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By C. R. Kuzell

INTRODUCTION KNOWLEDGE of the thermal capacity of gases is of great importance in making metallurgical calculations. The metallurgist is, frequently called upon to investigate and determine furnace efficiencies in which the heat carried into or out of the furnace by gases is a large item in the heat balance. Not only do such problems present themselves in the determination of furnace efficiency, but also in the study of the application of heat is accessory apparatus, such as stoves, regenerators, waste-heat boilers, driers,.etc. The thermal effect of the use of excess air in the combustion of fuel, the theoretical temperatures of combustion, the quantity of heat in hot blast at various temperatures, the effect of hot blast on furnace temperatures, are a few more examples of frequently occurring calorific problems involving gases. So many are the applications of the data on the heat capacity of gases that the subject merits careful study. The heat in a gas maybe due to its heat of combustion, if it is a combustible gas, and to its temperature. The latter is called its sensible heat and is the heat absorbed or evolved by a gas as its temperature is raised or lowered. The heat of combustion of gases is well established and is commonly known. The values can be found in almost any mcdern treatise on metallurgy. The sensible heat of gases has not been so well established because it is in most cases a function of the temperature, and the values of specific heats of gases over a wide range of temperatures have only recently been determined. It is the purpose of this paper to deal with the sensible heat of gases.

Jan 8, 1914

OF the many categories into which scientific knowledge has been arbitrarily divided, the one that has proved most applicable in our attempts to gain an insight into the details of steelmaking processes is physical chemistry. To the young metallurgist who has only recently survived a college course in this subject, the application of its principles to reactions in liquid steel should not be difficult. The many excellent textbooks of physical chemistry1 provide ample material on the principles of this subject for the student of steelmaking processes; yet with- out exception those texts draw the greater part of their illustrative material from room-temperature data. It is the purpose of this chapter to provide a concise review of the principles of physical chemistry that have proved useful in studies of steelmaking and at the same time to present some of the data that are essential to the application of physical chemistry to reactions at high temperatures. Certain parts of physical chemistry require rather formidable mathematics for their complete development but in the main those applications in which we are here interested can be ex- pressed in fairly simple terms. Many of the equations are logarithmic, and we shall use the symbols In X and log X to represent respectively the natural and the common logarithm of X. The two are related by In X = 2.303 log X. Logarithms may be read from a good slide rule with sufficient accuracy for our purposes. In a few spots a knowledge of the calculus will be, helpfu1. MATTER Innumerable forms of matter may be recognized, and these may be converted by chemical processes into others, as ore, coke, and air are converted into iron, slag, and gas. Whenever such a change occurs there is a corresponding change in

