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By J. B. Reed, T. A. Read, H. Rosenthal

Although the season cracking of brass has been a subject of experimental investigation for more than thirty years, the mechanism that is responsible for this phenomenon is still obscure. While at- tempts to elucidate the stress-corrosion cracking of some alloys have been relatively successful, the principal accomplishments made in the studies of the season cracking of brass have consisted of improved techniques for the fabrication of articles of alpha brass, which reduce the danger of season-cracking failure in service. The primary purpose of the present paper is to collect the published experimental data which appear to be of importance to the development of an adequate theory of the mechanism of the season cracking of brass. Some of the possible mechanisms which have been proposed will also be discussed, together with some promising avenues of future attack on the problems. Several excellent survey papers on season cracking are available, including the recent ones by Croft and Sachs(1)2 and by Gibbs(2). The principal facts concerning season cracking, as presented in these papers, may be summarized as follows. The season cracking of alpha brass is a special type of stress-corrosion failure, which may occur in atmospheres containing ammonia, air, and water vapor. The stress causing failure may be either the

Jan 1, 1945

The regular activities of the Insti¬tute are financed mainly by income derived from members' dues, from advertising in MINING AND METALLURGY, and from the sale of publications to the public. In addition, collateral activities and special projects are financed each year by means of income from endowed funds controlled and administered by the Institute. In the aggregate, the principal sums of these endowments amount to more than $560,000. An active effort is being made to in¬crease the endowment funds of the Institute through a standing committee, of which H. T. Hamilton is chairman; Paul D. Merica, vice-chairman, and of which the other members are: W. H. Aldridge, George D. Barron, Cleveland E. Dodge, John V. M. Dorr, Howard N. Eavenson, D. C. Jackling, Henry Krumb John M. Lovejoy, Harvey D. Mudd and J. V. W. Reynders. This committee feels that there exists a tremendous opportunity for the Institute to be of ever-growing service to the public, to the mineral industries, and to the profession. It welcomes suggestions as to names of men of means who are vitally interested in the mineral industries, and to whom the opportunity to make a contribution or bequest might appeal favorably if presented in the proper light by the committee.

Jan 1, 1943

By AIME AIME

WHEN H. I. Smith joined the Institute back in 1908, he was an instructor in mining and metallurgy at Penn State the college from which he had graduated the year before with a B.S. degree. He had not gone far afield for his education, for he was born, February 15, 1984 at Finleyville, Pa., a small village some fourteen miles south of Pittsburgh and without doubt famous chiefly as H. I.'s birthplace. The summer that he graduated he took a trip to the copper mines Arizona and Mexico and en route worked for four weeks for the Portland Gold Mining Co. at Cripple Creek, Colo., as a mucker and trammer. The next summer he roamed farther afield mines and metallurgical works in Europe. Wishing to see more of Arizona, he left the Penn State faculty early in 1909 and went out to Wenden in that State to become mining engineer and assistant superintendent of something called the Corona Copper Co., with 72 mining claims and a one-mule-powered whim for a hoist. When that job folded he helped build the Santa Fe railroad from Parker. Ariza., to Danby Cialif., and then came back to Pennsylvania to enter Government services as a junior mining engineer with the Bureau of Mines.

Jan 1, 1943

By C. Schlumberger

SINCE the, beginning of the year 1928 the senior authors and their associates have applied a series of procedures which makes possible the detailed study in situ of the formations traversed by a drill hole before the casing has been landed. They have given the name "electrical coring" to the ensemble of these processes, which now replace in a large measure the mechanical coring performed by the drillers, and permit the gathering of bottom-hole data hitherto unobtainable. Three years have elapsed since the technique and interpretation of these measurements emerged from the experimental stage and entered the field of industrial application on a large scale. The total length of drill holes so far surveyed by the authors and their associates, all over the world, amounts to several millions of feet. Practical and strongly built equipment has been evolved, which permits the examination in a short time of an open hole several thousand feet long. No comprehensive paper has yet been published discussing the essential principles of the processes applied and bringing into evidence their economic interest. This is the object of the present paper.1 Numerous examples of field work performed under varied geological conditions are given, constituting a concrete illustration of the services rendered by the new methods.

