Search Documents

By Harold B. Fell

MANY oil producers are in disagreement with the idea held by some that an increase in the price of crude oil would be unlikely to stimulate much production and that we will be obliged to draw upon foreign sources of petroleum to supplement our domestic production as the years go by. Supporting our con trary opinion are numerous facts and figures. The most recent official estimate of the maximum efficient rate of production from the oil wells of the United States is 5,271,000 bbl per day. The Economics Advisory Committee of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission estimates, assuming certain supplies from imports and from natural gasoline and benzol, that crude oil require-

Jan 1, 1947

By JAS. F. McCARTHY

THE present Hecla Co. is a Washington corporation; the Hecla Co. of Idaho was the old company. The older corporation owned two claims, the Hecla and the Katie May, and was incorporated for 500,000 shares of one dollar par value. The principal shareholders and officials of the older company were among the early mining men of the camp. Among the active officials were John A. Finch and A. B. Campbell. Among the directors and share- holders were Patrick Clark, J. R. Smith, Frank Upman, F. J, Kipp, Chas. Kipp, B. A. Kipp and Carl Landsee. F. J. Kipp and Carl Landsee are now directors of the Company. All of the others mentioned have died, but the surviving members of their families retain their ownership in the Company's shareholders. B. A. ,Kipp, who recently died, was the largest shareholder at the time of incorporation and Patrick Clark was the second largest shareholder. B. A. Kipp is a brother 'of F. J. Kipp, director of the Company.

Jan 1, 1924

By F. E. Bedale

STUDY of several severe mine explosions that occurred during the winter of 1907 led to the belief that coal dust was a definite explosion hazard. The Consolidation Coal Co. was a pioneer in the early work to' eliminate this hazard and to combat the dangers incident to poor ventilation and the presence of methane. Maintenance of high humidity throughout the mines was one of the first measures adopted, later to be superseded by rock-dusting. In the twenty years from 1907 on, many safety measures were developed and adopted, and several prizes were won, though the practice was crude by present-day standards. But in 1927, the company went to work in earnest, and organized a Department of Safety with adequate personnel and with authority to enforce all approved rules for the prevention of accidents and the preservation of company property. All plans for new construction work, changes in mining systems, and proposals for the purchase of new mining equipment had to receive the approval of this Department. A set of operating- and safety standards was written to govern the activities of all employees, and physical examinations for them were required.

Jan 1, 1938

Annual Meeting, February 17 to 19, 1914.-The following Committees have been appointed to have charge of the arrangements for the Annual Meeting in New York City: . General Committee: Louis D. Huntoon, Chairman; Arthur S. Dwight, Vice-Chairman; W. deL. Benedict, George F. Kunz, Thomas T. Read, E. Maltby Shipp. Reception Committee for Each Day: Chairmen to be announced later. Banquet Committee : Theodore Dwight, Chairman. Luncheon Committee: E. Maltby Shipp, Chairman. Ladies' Committee: Mrs. Arthur S. Dwight. Badge Committee : George F. Kunz, Chairman; E. Maltby Shipp, Vice-Chairman. Program Committee: Thomas T. Read, Chairman. Bureau of Registration and Information: Burr A. Robinson, Chairman.