Jan 1, 1951

By A. E. Bibb, F. W. Kunz

A platelet form of zirconium hydride was found in zirconium and ZY-1 wt pct U single crystals containing hydvogen in the range of 50 to 100 ppm. The habit planes for the hydride plateletg in the zirconium crystals were found to be {1012}, {1121}, and (1122) while the habit planes in the ZY-1 wt pct U crystals were {1121), {1123}, and (1.231). With the exception of the {1231} plane, these have been identified as the twin planes in zirconium. The different effect of hydridc on the mechanical puoperlies of zirconium at high and low strain rates has been explained in terms of the defornzation mechanism and the habit planes of the hydride. ZIRCONIUM and zirconium-base alloys are considered for many nuclear reactor applications, where the pick-up of hydrogen is a distinct possibility, if not an unavoidable occurrence. An excellent example of this is the absorption of hydrogen by zirconium and its alloys during aqueous corrosion, where as much as 30 pct of the hydrogen produced by the corrosion reaction is picked up by the metal. Under the proper conditions, the absorbed hydrogen would precipitate as zirconium hydride and consequently alter the mechanical and physical properties of the zirconium-base alloys. The knowledge obtained from a study of the crystallographic aspects of the hydride precipitation is necessary for the interpretation of the observed changes in the mechanical and physical properties. The deleterious effect of hydrogen on zirconium-base materials is not always observed in normal slow tensile loadings at or above room temperature, but becomes immediately obvious under impact loading, where the energy absorbed decreases with increasing hydrogen content,' and in notched specimens where triaxial loadings are attained.2 This effect is of serious consequence in the applications of Zr where shock loads or high strain rates are experienced. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the crystallographic planes of the Zr and Zr-1 wt pct U matrices upon which zirconium hydride will precipitate and to correlate these with the observed mechanical property data. PROCEDURE Crystal Growth—Single crystals of Zr and Zr-1 wt pct U alloy were used in this investigation. The Zr crystals were made from sponge that had a typical analysis as shown in Table I. Large grains were grown in this material by rapid cooling an arc-melted charge in a button furnace. This operation undoubtedly lowered the volatile impurity concentration below those listed in Table I. Back-reflection Laue patterns of these large grains showed the presence of considerable substructure and lattice distortion within each grain. It was found that an 18-day anneal in an argon atmosphere at 840°C (a high a heat-treatment) followed by furnace cooling, resulted in the further growth of the large grains and removed the detectable substructure ana lattice distortion. Equiaxed crystals with a cube edge of approximately 1/4 in. were produced in this manner. Large crystals of Zircaloy-2 (1.5 wt pct Sn, 0.15 wt pct Fe, 0.1 wt pct Cr, 0.05 wt pct Ni) also were produced by this technique but the large amount of substructure formed could not be removed by annealing. The Zr-1 wt pct U solid solution crystals were produced from an alloy rod consisting of Westing-house-Foote hafnium-free crystal bar zirconium and depleted uranium. The chemical analysis of the alloy is also given in Table I. Three-inch sections were cut from an 0.120-in.-diameter alloy rod and tapered to a fine point on each end. The samples were sealed in evacuated Vycor tubes, homogenized for 5 hr at 1000°C in the ß-phase field, and slowly lowered in a gradient furnace into the a phase (800°C), annealed for 60 hr at this temperature to produce grain growth and furnace cooled. This technique produced large grains approximately 1/2 to 3/4 in. long over the entire cross section of the rod, which were free of observable substructure. Metallographic examination up to X1000 did not show the existence of any second phase in these grains. Crystal Orientation—All crystals were abraded on fine emery paper to produce two flat surfaces 90 deg to each other. The crystals were analyzed by the standard Back-Reflection Laue technique to obtain the crystal orientation with respect to the abraded surfaces. The Back-Reflection Laue Photograms of all crystals used were clear and sharp indicating that the crystals were free from any substructure that could be detected by these means. Hydriding—Only samples containing four to five grains were used for hydriding. Samples that exhibited fine grained patches were discarded. The samples were hydrided using the following technique. After etching in 48 vol. pct HNO3, 48 vol. pct H2O, and 4 vol. pct HF (48 pct) solution, the specimens

Jan 1, 1961

By Samuel S. Wyer

THE following description of methods for conducting gas-producer tests is probably the first attempt to give the subject an analytical, thorough and comprehensive treatment. In some cases where tests have been made, the methods have been so unsystematic and ambiguous that it has been impossible to secure comparable results. To eliminate this difficulty, the following provisional code of gas-producer tests-which has some resemblance to the code of boiler-trials of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers-has been developed. The primary object in testing a gas-producer is to determine whether the producer is working satisfactorily or, what is the same. thing, to see if the efficiency is as high as it should be with the type of producer in question, and also to find out if the composition of the resulting gas is adapted to the work it has to do. In order that the test shall be of any value, it must be thorough and comprehensive, and must be conducted with skill and care. When so conducted, the test will reveal the economy of the producer; and, by making suitable changes, the efficiency will often be increased very much. As a result of the tests made by Jenkins, 1 the efficiency was raised from 56.2 to 71.2 per cent. This shows the large saving that may frequently be made in the fuel-consumption by studying the results of a careful test.. The log of the test, given in Fig. 1, shows that, just as soon as the temperature became regular, the percentage of CO, decreased and that of CO increased.