Jan 1, 1932

By Charles M. Brown, Russell Franks, W. O. Binder

Occasionally in the application of the austenitic chromium-nickel steels to corrosive conditions, failures have occurred by cracking without serious general over-all attack of the metal. As pointed out by Foyt and Scheil(1),2 and by Scheil, et al.(2) as well as by Hodge and Miller(3), the stress-corrosion failures that have occurred have been limited in number, and have taken place only when the steels were exposed to certain corrodents. These investigators have stated that while stress- corrosion cracking can be intergranular in nature and originate at the grain boundaries of the austenitic chromium-nickel steels, it can also take place in trans- granular fashion. They have shown that the cracking may be either initiated at the grain boundaries and may propagate along grain boundaries for some distance and then suddenly extend across grains, or it may begin in a transgranular fashion and suddenly proceed along grain boundaries until the cracking stops. Their data further show that when austenitic stainless steel is subject to intergranular attack, stress will concentrate and cause cracking in service. These investigators have studied the effect of the metals titanium and columbium which are added to the steels to impart immunity to intergranular attack, and molybdenum which is added to improve resistance to general corrosion.

Jan 1, 1945

By Scott Turner

IT has been considered that the training of an engineer is too often vocational training; that it is a pity all engineers cannot have had a period of liberal training before taking up' pure engineering. Offhand, the so-called liberal courses should bring more ready adaptability to deal with the unexpected, to face with assurance situations which have had no parallel in one's experience, and to move without hesitation under conditions which were heretofore unknown to one, than the specialized course in mining engineering. We hear increasing talk as to the necessity of making the engineer articulate and bringing him into public life. The social implications, and responsibilities of engineering are pointed out, as of equal importance with the prodigious marvels of engineering ingenuity. You often read of this as the logical result of the in¬creasing consciousness of the engineer as to his rela¬tive position in our modern industrial civilization. , Some wag has noted that man is the noblest work of God, but that man is the only one who has said so. Perhaps engineers are the only claimants as to the necessity of their going in for public life and service; at any rate, some liberal educators' still maintain that a well-rounded general education is the better training.

Jan 1, 1930

Aamot, Olav Crone, Research Engr., Guggenheim Bros. Labs., 3,771 10th Ave., New York, N. Y. '29 Abbott, Clarence E., V.P., Charge of Raw Materials, Tenn. Coal, Iron & R. R. Co., 1242 Brown-Marx Bldg., Birmingham, Ala. '04 Abbott, Louis Benjamin, Chief Engr., Consolidation Coal Co., Watson Bldg., Fairmont, W. Va. '15 Abeel, George H., Jr., Cons. Min. Engr 128/ S. Canon Dr., Beverly Hills, Calif. '18 Abel, Raymond L., Asst. Prof., Dept. of Pet. Refin., Univ. of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pa. '28 Abel, Walter D., Cons. Engr 364 S. Cloverdale Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. '32 Abele, Louis T 1457 Euclid Ave., Zanesville, Ohio. '31 Abell, Leo M Sullivan Concentrator, Chapman Camp, B. C., Canada. '31 Abort, Robert H., Asst. Met., Research Lab., U. S. Steel Corp., Lincoln Highway, Kearny, N. J. '19 Abraham, W. E. V., East India United Service Club, 16 St. James' Sq., London, S. W. 1, England. '28 Abstain, Henry T., Engr. & Mgr., Profile-Tamarack Mines Co Yellow Pine, Idaho. '27 Acker, E. O'C., Met 128 East Washington Late, Germantown, Philadelphia, Pa. '86 Ackermat, D. E., Research Met., International Nickel Co., Inc. Bayonne, N. J. '35 Acres, T. H., Geol. Dept., Valuation & Pet. Engrg., Richfield Oil Co., 555 S. Flower St., Los Angeles, Calif. '29

