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By AIME AIME

ON Thursday a most interesting symposium on "Gases in Metals" was held, with both morning and afternoon sessions. The morning was devoted principally to the considerations of the steel maker, the nonferrous field being taken up in the afternoon period. Dr. John Johnston, as chairman, introduced the subject with "A Short Analysis of the Gas-metal Problem and Its Practical Importance." He then introduced P. H. Brace who explained in considerable detail the various vacuum fusion and other methods in use at present, both here and abroad, in the study of "gases" in metals. He was fol¬lowed immediately by H. W. Graham on "The Effect of Oxygen in Steel." The papers elicited considerable discussion, the point being particularly noted by both Dr. Rawdon and Dr. Sauveur that a knowledge of "total oxygen" alone is not sufficient information for the metallurgist, distribution of oxygen being probably the more important. Dr. Johnston, in commenting on the lack of agreement among many of the methods now in use, such as the Ledebur and vacuum fusion, spoke of the contemplated plan of the Iron and Steel Division to have a number of standard samples analyzed by many laboratories by the various methods, the Bureau of Standards acting as a clearing house, so that more definite information may be obtained on the comparative accuracy of the method.

Jan 1, 1933

By Grimes, J. A.

EXTENSIVE discovery 'and rapid exploitation of orebodies within the past half century have attracted many able geologists to the mining industry and furnished them a wealth of data from which to develop theories concerning ore genesis. By tosting and elimillating theories which are not sufficiently sup- ported by fact, or which are based on inaccurate observation of field data, the trend of geological opinion has . moved strongly in certain directions until, at the present time, large numbers of geologists subscribe to a broad concept of .ore genesis that I would summarize as below:

Jan 1, 1928

By C. E. MacQuigg

MAN?S desire to harden metal is older than recorded history and obviously would date from the moment when he found his implements were not equal to the demands of service. This need for hardness in metal may be divided roughly into two main classifications: (1 :I need for hardness through- out-for purposes of greater strength or elasticity of the whole implement or member, and (2) need for surface hardness alone. A strong steel needed to transmit stresses or resist de- formation is an example of the first class. In metals only surface- hardened, the chief need is for resistance to wear. Obviously the whole gamut of all uses can be imagined- from the extreme of a simple cantilever supporting a load in space to that of a solidly supported face plate serving to resist wear. It is the in- creasing of wear resistance which I propose to discuss.

Jan 1, 1939

By F. B. Plummer

GEOLOGICAL engineering as applied to oil fields, or production geology as some prefer to designate the profession, is designed to fill in the border line between pure geology and pure petroleum engineering. Therefore the production geologist may, and frequently does, reach out to grasp much in both professions. Where once the oil geologist was content to pick samples out of a mud ditch and try to identify oil formations from the color or appearance of flakes of rock bailed out of a well, now he has to deal with graphic electrical logs obtained by intricate and highly technical electrical apparatus and to make exact determinations to the fraction of an inch of the depth and thickness of an oil sand 2 miles below the surface.

Jan 1, 1944

By J. W. Cunningham, M. J. Stultzman

THE demand for improved materials for high-temperature service has increased during the last few years. Iron,- nickel,- and cobalt-base alloys have been investigated extensively and many alloys with outs'tanding high-temperature strength have been developed. Considerable research has been directed toward improved methods of processing these alloys. The vacuum furnace as a tool for the purification and improved control of high-temperature alloys has been studied extensively and production units are in operation. The research covered by this paper studied the effects of casting in air, vacuum, or argon upon the elevated-temperature properties of two nickel- and two cobalt-base alloys. The alloys investigated were Stellite 31, He 1049, Udimet 500, and Guy Alloy. MELTING AND CASTING PROCEDURES Two heats of each of the four alloys under investigation were melted and investment cast under the following conditions: 1) Stellite 31 was melted and investment cast in air and in vacuum, with an argon atmosphere for pouring. 2) He 1049 was melted and investment cast in air and in vacuum, with an argon atmosphere for pouring. 3) Udimet 500 was melted and investment cast in vacuum with and without additions of zirconium and boron. 4) Guy Alloy was melted and investment cast in vacuum and in argon. The heats were all melted in induction furnaces equipped with preformed magnesia crucibles of 50-lb capacity. The air-melting furnace was powered by a spark-gap converter of 40 kw capacity. The vacuum-melting furnace was powered by a motor-generator set of 100 kw capacity. The argon heat of Guy alloy was melted in the vacuum melting furnace under an argon atmosphere. Virgin materials were used for preparing all heats except the air heats of Stellite 31 and He 1049. The charge for the air heat of Stellite 31 was a commercial blend of shot. The charge for the air heat of He 1049 was Stellite 6 shot plus those virgin materials necessary to give the desired composition. All of the materials used were of the same grade used com-

