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By D. W. Philips

The problem of strata control has of necessity been prominent in mining, and accounts of individual experience and research abound in the literature of most mining countries. Organized rescarch began in Britain by the formation of a committee, upon the recommendation of the Safety in Mines Research Board in 1923, to investigate methods of reducing accidents from falls of roof in coal mines. This committee examined current practice in supporting underground workings in the principal coal fields, and its findings have been published in the Board's publications.' - Toward the end of these investigations it was suggested by the Chief Inspector of Mines that committees of the several mining institutes be formed to examine the problem in their respective districts. The formation of these committees marked a new phase in research on strata control. The work, though being done in the separate coal fields, followed a scheme outlined by the chief Mining Engineer of the Research Board, and was coordinated by his office. FACTORS INVOLVED The subject is being considered in Britain from two aspects: 1. To provide. by supports, means to prevent falls of fractured ground. 2. TO develop methods whereby the strata can be maintained in the least broken condition and thus make falls less likely. The first aspect is the one that will most likely lead to immediate results from the accident standpoint. It depends largely upon the assimilation of already acquired knowledge regarding the properties of supports and their correct application. The second aspect is perhaps more fundamental, and involves also the properties of the strata and their behavior under the influence of the forces induced by mining. The problem involves many natural factors that cannot be controlled, such as depth, inclination and thickness of seam and nature of the rocks. Other factors, which may be considered to a certain extent controllable, cannot be varied readily and with sufficient frequency to facilitate easy investigation; some of these are: rate of advance of the working face, length of face, direction of the face with regard to cleat and inclination, system and arrangements of rock packing behind longwall faces. In any given case the very many factors present have a mutual influence upon the effects produced in the mine. For example, a study of the effects of rate of advance cannot be done without considering the effects of other factors such as nature of strata, direction of face and quality and arrangement of supports. Conversely, the length and direction of a working face

Jan 1, 1947

By D. W. Philips

The problem of strata control has of necessity been prominent in mining, and accounts of individual experience and research abound in the literature of most mining countries. Organized rescarch began in Britain by the formation of a committee, upon the recommendation of the Safety in Mines Research Board in 1923, to investigate methods of reducing accidents from falls of roof in coal mines. This committee examined current practice in supporting underground workings in the principal coal fields, and its findings have been published in the Board's publications.' - Toward the end of these investigations it was suggested by the Chief Inspector of Mines that committees of the several mining institutes be formed to examine the problem in their respective districts. The formation of these committees marked a new phase in research on strata control. The work, though being done in the separate coal fields, followed a scheme outlined by the chief Mining Engineer of the Research Board, and was coordinated by his office. FACTORS INVOLVED The subject is being considered in Britain from two aspects: 1. To provide. by supports, means to prevent falls of fractured ground. 2. TO develop methods whereby the strata can be maintained in the least broken condition and thus make falls less likely. The first aspect is the one that will most likely lead to immediate results from the accident standpoint. It depends largely upon the assimilation of already acquired knowledge regarding the properties of supports and their correct application. The second aspect is perhaps more fundamental, and involves also the properties of the strata and their behavior under the influence of the forces induced by mining. The problem involves many natural factors that cannot be controlled, such as depth, inclination and thickness of seam and nature of the rocks. Other factors, which may be considered to a certain extent controllable, cannot be varied readily and with sufficient frequency to facilitate easy investigation; some of these are: rate of advance of the working face, length of face, direction of the face with regard to cleat and inclination, system and arrangements of rock packing behind longwall faces. In any given case the very many factors present have a mutual influence upon the effects produced in the mine. For example, a study of the effects of rate of advance cannot be done without considering the effects of other factors such as nature of strata, direction of face and quality and arrangement of supports. Conversely, the length and direction of a working face

Jan 1, 1947

By Anson Hayes, John Chipman

The quality of sheet and strip products made of rimming steel is closely related to the structure and chemistry of the ingots. The variation in composition throughout the ingot, as affected by segregation, is of great importance, as are also the form and distribution of the voids that result from the gases evolved. It is because of this importance that the considerable literature in this field has accumulated. No attempt is made in the present paper to compile a bibliography of the excellent work that has already been done, as this has been adequately covered in the many excellent reports on the heterogeneity of steel ingots prepared by a joint committee and published by the Iron and Steel Institute.' From time to time, in any field of investigation new tools and new technique are developed, which make further progress possible. In the field with which this paper is concerned, this is true. The development of the vacuum-fusion method as a means of following oxygen segregation, and a technique for obtaining the volume and composition of the gases evolved during solidification, have opened the way to obtaining data by means of which some considerable progress has been realized in developing more of the detailed mechanisms of solidification and segregation in rimming-steel ingots. General Theory of Segregation The basic cause of segregation lies in the fact that the impurities are less soluble in solid than in liquid iron. The solid that forms from the impure liquid is more nearly pure than the liquid itself. If solidification proceeds slowly enough, or if the liquid and solid phases are maintained in contact with one another for a sufficient time, a condition of equilibrium is set up, which may be represented by a phase diagram. Portions of the