Jan 1, 1934

By AIME AIME

WEST TEXAS, New Mexico and Northern Mexico form one of the most interesting regions in America for geologists and mining men and are full of points of historical and human interest for others. Including as the region does, a representative portion of the high plateau of Mexico, the front range of the Rocky Mountains and the great down-dropping plains of Texas, there is variety as well as interest in the geological and mining problems there to be studied. Gold and silver mining were the pioneer industries and are yet of high rank in importance. Among the papers to be presented at the El Paso meeting of the Institute this month will be two dealing with silver mining and ore treatment at the Shafter mine in Texas, that most un- usual property which has for so many years been the largest mining enterprise in its region. West Texas is now better known for its petroleum and gas, and in another paper will be described the problems involved in uding natural gas for smelting at the well-known El Paso smelter of the American Smelting and Refining Co. In still other papers, presented at the session sponsored by the West Texas Geological Society and cooperating organizations, the general geology of the region, the potash and the sulfur deposits will be de- scribed. At El Paso the refineries of the great com- panics will be available for visits.

Jan 1, 1930

By A. Coskun, J. F. Elliott

The activity of aluminum in liquid Al-Fe alloys .has been measured by an improved version of the transportation method in which the metallic vapor has been collected by its solution in a metallic condenser. The results can be represented by the equation: log yAl = -3.0(1 - xAl2) (0.6 < XAl < 1.0) This equation applies at 1315°C. MORRIS and zellarsl adapted the transportation method for measuring the vapor pressure of a com- ponent of an alloy at high temperature. We have modified their technique further2 for use with metals that are strong oxide formers. In the present case the method has been applied to the Al- Fe system to obtain the activity of aluminum in the liquid region at 1315°C. Dried ultrahigh-purity hydrogen (Matheson) is the carrier gas. The operations, Fig. 1, of deoxidizing the gas, equilibrating the gas with the sample at 1315";, and then collecting the aluminum vapor are all accomplished within a single, continuous alumina tube to avoid contamination of the system by leaks. De-oxidation to a very low level of PO2 (<10-25 atm) is Obtained by passing the hydrogen through a tightly packed bed of aluminum powder. The temperature of this bed increases to approximately 550°C in the direction of the gas flow. The boat containing three pellets of the alloy is supported on the end of a

Jan 1, 1969

Discussion of the paper of EDGAR L. NEWHOUSE, presented at the Salt Lake meeting, August, 1914, and printed in Bulletin: No. 92, August, 1914, pp. 1801 to. 1806. G. C. RIDDELL, East Helena, Mont.-As nearly as I can recall at the present moment, there are only four or five large plants on the continent where the lead on charge is carried in the neighborhood of 40 per cent. These are at Herculaneum, Collinsville, and Federal, Ill.; Trail, B.. C.; and East Helena, Mont. Our object at the latter point is to smelt a maximum amount of Coeur d&apos;Alêne lead sulphides in as compact and self-fluxing a charge as possible, and to this end we are now smelting a mixture that at times carries up to 42 per cent. lead. The monotony of producing the 7,000 tons of bullion shipped each month to. the Omaha and Chicago refineries is relieved somewhat by the fact that the 15,000 tons monthly of Coeur d&apos;Alêne ores that are com-ing to us carry enough zinc to provide the one-half slag used with from 6.5 to 7.5 per cent. zinc clay after day. During the month of March, 1914, three lead furnaces in continous operation, each 136 in. long, averaged 249 tons per furnace clay, exclusive of coke and slag shells, which is smelting at the rate of 5.5 tons per square foot of tuyère area. The

Jan 11, 1914

By Joseph Gurland

EVERAL carbide-cobalt compositions were pre-^-5 pared for the purpose of determining the transverse rupture strength of various carbide-binder systems. The binder content was held at 10 and 37 volume pct Co, so as to be representative of low and high bjnder compositions. The carbides used, WC, Tic, TaC, CbC, VC and ZrC, were selected on the basis of availability, knowledge of their properties, and small solid solubilities in the binder metal at room temperature. The methods of preparation and carbon analysis of the carbides are summarized in Table I. The carbides with cobalt added were ball milled, pressed, and sintered. vacuum sintering was used throughout, except for the WC-Cs alloys, which were sintered in hydrogen. The sintering temperatures ranged from 2500" to 2750°F for the low binder alloys and from 2300" to 2550°F for the high binder alloys. Compositions and properties of the sintered com- pacts are presented in Table 11. For the transverse rupture strength, the average and range of the five best samples of each alloy are listed. Discrepancies between the actual and theoretical densities are attributed to carbon deficiencies in some samples. The theoretical densities were calculated by assuming mixtures of carbides of stoichiometric compositions and cobalt. Representative microstructures are shown in Figs. 1 to 6. The porosity was A-2 or better&apos; in all alloys except those with ZrC. A grain size of about 3 p was

