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By George Otis Smith

A PHILOSOPHER has pointed out that inventive genius, in substituting mechanical power for human brawn, leaves' man the intellectual factor in the industrial life. "Almost human" is the description sometimes applied to the automatic machine, yet the true characteristic of the perfect machine is its unquestioning obedience. "Its not to reason why." The human operator, not the mechanism of gears and levers, has freedom of choice: he wills; the machine obeys: There map be a grinding monotony, a tiring rhythm, that passes from machine to man, but the responsibility resides in the man. In no proper sense call the machine worker be called the slave: whether he guides an electric shovel or tends a group of automatic 1athes.in the machine shop.

Jan 1, 1930

By T. S. Spicer, C. C. Wright

A CHARACTERISTIC property of bituminous coal is that upon being heated the coal becomes plastic, evolves volatile gases, and finally solidifies into coke This fundamental characteristic is of utmost importance and is utilized in the production of the high-temperature coke upon which the steel industry is so dependent, but from the standpoint of operation in the domestic underfeed stoker this coking tendency seriously interferes with efficient combustion When the coke formed has too strong a structure, certain difficulties result, such as low rate of burning, slow response to heat demand, and, in extreme cases, extinction of fire The plastic mass prevents uniform distribution of air through the fuel bed and, With strongly coking coals, large dense pieces of coke are produced which have much less reacting surface thin was possessed by the original coal In both ignition and combustion of solid fuels, the extent of the reacting surface is an accelerating factor Poor combustion permits a surplus of fuel to accumulate in the furnace because the rate of feed and the rate of combustion are not in equilibrium, and this produces an unbalanced condition detrimental to continued) automatic service In order to burn strongly coking coals satisfactorily in a conventional stoker during the three requisite types of operation continuous, intermittent and hold-fire, frequent attention is necessary Domestic stokers are defined by the industry as residential stoker heaters that burn 60 lb of coal or less per hour With a few exceptions, these units employ the underfeed principle of combustion in which both air and coal move in the same direction up and through the fuel-bed Domestic combustion equipment has difficulty in meeting the problems presented by the several variations in ash and volatile matter, in ash-clinkering tendencies, in coking properties, and in the particle size of bituminous coals The work of Bituminous Coal Research Inc at Battelle Memorial Institute has shown that, of these, coking characteristics and the clinkering tendencies have the greatest effect upon the operation of the conventional clinkering type of stoker Typical coke formations in a clinkering type of underfeed domestic stoker are illustrated in Fig. I, which shows (A) the ideal fuel bed obtained with a noncoking or free-burning coal, (B) the type of fuel bed formed -with, a coal that produces a weal coke, and (C) the type of fuel bed obtained with a strongly coking coal C is characteristic of the fuel bed developed when the average Pennsylvania bituminous coal is ,burned in an underfeed stoker of conventional type It is apparent from these pictures that the formation of coke trees will seriously interfere with the efficient automatic combustion of Pennsylvania bituminous coals

Jan 1, 1942

By D. W. Fuerstenau

Locked-cycle grinding experiments on mineral mixtures provide a means to study circuit performance in simulated continuous grinding systems. Such experiments with calcite/quartz mixtures revealed that approximately twenty-five 2-minute cycles are required before the composition of the circuit product and the recycle material attain steady state. The circulating load, after steadily increasing during the first 15 cycles, continued to fluctuate over a narrow range. Previous batch ball mill grinding of mineral mixtures has shown that breakage rate functions of minerals are time- independent but composition-dependent. In the closed-circuit grinding of ores with constituents having different grindabilities, the grinding rate parameters for the components also would therefore change during the transient period. With fluctuations in feed composition occurring randomly every half to one hour in processing plants, it is quite likely that the grinding circuit can be in unsteady state perpetually. The significance of these observations is discussed in this paper in the con- text of the models used in control schemes for the grinding circuits

Jan 1, 1984

JOHN H . NELSON,*Worcester, Mass.-In reply to the question "Is there any final information in regard to the relation between the temperature or the rate of cooling of a piece of heat-treated steel from the drawing temperature, and the so-called notch toughness?" I might say that we have conducted a large series of tests in the study of impacts on chrome-nickel and carbon steels and have gone into the subject of quenching from drawing temperature quite thoroughly but have found that one cannot lay down any definite rule or law with respect to the effect of quenching from the drawing heat. We conducted experiments on the effect of cooling by quenching in water, cooling in air, and burying the coupon in lime. Steels that have practically no impact value when air cooled may show very marked results when they are quenched in water, depending on the temperature at which the drawing is done.