Jan 1, 1939

By I. Lowthian Bell

THERE has been probably no improvement introduced into the manufacture of iron which created more surprise in the minds of practical smelters and of scientific men than Neilson's discovery of the hot blast. In 1829, Messrs. Dunlop & Co. consumed at the Clyde Works, near Glasgow, nearly 7 3/4 tons of coal to make a ton of pig iron, of which about 20 cwts. was employed under the boilers of the blowing engines, leaving nearly 7 tons for the consumption of the furnace itself. In the year 1833, by heating the air to 612° F. (322° C.), they reduced the 7 3/4 tons to 3 tons by the mere burning of 8 cwts. of coal in the apparatus for raising the blast to this temperature. The statement just given is strictly true in a commercial sense, but when we come to consider the question as one of physical science, it is necessary to eliminate some of the conditions which conduced to so extraordinary a result. Anterior to Neilson's time the fuel employed in smelting iron was coke, and it was supposed at that period, erroneously, however, that coal in its raw state, when burned with cold air, was totally unfit for the purpose in question. This mineral, as it was obtained from the Lanarkshire coal-field, contained about 35 per cent. of volatile matter, but the process of charring it was performed in so unskilful a manner that instead of receiving 88 cwts. of coke from 135 cwts. of coal, 60 cwts. only was the product of the operation. Again, the reduced consumption of carbon in the furnace itself was accompanied by a corresponding diminution of blast, and this was followed by an economy of half a ton in engine coal. After making a proper allowance, however, for all these collateral circumstances, we are within the mark when we admit that in actual coke, which is really the form the fuel has to assume before it is burnt in the blast-furnace, not less than 30 cwts. was saved by heating the blast to 615° F. (322° C.). This unexpected economy, be it remembered, was obtained by the combustion of the 8 cwts. of coal, somewhat wastefully applied in the hot-air apparatus. Numerous have been the opinions advanced by different authorities in the scientific world to account for the apparent anomaly, but none,

Jan 1, 1877

By Anson Hayes, John Chipman

The quality of sheet and strip products made of rimming steel is closely related to the structure and chemistry of the ingots. The variation in composition throughout the ingot, as affected by segregation, is of great importance, as are also the form and distribution of the voids that result from the gases evolved. It is because of this importance that the considerable literature in this field has accumulated. No attempt is made in the present paper to compile a bibliography of the excellent work that has already been done, as this has been adequately covered in the many excellent reports on the heterogeneity of steel ingots prepared by a joint committee and published by the Iron and Steel Institute.' From time to time, in any field of investigation new tools and new technique are developed, which make further progress possible. In the field with which this paper is concerned, this is true. The development of the vacuum-fusion method as a means of following oxygen segregation, and a technique for obtaining the volume and composition of the gases evolved during solidification, have opened the way to obtaining data by means of which some considerable progress has been realized in developing more of the detailed mechanisms of solidification and segregation in rimming-steel ingots. General Theory of Segregation The basic cause of segregation lies in the fact that the impurities are less soluble in solid than in liquid iron. The solid that forms from the impure liquid is more nearly pure than the liquid itself. If solidification proceeds slowly enough, or if the liquid and solid phases are maintained in contact with one another for a sufficient time, a condition of equilibrium is set up, which may be represented by a phase diagram. Portions of the

Jan 1, 1939

By Minoru Sasabe, Mayurni Sorneno, Kazuhiro Goto

I) The Object of the Present Experiment. When the oxygen chemical potential in the gas phase is changed, the oxygen chemical potential in the liquid metal or in the liquid oxide phase will be subsequently changed. The object of the present experiment is to develop a method of measuring the change in the chemical potential of oxygen in liquid metals and in liquid oxides with respect to time, when the oxygen potential in the gas phase changes. II) The Experimental Method. The following types of the oxygen concentration cells with the solid electrolyte of Zr0z-CaO are used: KAZUHIRO GOTO, MemberAIME.MINORU SASABE,and MAYUMl SOMENO are Associate Professor, Research Associate, and Professor, respectively, Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Manuscript submitted March 12, 1968, EMD. Igas phase liquid Ag or Pb ZrO2-CaO electrolyte!, The measured reversible electromotive force can be expressed by the next equation, provided that the transference number of the oxygen anion in the electrolyte is unity: E = RT/nF log (at electrode I)/P~ (at electrode 11) where is the electromotive force, R is the gas constant, T is absolute temperature, n is valence of oxygen anion, and Pq is the oxygen pressure at the electrodes. As shown in the previous work1 of the authors, the electromotive force is determined by the difference in the chemical potential of oxygen at the vicinity of the interfaces between the solid electrolyte and the electronic conductors used for the two electrodes. Fig. 1 shows the two kinds of the cell assembly used to measure the change of the chemical potential of oxygen in liquid metals and liquid oxides with respect to time. In both cases, the change of the oxygen pressure in the gas phase is measured by the independent oxygen concentration cell located above the

