Search Documents

By Robert Stefanko

Shortwall mining represents a compromise between the room-and-pillar and longwall systems. Figure 1 shows that the shortwall layout is very similar to that for longwall panels, the primary difference being that the shortwall is generally 150 to 200 feet wide while longwalls are 350 to 600 feet wide. The development of entries is divorced from the production of the walls with both systems. However, the depth of the web is considerably different in the shortwall system. Because a standard continuous miner is employed, a depth of 10 feet is normally mined on a single pass. This greater web thickness requires the use of a specially constructed support that can support the much longer cantilever bar that must extend over the working area. This is accomplished by not only increasing the length of the bar but also strengthening it structurally; however, the key to success lies in articulating the cantilever from the base and supporting it with a short hydraulic jack leg. This arrangement provides the additional strength required in the support. It should be apparent that a shortwall support is more costly than the type used for longwall.

Jan 1, 1981

By George F. Kunz, Henry S. Washington

The recently discovered occurrence of diamonds near Mur-freesboro, Pike county, Ark., was brought to our attention by Mr. Samuel W. Reyburn (Trustee for Messrs. C. S. Stifft, A. D. Cohn, August Zinsser, Jr., and himself, owners of the property), through whose courtesy we investigated the locality of the deposit. Prospecting with the diamond-drill is now in active progress; but mining operations on a large scale have not yet been ordered. Geology.—The geology as well as the petrography of this interesting locality has been well described by Messrs. J. C. Branner and R. N. Brackett,' but they did not class it as dia-mondiferous, although Branner suggested that it might be. Briefly summarized, the igneous rock in which the diamonds are found is a vitreous peridotite, forming a stock or volcanic neck, which has broken up through the Carboniferous and Cretaceous quartzites and sandstones. After an extensive period of erosion, during which an unknown portion of the neck and pre-

Jan 1, 1909

The Institute conducts jointly with the American Society of Civil Engineers, 'American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Institute of Electrical Engineers, certain activities as listed below, and is joint owner with them if certain properties. United Engineering. Trustees, Inc. When Mr. Carnegie made his gift which made possible a home for the engineering societies, a separate corporation was organized to act as a holding company and to manage the common property. This was long known as the United Engineering Society but the name has now been changed to one which more nearly reflects the real function of the corporation. It holds title to the Engineering societies Building and to various funds placed in its charge and is managed by a Board of Trustees of which three are chosen by each of the four societies, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Electrical Engineers and American Society of Civil Engineers, which own equal and undivided interests in the property. The land and building cost two million dollars. The interest of each of the Founders societies, aside from especial trust funds, is now valued at $493,352. The A. I. M. E. trustees are Arthur S. Dwight, J. V. N. Don and George D. Barron. The President of the Board is Francis Lee Stuart and the Secretary, Alfred D. Flinn.

Jan 1, 1929

By Charles Fairhust

Although the term 'rock mechanics' started to become popular about the time of the First U.S. Rook Mechanics Symposium in 1956, study of the mechanical behavior of rock certainly pre-dates this event. Bucky, Phillips, Von Karman, Fayol, Galileo...the list of significant contributors can be traced back over centuries, - not surprising for the oldest structural material used by man. Started with a strong mining orientation by the Colorado School of Mines, University of Minnesota, and Pennsylvania State University, joined soon after by Missouri School of Mines and the University of Texas, the Annual U.S. Symposium on Bock Mechanics has evolved into the main U.S. form for discussion of all aspects of rock mechanics, basic and applied - tectonophysics to comminution; near-surf ace foundations to deep mine support design. Although dominantly a U.S. event the annual symposium has benefitted from regular and important contributions from abroad. It would be presumptuous to attempt a comprehensive statement of significant developments over the 25-year history of the U.S. Bock Mechanics Symposium. This anniversary address will attempt instead to present a personal view of developments that appear to be of broad general significance and that may indicate directions for the future. Among the developments to be discussed in the address arc the following: - Energy Basis of Book Fracture Early rock mechanics investigators often overlooked the important distinction between a failure initiation stress and structural collapse. Although essentially synonymous in the