Jan 6, 1919

By C. L. T. Edwards

IN the preparation of this paper, the author has drawn upon experience with the operation of a blast furnace on 100 per cent scrap burden, which he believes was the first operation of its kind in the country. It is the writer's further belief that much of the controversy attending discussions of this subject may be obviated by the presentation of a group of facts that should be known by blast-furnace men and open-hearth men alike. The following question has been raised: "Is iron made with scrap in the blast-furnace charge as good iron as that made without scrap-made with straight ore?" This question may be answered in part by the fact that the open-hearth men of the Bethlehem Steel Co. who used pig iron from a blast furnace that operated on 100 per cent steel scrap found no difficulty in the processing of such iron other than that to be expected from the known analysis. OPERATION WITH 100 PER CENT STEEL SCRAP During World War I, there was accumulated at the Bethlehem plant of the Bethlehem Steel Co. some 22,000 tons of alloy-steel turnings and borings. This scrap material was highly corroded and, like alloy-steel turnings of that period, were as a drug on the market. There was also a small tonnage of scale, rich in valuable metal. If this scrap could be worked up into pig iron, it would become readily available for use in the open hearth. In order that the pig iron should contain the maximum percentage of nickel, permission was obtained from the Management to try a 100 per cent scrap operation. Accordingly, a blast furnace was swung over on July 25, 1919; the percentage of steel scrap increased more or less irregularly until July 29, when l00 per cent steel turnings were charged. Except for occasional charges of nickel scale as an "extra," the operation continued uninterruptedly until Aug. 27, when the furnace was swung back to the regular ore-ore and scrap-operation. During this period, the furnace production ranged from a low of 568.60 tons to a maximum of 766.07 tons. At the swing-over from i00 per cent scrap to the regular burden, the charge hung up rather severely. While the latter condition has nothing to do with the object of the paper, a brief discussion of the experience will appear later because of the interest it may have for blast-furnace operators. In Table I, results of the first and last days of the ore charge are shown, July 25 and July 29. The last column shows a summary for the period of maximum scrap charge. The furnace employed had a hearth 16 ft. 0 in., bosh 22 ft. 0 in., stock line 15 ft. 6 in., bell 11 ft. 6 in., batter ¾ in., bosh angle 73° 27' and a Baker-Neuman top, with gas-engine blowers. Analyses Range of Material Charged Gravel: Si02, 64.40 to .7o.54 per cent; A1203,3-52 to 4.58; CaO, 7.27 to 9.49; M90, 5.09 to 6.14; FeO, 1.67 to 3.34, ignition loss, 9.50 to 13.83.

Jan 1, 1941

By John D. Ridge, Betty S. Moriwaki

The significant chromite producers listed in Table I11 are not major steel producers, with the exception of the USSR. After manganese, chromium is the most important alloying metal in steel. It would not be surprising to find a direct relationship between steel production and chromite imports. The precise connection is concealed by the other uses of chromite and the grades of steel produced by the various countries involved. In addition, the amount of ferrochromium made for export must figure in any calculation. Norway, a producer of considerable amounts of ferromanganese, imports significant quantities of chromite for ferrochromium manufacture. Most of the ferrochromium is exported to European steel- producing nations. Sweden imports only half as much chromite as Norway but makes far more chromium-bearing steel. Thus Sweden has far less ferro-chromium for export, although it supplies about 2000 tons per year to the U.S. and probably some- what more to such chromite-poor steel producers as Germany and Belgium-Luxemburg.