Jan 1, 1914

By John J. Gilman

BECAUSE of their layerlike structure, zinc crystals exhibit strong anisotropies for almost all physical and chemical properties. This should, and indeed does, greatly influence the plasticity of zinc for various crystal orientations. At low temperatures, the investigator of this plastic anisotropy is plagued by the great variety of deformation modes that operate. However, at high temperatures (250° to 419°C) only two deformation modes predominate: basal (0001) and prismatic (1010) glide. Furthermore, since strain hardening is virtually absent at high temperatures, the plasticity for these two modes of deformation can be very simply described by means of two equations of state. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the experimental behavior of basal and prismatic glide in zinc crystals, and to interpret this behavior in terms of other physical properties (in particular, the thermal expansion coefficients and the elastic constants) using the theory of dislocations. Fig. 1 defines the two planes of the zinc structure that will be discussed. Glide occurs very readily on the basal planes at all temperatures, and there is a very large literature on this subject. Much of the literature has been reviewed by Schmid and Boas;' it will not be reviewed here. Kolesnikovl was the first to show that if basal glide is circumvented by stressing a zinc crystal parallel to the basal planes (giving zero shear-stress on the basal planes) then, at temperatures above about 320°C, glide on the first-order prism planes occurs. His results have recently been confirmed by Cahn, Bear, and Bell." These previous workers have established the existence and crystallographic elements of prismatic glide; the present paper is concerned with the stress, strain rate, and temperature relations of prismatic glide as contrasted with basal glide. Experimental Methods The crystals were square ones, 6x6 mm, that had been grown in precision Pyrex tubes by a method that is described in detail elsewhere.' Most of the crystals were 99.999+ pct Zn (New Jersey Zinc Co. CP grade). Some were alloyed with 0.1 -+-0.005 atomic pct Cd, and chemical analysis showed that almost all of the added cadmium persisted through the crystal-growing process. For measurements of nonbasal glide, crystals were oriented with their basal planes parallel to both the rod axis and one of the flat faces of the square cross section. However, the orientation of the close-packed directions [1210] with respect to the rod-axis was variable. For basal glide measurements, the angle between the basal plane and the specimen axis was 35". The orientations were measured by the Gren-inger back-reflection X-ray method. The problem of finding a suitable method of gripping the crystals was the most serious experimental obstacle that arose. Because of the large plastic anisotropy of zinc, the usual gripping methods were unsatisfactory. Some methods that were tried were: high melting-point solder, making heads on the ends by locally melting a crystal, and electroplating nickel on the ends to form enlarged portions. For all these methods, the regions of the grips were weaker than the crystals themselves. Finally, two methods were decided upon: bend tests and direct machining of tensile specimens. In the bend tests, specimens were loaded as simple beams so that gripping was not a problem. The beams were 1 in. long and the axis of bending was parallel to the hexagonal axis of the crystals. For the crystals that were machined into tensile specimens, brass bars with slots in them were used to support the crystals, and thereby minimize the distortions due to machining. The crystals were glued into the brass bars with plastic cement which was later dissolved away with acetone. See Fig. 2, left. No clamps were used near the crystals and the machining was done using a milling machine with a fly-cutter. The tool bit was very sharply pointed to minimize burnishing. The feed was less than 1 mil per cut. The depth of cut was 2 mil for roughing cuts, and % mil for the finishing cuts. This machining method produced surface layers of tiny recrys-tallized grains only 2 to 3 mil deep, and the bodies of the crystals were not measurably disturbed. After the crystals had been machined and removed from the brass holders, they were chemically polished until about 5 mil had been removed from all their surfaces. The polishing reagent consisted of equal parts of concentrated HNO,, 30 pct H3O and ethyl alcohol; it is described in detail elsewhere." A typical crystal is shown in Fig. 2, right. The I-shaped faces are normal to the hexagonal axis of the crystal; otherwise the projections at the ends would simply shear off when the crystal was loaded. The cross section in the 2?-in. gage length is 0.215x0.115 in. It was found that the polished

Jan 1, 1957

By B. D. Harden

FOR over fifty years the Spanish mine, 21 miles northeast of Nevada City, in Nevada County, California, has been one of the Bradley properties. Between 1883 and 1889 it was operated by the late Frederick W. Bradley and P. R. Bradley. The ore averaged only about $1 a ton at that time but the mine was credited with a production of about $900,000 in that period. The property was then closed down until 1922, when the Bradley interests reopened it and continued development for the next nine years, when a 50-ton mill was built. This began operation in April, 1931. This was a selective flotation plant, with the tailing treated on Wilfley tables, and operated on ore from the No. 4 and No. 16 tunnel stopes. This ran from $3 to $6 in gold, 2 to 3 oz. of silver, copper 0.6 per cent, lead 1.5,