Jan 1, 1969

By C Macquarie, Maurice Cook

Normally the grain size of cold-rolled and annealed copper sheet is of the order of 0.02 to 0.06 mm., and 0.1 mm., for example, would, for many purposes, be regarded as undesirably large. The occurrence of very large grain sizes in a few isolated cases of copper sheet led the authors to inquire into the causes giving rise to such unusual results. During the course of this work a very large number of experiments have been carried out to determine the effect of varying the conditions of the final and penultimate rolling and annealing operations, as well as of earlier rolling and annealing treatments. A correspondingly large number of observations have been made, but within the space of one paper it is possible only to outline relatively briefly what appear to be the more important of these experiments and observations. The presentation of the results does not follow chronologically the order in which the experiments were carried out and they have been rearranged for the sake of simplicity. In recent years a considerable amount of work has been done in connection with the recrystallization and grain growth in metals arid alloy. that take place on annealing, and a number of generalizations have beell reached. It is known that the crystal size in wrought material in the annealed condition depends on a number of factors, including the time and temperature of the annealing operations and the nature and amount of cold-work to which the material has been subjected. Results. however that are not covered by these generalizations can be obtained, which, in some instances, may even appear to be contradictory to them. Xccortling to these generalizations gradual changes in grain size are effected by progressive variation of the factors involved in annealing or cold-working. The work recorded in the present paper, however, relates to the development of grain sizes which are far beyond those normally encountered in ordinary annealing operations and far in excess of grain sizes which,

Jan 1, 1939

By C Macquarie, Maurice Cook

Normally the grain size of cold-rolled and annealed copper sheet is of the order of 0.02 to 0.06 mm., and 0.1 mm., for example, would, for many purposes, be regarded as undesirably large. The occurrence of very large grain sizes in a few isolated cases of copper sheet led the authors to inquire into the causes giving rise to such unusual results. During the course of this work a very large number of experiments have been carried out to determine the effect of varying the conditions of the final and penultimate rolling and annealing operations, as well as of earlier rolling and annealing treatments. A correspondingly large number of observations have been made, but within the space of one paper it is possible only to outline relatively briefly what appear to be the more important of these experiments and observations. The presentation of the results does not follow chronologically the order in which the experiments were carried out and they have been rearranged for the sake of simplicity. In recent years a considerable amount of work has been done in connection with the recrystallization and grain growth in metals arid alloy. that take place on annealing, and a number of generalizations have beell reached. It is known that the crystal size in wrought material in the annealed condition depends on a number of factors, including the time and temperature of the annealing operations and the nature and amount of cold-work to which the material has been subjected. Results. however that are not covered by these generalizations can be obtained, which, in some instances, may even appear to be contradictory to them. Xccortling to these generalizations gradual changes in grain size are effected by progressive variation of the factors involved in annealing or cold-working. The work recorded in the present paper, however, relates to the development of grain sizes which are far beyond those normally encountered in ordinary annealing operations and far in excess of grain sizes which,

Jan 1, 1939

By Frederick N. Rhines

Pure copper that has been allowed to oxidize at an elevated temperature in the air is found to be covered with two distinguishable layers of oxide scale. The outer of these, which is very thin, is composed of cuprie oxide, while the inner layer, comprising the bulk of the scale, is made up chiefly of cuprous oxide (Fig, la). If a small quantity of an alloying element, such as silicon, is present in the copper, silica particles are found disseminated through the cuprous oxide, deposited most abundantly near the metal surface, and, in addition, silica particles occur to a limited depth within the copper itself (Fig. 1b). It is this inner layer, composetl of oxide particles precipitated in a matrix of metallic copper, that is known as the "subscale" or the zone of internal oxidation. Under a low oxygen pressure it is possible to produce the subscale without the formation of external layers of copper oxides, thus leaving the metal surface bright and apparently clean while oxidation has occurred, in fact, to a considerable depth within the metal (Fig. 2). Although little is yet known in a detailed way of the mechanism of internal oxidation, the general nature of the process is evident. By virtue of the considerable solubility of oxygen in copper,' it is possible to bring the alloying element in contact with oxygen within the metallic solid solution. If the oxide of the alloying element is more stable than cuprous oxide, the foreign oxide may form and, since most oxides are relatively insoluble in copper, it will not long remain in solution, but mill separate as a precipitate. As the metallic solute is exhausted in the zone of precipitation, oxygen that is constantly being supplied at the surface diffuses farther into the alloy and thus produces an ever-thickening shell of subscale. The distribution of the reacting elements in the subscale and adjoining zones must be somewhat as indicated in Fig. 3. The conditions requisite to internal oxidation to be anticipated are thus: (I) a solubility of oxygen in the alloy, (2) the ability of oxygen to diffuse at an appreciable rate into the alloy, (3) the possibility of the

