made it a point to have dealers selling its coal visit the mines, whenever possible. "The excellent reaction obtained from these dealer visits brought up the question of whether it would not be possible to open one or more mines to the public, and give the consumer an opportunity of seeing for himself how anthracite is mined and prepared. Ac-

Jan 1, 1929

By E. V. Crane

A tremendous volume of the metal rolled annually into sheets strips and coil stock finds its way to a host of stamping and manufacturing plants which are the quantity production units of the country. Considerable in volume, too, are the rolled and extruded rods which go into forging and manufacturing plants for conversion into the same general line: those widely sold metallic necessities and luxuries of the household, the office, transportation, farming and building construction. Yet, in spite of its age and its importance, the stamping trade has been doing its "engineering" largely by trial and error. Its distinctive method is shearing out and plastically working metal to finished shape in a few quick strokes with high loads and expensive tools which are warranted only by large quantities to be produced. The principal operations have many features In common with rolling and wire-drawing methods. Combinations of stresses are diffcrent, however, and details of operations are infinite in variety. An engineering study of the subject begins with stress analysis, but must go back to metallurgy for its foundation. A grouping of pressed-metal working operations according to whether the metal is (1) sheared, (2) bent, (3) drawn or (4) squeezed has proved useful. All of these groups include instances of both hot and cold operations. For discussions of metal working properties, the division between hot and cold working is taken as the recrystallization range of temperature. This, of course, brings tin, lead and often zinc into the hot-work range at or near room temperature. The outstanding hot-working press field is in forging: particularly of brass; all of which is included in the squeezing group. Shearing Operations The shearing group of operations, including blanking, piercing, trimming, shaving, slitting, shearing, notching, parting and numerous variations and combinations of these enters once or more into the production schedule of practically every stamped or forged article. The transverse stress, set up in shearing, as shown in Fig. 1A, is a combination of an angular compressive thrust and a tensile stress which is also at an

Jan 1, 1931

By C. Kremer Bain

DURING the past several years of diamond drilling in Washington County, Mo., the St. Joseph Lead Co. has discovered a concentration of commercial lead-zinc ore at four different points within an area of 36 square miles. The largest and to date the most promising group of these orebodies is located in the Indian Creek area. It was considered to be of sufficient value to warrant development.