Jan 1, 1984

By M. H. Gidel, D. C. Bard

These notes are based on the megascopic study of a suite of 2,400 specimens of minerals and ores from the Butte mines, combined with field observations at intervals over a period of several years. The estimate of average vein composition is based on field acquaintance with the veins. It is probably correct in its broader proportions, and should be of use for comparison. Chemical and Mineral Composition of Unoxidized Vein Matter. Per Cent. Oxygen,......48.00—Quartz, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, sericite, kaolinite, barite, calcite, and hübnerite. Silicon,...... 36.O0—Quartz, rhodonite, sericite, kaolinite, and willemite (very rare). Sulphur,.....5.0—Sulphides of iron, zinc, copper, lead, and sulphates of barium and rarely calcium. Iron,.......5.00—Ferric sulphides (pyrite, bornite, chalcopyrite), also in sphalerite, tetrahedrite, and rarely hematite and siderite. Manganese,.... 2.00—Rhodonite, rhodochrosite, and hübnerite. Zinc,.......1.00—Sphalerite, very rare wurtzite and willemite, and tetrahedrite and tennantite. Carbon,......0.50—Rhodochrosite and calcite. Capper,......0.75—Cuprous ( + ) and cupric (—) sulphides. Aluminum,.... 0.50—Sericite and kaolinite. Hydrogen,.... 0.50—Water, sericite, and kaolinite. Potassium,.....0.20—hicite. Lead,....... 0.20—Galena. Arsenic,......0.10—Tennantite and enargite. Barium,......0.10—Barite. Calcium,.....0.10—Fluorite, calcite, and rare gypsum. Antimony,.... 0.02—Tetrahedrite, famatinite, and silver sulphantimonites. Fluorine,.....0.05—Fluorite. Silver,.....1 —Argentite, and sulphantimonites. Tungsten,.... —Hübnerite. Phosphorus, • —Wavellite. Bismuth,' .... 0.05—Sulphide (?) Tellurium,... 1 —Telluride (?) Selenium,.... —Selenide (?) Cadmium,.... —Sulphide (?) Gold,..... —Native and telluride (?)

Jan 1, 1914

In an earlier day, a moderate-sized 600 tpd mine could easily require 60 working faces and might use five supervisors. The miner had a tonnage rate as an incentive and was largely his own boss. With the advent of conventional mining machine crews, the typical pattern of resource used changed radically. The number of work places could be cut by a factor of ten, but supervision only by a factor of somewhere around three, or at most, five. Obviously, supervision was increased. Capital use rose at the same time by a factor of approximately eight. Materials used, such as powder and bits, probably in- creased in both quality and unit cost, too. It certainly required a better-trained man to run the machines, but fewer miners were needed. It is clear that each input factor such as land, labor, capital and management, has changed significantly and it would be foolish to attribute all the gain to improved machines. However, concentration of work was a vital consideration in the change, sketched above, and such focusing of work in fewer areas could not have occurred without high capacity mining machines.

Jan 11, 1968

By R. E. Allen

One of the most unusual oil-field engineering accomplishments of the past two years is the development and rapid advance in the directed drilling of wells. Directed drilling as referred to herein is the controlled steering of the drill stem in the required direction to a given location in the oil sand. The deliberate drifting of holes is an act so far removed from what has been considered good drilling practice that all of the old questions of correlation, drillability and production difficulties are revived. Only a few years ago, during the boom days of Seminole and Santa Fé Springs, the crooked-hole problem, as it was then called, occupied a primary position among the topics of the day in the fields of California and the Mid-Continent. The net result of all the discussion and study at that time was the conclusion that oil wells should be drilled with as little deviation from the vertical as possible and that crooked holes with elbows and dog legs were to be avoided because of the drilling and producing difficulties encountered therein, but that many nonvertical holes were slanting or angling rather than crooked and were not a serious problem.