Jan 1, 1940

By Frederick N. Rhines

Pure copper that has been allowed to oxidize at an elevated temperature in the air is found to be covered with two distinguishable layers of oxide scale. The outer of these, which is very thin, is composed of cuprie oxide, while the inner layer, comprising the bulk of the scale, is made up chiefly of cuprous oxide (Fig, la). If a small quantity of an alloying element, such as silicon, is present in the copper, silica particles are found disseminated through the cuprous oxide, deposited most abundantly near the metal surface, and, in addition, silica particles occur to a limited depth within the copper itself (Fig. 1b). It is this inner layer, composetl of oxide particles precipitated in a matrix of metallic copper, that is known as the "subscale" or the zone of internal oxidation. Under a low oxygen pressure it is possible to produce the subscale without the formation of external layers of copper oxides, thus leaving the metal surface bright and apparently clean while oxidation has occurred, in fact, to a considerable depth within the metal (Fig. 2). Although little is yet known in a detailed way of the mechanism of internal oxidation, the general nature of the process is evident. By virtue of the considerable solubility of oxygen in copper,' it is possible to bring the alloying element in contact with oxygen within the metallic solid solution. If the oxide of the alloying element is more stable than cuprous oxide, the foreign oxide may form and, since most oxides are relatively insoluble in copper, it will not long remain in solution, but mill separate as a precipitate. As the metallic solute is exhausted in the zone of precipitation, oxygen that is constantly being supplied at the surface diffuses farther into the alloy and thus produces an ever-thickening shell of subscale. The distribution of the reacting elements in the subscale and adjoining zones must be somewhat as indicated in Fig. 3. The conditions requisite to internal oxidation to be anticipated are thus: (I) a solubility of oxygen in the alloy, (2) the ability of oxygen to diffuse at an appreciable rate into the alloy, (3) the possibility of the

Jan 1, 1940

By C. S. Smith, L. Guttman

It is shown, from a study of geometric probabilities, that the average number of intercepts per unit length of a random line drawn through a three-dimensional structure is exactly half the true ratio of surface to volume. Since the surfaces can be internal or external, the area of grain boundary or of the interface between any two constituents in a micro-structure can be measured. Other metric relations are tabulated that may be of use in studies of the microstructure of polycrystalline, cellular, or particulate matter generally. IN many fields of scientific investigation the structure of cellular aggregates or random arrays of discrete particles imbedded in some matrix is observed on a two-dimensional section and inferences are drawn therefrom as to the real structure in three dimensions. The biologist's microtome slice, the petrologist's thin section, and the metallurgist's plane polished and etched sections are common examples, although the problem is a general one. Scientists have commonly limited their thinking to the same dimensionality as their structures, and the few attempts that have been strictly three-dimensional in character have been laborious and noteworthy. From a metallurgical standpoint it is often of considerable importance to know, in addition to the volume fraction of two or more components in an alloy, the amount of two-dimensional interface between crystals. Such grain boundaries (which may separate either two identical crystals differing only in orientation or two crystals differing in structure, and possibly also in orientation) have a determining factor upon the mechanical behavior. It is at these boundaries that melting commences, that stress-induced corrosion occurs, and that various precipitates (harmful or otherwise) first appear. The boundary is doubtless of equal importance in nonmetallic crystalline aggregates such as rocks, ceramics, and concrete, and the biologist is deeply concerned with the area of cellular membranes. Many synthetic cellular foams involve similar structural problems. The very term structure usually implies the presence of interfaces and a complete understanding of structure involves nothing but an analysis of the geometrical, metrical, and topological relations between the various interfaces (zero, one and two-dimensional) that exist in a three-dimensional structure. Even systems lacking sharp physical interfaces often have interrelated gradients of composition or velocity (as cored crystals or turbulence cells) in which a neutral surface can be treated as a two-dimensional interface. In an earlier paper by one of the authors' the question of cell shape was considered in terms of simple topological principles without regard to physical dimensions. The determination of the actual size of grains in two dimensions is carried out in a routine fashion in innumerable metallurgical laboratories (see, for example, the ASTM standard methods of grain size determination2), though this is done merely to check the uniformity of a product and has no relation to the actual three-dimensional shape or size of the grains. Some authors have discussed the three-dimensional problem but only on the basis of assumptions as to idealized grain shapes.:'-' Quantitative measurements of microstruc-tures to obtain the volumetric relations of various phases have been carried out by petrographers for many years and are of increasing popularity among metallurgists." The present paper will show how, on the basis of no assumptions other than randomness of sectioning (usually realizable in experiment), it is possible to learn a great deal about the three-dimensional structure. The relations to be derived will generally be used on random arrays of cells or other particles, although they are equally applicable to ordered arrays and even to isolated objects of complex shape provided that suitable random sections can be made. Total Area of Interfaces in a Sample Consider a typical microstructure of a single-phase polyerystalline metal, such as that shown pres- in Fig. 1. The plane cross section shown contains a network of lines which subdivides the area into two-dimensional cells. The lines, of course, represent merely the intersection of the two-dimensional plane of sectioning with the two-dimensional interfaces between adjacent three-dimensional cells. The structure also contains points at which two or more lines intersect: in three dimensions the points are, of course, lines. In the more general case there may be in three dimensions isolated particles surrounded by a single interface without contact with others, and both two and one-dimensional features which do not necessarily connect with others. On the two-dimensional section these will appear as areas delineated by a closed line (as at a and b, Fig. 2), as isolated lines