Mar 1, 1905

By D. W. Gillmore, C. C. Wright

DEWATERING is a major problem in the preparation and utilization of fine-sized coals now being recovered in increasing amounts from colliery effluents, refuse banks, and silt ponds. Of the various methods which have, been proposed for dewatering fine coal, gravity drainage is probably the oldest and most widely used, and yet little information on this subject has been published. Consequently a laboratory investigation of gravity drainage phenomena was undertaken not only to provide basic data for predicting the drainage behavior of fine coals in cars, bunkers, basins, and silos, but also to obtain some understanding of the moisture retention properties of fine coal. Because of practical interest in the problem, a reproducible laboratory technique, which simulated plant conditions as closely as possible, was developed for the evaluation of drainage variables. The ap- paratus selected consisted of vertically-mounted lucite columns, nominally 4 to 8 ft in length and 2, 3 or 6 in. in diam; the bottom of the column was provided with a rubber stopper through which was inserted a -in. diam drainage tube; a wad of glass wool was placed on the upper part of this outlet tube to retain the coal and a plug was temporarily located at the lower end to prevent drainage during charging of the column, see Fig. 1. The most satisfactory testing procedure is as follows: 1—The fine coal, which has been thoroughly

Jan 1, 1953

By D. W. Gillmore, C. C. Wright

DEWATERING is a major problem in the preparation and utilization of fine-sized coals now being recovered in increasing amounts from colliery effluents, refuse banks, and silt ponds. Of the various methods which have, been proposed for dewatering fine coal, gravity drainage is probably the oldest and most widely used, and yet little information on this subject has been published. Consequently a laboratory investigation of gravity drainage phenomena was undertaken not only to provide basic data for predicting the drainage behavior of fine coals in cars, bunkers, basins, and silos, but also to obtain some understanding of the moisture retention properties of fine coal. Because of practical interest in the problem, a reproducible laboratory technique, which simulated plant conditions as closely as possible, was developed for the evaluation of drainage variables. The ap- paratus selected consisted of vertically-mounted lucite columns, nominally 4 to 8 ft in length and 2, 3 or 6 in. in diam; the bottom of the column was provided with a rubber stopper through which was inserted a -in. diam drainage tube; a wad of glass wool was placed on the upper part of this outlet tube to retain the coal and a plug was temporarily located at the lower end to prevent drainage during charging of the column, see Fig. 1. The most satisfactory testing procedure is as follows: 1—The fine coal, which has been thoroughly

Jan 1, 1953

By Lloyd Emory

THE region known as. Guyana or Guiana stretches along the north coast of South America from the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela to the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil. Politically, it is divided into British, Dutch, and French Guiana, extend¬ ing into Venezuela on the north and into Brazil on the south. Because the area is within the sweep of the northeast trade winds and of approximately the same latitude, plant' and animal life are fairly uniform throughout. The geology is very similar as far as the northern coast is concerned. The drainage is taken care of by a number of large rivers that flow northward directly into the sea. The Courantyne River, which roughly divides the area into half, is the eastern boundary of British Guiana.1 The lower reaches of this river are also the center axis of an ancient bay that at one time indented the coast-line at this point. The old shore-line and, in fact, successive shore-lines can be traced from near the present coast-line in, the northwest district of British-Guiana, south-east and inland, crossing the Essequibo River near Dahli, the Demerara near Christianburg, the Berbice at the mouth of the Kuruduni River and the Courantyne at Vaka-Kuyaha Falls. The line then swings around to the northeast and again approaches the coast near St. Lau-rent in French Guiana. This article will be confined to British Guiana and largely to the valley of the Demerara River, but for geographic names .and topographic details it might, however, apply to Dutch Guiana as well. British Guiana, which comprises about 90,000 sq. mi. and is as large as England, Scotland, and Wales combined, may be divided into three belts, the alluvial belt or coastal plain, the foot-hill area (often spoken of as the sand clay belt), and the hinterland.