Jan 1, 1935

By J. D. Lubahn

Prior tests by Dorn, where the strain rate in a tensile test was suddenly changed, have shown a small, but definite rate-history effect to exist. If this effect is neglected in the calculation of creep behavior from tensile results, an error should occur. This paper shows that this error is smaller than experimental scattering, and may be neglected. DORN1 has found a small but definite rate-history effect in the aluminum alloy 250 at liquid-nitrogen temperature using tensile tests with an abrupt rate change. Such an effect is to be expected from pre-viously known2-6 temperature-history effects, together with general experience that effects produced by changing the strain rate a large amount are simi-

Jan 1, 1959

*J. H. Brennan, Union Carbide Metals Company, Niagara Falls, N. Y. S. B. Casey, Jr., Swindell-Dressier Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa. C. M. Cosman, Vanadium Corporation of America, New York, N. Y. H. E. Dunn, Vanadium Corporation of America, New York, N. Y. C. S. Finney, Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, Boston, Mass. M. O. Holowaty, Inland Steel Company, East Chicago, Ind. John Mitchell, Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, Boston, Mass. Leo F. Reinarts, Armco Steel Corporation, Middletown, Ohio H. E. Rowan, Dwight-Lloyd Division, McDowell Company, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio R. W. Shearman, The Metallurgical Society of AIME, New York, N. Y. C. M. Squarcy, Inland Steel Company, East Chicago, Ind. F. Weston Starratt, The Metallurgical Society of AIME, New York, N. Y. A. B. Wilder, National Tube Division, United States Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa. *Deceased

Jan 1, 1961

By Richard H. Bube

Photoelectronic radiation detectors may be conveniently classified as homogeneous intrinsic, homogeneom extrinsic, or junction type. Highly photosensitive homogeneous intrinsic photodetectors may be prepared from a number of different II-VI, III-V, or IV materials. Such materials require the presence of specific imperfections that can act as sensitizing centers to provide long majority carrier lifetime. Homogeneous extrinsic photodetectors are of interest primarity for infrared detection, and consist principully of germaniuim and silicon with suitable inpurities. A vaviety of junction photodetectors exist, with silicon us the most common material for them all. The following extrema in performance are found: 1) highest photoconductivity gain in homogeneous intrinsic photodetectors; 2) smallest response time (highest frequency response) in p-i-n junctions; 3) largest gain-bandwidth product in avalanche diodes. ALTHOUGH the total number of materials exhibiting photoconductivity effects is very large, only a relatively few of these have appropriate properties for a practical photoelectronic radiation detector. In fact if one surveys the commercial detectors currently available, one finds that the field is dominated by some ten or fewer materials. These are summarized in Table 1 in terms of the other important variable in detector fabrication, the structure of the material, i.e., whether the material is used as a single crystal or in polycrystalline form, and whether the material is used as a homogeneous detector or whether the detector depends upon the existence of a junction or barrier in the material. The principal wavelength range for each type of material is also shown, together with an indication of the utilization of intrinsic or extrinsic excitation. For the purposes of the present comparison of various detectors, it will be convenient to discuss two main topics: homogeneous photodetectors and junction photodetectors. The performance of a photoelectronic radiation detector is measured in terms of two parameters: the photoconductivity gain, and the response time of the detector. A convenient figure-of-merit is given by the ratio of gain to response time, often called the gain-bandwidth product. The photoconductivity gain is a device parameter since it varies in many cases with the applied voltage and the detector geometry, and should be distinguished from the actual photosensitivity of the material involved. This photosensitivity can be conveniently given as the product of free carrier lifetime and mobility in the material. The photoconductivity gain is defined as the number of charge carriers which pass between the electrodes per second for each photon absorbed per second, where G is the photoconductivity gain, is the pho-tocurrent in amperes, e is the electronic charge in coulombs, and F is the total number of electron-hole pairs created in the photo conductor per second by the absorption of light. The gain may also be expressed as the ratio of the lifetime of a free carrier to the transit time for that carrier, i.e., the time required for the carrier to move between the electrodes. For a material in which one-carrier conductivity dominates, where T is the lifetime of a free carrier, ttr is the transit time for this carrier, p is the carrier mobil-ity, V is the applied voltage, and L is the electrode spacing. From Eq. [2] it follows that the photoconductivity gain is proportional to the photosensitivity of the material (tP), the proportionality constant being The photosensitivity of a material, and hence the photoconductivity gain of a device utilizing the material, depends on the lifetime of the free carriers as a critical parameter. In a homogeneous material this lifetime is determined by the nature of imperfections in the material, and in an inhomogeneous material the lifetime is determined by the specific junction structure. The speed of response, the other basic photodetec-tor parameter, is determined by factors quite similar to those important for photoconductivity gain. Imperfections are of primary importance in homogeneous materials, and the structure of the junction is a determining factor in junction devices. For infrared detectors it has become common to define another quantity designed to indicate directly how effective the detector is in distinguishing between a small photoconductivity signal and random noise due to the detector and its environment. The detectivity D* is given by