Jun 1, 1955

By D. Walton, B. Chalmers

A preferred orientation is known to occur frequently in the columnar zone of castings. This has been attributed to a preferred direction of growth. However, no satisfactory mechanism was proposed by which the preferred direction of growth led to the preferred orientation. The purpose of this work has been to establish this mechanism. It has been found that in general the observed preferred orientations only develop when the preferred directions of growth reveal themselves by dendritic growth. A mechanism based on this premise is found to be in agreement with the experimental data obtained in the course of this work. WHEN a liquid metal is allowed to solidify in a mold, it usually freezes in three stages, distinguished from each other by the size and shape of the grains. The first zone to freeze (the chill zone near the mold wall) consists of relatively fine grains that are equiaxed in shape and random in orientation. The next zone consists of crystals that are elongated in the direction of heat flow, i.e., normal to mold wall. These crystals are much larger in cross section than the crystals of the chill zone and have a very strongly preferred orientation. This is the columnar zone. The final zone, which is absent in very pure metals, is again equiaxed and randomly oriented, but usually has a much coarser grain size than the chill zone. The purpose of this study is to describe and account for the crystal size and orientation in the columnar zone. The occurrence of a preferred orientation in the columnar zone is well known, and in 1940, Greninger' suggested that it is apparently related to dendritic growth although at that time the only data were for metals with the face-centered-cubic structure. Table I shows that the direction of dendritic growth and the crystal axis that follows the heat flow direction coincide in all cases so far studied. The term "dendritic growth" is used here to represent the branched type of morphology that is characteristic of growth into supercooled melts.' In addition to the supercooling which is necessary before nucleation will occur at the mold wall, the necessary supercooling for continued dendritic growth can be provided in a mold by heat flow into the already formed solid at an interface whose Liquidus temperature is depressed by an accumula-

Jan 1, 1960

By R. J. P. Lyon

It is usually assumed1,2 that ore deposition is relatively slow, taking place over tens of thousands of years. Yet many syntheses and phase changes can be completed in the laboratory in a matter of hours, under essentially the same pressure and temperature conditions to be expected in nature. Much has been written about geothermometry, and Ingerson's recent summary2 can hardly be surpassed. Rather than review the whole field, this article will deal specifically with diffusion rates in solid solutions* of the sulfide minerals.

Jan 11, 1959

By Albert J. McIntosh

In discussing the petroleum products situation the first thing that comes to mind is "what is happening to gasoline." Is the consumption increasing? How is the export market? What about imports? Are stocks on hand too high? Have we produced too much? This paper will attempt to answer these questions. Consumption of gasoline (motor fuel) in the United States in spite of the depression and the chaotic conditions of many industries has increased during 1931 about 2 per cent over 1930. This favorable factor was offset by a severe contraction in exports, which fell off about 30 per cent from 1930. This drop in exports was so large that very little more export business was done than in 1926 or 1927. Taking all demand combined, there was a decrease from the peak year of 1930 of nearly 11,000,000 bbl., amounting to slightly over 2 per cent. The units of the industry, though, should have expected some decrease and governed themselves accordingly. Let us see what they did. They reduced imports over 3,000,000 bbl., which helped. Production was cut 3,000,000 bbl., but this was not enough, so that stocks increased 1,800,000 bbl. whereas during the previous year stocks were reduced 2,500,000 bbl. It is apparent, therefore, that something was done to keep the industry in balance in regard to gasoline, but not enough. If the year had ended on Sept. 30, we could have said that production had been cut 19,000,000 bbl. and stocks had been reduced from the previous year, but the excessive production during the last three months of the year changed everything. It is a strange thing and worthy of note that the price of gasoline fell to its lowest levels when apparently the greatest improvement was being made, and that during the last quarter of the year prices started to improve, when, in spite of an improvement in total demand which approximated 1930, an excessive production caused an uneconomic condition to set in. Stocks on hand on Dec. 31 were unquestionably too high, possibly 10,000,000 bbl. more than was needed for a strong condition to obtain. It seems almost unbelievable that the industry would continue to produce