Jan 1, 1954

By J. F. Martin, J. E. Friedline, L. M. Melnick, G. E. Pellissier

A method has been developed for determining gases in steel in which the gases are extracted by vacuum fusion and analyzed by mass spectrometry. This method is especially applicable for determining small amounts of oxygen and nitrogen. The lower limit of detection for both oxygen and nitrogen is 0.0001 pct with an average deviation of about 0.0001 pct for oxygen and 0.00008 pct for nitrogen. Hydrogen analyses by this method are in good agreement with analyses by vacuum tin-fusion. A complete analysis of all gases extracted from a steel sample can be accomplished in 40 min. It has long been known that certain of the gaseous elements exert particular effects on the physical and mechanical properties of steel. With the recent advent of new experimental steelmaking practices it is now possible to obtain steels with extremely low contents of such elements as oxygen and nitrogen. Present methods for determining these two gases are of insufficient sensitivity as applied to steels made by these newer practices, and therefore a new technique was considered necessary. A review of the literature showed that the conventional vacuum-fusion method1 was the procedure most suitable for modification to obtain a sensitive method for determining the gaseous elements present in steel simultaneously. However, for trace amounts of gases it is impractical to increase the sample size because of the physical limitations of the apparatus and the increased degassing time which would be necessary. Also, when only one of the desired gases is present in trace amounts, quantitative separation by conventional vacuum fusion is almost impossible. Since small analytical mass spectrometers are now commercially available, it was decided to use this instrument in conjunction with conventional vacuum fusion for both qualitative examination and quantitative determinations of the gaseous elements in steel. This technique has already been used with success for the analysis of copper and lanthanum.2"4 APPARATUS A vacuum-fusion unit was first designed and built, Fig. 1. This unit was designed especially for the determination of small amounts of nitrogen and/or oxygen in steel since an acceptable method (vacuum tin-fusion)5 was already in use for the determination of hydrogen in steel. The vacuum system was con- structed of Pyrex glass throughout. Mercury check valves were used in place of stopcocks in the high-vacuum section of the system. Ferromagnetic samples are normally introduced into the vacuum system through a mercury lift. In case of a break in the lift, the mercury is prevented from entering the furnace by a self-locking, mercury safety check valve, Fig. 2. This check valve, developed at our laboratory, is a modified T/S ball-and-socket joint placed in the sample inlet system between the mercury and the furnace. A sudden entry of mercury or air pushes this valve into the closed position, completely blocking the top of the mercury lift. The check valve is held in the closed position by the vacuum of the apparatus. A separate entrance tube also was placed in the system, so that samples which would amalgamate with mercury, or which are nonmagnetic, could be introduced into the furnace. A slightly modified Guldner-Beach furnace is used in this system.8 The optical flat was connected to the system by a ground-glass joint to facilitate cleaning, a quartz delivery tube was substituted for Pyrex, and the crucible was used uncovered. Fusion takes place in a high-purity graphite crucible insulated by — 200-mesh high-purity graphite powder. The crucible set (crucible and funnel) is suspended in a quartz crucible. The furnace envelope and the sample inlet system are exhausted by 2 single-stage, mercury-diffusion pumps in series. The first of these is a high-speed pump, which will work only with a very low backing pressure. This pump is used to exhaust the gases from the furnace as rapidly as possible. The second mercury-diffusion pump is used as a backing pump for the first; the capacity of this pump is much lower. However, it will work efficiently against a back pressure of 3 mm of mercury. To assure positive pumping, a modified Naughton and Uhlig condenser7 is used. With the use of proper valving the second pump is also used as a circulation pump in the catalyst system.