Jan 1, 1968

COLUMBIA SECTION J. C. HAAS, Chairman W. J. HALL,. Vice-chairman LYNDON K. ARMSTRONG, Secretary-Treasurer, 720 Peyton Bldg., Spokane, Wash. W. H. LINNEY J. F. MCCARTHY At a meeting of the members of Columbia Section, which was held in the Davenport hotel, Spokane, Wash., Jan. 31, 1919, at noon, there were present' about twenty members and guests. The chairman being absent, Mr. Frederick Keffer presided. The Secretary announced the personnel of the executive committee of the section, which is: J. C. Hass, Spokane, Chairman; W. J. Hall, Wallace, Ida., Vice-chairman; S. S. Fowler, Riondel, B. C., Past Chairman; L. K. Armstrong, Spokane, Secretary-Treasurer; R. M. Betts, Cornucopia, Oregon. It was stated that the geological survey and report on Stevens Co., Wash., has been completed and will be printed soon. The geologic survey of Colville Indian reservation, by J. T. Pardee, U. S. G. S., has been published as Bulletin No. 677 and is available for distribution, The Miner's Almanac, Miners Circular No. 24, U. S. Bureau of Mines. is also available upon request. There was considerable discussion on the program for meetings during the year. It was informally agreed that, if agreeable to Coeur d' Alene members, that one meeting should be held in that district, preferably at the time of the annual visit of Institute officials. It was also proposed to hold at least one open-air meeting in Spokane with suitable program. The activities of other sections were noted with favorable comment. In this connection there was much general discussion on the subject of closer relations between the national engineering societies. It was agreed that cooperation was desirable and imperative if the greatest measure of value be realized from the profession. It was not the sense of the members, however, that complete amalgamation is desirable. This expression of local sentiment is to be presented to the Institute

Jan 3, 1919

By S. H. Ash, J. J. Forbes

Probably the newest thing in mining safety, or safety for mines, is the apparent dissatisfaction on the part of the mineral industries, as represented by both management and labor, and the general public of the Nation, with the safety record of the mining industry. This is reflected by published comments and papers in the technical press;l-9 in labor periodicals,10,11 in popular journals and periodicals,l2, 13 and in the daily press; also by discussions of the Safety Committees sponsored by the National Safety Council,9, 14-15 the American Mining Congress,l.l6 the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers,2,4 the Mine Inspectors' Institute of Amerthe Coal Mining Institute of America,5 19 the American Standards Association, and others.20.21 Mining safety is a joint problem of management and the individual workman. Safety is not attained and will not be attained solely by laws, decrees, and commands because, if it could be done in this manner, acceptable mining safety would have been achieved long ago by the individual states in our Nation and by the nations abroad. The best safety performance is found at plants where management provides a safe environment for the workers; where supervision is efficient and super- visors, others concerned with promoting safety, and the individual worker know through training, experience, and personal contact the safe and unsafe practices of their field; and where the trained individual worker has become safety-minded by experience, quiet influence, unconscious suggestion, and personal guidance. Despite what may be said to the contrary, progress has been and is being made in mining safety. This is shown in Fig 1 to 4. It is beyond the scope of this paper to give possible reasons for the valleys and peaks in the fatal-injury rates. Some recent factors that appear to be contributing to the improvement in these rates are briefly discussed. Aside from mining equipment, "what's new in mining safety" for some mines has been in effect or was tried by others long ago. A safety pro- gram is a living thing; as such, it must be vitalized and continuously fed with enthusiasm, constructive action, and improvements. Because safety is concerned with human conduct, it is necessary to practice safety at all times; if not, it is soon forgotten, and accidents occur. Mining-safety Records The large employment and production concerned with anthracite contribute much to the mining-safety records of the mineral industry. Approximately 81,000 persons are. employed in this industry having mines concentrated in an area of 480 square miles in northeastern Pennsylvania. Because of the achievement of the anthracite industry in safety during 1948, the other branches of the mineral industry can profit by a study of what has been done to achieve that record. Where one mineral is produced by other large groups having methods of mining that are similar in many respects to the anthracite-mining methods, an achievement in such a large industry is important. Salient factors concerned with safetye in the anthracite industry are: no radical change has occurred in the mining-safety regulations pertaining to anthracite mines. Because anthracite mining is a branch of the coal-mining industry,