Jan 1, 1932

By L. C. Aycock, J. Hunter, P. M. Lyons

In view of the unfavorable discovery trend that has set in during the past few years, it seems permissible to infer that the large, more easily found crude reserves in Louisiana are now known. Without doubt, many new producing areas will be located, but in the light of development during the past few years the majority of new areas probably will be found at greater depths and from relatively poorer sands. f Although sufficient reserves exist in Louisiana to last at the present rate of production for a considerable period, additional reserves must be found in more intensive development of the presently known structures. In order to ensure the greatest ultimate recovery from such structures, the most advanced technical methods must be employed in their exploitation. Wherever possible, cycling and repressuring plants should be installed. 'here are presently in Louisiana, especially in south Louisiana, a great many fields that contain gas-condensate reservoirs. These reservoirs cannot be produced for their liquid hydrocarbon content under present conditions without wasting an enormous quantity of gas and creating underground waste. Although some of these reservoirs are being produced, such production must be considered in the nature of a salvage operation rather than as a sound economic proposition. Such reservoirs, however, can become profitable ven- tures through the use of cycling and repressuring plants. Cycling operations now operating in Louisiana have increased the ultimate recovery from gas-condensate reservoirs anywhere from 10 to 30 per cent. Cycling operations will also provide a considerable reserve of gas, without which Louisiana cannot hope to develop any program of industrialization. During the past year, Louisiana attained the rank of third among the oil-producing states of this country. With a proper program of exploitation and development, and with emphasis on conservation, Louisiana can maintain this position for a great many years. Production On Dec. 31, 1943, oil and/or gas were being. produced in 52 parishes, or 81 per cent of all the parishes in the state. Thirty-three of the parishes produced oil and gas, 14 produced oil, and 5 produced solely gas. Tensas Parish in north Louisiana and Assumption Parish in south Louisiana formerly contained no producing fields but during 1943 joined the ranks of the producing parishes. Twenty-three new fields, including one rediscovery, were found during 1943-—a rate of discovery almost comparable to that of the preceding year. Eleven of these new discoveries were either gas or gas-condensate fields. Thus, the trend of development in finding new reserves was also comparable to that of 1942. Many reasons of considerable merit have been advanced to account for the discouraging lack of crude-oil reserves found during the past year. None are, however, completely satisfactory.

Jan 1, 1944

By J. Hunter, P. M. Lyons, L. C. Aycock

In view of the unfavorable discovery trend that has set in during the past few years, it seems permissible to infer that the large, more easily found crude reserves in Louisiana are now known. Without doubt, many new producing areas will be located, but in the light of development during the past few years the majority of new areas probably will be found at greater depths and from relatively poorer sands. f Although sufficient reserves exist in Louisiana to last at the present rate of production for a considerable period, additional reserves must be found in more intensive development of the presently known structures. In order to ensure the greatest ultimate recovery from such structures, the most advanced technical methods must be employed in their exploitation. Wherever possible, cycling and repressuring plants should be installed. 'here are presently in Louisiana, especially in south Louisiana, a great many fields that contain gas-condensate reservoirs. These reservoirs cannot be produced for their liquid hydrocarbon content under present conditions without wasting an enormous quantity of gas and creating underground waste. Although some of these reservoirs are being produced, such production must be considered in the nature of a salvage operation rather than as a sound economic proposition. Such reservoirs, however, can become profitable ven- tures through the use of cycling and repressuring plants. Cycling operations now operating in Louisiana have increased the ultimate recovery from gas-condensate reservoirs anywhere from 10 to 30 per cent. Cycling operations will also provide a considerable reserve of gas, without which Louisiana cannot hope to develop any program of industrialization. During the past year, Louisiana attained the rank of third among the oil-producing states of this country. With a proper program of exploitation and development, and with emphasis on conservation, Louisiana can maintain this position for a great many years. Production On Dec. 31, 1943, oil and/or gas were being. produced in 52 parishes, or 81 per cent of all the parishes in the state. Thirty-three of the parishes produced oil and gas, 14 produced oil, and 5 produced solely gas. Tensas Parish in north Louisiana and Assumption Parish in south Louisiana formerly contained no producing fields but during 1943 joined the ranks of the producing parishes. Twenty-three new fields, including one rediscovery, were found during 1943-—a rate of discovery almost comparable to that of the preceding year. Eleven of these new discoveries were either gas or gas-condensate fields. Thus, the trend of development in finding new reserves was also comparable to that of 1942. Many reasons of considerable merit have been advanced to account for the discouraging lack of crude-oil reserves found during the past year. None are, however, completely satisfactory.