Jan 1, 1960

By Galen H. Clevenger

THE real and permanent advances which take place in any industry are for the most part slow evolutions which frequently develop and grow almost imperceptibly from clay to clay. A meritorious idea may and generally does require long and patient development and commercial application under a variety of conditions and in a number of localities before it emerges as standard and generally accepted practice. There must be not only technical perfection but also economic advantage. Thus a cross-section taken at any particular time of an industry may reveal little that is distinctly new and yet there may have been considerable progress. During the past year there has been little that is new in milling and yet there has been real progress; some problems have been solved and some of what we may term the newer developments have become more firmly, established.

Jan 1, 1930

By A. E. WALKER

SOME eighty years have elapsed since the discovery of the Clifton magnetite deposit. For a few years about the time of the Civil War it was mined for iron ore. most of which was smelted on the property. Since risen the small exposures of ore in the old cut. test pits, and on the dumps have been examined by various prospectors. The M. A. Hanna Co. first became interested in the possibilities of the deposit when we discovered the large area of strong magnetic anomalies caused by the margnetite bed, indicating a size that would support a commercial operation. In 1940 we made a detailed magnetometer survey of the area. and the deposit was diamond-drilled. The main ore lied was found to be 1500 ft. long, to average 60 ft. thick, and to dip southeast at an angle of about 40 deg. The thickness of the bed is irregular in wavy folds both along the strike. and down the dip. Faults occur at both raids of the main deposit.

Jan 1, 1943

By John Treweek

FOR many years the Homestake Mining Co. has devoted serious attention to the elimination of accidents, and ground is steadily being gained in this direction. In accident prevention work it is line-plunging with perfect teamwork and not the spectacular forward pass that brings progress toward the goal. In both surface plants and under- ground workings we regard "good housekeeping" as a first requisite for safety as well as efficiency. Under this term are included all types of safety guards and protective devices as well as cleanliness and orderliness it working places. Perhaps the most important factor in safety work is to arouse and maintain employee interest. The general morale and contentment of employees is of particular importance.

Jan 1, 1938

By W. C. McClain

In the design of underground excavations, rock mechanics considerations are nearly always based on an elastic behavior of rock. Most rocks do exhibit a certain amount of elasticity, and the application of principles and concepts of elasticity to rock mechanics problems has been largely responsible for progress in the field over the past 10 or 15 years. No doubt the theory of elasticity will remain the most useful analytical tool available for both the design of underground openings and the interpretation of phenomenological data.

Jan 1, 1967

By C. C. Nitchie, G. S. Brooks

With the gradual depletion of the natural-gas pools of the Kansas district, together with the uncertainty of further cheap fuel developments, some of the western zinc companies turned to the coal fields, attracted by their permanency and the success of the Matthiessen & Hegeler Co. and the lllinois Zinc Co. Being then confronted with the problem of using a relatively high-priced fuel, although the ultimate supply was very great, the fuel economies of the kilns and furnaces became of far more importance, and the more modern equipments, as a result, embodied distinct gaias in this phase of the business. In addition, there have been some pronounced advances in the actual making of gas from these coals. Increased efficiency in gas making has contributed its hare to lowering costs and those plants located in the higher priced fuel districts have probably been obliged to study these economies somewhat more closely. Naturally, many beneficial changes have resulted in both practice and apparatus in these sections. On certain western coals, for instance, the actual saving in fuel consumption has been 50 per cent. By this is meant that, where about 1.75 tons were burned to smelt 1 ton of oxidized ore, 0.7 to 0.9 ton is now required. While comparisons by T. R. Ingalls1 of fuel economies in smelting in this country and Germany before the war may, in general, be correct, they do not appear to do justice to the more progressive American practice. It is doubtful whether German plants were substantially bettering these fuel ratios. Data furnished by Bender and Frams do not afford records averaging less than 0.9 ton coal per ton ore on materials from 40 per cent. to 50 per cent. zinc. Fuels As producer fuel, Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas coah offer a wide range of material, although varying much in their amenability to gasscation. The proper fuel for each plant can only be determined after com-