Jan 1, 1928

By R. W. Gurry

WHEN a steel in the austenitic state, with all its carbon in solution, is maintained, at constant temperature, in contact with a gas that removes the carbon from the surface, vet without otherwise altering the composition of the steel, the change in weight of the specimen, after any period of exposure, is a direct measure of the amount of carbon it has then lost. The purpose of the present paper is to show how, by application of established mathematical reasoning based on the fundamental diffusion law and on certain postulates, this loss of weight yields a complete picture of the distribution of carbon throughout a specimen of regular shape after any period of exposure, with all the accuracy required in any practical occurrence of decarburization. Precisely the same is true for the gain in weight during the reverse process of carburization, or for the gradual gain or loss of any element, so long as the steel comprises only a single phase at temperature, provided always that the experimental conditions conform to the postulates. The change in carbon content from surface to center of the specimen is always continuous, when everything is in solution, even though under the microscope the decarburized zone (or carburized rim) may appear to be sharply defined. The experimental procedure is described and some typical results are presented, which are then interpreted by application of the diffusion law. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Initially an endeavor was made to follow the gain of weight during the process of carburization in a hydrogen-toluene atmosphere, but it was soon found that the specimen became coated with graphite, which could not be removed without some loss of metal; therefore it was decided to continue carburization until the steel was saturated throughout, to remove all graphite from the surface of the specimen, and then to follow the loss of weight during decarburization in a moist hydrogen atmosphere at the same temperature as that used for carburizing. The carburizing procedure has been described in an earlier paper;1 it suffices to state here that the carburization lasted about 140 hr. at 760°C. (1760°F.) and 44 hr. at 1110°C. (2030°F.), these periods being long enough-on the basis of the calculations presented later-to ensure that the specimen was about 9.99 per cent saturated at each temperature. The speci¬men was a cylinder about 3.8 cm. long and 0.475 cm. in diameter; the materials were carbonyl iron, a commercial low-metalloid iron, and a steel with 3.6 per cent nickel and the usual proportion of other elements. The fully [carburized] specimen, after cooling at the top of the furnace tube, was placed in a lathe and sandpapered to remove all graphite; then the diameter was measured with a micrometer caliper, and the initial weighing (corresponding to complete saturation) was made. By means of a

Jan 1, 1942

By L. C. Morganroth

Magnesite both Massive and Crystalline MAGNESITES are. of two general classes-massive and crystalline. Massive magnesite occurs in serpentine, being formed by the breaking down or decay of serpentine-making minerals or rocks as olivine, etc. (All the magnesia contained by the olivine is not liberated, as a portion goes to make up the serpentine; the breaking up of this serpentine later forms more magnesite.) Serpentine in various stages of transformation is found in the vicinity of magnesite deposits. Massive magnesite is very widely distributed. It is found in Greece, . California, Africa, India, Australia, Mexico, South America, and deposits of varying sizes occur in several of the European countries. Those on the Island of Euboea, Greece, are probable the most important deposits of this character of magnesite. They have been worked for a number of years, the principal quarries or mines being 3 miles in the interior from the village of St. George. (St. George is on the west coast of the island, between the towns of Limni and Khalkis.) (Figs. 1 and 2). -The magnesite occurs in veins or lenses in serpentine. Some of these lenses are very large; one worked several years ago was approximately, 50 ft. in thickness, 75 to 100 ft. high and 300 ft. or more in length. The magnesite is pure white and makes a very prominent feature of the landscape. While massive magnesite is widely scattered over the world, many of the deposits are in veins too thin to work. The usual mode of occurrence is in the form of stock work, the deposits in Venezuela, Mexico, and many of those in California, being of this form. The veins vary in thickness from the thinness of paper up to several inches, running in all directions, occasionally leading to a mass or nucleus of some,size. The spaces between the veins are filled with a disintegrated serpentine in the form of sand. Several of the deposits in California would probably be workable, if they were more favorably situated with reference to transportation, but by far the majority of the deposits are too poor to work. At one deposit,

Jan 9, 1914

By WALTER S.