Jan 1, 1944

By Robert Mehl

A STUDY of the structures arising from the decomposition of the a solid solutions in the Cu-Zn and the Cu-Al systems is of peculiar interest in the study of the mechanism of precipitation from solid solutions. It is possible in these alloys, by varying the composition within the ß field, to precipitate from the same basic lattice phases having different lattice structures. It has been rather generally assumed heretofore that the type of structure originating from the decomposition of a solid solution-the Widmanstätten structure-is determined by the lattice structure of the parent solid solution alone. In the first paper of this series1 evidence was advanced which threw doubt upon this hypothesis; but definite proof of the correctness or incorrectness of the hypothesis should be forthcoming from a study of these alloys, for if the structures originating, for example, from the precipitation of the a phase from ß and of the -y phase from the ß in the Cu-Zn system should be shown to be crystallographically different, the hypothesis would necessarily be held as definitely disproved. Furthermore, the newer proposal enunciated in the first paper of this series-that the origin of the Widmanstätten structure lies in a cooperation between the lattice of the parent solid solution and that of the precipitate-which at present seems the only alternative hypothesis, would in such an event be given added weight. The work here reported shows that the Widmanstätten structures originating in the precipitation of the a phase from the a and in the precipitation of the -y phase from the ß in the Cu-Zn system are indeed crystallographically different; and incidentally presents some new descriptive information on the Widmanstätten structure from a more general point of view.

Jan 1, 1931

By John Henry Harden

IN 1874, with Mr. H. Y. Attrill, of Baltimore, Md., I made an examination of some property at Goderich with reference to sinking for and mining salt. With this end in view we visited all the wells in the neighborhood, but the information sought being of so unreliable a character I advised the putting down of a borehole on the property. This has since been done, the result of which has lately been published by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt in the Toronto Globe. From this there appears to have been passed through six beds of salt of an aggregate thickness of 123 feet. Rock-salt was known to exist, for, by the boring of existing wells, small crystals had been brought to the surface in the dirt, but no attempt had before been made to obtain a reliable sample or to prove the number and thickness of the beds. The question now remaining for discussion is, shall the present method of obtaining the salt be continued, or shall the beds be won by a shaft in a regular mining fashion, by which means the salt may be gotten in a condition almost ready for the market? The present mode of obtaining salt is by boreholes from 6 inches to 8 inches in diameter drilled to the beds, into which is inserted a pump. The "feeders" of fresh water intersected in drilling the well are allowed to descend on the outside of the pump-tube to the salt beds and there become saturated, when, on use of the pump, brine is obtained for evaporation. In the beginning brine can only be had in limited quantity, but by the daily application of the pump, and the gradual solution of the salt, a larger surface becomes exposed to the action of the fresh water, and a continuous supply of brine is obtained. It will then be understood that the supply of brine is dependent upon the feeders of fresh water intersected in boring the well, which, we are told, have never shown any sign of diminution, and this is the water that must be encountered in sinking a shaft. There are ten wells in operation at Goderich, the most important one to the present project being known as the Hawley Well, located at an elevation a few feet above Lake Huron at the mouth of the river Maitland, at a much lower level and nearer to the proposed shaft than any other well in the district. At this well the feeders