Jan 1, 1920

By N. Tiner

The mechanical properties of magnesium-alloy castings are greatly improved by grain refinement, and at present considerable attention is being paid to methods of obtaining fine-grained castings. One method of achieving this end is the use of proper melting and superheating techniques. These have been employed com-rnercially to a great extent, but no comprehensive study of the subject appears to have been published at present. Numerous investigations found in the literature include some reference to superheating techniques,1"4 and Achenbach, Nippcr and Piwowarsky,% ased principally on thermal analysis, ascribe the grain-refilling action of superheating to the influence of solid foreign particles or dissolved gases present in the melt upon the course of crystallization. The primary purpose of this paper is to present the principal facts concerning the cffect of superheating on grain size of magilesium alloys. .ittempts are also made to explain the experimental results in terms of a general hypothesis. The investigations are limited chiefly to common commercial casting alloys. In order to carry on this work, it was necessary to determine the factors influencing grain size and to develop a proper technique for the preparation of samples. Thc preliminary tests made by the author indicated that the grain size of magnesium alloys resulting from the solidification of a melt is determined by alloy composition, presence of impurities, rate of cooling during solidification, thermal history of the melt and to some extent the structure of the charge used. The rate of cooling is in turn dependent upon the mass of the melt, pouring temperature, and dimensions, properties and temperature of the mold into which the melt is poured. The final grain size of the alloys is still further modified by heat-treatment subsequent to casting. It is not within the scope of the present paper to discuss all of these factors, and it would suffice to note here that when equal amounts of magnesium alloys are prepared from the same alloying materials, melted in graphite crucibles under the same thermal conditions, then cast into graphite molds at a constant temperature, the resultant solids have the same grain size. By maintaining all other factors constant, it is thus possible to vary thermal conditions of a melt and to examine the grain size of resultant castings. Preparation of Samples and Grain-size TestiNg The alloys investigated in this paper were taken from ingots made by Permanente the Or or prepared by the author with pure carbothermic magnesium and necessary alloying elements. Melting was carried out under a flux in a graphite crucible heated uniformly by an

Jan 1, 1946

By N. Tiner

The mechanical properties of magnesium-alloy castings are greatly improved by grain refinement, and at present considerable attention is being paid to methods of obtaining fine-grained castings. One method of achieving this end is the use of proper melting and superheating techniques. These have been employed com-rnercially to a great extent, but no comprehensive study of the subject appears to have been published at present. Numerous investigations found in the literature include some reference to superheating techniques,1"4 and Achenbach, Nippcr and Piwowarsky,% ased principally on thermal analysis, ascribe the grain-refilling action of superheating to the influence of solid foreign particles or dissolved gases present in the melt upon the course of crystallization. The primary purpose of this paper is to present the principal facts concerning the cffect of superheating on grain size of magilesium alloys. .ittempts are also made to explain the experimental results in terms of a general hypothesis. The investigations are limited chiefly to common commercial casting alloys. In order to carry on this work, it was necessary to determine the factors influencing grain size and to develop a proper technique for the preparation of samples. Thc preliminary tests made by the author indicated that the grain size of magnesium alloys resulting from the solidification of a melt is determined by alloy composition, presence of impurities, rate of cooling during solidification, thermal history of the melt and to some extent the structure of the charge used. The rate of cooling is in turn dependent upon the mass of the melt, pouring temperature, and dimensions, properties and temperature of the mold into which the melt is poured. The final grain size of the alloys is still further modified by heat-treatment subsequent to casting. It is not within the scope of the present paper to discuss all of these factors, and it would suffice to note here that when equal amounts of magnesium alloys are prepared from the same alloying materials, melted in graphite crucibles under the same thermal conditions, then cast into graphite molds at a constant temperature, the resultant solids have the same grain size. By maintaining all other factors constant, it is thus possible to vary thermal conditions of a melt and to examine the grain size of resultant castings. Preparation of Samples and Grain-size TestiNg The alloys investigated in this paper were taken from ingots made by Permanente the Or or prepared by the author with pure carbothermic magnesium and necessary alloying elements. Melting was carried out under a flux in a graphite crucible heated uniformly by an