(New York Meeting, February, 1912,) THE earliest example of attempting to form finely-divided materials into larger masses for better adaptation to commercial use was probably the briquetting of peat and lignite-waste at Paris by the use of a clay binder. It was from this attempt that our word briquette has arisen (Fr. la brique), the formed masses being shaped similar to ordinary bricks. This term does not, however, lend itself to the many shapes of such formed material as are now being produced, as few of them aside from some of the European brown-coal products bear any resemblance to the shape of that well-known article. The term "agglomeration " has therefore been chosen as more accurately descriptive of the products now being manufactured, this term including the molding as well as the sintering. With the increasing prices of fuel and ores and the greater demand for economy in the operation of industrial plants, more ,attention has been paid in recent years to the utilization of waste products and low-grade ores and fuels. Much of the waste has been occasioned by the inability to utilize finely ,divided ores and fuels in the furnaces because they could not be kept there, or else because they clogged up the furnace-shaft so that gases could not be forced through under ordinary conditions of operation. As a result, all such fines were thrown on the dump. Again, with the exhaustion of the richer deposits of ores, concentration of lower-grade ores becomes a necessity, and most concentrates are produced in a finely-divided condition. Aside from these considerations, there is also the economy in the cost of operating the plant; a furnace running on agglomerated material will have a much greater output than one working on fines. In one instance the charge of an iron blast-furnace was changed from fine concentrates to briquettes and the output was increased four-fold; better results could have been obtained had facilities been at hand for taking care of the increased output.

May 1, 1912

By Herbert Banks Johnson

DURING the past 10 or 12 years very little information has been made generally available concerning the commercial possibilities of separating materials by means of static electricity; and yet during that same period important improvements have been made in various branches of the science of electricity, which, when taken together, and applied to electrostatic separation, have resulted in important improvements in that art as well. For example, much improvement has been made in high-voltage electrical equipment such as full-wave vacuum-tube rectification and improved mechanical rectification. Great strides have likewise been made in the development of insulators for high-voltage work, not only in the materials used but also in the design of the insulators themselves. Again, in another field, the development of air-conditioning equipment has improved the technique of controlling the surface condition, through drying or humidifying, of the various materials that are passed through the electrostatic separator. In many authoritative publications and textbooks, the electrostatic separation process is declared to require a balance far too sensitive for general commercial application. For example, one publication1 in the past has referred to an unfavorable effect on the process caused by varying atmospheric conditions such as humidity. Some2 have even gone so far as to state that sunlight and shadows may seriously affect the separating efficiency of the process. Such statements may have been true in the early development of the art, when the source of static electricity was derived from a friction disk machine, such as the Wimshurst. The Blake Mosher equipment and the work of Huff in applying motor- generator sets, transformers and mechanical rectification overcame much of this kind of objection to the commercial application of the electrostatic separating process. Another objection made periodically is that it is generally considered necessary to feed the particles into the electrostatic field in a stream that

Jan 1, 1938

By L. A. Roe

The flotation of fine particles less than five microns in diameter and the flotation of liquids from liquids generally requires bubble generation methods different than methods used in dispersed air type machines used in mineral flotation. Conditions in the separatory zone in mineral cells are generally more dynamic as compared to the quiescent conditions often absolutely necessary for the flotation of fine particles and liquids. An example of quiescent flotation with very fine bubbles is the lithium flotation plant which operated at Trona, California for 34 years, until it ceased operations in 1978. A review of the process development and the commercial flotation operations at Trona is given in this paper. The clarification of oil field brines by flotation of the oil from the brine has been used for over twenty-five years. Recent installations related to the Prudhoe Bay oil field and the Alaska pipeline are described.

Jan 1, 1980

By AIME AIME

The following persons have been proposed for election as members or associates of the Institute during the period, March 16 to May 1, 1907. Their names are published for the information of members and associates, from whom the Committee on Membership earnestly invites confidential communications, favorable or unfavorable, concerning these candidates. A sufficient period (varying in the discretion of the Committee, according to the residence of the candidate) will be allowed for the reception of such communications, before any action upon these names by the Committee. After the lapse of this period, the Committee will recommend action by the Council, which has the power of final election. The names of candidates were formerly published in the various circulars of the Institute, issued from time to time to the members. Hereafter, they will appear regularly in the Bi-Monthly Bulletin, each number of which will contain the names received since the issue of the preceding Bulletin.