Jan 1, 1877

By John Henry Harden

IN 1874, with Mr. H. Y. Attrill, of Baltimore, Md., I made an examination of some property at Goderich with reference to sinking for and mining salt. With this end in view we visited all the wells in the neighborhood, but the information sought being of so unreliable a character I advised the putting down of a borehole on the property. This has since been done, the result of which has lately been published by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt in the Toronto Globe. From this there appears to have been passed through six beds of salt of an aggregate thickness of 125 feet. Rock-salt was known to exist, for, by the boring of existing wells, small crystals had been brought to the surface in the dirt, but no attempt had before been made to obtain a reliable sample or to prove the number and thickness of the beds. The question now remaining for discussion is, shall the present method of obtaining the salt be continued, or shall the beds be won by a shaft in a regular mining fashion, by which means the salt may be gotten in a condition almost ready for the market? The present mode of obtaining salt is by boreholes from 6 inches to 8 inches in diameter drilled to the beds, into which is inserted a pump. The "feeders" of fresh water intersected in drilling the well are allowed to descend on the outside of the pump-tube to the salt beds and there become saturated, when, on use of the pump, brine is obtained for evaporation. In the beginning brine can only be had in limited quantity, but by the daily application of the pump, and the gradual solution of the salt, a larger surface becomes exposed to the action of the fresh water, and a continuons supply of brine is obtained. It will then be understood that the supply of brine is dependent upon the feeders of fresh water intersected in boring the well, which, we are told, have never shown any sign of diminution, and this is the water that must be encountered in sinking a shaft. There are ten wells in operation at Goderich, the most important one to the present project being known as the Hawley Well, located at an elevation a few feet above Lake Huron at the mouth of the river Maitland, at, a much lower level and nearer to the proposed shaft than any other well in the district. At this well the feeders

By A. CHESTER BEATTY

MAGNESIUM oxide is by far the most refractory of the common oxides, since it has a melting point of 5072 deg. F. as compared with 3110 deg. F., the melting point of silica (crystobalite) ; 3722 deg. F., the melting point of alumina (corundum) ; and 4127 deg. F., the melting point of chromite (Cr2O33FeO). Its large-scale use in the lining of metallurgical furnaces dates back to the latter part of the nineteenth century, when extensive deposits of magnesium carbonate were discovered in southern Austria in the province of Styria. Before the development of Austrian magnesite, calcined dolomite, a mixture of lime and magnesia, was used in basic steel-making furnaces. The lime in the dolomite was quite objectionable, since it slaked on exposure to the atmosphere, and dolomite therefore could not be made' .into permanent furnace bottoms or into brick. The Austrian magnesite, with its very low lime content, was free from these objections and soon displaced much of the dolomite. With the extensive development of basic steel-melting, the rise of the copper industry, and other metallurgical and chemical processes which dealt with chemically basic substances, the use of magnesite grain and magnesite brick increased rapidly.

Jan 1, 1931

G. H. CLEVENGER, Colorado Springs, Colo.-Mr. Crowe's paper will be of great interest to cyanide operators, as it is a distinct new development in cyanidation. After reading the paper it occurred to me that some of us had done practically the same thing some time ago, but without design and unconsciously. I refer particularly to the operation of some of the earlier types of vacuum filter, used in connection with a dry vacuum pump and a receiver, which is somewhat similar equipment to that employed by Mr. Crowe. However, we did not appreciate the good effects we were getting from such of this solution as was precipitated, and it has remained for Mr. Crowe to bring distinctly to our attention the advantages of removing air from cyanide solutions before precipitation. Full credit is therefore due him for this very clever improvement in the cyanide process.

Jan 11, 1918

By Alexander Bowie

IN many places throughout the Western mountain plateau regions of the United States coal beds in place have been burned over very extensive, areas, the fire evidently originating on the nakedly exposed outcrop of the coal bed and gradually burning its way into the bed for considerable distances under very heavy cover. . The surface evidences of the burned-out coal beds are seen in the calcined and discolored rocks overlying the places of the outcrop. The greater the mass of the burned coal the higher the results of its combustion can be seen in the overlying strata. I have noted many instances of this condition in the States of South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. In the lignite fields of Dakota and Wyoming I noted stretches of level country many square miles in extent where the surface rocks were roasted and vitrified by the burning of a great bed of lignite lying nearly level and with a light cover; this is probably the most favorable natural condition for the burning out of a coal bed. The less the depth of the rock covering overlying the coal bed, the better the .chance for a continuous supply of air to the fire; but when the coal bed clips heavily into the ground, or even if level, if it, passes under a hill or mountain which gives the bed a heavy covering of strata, the fire has more chances of being extinguished from natural causes than in the first condition described. The distance which, a crop fire may extend into a coal field is very much influenced by the dip, the thickness of the coal bed, and the nature of the rock covering immediately overlying it.