Jan 1, 1959

By E. D. McMurry

INTRODUCTION Before discussing the use of the free piston; it may be well to explain briefly the type of gas lift valves with which the loo] is designed to function. The gas lift valve ii nothing more or less than a small back pressure regulator. It; construction consists of an outer hous ing covering a seamless metallic bellows in such a way as in form a sealed pressure vessel or pressure dome. To the bellow* in attached a stem and to this stem is attached a .rating member. When the valve is run into the hole, a pre-delermined pressure charge is placed in the pressure dome. As shown in Fig. 1. the valve is furnished in four different major assem-blies. to accomplish good results in different types of wells. The valve is mounted on a pup joint (Fig. 2a) : the eoin-plele assembly is entered into the tubing siring at the desired location. Each valve is furnished with a revere flow check valve (Fig. 2-b) to eliminate any back wash through the mechanism. Valve action is as follows: At any time the casing pressure is allowed to exceed the pressure forces within the pressure dome of the valve, the valve simply opens and passes gas from the rasing annulus into the tubing. When the casing pressure forces arc allowed to bleed to a force less than the pressure force within the dome, of the valve. the valve closes. With this type of construction. it is possible to open and close the valve or valves at will from the surface, the medium of the gas pressure in the rasing annnlus. The cycle of operation is governed by a tine cycle motor valve, commonly referred to as a gas lift interutitter or gas life surfacr controller (Fig. 3). In actual practice. after the well is unloaded only one valve is in operation . . . all other valve.: remain in the closed position. On pre-determined time cycles, it is possible to open and close this operating valve at will, and to pass the desired amount of gas through this valve wheneler needed. This method of gas lift is widelv used and has been found In be very efficient. However, it has long been known that even greater efficiency would be obtained if it were possible to place Piston between the injected gas and the fluid head. The free piston which will be discussed here was designed to accomplish this end and has been found to do so with very satisfactory results. DESIGN AND OPERATION OF THE FREE PISTON Basically. the free piston consist- of a telescoping assembly in which are incorporated the various control and operating parts (Fig. A set of sleeve valves which are opened and closed by movement of the telescoping section is contained in the. tool. A cross section of the free piston is shown in Fig. 4-11, 'rile main body cotain- a seamless monel bellows of the same type as that generally used in pressure charged gas lift valves (Fig. 4-c), and a valve core to permit placing a pressure charge in the bellows before the free piston is placed in service. The bellows is the main control unit of the free piston and performs two function: 1. It governs the opening and closing of the sleeve valves. a.: dictated by the producing activities of the well in which the piston is operating. 2. In its normal position, it holds a rubber packer in an elongated position to permit passage of fluid between the packer and the tubing walls. The lower section of the free piston contains a hydraulic shock absorber which cushions the return of the tool to its

Jan 1, 1953

By W. T. Isbell

In the Parkes process of lead refining, after desilverization has been completed by means of the addition of zinc, there remains in the lead from 0.5 to 0.6 pct zinc. At this stage in the refining operations virtually all impurities are reduced to refined lead specifications except zinc and antimony. All excess copper, nickel and cobalt have been removed by the zinc additions. The silver remaining should not exceed 0.1 oz per ton. It then remains only to remove the zinc and antimony in order to produce refined lead. At the Herculaneum plant of the St. Joseph Lead Co., practice formerly was to complete the refining by means of oxidation in a reverberatory furnace. This process consisted of heating the lead to 1400O to 1500OF and allowing it to come in contact with excess air passing over the surface of the lead and periodically agitating the bath of lead with air. This procedure not only resulted in the loss of zinc but of a considerable quantity of lead converted to the oxide in the form of dross and fume. The fume, collected in the baghouse, together with the dross was returned to the blast furnace, thus adding appreciably to the circulating load on the blast furnace and refinery. In addition, operation and maintenance of the reverberatory furnace were expensive and required the performance of disagreeably hot and somewhat hazardous work. The process of dezincing with high vacuum was developed at this plant as a substitute for the oxidation process and finally led to lower operating costs, the practical elimination of dross and fume and the direct production of metallic zinc, which is very suitable for re-use in the desilverization process. Essentially this process consists of subjecting the lead to high vacuum, in a kettle provided with means for heating, a bell-shaped member open at the lower end so constructed that it can be immersed in the molten lead, and means for evacuating the interior of the bell and for sealing an agitator. Metallic zinc is thus produced and collects on the upper cooled part of the bell member. This metallic zinc is periodically removed and re-used in the desilverization process. The process is quite simple. It is conducted at a low temperature, thus permitting the use of iron equipment, and shows a material saving in refining costs over the old method. Equipment and Its Uses Degincing Machine.—The equipment employed in this process consists of a dezincing machine, a steel kettle of 120 tons capacity, a vacuum system and equipment for handling the dezincing machine (Fig 1). The dezincing machine consists of a compact assembly, suitable for handling with an overhead crane, consisting of a treating chamber and the agitating mechanism. Treating Chamber.—The treating chamber is a bell-shaped shell (4), similar in shape to a hemispherical kettle with a lid

Jan 1, 1949

By Eckley B. Coxe

The plummet lamp, to which I called the attention of the Institute, at the Bethlehem meeting, in August, 1871, with the improvement of the compensating ring, suggested by Mr. Heller, having come into general use for mine surveying in this country, and my attention having been called to the fact that it could not be employed in mines in which there was danger of meeting with fire-damp, I have so modified it that it can be used in all cases with safety. Mining engineers, who are in active practice in those districts where fire-damp is met with in the mines (and I am sorry to say it is becoming much more common in the anthracite regions), know how dangerous their work is when they are called upon to survey such mines, particularly when they are obliged to run lines in those parts of a mine which have been unworked, since by opening of doors, brattice, etc., to get the sights, they are liable to disarrange the currents of air, and cause any fire-damp that may have accumulated in the old workings to find its way into the levels, etc., where the party is at work. It is, therefore, very dangerous to leave an open light (such as the original form of plummet lamp) in an old breast or gangway, even when the safety lamp has shown that no fire-damp is present, for the opening of the doors, etc., may drive the fire-damp to the light, and thus endanger the lives of the engineers. The improved form of plummet lamp, now shown to you, can be used either with or without the safety apparatus. Upon the top of the plumb-bob portion of the old lamp a screw is cut, upon which a ring A is screwed. (See Plate 11.) On the external cylindrical part of this ring two small conical holes are drilled, 180' apart. The compensating ring, by which the plumb-bob part of the lamp is suspended, passes over the ring A, and is fastened to it by two small screws having conical points, which fit into the conical holes in the ring A. The safety apparatus resembles, to a certain extent, that of the Mueseler lamp. It consists of a ring B and plate C, which are united by four rods. The plate C has a cylindrical hole in the middle, and four apertures distributed radially around it. In the central cylindrical hole is fitted a conical brass chimney, which projects below the plate C, and is fastened to the latter, being kept ver-