Jan 1, 1950

F. E. Thompson, Pottstown, Pa.: If Mr. Webster's endeavor to open up the subject of cast-iron should prove as prolific of results as did the discussion on " The Physics of Steel," he must certainly feel richly repaid. His remarks concerning the secretiveness and conservatism of the average foundry-man recall to my mind an instance of a blast-furnace which, for the last year, has been producing much foundry-iron. The manager, believing that much more of his product could be used in the foundry than the foundry-men were will-

Jan 1, 1896

By Thomas Leonard Watson

Introduction,...... Historical Statement,....644 Geology of the District,....645 The Weisner Quartzite,....647 Topography,. .....653 Rock-Weathering,..... The OcheR-Deposits,.....655 Petrography of the Quartzite,..655 Associated Ore-Deposits,....657 Chemical Composition of the Ocher,. 658 Mode of Occurrence of the Ocher,..659 In the Fresh Rock,....660 In the Residual Clays,...661 Origin of the Ocher,....662 Economic Features,..... Methods of Mining,..... Preparation of the Ocher,...664 Uses,........ Introduction. Knowledge of the existence of yellow-ocher deposits in Bartow county, Georgia, dates back to the early mining of manganese- and iron-ores in the vicinity of Cartersville. Systematic mining of the ocher in this area really began, however, probably not longer than a decade back, although the date of its first working is as early as the year 1877. The district has been, for a number of years, one of the principal producers of yellow ocher in the United States; and at no period of its development have mining activities been greater and more successful than at present. Systematic field-study of the ocher- and manganese-deposits of Georgia was begun by me while I was a member of the

Jan 1, 1904

FOLLOWING the presentation of the papers by Messrs. Mahan and Butler, the discussion printed below ensued. A. C. LANE* With particular reference to the New England con-sumer, I entirely agree with Mr. Mahan that intelli-gent marketing methods will do a good deal, but there is more than one way of improving them. For instance, coal can be shipped best to New England about this time of year-after the storms of the winter and before the movement of crops in the summer. For that reason there ought to be seasonal freight rates. This will be agreed to by most coal men if you will ask them, especially those who are connected with large concerns like the Metropolitan Coal Co., and yet they do not get seasonal freight rates partly because the railroads are afraid if they once reduce them they will never have a chance to get them back again. But it would be an improvement to have seasonal freight rates. Another thing: When we are buying in New England we want really a certain amount of heat value in our coal. There is no great advantage in our buying ash, nor is there any particular advantage in the railroad shipping ash and clogging the circulatory system of the body politic any more than clogging the circulatory system of the physical body. It would be desirable if the wholesaler, and to some extent the retailer, could guarantee the amount of ash or sell their coal on heating value. If you are interested in that you will find some interesting charts, in "Anthracite Coal Costs Analyzed," a pamphlet issued by the Anthracite Coal Consumers Association, Inc., New York City, as to rates from various and sundry points for bituminous and anthra-cite coal from the field to New York, Buffalo and Chi-cago. Here in New England they are both up against the competition of oil. About 3 or 3 1/2 bbl. oil will do the work of a ton of coal. One of my millionaire friends who is well posted on the situation is putting oil in his Commonwealth Avenue house because it is the most economical. Moreover, we can get Welsh coal from across the water (and help equalize this matter of exchange with Europe) in close competition with Penn-sylvania coal.