Jan 1, 1934

A visitor to the Republic of South Africa might profitably make his first sightseeing objective the Voortrekker's Monument at the administrative capital, Pretoria. Here he will find memorialized in sculptured stone the epic of the migrations of Dutch colonists from the Cape in search of new pastures and to escape British rule. He will see depicted the battles with the Bantus who were coming south also in search of habitable land, the peace treaties with great chiefs and the rise of Afrikaaner leaders. An American will be struck by similarities in events with his own history as well as in clothes and in type of covered wagons of the colonists. Before the latter half of the 19th century, little that transpired in South Africa was of any great international moment. The country had not attracted a great many settlers (about 15,000 Europeans in 1800 compared to about 2 million in the American colonies in 1776). Although some gold was being mined the majority of population was engaged in trade or subsistence farming.

Jan 12, 1962

M. G. CORSON.'-I am not going to discuss any of the papers presented but merely the question of season cracking of brass in general. Alpha brass has been known for nearly 500 yr. and from the very beginning a number of articles were made from sheets of this alloy by the process of spinning. Metal turning lathes were not yet known but wood turning lathes already existed and the wood turners used to make the mandrils and do the brass spinning themselves. Cases of season cracking were known even then. In 1915 I was connected with a small company doing a certain amount of brass spinning. Before the war its products never gave cause for complaint but their war-time products were cracking too frequently. The reason was, that due to the exigencies of war an excessive speed-up was attempted and the material simply could not take it. Today corrosion cracking of brass is most important in the case of cartridges for small arms ammunition and shell cases for large guns. The cracking takes place in storage and too frequently it is explained by the hypothetical presence of vapors of ammonia. However, I had the experience of purchasing some 20,000 rounds for the old Vetterli rifle from the Swiss government in 1905. The rifle and the cartridges were obsolete for many years and those which I bought were stored for at least 10 yr. None of them was found to be cracked or to crack in use. And the reason again was in the amount of work used in manufacturing the cartridges between anneals. The machinery today is more powerful and the amount of

Jan 1, 1945

By C. Alstetter, V. Kerlins

By using alloys with subzero Ms temperatures, this investigation demonstrates that the amount of decomposition of martensite during the quench from austenite may be considerable and especially so in specimens of large cross -sections and high Ms temperatures. The activation energy for decomposition as measured dilutometrically is PREVTOUS investigations of the initial decomposition of Fe-C system martensite have invariably been limited to alloys having M, temperatures above a function of the amount of transformation which has taken place. The amount of transformation is a linear finction of log time. A correction term to the activation energy is derived for dilatometric measurements in which no end-point of the transformation is detected. room temperature. In such alloys the martensite is tempered during the quench to an extent dictated by the quench rate and temperature of formation. This tempering, called quench-tempering, Q-tempering, self-tempering, or auto-tempering, although frequently acknowledged, has not been studied or treated quantitatively. To do so one should obtain absolutely untempered martensite and study its decomposition. This as-formed martensite could be obtained either by extremely rapid quenching, requiring very thin specimens, or by lowering the martensite formation temperature range. The second alternative is more effective, because

Jan 1, 1963

By Walter C. Labys

INTRODUCTION Interest in multicommodity stabilization schemes has increased recently for several reasons, a most important one being the experienced wide swings in primary commodity prices. These prices rose sharply between mid - 1972 and end - 1974 giving commodity exporting countries an opportunity to gain sizeable increases in export earnings. But since then, prices have tumbled and these countries are searching for a means to stabilize if not to increase their earnings. While this problem is particularly serious for developing countries, the developed countries are concerned about the impending upward price swing, which would increase inflation before recovery from the world recession is assured. As a direct consequence of the emergency meeting of the U.N. General Assembly devoted to commodity problems in April of 1974, interest has been renewed in the Keynesian (4) plan for an international multicommodity buffer stock program. In particular, UNCTAD (8) is designing an integrated commodity scheme to be discussed within that body. In terms of approaches that have appeared in designing such a program, none exist which relate to the interpretation of the independence and interdependence of prices of the commodities of interest. Typical criteria for selecting commodities for the scheme have included their importance in world trade, their particular origin from developing countries, and their feasibility for storage. But the financial management of a multicommodity buffer stock requires a consideration of commodity prices, yields, and risks as does as any portfolio of assets. The approach which we take in this study is that of application