May 1, 1907

By J. R. Dawson, A. B. Kinzel

THE purpose of testing is to determine whether the material in question is identical in all essential respects with similar material which has given satisfactory service. The most common method of securing such information is to select samples as representative of the entire material and subject them to destructive tests. As the welding industry grew, service data were accumulated and tests of welds took on new significance. New tests were devised and old tests modified so as to be more pertinent to welding. Moreover, in some cases the generally accepted procedure of testing by sampling is not accorded the same degree of confidence when applied to welds as in the usual applications. Thus, in instances where great hazard would be involved should the material fail, means of non-destructive testing have been sought with favorable results. Accordingly, tests used today may be divided into two groups, destructive and non-destructive tests.

Jan 1, 1930

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 W. F. Carew, F. A. Crossley

IT has been reported that the Ti-8 pct A1 alloy is ductile as water quenched from 800°C but brittle as annealed at 650 °C." The present, somewhat limited, investigation was undertaken to discover the cause of the embrittlement. In order to evaluate to some extent the continuity of the embrittling phenomenon, alloys of 6, 8, and 10 pct A1 were studied. Subsequent to the completion of most of this work, Ence and Margolin reported that a Ti,A1 phase exists and that two or more unidentified compounds may exist in the Ti-A1 system.' Materials, Equipment, and Techniques The alloys were prepared using Kroll process sponge of 124 Bhn hardness. In addition, some 8 pct A1 material was made with iodide titanium. The sponge-base alloys were prepared as melts of 4 lb or more by double arc melting. The iodide Ti-8 pct A1 alloy was prepared as 200-g buttons. The alloys were forged at temperatures of 980" to 1150°C. Results of chemical analyses are given in Table I. A Baldwin-Southwark 60,000-lb capacity tensile machine, equipped with an autographic stress-strain recorder, was used for the tensile tests. Standard tensile test specimens, 0.252 in. diam, were used. Standard Charwy V-notch impact specimens were tested using a -kiehle machine. specimens were sealed in evacuated Vycor bulbs for heat treatment. Powder samples for Debye-Sherrer anal- ysis were prepared by filing and screening through 325 mesh. The —325 mesh fraction was taken in an effort to concentrate a microstructural constituent assumed to be less ductile than the a phase. The powder samples were stress relieve2 by annealing

Jan 1, 1958

By Roland D. Parks

Corundum, little publicized as an industrial abrasive, has, in its small way, contributed greatly to the production of many specialized items vital to our war program and to Our allies. Optical elements Of the highest quality for range finders, bombsights, and scientific instruments; precision metal parts for torpedoes and airplane engines; quartz crystal plates for military radios; armorplate and malleable castings for tanks and guns; and eyeglasses for everyone; these are some Of the products that corundum has helped to produce in the quantities needed and on time. Unlike metals and many other raw materials, corundum is not incorporated into any Of these finished products. It is simply a grinding medium used to produce the desired finish or precision; an operating supply or tool, so to speak. With a Mobs' scale index of 9, corundum ranks next to the diamond in hardness among the natural minerals and is superior to emery and garnet. The gem varieties of corundum, including the Oriental ruby and sapphire, are frequently more highly prized as jewels than the diamond. It is the intent Of this paper to deal Only with a description of the corundum industry, the administration of wartime control, and certain economic aspects as seen by the author. Several references are listed to assist anyone who wishes further information on the geological occurrence of the mineral. Ore Production and Consumption For the past two decades, south Africa has been the world's sole producer of corundum ore. A possible exception is Russia, where, it is understood, there was considerable production during the thirties for domestic consumption but for which statistics are lacking. The United States is the world's principal consumer of corundum ore; imports lor the period 1934 through 1940 averaging 3000 Short tons per year, The years 1935 and 1936 were close to the 5000-ton mark, and imports during 1941, the last prewar year for which statistics have been released, were approximately 6000 Short tons. Again lacking statistics on Russia, the United Kingdom ranks second, but far below the United States in consumption of ore. Historically, corundum has been found in some 35 countries throughout the world, but the principal deposits are in South Africa, Canada, Madagascar, Russia and the united States. Deposits are generally small and subject to rapid exhaustion. Thus, the United States was the principal world producer for the period 1870 to 1900, when operations ceased except for two years during World War I. India was a producer of ore from 1898 through 1921, with peak output in 1916 through 1918 Canada came into production in 1901 with substantial output of ore and finished grain until 1914; the production thereafter was smaller until 1921. Madagascar has produced ore since 1910 but has had important output in only a few scattered years. South African production started in 1912