Jan 1, 1958

By R. V. Norris

THE wage rates and working conditions in the anthracite. region of Pennsylvania have been governed for nearly 20 years by the award of the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission, appointed Oct. 16, 1902, by President Roosevelt. The report of this com-mission, made in March, 1903, was accepted and, with eight modifications made at various dates, has had .almost the force of law, and has kept this great indus-trial region free from strikes for almost a generation. In 1920, President Wilson appointed an Anthracite Coal Commission, and its report, accepted Aug. 30, 1920, governed wage conditions to April 1, 1922. Actually, the agreements have been for terms of two to four years, and lately, in 1916 and 1920, the employ-ees have continued at work pending the negotiation of new agreements which were made retroactive, and which have all been modifications of the original 1903 award. With the expiration, April 1, 1922, of the 1920 award approaching, Mr. Lewis, president, of the United Mine Workers of America, addressed a letter, on Feb. 20, to the operators, suggesting a meeting on March 15; this date was accepted by the latter, with the notation that the time was short. At the meeting, the Mine Workers presented 19 demands, and advised that if a satisfactory agreement was not reached by April 1.a suspension of mining would occur, contrary to the practice since 1916 of continuing work with a retro-active adjustment.

Jan 6, 1922

By George Bell

THE mine and milling plant of Demonstration Gold Mines, Ltd., is near the city limits of Baguio, Mt. Province, P. I. The mine road connects with the main highway to Manila. The nearest railway point is near sea level, approximately 40 miles distant. The Baguio district is very mountainous and has one of the heaviest rainfalls in the world. It is therefore difficult to maintain roads or to impound tailings and mine dumps. All supplies are trucked into the district direct from Manila or the nearest railway point, which means uncertain deliveries and high freight rates. Installation of equipment is difficult and costly. The average elevation at the mine is 4000 ft. and the climatic condi-tions.are ideal except for a three months rainy season. The company generates its own power for mining and milling opera-tions with three 400-hp. Ruston Diesel engines direct connected to 250-kw. General Electric alternating current generators. Labor conditions have been excellent, although at present social security laws are causing some unrest. Labor receives a higher average wage rate in this district than other labor in the Islands. The com-pany also furnishes free living quarters, hospitalization and work-men&apos;s compensation. Taxation has been reasonable up to the present time, but some of the new mining legislation may make it difficult to operate and pay dividends. The future depends largely upon the continuation of $35 gold and the political outcome in the Islands.

Jan 1, 1939

By Henry J. Williams

The main difficulty in the determination of silicon in pig-irons containing very high percentages of that element, has been due to their almost complete insolubility in acids, or mixtures of acids. The object of the present paper, which presents no new principle, is to suggest a method of determination which has repeatedly given accurate results, and which obviates completely the tediousness and uncertainty of the usual slow solution in acids. This method has been tried with pig-irons containing from 7 to 14 per cent. of combined silicon, and properly called ferro-silicons. When reduced to an impalpable powder in the agate mortar, an 11 per cent. ferro-silicon was found to resist the action of all acids, or mixtures of acids, with the exception of sulphuric acid of about 1.25 specific gravity. But the action of this acid, even during long continued heating, was very slow, 72 hours being necessary to com pletely dissolve half a gramme of the metal. The complete decomposition of 1 gramme of the metal may, on the other hand, readily he effected in a few minutes by fusion with sodium carbonate in a covered platinum crucible over a blast-lamp —the idea being to dissolve the silicon, leaving the iron in condi tion to be readily attacked by acids. The silicon dissolves as soluble sodium silicate, and metallic iron remains in a very spongy and finely divided condition. The addition of a little hot water