Jan 1, 1977

By B. H. Sage

VARIATIONS in the composition of the liquid phase of natural reservoirs which are continuous through significant ranges in elevation have been noted by petroleum technologists. In general, there is a greater gas-oil ratio and the gravity of the oil is higher in production from the upper parts of the formation. In the present paper the possible changes in composition with elevation which would result from the attainment of thermodynamic equilibrium in a uniform gravitational field have been evaluated for a naturally occurring hydrocarbon liquid, a binary hydro-carbon liquid phase and a binary hydrocarbon gas. The results indicate a progressive decrease in the mole fraction of the components from methane through the butanes with increasing depth, accompanied by a corresponding increase in the amount of the heavier components making up the system. The magnitude of these variations is perhaps insufficient to explain completely the variations in the properties of the liquid phase that are encountered at various elevations within a particular producing horizon. However, the changes are significant and the treatment presents an example of the application of thermodynamic data to the evaluation of the properties of hydrocarbon fluids under the conditions approaching those encountered in natural reservoirs.

Jan 1, 1938

By R. Schuhmann, J. Th. Overbeek, P. L. De Bruyn

W. E. Ewers (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research organization, Melbourne, Australia)— Any attempt to elucidate further the meaning of the contact angle, particularly if it deals with the magnitudes of those mysterious quantities rsa and YRL, is certain to receive attention from those interested in the fundamentals of flotation. It is imperative, therefore, that attention should be drawn to a serious defect in the treatment by de Bruyn, Overbeek, and Schuhmann. Their Eq. 5 dy = — ld/u — Th2odiH2n states correctly the relationship between the change in surface free energy dy, the surface excesses Tx and Th2o of the components x and H2O and the changes du, and dph2o in the chemical potentials of these components. This equation applies for constant pressure and con- stant temperature and for the interface of the solid in contact with the solution of X. The relation remains valid when 1.1 is defined so that TH2O becomes zero and the equation becomes dr = — r:dur [17] From this equation de Bruyn et al. correctly concluded that increased adsorption of the collector at the liquid solid interface would reduce the interfacial energy ysl. Their second conclusion, however, that an increase in the contact angle, corresponding to a greater decrease in rsa than in rsL can be attributed to greater adsorption of X at the solid-air interface than at the solid-liquid interface is quite unjustified. The portion of the solid surface from which the collector solution has been displaced by air must be considered in terms of the equilibria between the gaseous phase and the surface. If the pressure and temperature

Jan 1, 1955

By E. A. Beck

(New York Meeting. February, 1913.) For a number of years many attempts have been made to use thermit in order to do away with piping in ingots. Some of these attempts were successful, while others did not give the expected results. Nearly every plant had its own method of using the thermit, and no special care was taken to study, the results or to find the causes for lack of success. Formerly the principle of the process was to decrease the piping by introducing a can filled with thermit, attached to an iron rod, into the head of the ingot directly after it bad been poured. In this case the thermit reaction took place in the upper part of the ingot, and it was thought that through the heat produced the head would keep liquid longer and piping thus be reduced. In other words, the aim was to keep the head of the ingot open by making use of the heat of the thermit reaction, which would thereby give the gases in the steel sufficient time to escape. This result can be attained by the application of a large enough quantity of thermit, but it would not be economical in general practice, and could only be used for high-grade material. Many steel-makers abroad and in this country have had this experience. The Th. Goldschmidt A. G., Germany, has, therefore, made a special study of this question with the co-operation of a well-known steel company, and has worked out a new method for. the application of thermit for this purpose. The results obtained have been most satisfactory and reliable, and this- process is now used in Germany on a large scale in many prominent steel-works.