Jan 1, 1948

By Roland D. Parks

Corundum, little publicized as an industrial abrasive, has, in its small way, contributed greatly to the production of many specialized items vital to our war program and to Our allies. Optical elements Of the highest quality for range finders, bombsights, and scientific instruments; precision metal parts for torpedoes and airplane engines; quartz crystal plates for military radios; armorplate and malleable castings for tanks and guns; and eyeglasses for everyone; these are some Of the products that corundum has helped to produce in the quantities needed and on time. Unlike metals and many other raw materials, corundum is not incorporated into any Of these finished products. It is simply a grinding medium used to produce the desired finish or precision; an operating supply or tool, so to speak. With a Mobs' scale index of 9, corundum ranks next to the diamond in hardness among the natural minerals and is superior to emery and garnet. The gem varieties of corundum, including the Oriental ruby and sapphire, are frequently more highly prized as jewels than the diamond. It is the intent Of this paper to deal Only with a description of the corundum industry, the administration of wartime control, and certain economic aspects as seen by the author. Several references are listed to assist anyone who wishes further information on the geological occurrence of the mineral. Ore Production and Consumption For the past two decades, south Africa has been the world's sole producer of corundum ore. A possible exception is Russia, where, it is understood, there was considerable production during the thirties for domestic consumption but for which statistics are lacking. The United States is the world's principal consumer of corundum ore; imports lor the period 1934 through 1940 averaging 3000 Short tons per year, The years 1935 and 1936 were close to the 5000-ton mark, and imports during 1941, the last prewar year for which statistics have been released, were approximately 6000 Short tons. Again lacking statistics on Russia, the United Kingdom ranks second, but far below the United States in consumption of ore. Historically, corundum has been found in some 35 countries throughout the world, but the principal deposits are in South Africa, Canada, Madagascar, Russia and the united States. Deposits are generally small and subject to rapid exhaustion. Thus, the United States was the principal world producer for the period 1870 to 1900, when operations ceased except for two years during World War I. India was a producer of ore from 1898 through 1921, with peak output in 1916 through 1918 Canada came into production in 1901 with substantial output of ore and finished grain until 1914; the production thereafter was smaller until 1921. Madagascar has produced ore since 1910 but has had important output in only a few scattered years. South African production started in 1912

Jan 1, 1948

By Robert S. Archer, L. W. Kempf

It is now well known that the structure of aluminum-silicon alloys can be refined in a rather remarkable manner, with consequent improvement of physical properties, by certain treatments applied to the molten metal shortly before casting. The differences between the treated and the untreated alloys are so marked that special terms are used to distinguish them, the untreated alloys being referred to as "normal" and the treated alloys as "modified." The first practical method of accomplishing this result was that of A. Pacz,1 which consists in treating the molten metal with a salt flux of which the active ingredient is sodium fluoride. The result can also be brought about, and in a more economical manner, by the addition of small quantities of metallic sodium (or potassium) to the molten alloy shortly before casting.2 The action of the Pacz flux evidently consists essentially in the production of free sodium by the reaction of sodium fluoride with aluminum. The changing of a normal alloy to a modified alloy is referred to as "modification" and any process for accomplishing this result is a "modifying" process. Modified aluminum-silicon alloys were introduced several years ago, and it has been demonstrated both in the laboratory and in commercial practice that it is no simple matter to produce castings having the maximum or nearly the maximum properties which under favorable circumstances can be obtained. The alloys are rather sensitive to small changes in chemical composition, and the modifying process must be carried out in a very particular manner to obtain the best results. Extensive experimental work has been carried out in the laboratories of the Aluminum Co. of America with the object of determining the conditions that must be observed to make these alloys of the greatest possible value. It was necessary to learn how to control the modifying process