By W. F. Laverty

Two recent papers in this journal1,2 contain experimental evidence for an anomaly in the concentration gradient for tracer diffusion. In both papers, the authors suggest that this anomaly is due to a Gibbs' absorption effect. Their hypothesis is that surface active tracer elements tend to remain in or near the surface adsorption layer, thereby altering the diffusion flux and concentration gradient. It is not clear how the anomaly can be explained in terms of an adsorption effect. Surface tension forces act parallel rather than perpendicular to a surface and therefore should affect only the rate of spreading of surface active agents tangentially across a surface. Frenkel3 has given a short treatment of surface tension as a driving force for surface diffusion. While the equilibrium concentration of a surface active agent at the surface of a solution is known to be higher than in the bulk, its chemical potential is necessarily the same. It is difficult to see how adsorption can result in an anomaly in the chemical potential gradient, which is the driving force for diffusion. A more detailed explanation by the authors of the adsorption mechanism is in order. A similar anomaly does not seem to arise where

Jan 1, 1970

By M. Kitada, U. Kawabe, F. Ishida, T. Doi

The relations between micros tructures and critical current density in transverse magnetic field were experimentally investigated due to each transformation of the 0 to 0' + P" phases at 700' C for superconductmainly examined using replication electron microscopy. The ß' or a precipitates were found to pin down magnetic flux lines in these alloys. The effects of precipitation upon the critical current density were discussed in relation with the size, spacing, and characler of these precipitates. HIGH magnetic field superconductors, such as Nb-Zr, Nb-Ti, and Nb-Zr-Ti alloys, have been recently put to extensive practical use as winding materials for superconducting magnets.13 The critical current density of these hard superconductors under an applied magnetic field is an important characteristic for magnet materials and is very sensitive to metallurgical structure. It is generally known that the critical current density is increased by introducing dislocations and precipitates into a superconductor; that is, dislocations and precipitates are presumed to be barriers that hinder quantized flux lines from moving.4'5 Theoretical6'7 and experimental analyses of the motion of flux lines and the interaction between flux lines and various defects have already been reported by many authors. Metallographic analysis of high magnetic field superconductors such as Nb-Zr and Nb-Ti is difficult, so that no quantitative relationship between microstruc-ture and critical current density has been established yet. In this paper, the effect of precipitation on the critical current density in magnetic field was investigated for two superconducting alloys, Nb-40Zr-10Ti and Nb-5Zr-60Ti. In these alloys the resistive critical field H, at 4.2oK was about 100 kG and the critical current density Jc at 80 kG was of the order of 104 amp per sq cm.13-l5 The superconducting properties were examined in relation to the microstructural changes due to transformation of i) the ß to ß' + ß" phases at 700°C for Nb-40Zr-10Ti alloy and ii) the ß to a + ß phases at 500°C for Nb-5Zr-6OTi alloy. The effect of size, spacing, and character of precipitates on flux line pinning was in particular examined. The microstructures were studied by means of residual resistivity, microhardness, and tensile strength measurements as well as by X-ray diffraction, optical, and replication electron microscopies. I) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Pure niobium, zirconium, and titanium, in the form of rods 0.8 cm in diam, served as raw materials. Results of chemical analyses of these rods are given in Table I. Ingots of the alloys, 0.4 cm in diam and 3 cm in length, were prepared by means of levitation melting, utilizing a copper mold in an argon-gas atmosphere. Samples from the ingot then were cold-worked by grooved mill to 0.2 cm in diam, heat-treated homogeneously (in the ß phase region) for 5 hr at 1100° in a vacuum of 1 x 106 Torr, and finally cold-drawn to 0.025 cm in diam. For heat treatments, samples were wrapped in niobium foil and sealed in an argon-gas atmosphere in fused quartz capsules. Water quenching was done after each heat treatment. Subsequently H-J, were performed at 4.2° by slowly transporting the current through the samples 4 cm long, under transverse magnetic field, until the least detectable resistive terminal voltage was observed. The resistive critical field H, was taken as the field at which 100 pv appeared at 4.2°K across a sample 3 cm in length, with a current of 5 ma. The critical temperature T, was measured by means of a conventional four-probe resistivity technique and taken as the temperature at which the sample resistance reached one-half of full restoration of the normal-state resistance with a current l ma flowing through a sample 2 cm in length. Precipitates were observed by means of optical microscopy and carbon replication electron microscopy. The etching solution consisted of 5 ml HF, 10 ml H2SO4 10 ml H2O2, and 50 ml H2O, and shadowed carbon replicas were examined in a itachi HU-11 electron microscope operated at 50 kv. X-ray diffraction photographs were taken by a 11.46-cm-diam Debye-Scher-rer camera using copper Ka radiation. The micro-hardness was measured under a load of 200 g using