Jan 1, 1946

By Thomas Fraser, David R. Mitchell

THE primary purpose of the loading plant is to transfer the finished product from the preparation machines to the railroad car, truck, or barge in which it is to go to market. Secondary purposes of the loading plant are: to prevent excessive degradation of sizes during loading, to reduce segregation as much as possible, and to prevent excessive quantities of very good or off-grade coal from entering any one car. Nonuniformity of consignments is one of the chief sources of com- plaints by consumers and coal merchants. A properly designed loading plant will do much to reduce complaints and ensure uniformity, not only from shipment to shipment but also in each individual consignment along the length of the car and in cross section. DEGRADATION IN STORAGE, LOADING AND SHIPMENT The object in loading is not only to handle the coal without breakage and segregation, but also to produce a well-trimmed load that will ride to its destination without spillage or breakage en route. The small sizes present in a car of prepared coal as received by the purchaser consist-of: missed small sizes not screened out in the preparation plant, breakage during loading, and breakage caused by handling en route. For domestic sizes of anthracite shipped from the Pennsylvania anthracite field to Atlantic coast cities, the dealers' lass because of breakage in loading and shipment amounts to from 2 to 5 per cent and for anthracite shipped to Middle West cities, the loss is 8 to 9 per cent. This difference is in part because dealers in the Middle West rescreen their coal more thoroughly than is usual in the East. One dealer handling Illinois No. 6 coal shipped from southern Illinois mines to Chicago reports an average size loss of 10 per cent when lump coal is unloaded with a fork. This runs as low as 5 per cent for carefully loaded coal and as high as 15 per cent for carelessly loaded coal.

Jan 1, 1943

By A. C. Fieldner

THE total annual energy production from coal, petroleum, natural gas and water power has been increasing at a fairly constant rate during the thirty years ending in 1930. But since 1913 the demand for the competitors of coal has increased at a rate faster than that for coal. During the last twenty years, the curve of coal production has had a generally horizontal trend; in fact, the 1930 production of coal was six per cent less than that of 1913. Economists attribute this loss of demand to greater efficiency in coal utilization and to displacement of coal by oil and natural gas. These two factors are about equally responsible, and it is evident that research has been intimately concerned with both. About sixty per cent of the bituminous coal mined in the United States in 1929 was used for generating steam, either in stationary or locomotive boilers. A decade ago seventy per cent or more was used for this purpose. This change is due largely to tremendous advances in fuel economy.

Jan 1, 1933

By S. A. Mahon

AN interesting feature among the mining structures, on the Mesabi. iron range is the iron ore stacker erected in 1934 at the Mesabi Chief washing plant at Keewatin, Minn. It is built of structural steel, and carries a system of belt conveyors which collects the washed product of the plant and places it on a stockpile for subsequent shipment. Although the only one of its kind in the Lake Superior iron district, installations of similar nature have been used elsewhere in the handling of coal and gravel and in earthwork construction. The reasons for stocking Lake Superior iron ores may be as various and diversified as the methods used in building the piles. At the under¬ground mines the existence of the huge piles in evidence at each active shaft is due, principally, to climatic conditions in this north country where the shipping period is much shorter than the operating season. Conversely, at the washing. plants it may be desirable to stockpile washed ores because the shipping season is commonly of longer duration than the period during which the plants may be operated. Washed ores, and mixtures of which washed ores are a component part, have found high favor with the oper

Jan 1, 1935

By Robert H. Hafner, Irvin R. Kramer

IN recent years considerable interest has been shown in surface-alloyed metals, particularly those of chromium (chromized steels), which have excellent corrosion [ ] resistance under a variety of severe conditions, and may undergo bending and flanging operations without spalling. An early method1 employed to produce a high-chromium case on steel was developed by Kelley in 1921. It consisted of heating a low-carbon steel in intimate contact with powdered chromium in the presence of hydrogen at temperatures sufficiently high to permit diffusion of chromium into the steel. The usefulness of this process was limited because the extremely high temperatures of 1200° to 1400°C. (2200° to 2550°°F,) caused excessive grain growth and warpage, Louenstein and Ulmer2 packed iron castings in ferrochromium and com- [ ] mon salt, and heated for approximately three hours at 930° to 1040°C. (1700° to 1900°F,). A recent and more practical method of depositing chromium on steel surfaces has been developed in Germany by Daeves, Becker and Steinberg3-8 and in Russia by Izgaryshev and Sarkisov.9 This process consists of passing gaseous chromium chloride over the steel to be chromized at temperatures of 900° to 1000°C., or packing them in a porous, ceramic material that previously had been saturated with chromium chloride. They reported obtaining a chromized layer, 0.004 in, thick, on low-carbon steels. Later, Daeves4 established a relationship between the carbon content

Jan 1, 1942

By Walter Miller

NOW, after a year's continued impact of war, the task of the petroleum-refining industry stands out clearly and looms up in larger aspect. This time it is not, as it was so largely in the first World War, simply a matter of increased quantity- more and more of the same petroleum products that had substantially been standard for years. In this era the emphasis is largely on newer and improved materials which had been produced, if at all, in comparatively insignificant quantities, and for which manufacturing equipment was not available on a large scale. At the beginning of 1942 four great product needs (besides a number of lesser one-) confronted the industry: 100-octane aviation gasoline, toluene for T.N.T. production, high-quality lubricating oils for aviation and Army equipment service, and petroleum chemicals for synthetic rubber manufacture.