Jan 4, 1928

By Arthur Knapp

The petroleum industry is confronted with the problem of conservalion. This is not a simple problem in view of a wide difference of opinion among authorities as to whether conservation is necessary and the specific direction that it should take. Many writers accuse the petroleum industry of wasting the natural resources of the country. Others link the consuming public with the industry in this waste. Let us define our terms; agree, if possible, on where and when waste occurs in connection with either the recovery or use of petroleum and select such plans for conservation as appear most practical. A plan for conserv3tion which appears to be logical today may not meet the problem tomorrow. The conservation of petroleum is closely linked with the advancement of marly arts and sciences and as these advance, the plan of conservation has to change. The need for conservation does not necessarily rest upon the elimination of waste. There is not necessarily a fixed connection between waste and conservation. Conservation may be necessary or desirable although there is no waste. Definitions Waste: Useless or unnecessary expenditure. Conservation: The preservation of the natural resources for economical use. Both definitions contain adjectives the interpretation of which is extremely difficult. It is the determination of what expenditures are "unnecessary" or what uses are "economical" that will require study and agreement. If one lets his automobile engine run in cold weather in order to keep it hot, it is difficult to measure that necessity. If an automobile is driven two blocks, when the driver is physically capable of walking, what is the measure of necessity. This question is in the realm of one of the oldest of sociological problems, "What is a luxury?"—a problem which has not been solved. The history of society indicates that the measure of a man's wealth has been the measure of necessity. What he can afford to buy without stinting himself in some other direction, is not a luxury to him and, if it fulfills his desires, may be considered his necessity.

Jan 1, 1927

By AIME AIME

CONVENTION plans for the A.I.M.E. Regional Meeting to be held on the Minnesota Iron Range Aug. 12 to 1.5 are being completed to give the visiting member?s from all parts of the country a wide variety of technical and recreational features. High spots of the social events are the official dinner, dance, luncheon and golf: and of course, special provision is being, made for the entertainment of visiting ladies. The technical sessions will fit in with scheduled trips to view all phases of mining, beneficiation and transportation of iron ore. Men from the West and Southwest will find much of interest in the detail of the mining operations. A trip to the steel plant of the

Jan 1, 1941

Meeting, June 26, 1913).-On the petition of 29 members residing in and near San Francisco, Cal., the San Francisco Local Section was established. The territory of the St. Louis Local Section was established to include the following States and parts thereof: All the State of Missouri ; That part of the State of Illinois south of and including the city of Urbana ; That part of the State of Indiana south of and including the city of Indianapolis ; That. part of the State of Kentucky west of and including the city of Frankfort ; That part Of the State of Tennessee west of and including the city of Nashville That part of the State of Arkansas north of and including the city of Little Rock.

Jan 7, 1913

The program of 'the Chicago meeting, which is to be held Sept. 22-26, is as follows: Monday. Morning-Registration. Afternoon-Technical Session. Evening Smoker. Tuesday. Morning and Afternoon-Excursion by boat to Gary and trip, through United States Steel Co's. plant. Evening-Technical Session. Wednesday. Morning- Technical Session. Afternoon-Technical Session. Evening-Banquet, Congress Hotel. Thursday. Morning and Afternoon-Special train to La Salle and De Pue, Ill., Inspection of Zinc Smelters, Cement Works, and Coal Mines. Trip to Starved Rock and points of historical interest. Evening-Return by train to Chicago. Friday. Morning-Optional trips. 1. East Chicago Metallurgical Plants and Oil Refineries at Whiting, Ind. 2. North Chicago and Milwaukee. 3. Local Chicago Plants. 4. Coal trip to Franklin and McCoupin Counties.