Jan 2, 1914

By John A. Church

AT a time when the treatment of gold and silver ore9 by fusion, in opposition to the mill-process, is attracting so much attention in this country, it may be useful to consider what is done in a well-conducted foreign work. For this purpose I will ask the reader to accompany me to Lend, in Austria, a small but thoroughly organized

By R. W. Heckel, H. P. Cheskis, A. Lawley, M. R. Pinnel

THERE are discrepancies reported in the literature regarding the micro and macro stress-strain behavior of metals and alloys. In particular, Young's modulus and micro yield measurements often show significant variations depending upon the techniques employed.'-" The purpose of this note is to correlate measurements made with four techniques and to indicate where some of these discrepancies might arise. Allied use of these techniques can provide a complete and consistent characterization of micro and macro stress-strain behavior (over the strain range of 10-9 to 10--2 in. in.-') from a minimum number of samples. Techniques. The techniques employed for measuring stress-strain behavior involved the use of a) linear differential transformers, b) SR-4 strain gages, c) longitudinal resonance waves, and d) X-ray diffraction. Specimen geometries and preparations are summarized in Table I for each technique. Differential Transformer and Strain Measurements. An Instron universal testing machine, modified with an alignment device, was used to apply the load via parallel-jaw grips. The signal from the load cell was applied to the Y scale of a Moseley X-Y recorder (sensitivity of 10 lb load per in. chart). The elongation was monitored simultaneously with strain gages mounted on three sides of the rectangular specimen, and with two linear variable differential transformers (LVDT) mounted at 90 deg to one another on faces that also contained the strain gages, Fig. 1. The signal from one of the LVDT's was applied to the X scale of the recorder (sensitivity 40 µ in. elongation per in. chart) in order to trace a continuous load-elonga-tion curve. Concurrently, the strain on the same face (i.e., the face monitored by the LVDT) was recorded by the corresponding strain gage. A stress-strain curve was plotted from the load cell-strain gage data and was compared to the stress-strain curve (converted from load-elongation) plotted from the continuous load cell-LVDT trace. Identical Table I. Description of Specimens Used in the Present Study Material Dimerisions Preparation Condition 99.99 pct A1 tensile 318 by 3/16 by 3 in. as cast ingot; cut annealed specimen on diamond wheel 2024 A1 tensile 318 by 3/20 by 31/2 in. vacuum hot annealed specimen pressed sheets; cut on diamond wheel 99.99 pct Al 3116 by 3/16 by 2 in. cut from tensile prestrained dynamic modulus specimen after 10"* in. specimen test per in. 2024 A1 dynamic 3/20 by 3/20 by 2 in. vacuum hot annealed modulus specimen pressed sheets; cut on diamond wheel 2024 A1 X-ray gage section 112 by vacuum hot annealed specimens 1/4by1/20in. pressed sheets; cut on diamond wheel

Jan 1, 1970

By Carl Swartz

FOR many years kettles used in the melting and refining of lead and other nonferrous metals and alloys have been made of cast iron. The logic of this probably lies in the fact that cast iron has been known as a material of construction for vessels of this type much longer than steel, and satisfactory fabrication from it has been more easily accomplished and better understood. As the capacity of lead refineries has increased, it has been only natural to increase the size of kettles. Today kettles of 150 to 250 tons are not uncommon. As the size of the kettles increased and better shapes were designed, the uniformity of material of construction became more important. Records kept over comparatively long periods of time have shown that the length of service of kettles has not been uniform. Many causes contribute to this and the importance of each has not yet been evaluated. Kettle design, kettle setting, method of firing and material of construction have been changed from time to time to obtain better service, but the variation in length of service is still great. A kettle may fail during the first few heats or may last through more than one thousand heats. The purpose of this article is not to present the conclusions of a finished piece of research on kettle manufacture and use, but to present a series of observations made over considerable time in the hope that others will publish data and that all may be correlated into a logical scheme which will result in better service and longer kettle life.

Jan 1, 1931