Jan 1, 1926

By D. L. Martin

THAT small amounts of impurities have a harm-J- ful effect on the malleability of metals and alloys is well-known. One common type of em-brittlement involves the formation of a small quantity of eutectic at the grain boundaries, and is typified by sulfur embrittlement of nickel. Another example of eutectic embrittlement—sulfur embrittlement of cobalt—is described in this report. In the preparation of specimens for a study of Co-Pt alloys, it was observed that the hot swagabil-ity of the alloys appeared to be influenced by the grade of cobalt used as melting stock. The cause of the hot-shortness was not traced to any particular impurity, although sulfur was suspected.' The damaging action of sulfur on the malleability of cobalt has not been generally recognized,'; in spite of the fact that the Co-S phase diagram8 eveals the same basic conditions—low solubility and eutectic formation—responsible for sulfur embrittlement of iron and nickel.7, 8 Apparently sulfur embrittlement has not been a serious problem in the fabrication of cobalt alloys. One related factor is likely the limited commercial experience with high cobalt alloys, since the predominant use of cobalt has been in alloys containing less than 75 pet Co. A series of Co-S alloys was prepared and studied to establish the effect of sulfur on the hot working characteristics of cobalt. Specimens, 5/8 in. diam by 4 in. long, were prepared by vacuum melting in magnesium oxide crucibles and casting in a copper mold. Two grades of low sulfur electrolytic cobalt were used as the basic material for the study, one from Johnson, Matthey and Co. and the other from the International Nickel Co. Each contained about 99.5 pet Co and had a nominal sulfur content under 0.005 pet. The sulfur was added initially as cobalt sulfide powder. Later, some low sulfur alloys were prepared by diluting the high sulfur alloys with cobalt. Trouble was experienced in controlling the sulfur content. Apparently much of the cobalt sulfide powder was lost during melting, as most of the samples contained a lower sulfur content than was added. The alloys were evaluated for hot brittleness by heating to 1000°C in a hydrogen furnace and swaging in air. The results of these tests are summarized in Table I. All the alloys containing less than 0.008 pet S were successfully hot swaged to 1/4 in. diam. The bars containing more than 0.015 pet S could not be swaged because of the formation of intercrystal-line cracks similar to those illustrated in Fig. 1. Examination of the microstructure of the cast bars revealed cobalt sulfide eutectic at the grain boundaries, Fig. 2. The sulfide was not always continuous at grain boundaries in bars that were hot embrittled but, in general, the particles did form a network that could account for the brittleness above the eutectic temperature, 880°C. There is no question about the brittle nature of a specimen exhibiting a continuous sulfide network such as is shown in Fig. 2b, though a sulfide distribution similar to that in Fig. 2a is marginal. This particular bar cracked when hot-swaged. However, other bars with lower sulfur content but with some sulfide phase at grain boundaries were successfully worked. The reduction of area of a hot tensile test specimen was also found to be a sensitive indicator of sulfur embrittlement. The variation of reduction of area with sulfur content is shown in Fig. 3 for specimens fractured at 900°C in an evacuated capsule. The ductility of cobalt is greatly reduced when the sulfur content exceeds 0.005 pet. Similar results were obtained for alloys tested at 800°C, below the eutectic temperature. The upper sulfur embrittlement limit of 0.015 pet, Table I, agrees with the observation of Kalmus8 hat

Jan 1, 1957