Jan 6, 1919

By C. W. Davis, L. R. Messer

THE name fuller's earth, which was derived from its early use in "fulling" or removing grease from woolen goods, is a term that is generally considered to designate mineral matter, containing hydrous aluminum silicates of the clay group, which has a high capacity for removing colors from oils, whether of animal, vegetable, or mineral origin. Fuller's earths are usually dried and may be "tempered" by heating or may be treated with water or reagents to improve their efficiency. For our purpose the term "acid-treated earths" will include those products from the partial decomposition of mineral water by acid which are equal to or more efficient than an untreated fuller's earth from Quincy, Fla., when used in bleaching mineral oil by the "contact" process. In general, the contact process for treating oils consists of heating and agitating a mixture of oil and finely divided adsorbent, the latter being subsequently removed by filtration. The term "adsorbent" is used because, although there has been a great deal of controversy over the mechanism of removal of impurities from oils by mineral matter, there is no doubt that adsorption, which involves the surface of the solid, plays a major part.' The properties that make fuller's earth useful in the treatment of petroleum products by "percolation1' and in the purification of edible oils by the contact process have long been studied, but the comparatively recent adaptation of the contact process to the bleaching of petroleum products has made desirable the further investigation of fuller's earth and other adsorbent earths.

Jan 1, 1929

By J. H. Yang, K. E. Gray

Results of single-blow bit-tooth impact tests on saturated rocks under elevated confining pressures and zero pore pressure were reported in a previous publication.1 This paper presents an extension of the earlier work to include a study of crater formation during tooth impact on both gas- and liquid-saturated Berea and Bandera sandstones at elevated confining and pore pressures. The basic data obtained were force-time, displacement-time, velocity-time and force-displacement curves during crater formation. Crater volume was also measured and the mode of crater formation determined. Bit tooth geometry, depth of penetration and velocity of impact were held constant. Results indicate that, with pore fluid present in the rock, failure trends from brittle to ductile as pore pressure is increased at constant confining pressure (pore pressure and borehole pressure were equal) For a given rock type, the mode of crater formation was dependent not only upon the nominal effective stress, but also upon the fluid which saturated the rock pore space. When confining pressure and pore pressure were equal (zero nominal effective stress), bit-tooth impact resulted in brittle failure for nitrogen-saturated Berea, and brittle to transitional failure for nitrogen-saturated Bandera; when saturated with liquid both rocks failed in a ductile manner at zero nominal effective stress. INTRODUCTION Dynamic wedge penetration tests have been conducted by investigators in several fields, but the failure mechanism of rock under dynamic stresses is not understood completely. The complex action of drilling bits, even considering the action of a single tooth, may be considered as a combination of drag bit and rolling cutter action. Thus, as a first step in understanding rock breakage in oil well drilling, single chisel impact and rock planing are of fundamental importance. For example, Gray 2 and Crisp3 studied drag bit cutting action at brittle stress states. Simon4 and Hartman5 studied the reaction of rocks to vertical impact by means of drop tests. The depth of penetration, crater volume and force-vs-time curves during crater formation were observed. The significance of indexing single-bit impacts has been noted.4,6-8 Gamer et al,9 reported impact tests on impermeable Leuders limestone at atmospheric and elevated confining pressures. In all cases the tests were accomplished on dry rock and pore pressure was considered to be zero. The importance of both confining pressure and pore pressure on the failure characteristics of rock was described. 10-12 It was found that the yield strength and ductility of porous rock depend on the state of stress under which the sample is tested. The importance of pore pressure on drilling rate in microbit experiments was noted by Cumingham and Eenink. l3 Robinson 12 also pointed out that in drilling the most important parameter in rock failure is the effective stress, where effective suess is defined as confining pressure pc minus pore pressure pp. The effect of pore pressure and confining pressure on rock strength was also noted by Serdengecti and Boozer 14 in strain rate tests, and by Gardner, Wyllie and Droschackl5 in elastic wave studies. Until recently all reported wedge impact studies under simulated wellbore stress states have been conducted on dry rock. Maurer 16 reported impact tests on samples saturated with deaerated water. Borehole and formation fluid pressures were equal in these tests except when mud was used in the borehole. With mud in the borehole and a high borehole-to-formation fluid pressure differential. Maurer observed "pseudoplastic" crater formation. Podio and Grayl reported impact tests on Berea and Bandera sandstone saturated with pore fluids having wide ranges in viscosities. In Podio and Gray's tests, confining pressure was elevated, but pore pressure and borehole pressure were held fixed at atmospheric pressure. The presence of