Jan 4, 1913

THE relation of labor to the accident rate in mines is admirably epitomized by Thomas T. Read in his paper presented at the St. Louis meeting, in the sentence "Reliance for accident prevention must be upon the individual worker himself." In connection with the inspection of mines for the fixing of merit premium rates for insurance under workmen's compensation, it has been the practice of The Associated Companies to allow 60 per cent.of the credits for safeguarding of the physical hazards of the mine and 40 per cent. for the human element. By "human element" is meant. that inherent tendency of the industrial worker to be careless, negligent or disobedient, in respect to his own safety, and after that also f his fellow workman. This is a tendency not only of the laborer or of the skilled miner, but of all human beings, working or traveling, anywhere. This element of mine safety, sometimes called the moral hazard, has been admirably shown by statistics compiled from the records of the Department of Mines of the Union of South Africa to be clue in about equal measure to the carelessness of the miner and to that of the operator. These statistics show that about one-half the fatalities in mines are clue to the so-called hazard of the industry, or what is sometimes called the dangers inherent to work or misadventure. Of 2497 fatalities investigated, including over 200,000 employees, for a period of over 2 ½ years, it was found that 17.5 per cent. were due to faulty plant or material, fault of the foreman, or of the management-in short were-clue to the operator; 17.1 per cent. to disobedience of orders, carelessness or ignorance of injured persons; and 5.9 per cent. through fault of others, including fellow workmen. The fault of the operator is evidenced by failure to give proper warning, failure to inspect, failure to furnish proper equipment, and neglecting to comply with the recommendations of the inspector. That education and training of the mine operator as well as of the mine worker

Jan 2, 1918

By James M. Townsend

INTRODUCTION The first stage in planning any mining venture is to determine whether the reserves are of sufficient quantity and quality to warrant commencement of mining activities. In addition to total reserve values a modern mining operation requires information on possible support problems, various pillar sizes, and an estimate on recoverable reserves. To achieve this goal in U. S. coal mines, up-to-date computer methods have been applied to existing ground control technology to provide the mining engineer with a reasonably accurate method of determining such figures. The purpose of this paper is to present a mine planning suite comprised of three computer programs, CONTUR, RESERV-COAL and RAMPLAN, created to accomplish this task. These programs were developed at VPI under the sponsorship of the Office of Coal Research (now Energy Research and Development Administration), and are currently available to the mining industry. A basic assumption in the construction of the CONTUR program is that a coal seam is variable in nature. The data available to the mining engineer comes from randomly spaced points, namely boreholes and sampling points, on outcrops or in adjacent mines. These randomly spaced data points are used in the CONTUR program to estimate numerical values at evenly spaced grid points and to provide approximate contour plans. Given the necessary gridded data, RESERV-COAL calculates raw and clean coal tonnages and then provides breakdown on the quantity of coal within specified ranges of ash, sulfur, BTU and reject. RAMPLAN (Rock Mechanics Applied to Mine Planning) also uses gridded data to calculate mining dimensions and estimate recoverable reserves, thereby

Jan 1, 1977

By J. H. Dewey, J. McCreedy

Ontario Division of The International Nickel Company of Canada, Limited, operates five under- ground mines and one open pit on the rim of the Sudbury basin. In 1962, the total underground ore production was over 10 million tons which was mined mainly by blasthole and caving methods with the remainder by cut-and-fill, square set and undercut-and-fill techniques. Because of the large expenditures required annually for explosives, a great deal of study has been devoted toward cost reduction in this field. The large saving effected by ammonium nitrate-fuel oil combination at the open pits, along with reports of its success in underground mining in Sweden, generated much interest in the possibility of its use as a replacement for high explosives in the underground operations at Inco. In June, 1960, a research engineer was assigned to this project, and preliminary investigations soon indicated substantial savings and important safety advantages. The final results of the program were successful beyond any expectations and ANFO is now used exclusively in all Inco mining operations in Ontario except shaft sinking.

Jan 11, 1964

The U. S. Navy Department has perfected plans for the enrollment and training of considerable numbers of engineering officers. A school for this purpose, the U. S. Navy Steam Engineering School, has been established by the Department at Hoboken, N. J. The school is open to men between the ages of 21 and 40 who meet the physical requirements of the Navy, who are of thorough ability and officer-like character and who have completed the mechanical or electrical engineering course at certain recognized technical schools, or who possess an education and experience adjudged to be an equivalent thereof. Enrollment in the U. Naval Reserve Force of men properly qualified may be made at any Naval enrolling office, notation being made of the applicant's qualifications and desire to be detailed to this school. Applicants will be enrolled as Chief Machinist Mates, and during the course of instruction will draw the pay of this rating, $83 per month, plus $60 per month paid as subsistence. Upon graduation, men will be commissioned as Ensigns in the U. S. Naval Reserve, with a salary of $1700 per year. The duty to which a graduate of this school will be assigned will be that of an engineer officer in the auxiliary service of the Navy. Special provision has been made for the continuance of the school with proper material by a Navy regulation which permits undergraduates of the Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Classes in recognized engineering schools to enroll in the Naval Reserve Force with the rating of Seaman 2d Class, and continue their courses at the institutions where they have matriculated. Such men will be called into active service after their graduation, and can at that time, if they are qualified to pass an officers' physical examination, apply for admission to the U. S. Navy Steam Engineering School. Men who are registered in the draft, either graduates or undergraduates, may enroll with the proper enrolling officer by securing from their draft board a letter of release, which in all probability can be obtained for this purpose. The aim of this school is not simply to produce engineers, but to produce naval engineering officers in the true sense of the word. The course of instruction covers a period of five months, arranged in four periods.