Jan 1, 1889

By Kent W. Pilz

Wet dust suppression can be achieved by 1) confinement of the dust within the dust producing area with a curtain of moisture, 2) wetting of the dust by direct contact between the particles and droplets of moisture or 3) the formation of agglomerates too heavy to remain airborne, or too heavy to become airborne, by combining small dust particles with each other and with the droplets of liquid. From the standpoint of economy, availability and safety, water is the ideal fluid; however, it is not as effective for dust suppression as when small percentages of specially formulated dust control compounds are blended with it. Performance of dust control com pounds is related to surface active agents and surface activity. In all liquids there is an attractive force between molecules which varies inversely as the sixth power of the distance between molecules. Thus, in the liquid phase where molecules are crowded together, the intermolecular forces are powerful; whereas in the liquid-vapor phase where the molecules are relatively far apart, these forces diminish rapidly. In the body of a fluid there is an uneven distribution of forces resulting in an inward pull called surface tension. The force which keeps two surfaces apart or causes them to coalesce is termed interfacial tension. Fluids of high surface tension exhibit poor wetting, spreading and penetrating qualities. Water has the unusually high surface tension of 72.75 dynes per cm at 20°C.

Jan 7, 1972

By Robert H. Hafner, Irvin R. Kramer

In recent years considerable interest has been shown in surface-alloyed metals, particnlarly 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 tem- peratures of 1200º to 1400ºC. (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 930º to 1040°C. (1700º to 1900ºF.). 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 900º to 1000ºC., 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, 1943

By Robert H. Hafner, Irvin R. Kramer

In recent years considerable interest has been shown in surface-alloyed metals, particnlarly 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 tem- peratures of 1200º to 1400ºC. (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 930º to 1040°C. (1700º to 1900ºF.). 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 900º to 1000ºC., 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, 1943

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 method&apos; 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 Charles Maier

IT has long been supposed that when crystalline materials are com-minuted the energy used in the production of increasingly smaller grain sizes is not entirely dissipated as heat but that a certain portion is "stored" as a part of the internal energy of the material. This portion usually has been called the "surface energy" of the particles. The practical interest of the Bureau of Mines in this subject in connection with the energy requirements of crushing processes has led to the author&apos;s attempt to measure the "stored" energy in finely divided calcite by heat-of-solution methods1. The experiments on calcite showed that "storage" of energy could not be proved for this material, because fine grinding caused a lack of chem-ical homogeneity evidenced by loss of carbon dioxide and subsequent adsorption of water on the surfaces of the calcite particles. When thermochemical correction was made for composition changes the cor-rected heat of solution was less for fine material than for coarse. Con-tinuation of the experimental work into the problem of comparing work and heat in the deformation of metallic crystals, where the calorimetric difficulties were less, showed, however, that in the case of copper and aluminum a real discrepancy between work and heat could be shown. similar results had previously been obtained by Farren and Taylor2 and Hort3 and more or less simultaneously with the author&apos;s work by

Jan 1, 1936

By Charles Maier

PART I DENSITY AND ENERGY CHANGES IN COLD-WORKED COPPER IT has long been supposed that when crystalline materials are com-minuted the energy used in the production of increasingly smaller grain sizes is not entirely dissipated as heat but that a certain portion is "stored" as a part of the internal energy of the material. This portion usually has been called the "surface energy" of the particles. The practical interest of the Bureau of Mines in this subject in connection with the energy requirements of crushing processes has led&apos; to the author&apos;s attempt to measure the "stored" energy in finely divided calcite by heat-of-solution methods1. The experiments on calcite showed that "storage" of energy could not be proved for this material, because fine grinding caused a lack of chem-ical homogeneity evidenced by loss of carbon dioxide and subsequent adsorption of water on the surfaces of the calcite particles. When thermochemical correction was made for composition changes the cor-rected heat of solution was less for fine material than for coarse. Con-tinuation of the experimental work into the problem of comparing work and heat in the deformation of metallic crystals, where the calorimetric difficulties were less, showed, however, that in the case of copper and aluminum a real discrepancy between work and heat could be shown. Similar results had previously been obtained by Farren and Taylor2 and Hort3 and more or less simultaneously with the author&apos;s work by

Jan 1, 1936