Jan 9, 1953

By Robert E. Sorenson

EXPLORATION for deep-seated orebodies in the Silver Belt area of the Coeur d&apos;Alene mining district is complicated by meager surface expressions of diagnostic criteria, lack of knowledge of the significance of specific alteration phenomena, and the great expense involved in the exploration for ore shoots, the tops of which often occur near sea level elevation or below and as much as 4000 ft or more below the surface. Except for the early studies of Ransome and Calkins in 1903 and 1904,&apos; little geological work was done in the Coeur d&apos;Alene district for many years, and it is only during the last 15 to 20 years that complete and careful geological mapping has been applied to most of the mines in the area. Much early information, which now would prove invaluable, is lost in hundreds of miles of caved and inaccessible mine openings not mapped by mining geologists. In more recent years mining geology has become a tool of greater use in the district, and some measurable progress is being made in the accumulation of observations that are adding gradually to the knowledge of ore deposits in the district. The recognition of alteration phenomena and related features by Hoyt S. Gale3 in 1935, followed by the work of Shenon and McConnel in 1936-37,4 changed many of the concepts formerly held and opened the way for more critical study and mapping of alteration effects. Mapping of these effects has been in progress for several years but no well-organized, careful, and complete laboratory study of the alteration has been made by mining companies or by government agencies. Recently, Thomas Mitcham of Columbia University has been occupied in the collection and study of specimens carefully selected from several producing mines in the Silver Belt as well as from several prospects exhibiting alteration effects. Mr. Mitcham and the writer have discussed some of the preliminary results of his investigations, which indicate that definite and interesting material is forthcoming from his studies. Work of this kind, aided by careful observation by district geologists, should advance the knowledge of the environment of Silver Belt ore shoots and establish additional criteria for recognizing meager shallow expressions of deep-lying orebodies. Structural details in the Silver Belt area are extremely difficult to decipher on the surface because the area is almost completely covered by a deep mantle of surface debris and soil. A dense growth of small trees and buck brush adds to a geologist&apos;s difficulties. Often large areas reveal only scattered small outcrops with great intervening areas where the underlying formations must be deduced from small altered rock fragments. Some considerable success in obtaining surface information has come from bulldozer roads and cuts in selected areas. As this type of work receives more attention, knowledge of the surface expressions of formations, alterations, faulting, and veining is expanding and giving more reliable information to guide deeper development. Lack of diagnostic marker beds in the district contributes to a geologist&apos;s difficulties in determining fault displacements. In the Silver Belt, known commercally important sulphide orebodies commonly are associated with siderite and quartz gangue. Some of the veins at shallow horizons above productive ore shoots are composed of quartz with light-colored carbonate minerals such as calcite, ferrocalcite, ferrodolomite, ankerite, and carbonates with variable amounts of manganese. The relation of these carbonates to commercial orebodies is a problem offering possibilities for research. Shallow exposures of veins composed of quartz and the light-colored carbonates, often with some associated barite, grade into quartz and siderite veins at deeper horizons. The vertical range of these carbonates has been partially established for some veins, but no reliable method has been devised for predicting where the change in a vein may take place. Careful observation and analysis of carbonates may make it possible to predict more closely where the change to siderite may be expected. In 1926 Shannon5 pointed out some of the characteristics of the carbonate veins of the district and included a few chemical analyses. Some of the Silver Belt ore shoots have small commercial outcrops, and very shallow development of some properties has led to the opening of small ore shoots." Several small ore shoots developed at shallow depths have not been explored at deep horizons, and some important ore shoots with no commercially significant exposures at shallow horizons have been developed. The greatest problem of the mining geologist working in the Silver Belt area is to find the all-important link between the very meager shallow expressions of mineralization and the rich ore shoots that may be found below. To develop criteria for use in the recognition of the weak upper expression of ore shoots, the experience of past development programs must be relied upon heavily. The investment of more than a million dollars in the exploration for such ore shoots requires some reliable criteria if these ore shoots are to be found. Management needs some assurance that the risk involved is justified by well-developed and acceptable geological inference. The richness of some of the ore shoots found thus far has contributed greatly to the justification for a bold approach, but many negative results of blind exploration programs would lead eventually to extreme caution on the part of management. Fortunately, recent experiences of development programs have been quite successful. It is hoped that added knowledge. of the environment of Silver Belt ore shoots will contribute greatly to the sureness of approach toward their development. The Coeur d&apos;Alene mining district is located in the panhandle of Idaho in Shoshone County. The population of the county is either employed in the

Jan 1, 1952

By Burk, Hugh A.

AT THE inception of the cyanide process and its adaptation to the practice of gold and silver metallurgy much difficulty was experienced in applying it to auro-cupriferous ores, both in economy of treatment and recovery of the gold from solution. The presence of copper in the ore effected a high chemical consumption of cyanide during treatment, and in the solvent solution, it retarded the precipitation of the gold on zinc shavings. The coating of the copper on the zinc shavings presented even worse difficulties than the increased cyanide consumption as most ores contain a small amount of copper. This interference of copper led to the use of other precipitating methods and attempts to recover the cyanide which was consumed during ore treatment. Of the other methods used, electrolytic precipitation was the most practical until a better understanding of the application of zinc shavings and zinc dust developed. In September, 1905, a patent entitled, "Method for Recovering Precious Metals from Solution," was granted to Isaac Anderson and Michael Scanton. This method is adaptable to precious metal ores containing a small percentage of copper but has never been extensively used or perfected. The process has

Jan 1, 1925

By C. Altstetter, Y. Huang, E. de Lamotte

Nitrogen was introduced into pure niobium (colutn-bium) and dilute Nb- Zr alloy wires by equilibration with pure nitrogen gas at high temperatures. Room-temperature hardness was correlated with the alloy composition, heat treatment, and microstructure. Hardness was found to be most sensitive to the amount of nitrogen in solution; however, a significant hardening up to 500 Dph look place upon aging of quenched alloys. A coarse dispersion of nitride did not significantly increase the hardness of the material though the nitride was found to have a hardness of 1400 Khn. BY now the marked effect of nitrogen on the properties of bcc refractorv metals is we ll-documented. There are few studies, however, in which the state of the solute has been carefully controlled. Indeed, the composition-temperature-pressure relationships in nitrogen-refractory metal systems have been determined precisely for only niobium and tantalum.&apos;-4 Most investigations on niobium have dealt with alloys High-nitrogen alloys cleaved on (100) planes and had negligible ductility. Precipitation was found to occur in either a discontinuous or a continuous fashion, depending on the composition and cooling rates. Upon cooling, the precipitation first proceeded discontinu-ously by the nucleation of nilride needles at subbound-aries and subsequent growth of a two-phase microcon-stituent. At lower temperatures continuous precipitation occurred in the subgrain interior ahead of the discontinuous precipitation interface. containing nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen in significant but uncontrolled and, in several instances, undetermined amounts. Thus, there has been some uncertainty regarding the presence and the distribution of precipitates. This paper presents results which relate the hardness and microstructure to the heat treatment and nitrogen content of niobium and Nb-Zr alloys. Niobium rod* produced by the Wah Chang Corp.