Jan 10, 1918

By G. H. Clamer

Page Bronze Bearing Metals. By G. H. Clamer............... 162 Pennsylvania Railroad Anti-friction and Bell Metals. By F. M. Waring .. 166 The Tin-plate Industry. By D. M. BUck. Discussed by G. H. ClameR, J. W. RICHARDS............................ 168 The Aluminum Bronze Industry. By W. M. Corse............ 171 Bronzes, Bearing Metals, and Solders. By G. K. BURgess and R. W. Woodward. Discussed by G. H. Clamer, R. T. Roberts......... 175 Babbitts and Solder. By G. W. Thompson................ 184 The Cadmium Supply of the United States. By C. E. Siebenthal. Discussed by M. L. Lissberger, C. W. Hill, F. F. ColcoRd.......... 185 Solder, Its Use and Abuse. By M. L. LissbergeR............ 192 Bronze Bearing Metals G. H. ClameR,* Philadelphia, Pa.—Unfortunately, prior to the war no serious attention was given to the conservation of tin, notwithstanding that this country is practically dependent upon outside sources for its entire tin supply. Tin is of vital importance in many industries, but it is surprising how many and how excellent are its substitutes when we become acquainted with them. Tin has always been a relatively high-priced metal, and it is part of the human attitude to associate high prices with high standards; it is not until the price of a commodity becomes well-nigh prohibitive that we hunt for substitutes, because the idea of substitution seems always to involve an assumption that the substitute must necessarily be inferior. The history of the development of bearing bronzes is a striking example of this policy. In the early days, copper-tin alloys were almost universally used, the idea then being prevalent, which is still held by many, that a bearing to resist wear must be hard, and the harder the better. The favorite bronze bearing contained 90 per cent. copper and 10 per cent. tin; frequently, in service which was considered severe, even higher proportions of tin were used. Such hard alloys have great resistance to compression, but as a rule they had a very wide factor of safety in this

Jan 1, 1919

By C. W. Tomlinson

The analyses which have been made by the writer according to the method described below were made as part of Professor Withey's investigation of the concrete aggregates1 of Wisconsin, in the hope of throwing light on the extent and nature of the influence of the mineral-ogical constitution of aggregates upon the properties of the concrete and mortar made from them. This method was found most satisfactory after four weeks of experiment and modification. It attains an accuracy quite sufficient for the purpose of the analysis, and is fairly rapid. mineralogical analyses may be thus made at a cost considerably less than that of chemical analyses of a similar degree of completeness. The results obtained by this method should not vary in any item by more than 1 per cent. of the total weight of the sample, and may be made very much better than this by the exercise of greater care in the microscopic counting (see below). The accuracy of the hand sorting is of course dependent upon the experience and carefulness of the analyst. After a month's practice, the writer was enabled to turn out these analyses at the rate of four in 33 hr. of working time. It was found most economical to handle four samples at once. The samples analyzed weighed from 290 to 340 g. each. The same method could be applied to larger or to smaller samples, within reasonable limits. The following list covers the necessary apparatus and equipment: 1 good balance capable of weighing accurately to tenths (or, better, hun- dredths) of a gram, and of handling quantities up to 200 g. in weight. 1 Westphal balance, registering densities to two or three decimal places. 1 Meker or Bunsen burner, and gas supply. 1 nest of sieves, 10, 20, 40, and 100 meshes to the inch.

Jan 1, 1916