Jan 1, 1943

By M. G. Corson

THE theory of hardening by interference with slip which has been so clearly developed by Jeffries and his co-workers requires that an alloy to be amenable to age or heat hardening should contain among its components some that will stay in solid solution at high temperatures and precipitate as a secondary phase on cooling. This secondary phase may be either a more or less pure individual element (chromium in the case of copper, anti-mony in the case of lead), or some intermetallic com-pound. Those cases of hardening which depend on the precipitation of a compound are not only the most frequent, but are also far superior in the efficiency of hardening obtained. However, the slip interference theory as stated in its most general form is not sufficient to foretell new cases of this type of hardening and also will not explain some phenomena of a more intricate nature. It is not sufficient that a secondary phase might be absorbed by the main one at high temperatures and precipitated at the lower ones. The kinetics of this precipitation and the accompanying. physical phenomena of dimensional changes play independent and highly important parts. These kinetics, while not yet sufficiently studied to he formulated in the shape of physicochemical equations, might find their expression-in a qualitative systema-tization of the phenomena of precipitation according to two different viewpoints. To begin with, we encounter the question as to the velocities of the precipitation and of the growth of the phase precipitated. To harden a metal in an efficient manner we must be able to control the precipitation on one hand and also to bring the total of the secondary phase to such a number and size of the particles pre-cipitated as, will produce a desirable hardening effect under commercially feasible conditions of. age or heat hardening. From this viewpoint six different cases may be dis-cerned.

Jan 7, 1928

By AIME AIME

ON the morning of Monday, Nov. 9, 1936, two motorcycles, with sirens screeching, - escorted a procession of 70 automobiles from the Colonia Railway Station in Mexico City to the Hotel Geneve. Riding in' the cars were just over 200 visitors- members of the A.I.M.E. and their guests. They had come, via St. Louis, in two special trains from 24 different states for the 146th General Meeting of the Institute. During the morning they and 200 others, who had come from the United States by automobile or from various cities and mining camps in Mexico, duly registered with !efficient Mme. Irma Ordoiiez de Obregon and her assistants. Then started a week of strenuous but delightful activity that will never be forgotten by the participants. They were to cover more than 500 miles by automobile, always with a motor escort, and often

Jan 1, 1937

By Cyril Wells

THE diffusion of carbon in gamma iron plays an essential role in many metallurgical processes. In carburizing, in graphitizing, in homogenizing, in the formation of pearlite from austenite, and in other processes, migra-tion of carbon in gamma iron occurs.1,2 A full understanding of the rate at which these processes occur obviously requires a knowledge of the rate of diffusion of carbon. In carburizing, for example, the depth of carbon pentration is determined by the carbon concentration in solid solution at the surface, and by the rate of diffusion inward of the carbon. Until reliable data on the rates of diffusion of carbon are available it is unlikely that a full quantitative description of this process will be obtained. In the formation of pearlite from austenite, the segregation of carbon and alpha iron from the austenite obviously requires the diffusion of carbon; the rate at which pearlite nodules grow is evidently controlled at least in part by the rate of diffusion of carbon; it is unlikely that we shall understand the factors that determine the rate of growth unless data on rates of diffusion of carbon, and the variation of these with com-position, grain size, and temperature are available. Accordingly it was decided: (1) to determine, more accurately than hitherto, the diffusion coefficients of carbon in austenite over a wide temperature and a wide concentration range, (2) to study the influence of grain size and impurities on this diffusion coefficient, and (3) to study the effect of manganese and nickel on the rate of diffusion of carbon in the austenite of manganese and nickel steels, respectively; the influence of carbon on the rate of diffusion of manganese and of nickel will be made the subject of later papers. The rate of diffusion of carbon in gamma iron has been studied by Runge3 by Tammann and Schönert4, by Bramley and co-authors,5-14 and

Jan 1, 1940