Jan 1, 1968

By Samuel H. Dolbear

NOT WITHSTANDING the extremely low ebb of business activity, the nonmetallic industries have fared somewhat better than some other branches of mining. The average price level in nonmetallics, although far from satisfactory, has resisted any cataclysmic fall such as has been suffered by copper and other metals. Stocks, also, though too abundant, represent no corresponding overhang of the market, which should result, in some branches, in a more rapid recovery. Research work has continued in some industries with interesting developments.

Jan 1, 1933

By Charles Will Wright

Brief descriptions of the occurrence of the various deposits of strategic minerals then known in South America are published in "The Mineral Deposits of South America," by B. L. Miller and J. T. Singewald, 1919; in "Ores and Industry in South America," by H. F. Bain and T. T. Read, 1934; and in many publications on the individual countries. To give a gen.era1 idea of the situation today and possibilities for future output of strategic minerals in several of the countries, the following notes are offered. All tonnages are in metric units.

Jan 1, 1940

By C. L. Clark

EVERY user of steel should ask himself whether or not he is taking full advantage of the discoveries of the steel metallurgists during the last few years, or is merely buying grades that looked to be the best five or ten years ago for various specific purposes and have since proved perfectly satisfactory in his plant. If he has not kept abreast of the times, then it is probable that something better has been developed, or something just as good that costs less. Though this article will have to do with steel for high-temperature applications primarily, marked advances have been made in steels for other purposes as well.

Jan 1, 1940

By Stephen G. Wright

Jan 1, 1985

By W. P. Saunders, W. R. Hibbard, G. H. Eichelman

Interest in the various products of the austenite eutectoid transformation in iron-carbon alloys, particularly as produced by the isothermal sub-critical techniques introduced by Davenport and Bain,&apos; has resulted in the application of similar heat treatments to other eutectoid transformations. Studies o f the beta copper-aluminum alloy eutectoid transformation revealed microstructures very similar to those found in iron-carbon alloys. Investigations5t6 of the kappa phase in the copper-silicon alloy system have established the eutectoid type transformation of this phase into terminal alpha and intermediate gamma phases. This transformation has been reported5 as forming a eutectoid type structure in a very sluggish manner by a long time isothermal treatment. The purpose of the present investigation is to study the products of the kappa eutectoid transformation as affected by transformation temperatures by means of microscopic and hardness methods. Preparation of Alloys The copper-silicon alloy equilibrium diagram is shown in Fig 1. The kappa field converges to a minimum silicon solubility at the eutectoid composition and all other completely kappa alloys are hypereutec-toid. Thus, kappa decomposition involves first the proeutectoid precipitation of gamma, followed by the eutectoid transformation of a lower silicon content kappa (5.2 pct) Smith6 has indicated that alloys containing between 5.4 and 5.7 pct silicon could be hot rolled, but that the latter composition was desirable in order to permit a wider kappa temperature range. The alloy was prepared by adding Baker&apos;s commercially pure silicon to an ingot of copper-silicon alloy containing 2.34 pct silicon remaining from the investigation of Brick, Martin and Angier.&apos; Following the casting techniques of Krynitsky, Saunders and Stern,s the ingot was melted under a heavy layer of dried charcoal in a clay-graphite crucible in a gas-fired pot furnace. Small lumps of silicon were held under thc melt surface with a graphite rod. After the silicon had dissolved, the alloy was chill-cast and then remelted without a cover, stirred thoroughly, skimmed and poured into a preheated cast iron mold. The cast microstructure is shown in Fig 2. The casting, 10 X 4 X K in., was annealed at 750°C for 21 hr and furnace cooled, About }{& in. was milled from all surfaces. The plate was cut in half longitudinally and the bottom half analyzed by A.S.T.M. and The composition by weight was as follows: copper 94.24 pct, silicon 5.56 pct, iron 0.11 pct.

Jan 1, 1949