Jan 1, 1969

By Roswell H. Johnson

What becomes of the water which must have filled the oil and gas sands at the time of deposition, has long puzzled students of oil and gas and has found expression in Munn's well-known article on the hydraulic theory. Both Munn and Clapp have pointed out that in the Appalachian field the deeper sands carry increasingly less proportionate amounts of water. It seems to me probable that the principal source of oil and gas has been in the shales in proximity to the sands which now contain these products. The sand spits which mark off the lagoons from the sea comply particularly with the requirements of a limited sand imbedded in shales rich in organic matter. Cunningham Craig has objected to this view that the rich organic muds of lagoons are found only at the surface. That such muds do extend to considerable depth 1 am assured by Prof. Douglas W. Johnson, who has made an extensive study of the Atlantic Coast marshes. As any particular sand body becomes weighted by a heavier and heavier overburden, the result of increasing deposition, a part of the very large percentage of water in the uncompacted sand and mud is forced out. The water percentage of freshly settled mud is vastly higher than that of the resultant shales, or even of a very porous sand. If beds of less compressible material meet or underlie the shales in question, there will frequently be a lateral motion along such beds to some point where the upward movement will be resumed. We find in our laboratory work here that oil, gas, and water have extremely slight capacity for gravitational sorting while in a state of rest, but when moving the gravitational sorting is readily accomplished. As the oil, gas, and water pass a body of larger pores, the gas, owing to its lack of capillary attraction, is retained in the large pores. This has been predicted by Washburne, Blatehley and others on the ground that the water has a higher capillarity and grips the finer pores in such a way that there will be a greater proportion of oil and gas in the large

Jan 1, 1915

By J. W. Spretnak, V. Kandarpa

Stress -induced ordering of carbon atoms is studied in a series of Fe-Mn-C alloys. A prominent peak is found in the vicinity of 280°C at frequencies of the order of 1.0 cps, with an associated activation energy of 37 kcal per mole. The height of the peak is linearly rekzted to the concentration of carbon in solution. The distortion of octahedral holes by manganese atoms appears to be predominant over carbon-carbon pair interactions. RELAXATION by stress-induced ordering of point defects is expected whenever the introduction of these point defects produces distortions which have a lower symmetry than that of the lattice. Under zero stress, the isolated point defects occupy the crystallographic-ally equivalent positions in the lattice, as these represent states of equal energy. However, if the defect sites are asymmetric, application of an uniaxial stress will split the energy states, and a redistribution of the defects among various states will take place. This is the case of the internal friction peak called the Snoek peak,1 resulting from isolated interstitials in bcc metals. The interstitial sites in this case have tetragonal symmetry. In the case of fcc and hcp lattices, such an effect is not expected from isolated point defects because of the symmetrical nature of the interstitial sites. However, internal friction peaks arising from interstitial diffusion have been reported both in hcp2,3 and fcc4-8 lattices. These peaks are often explained on the basis of stress-induced ordering of interstitial solutes, caused by the deviation of interstitial sites from their cubic symmetry through the presence of nearby defects. In the case of fcc lattices, evidence for interactions of both the substitutional-interstitial4,6,13 and interstitial-interstitial types5'798'14 have been presented by various investigators. The purpose of the present investigation was to study the internal friction peak attributed to the diffusion of interstitial carbon atoms in high purity austenitic manganese steels and to account for the peak in the light of the existing models. MATERIALS The Fe-Mn-C alloys used in the present investigation were made in two different ways, designated as Type I and Type 11. Type I alloys were made from high purity Fe-Mn alloys obtained in the form of 0.04- in.-diam wires from Materials Research Corporation, Orangeburg, N.Y. These alloys were carburized to different levels using gas mixtures of H2 and CH4 at 1000°C. Type I1 alloys were made in this laboratory starting with zone refined iron, spectrographically pure manganese, and spectrographically pure carbon. They were melted in an argon arc melting furnace and drawn into 0.04-in.-diam wires. All the wires were annealed at about 900°C for 3 hr prior to the internal friction experiments. After the measurements of internal friction, the phases in the samples were identified by X-ray diffraction and the carbon determined by the combustion method. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE In the present work, a classical Ke-type pendulum was used. The details of the equipment were described previously by D. T. Peters.9 Dry helium at 40 torr was used in all the experiments. The internal friction, measured as the logarithmic decrement of the torsion amplitude of vibration was determined as a function of temperature, from ambient to about 500°C. The background internal friction was assumed to have the form of the exponential of the inverse temperature and was subtracted from the raw data. The height of the peak was measured at the position of the maximum in the plot of the internal friction versus temperature. The activation energies of the peaks were measured by the peak shift method. The internal friction values for an alloy were obtained as a function of temperature at different frequencies of vibration. The position of the peak changes with frequency, the higher the frequency the higher the peak temperature. The activation energy of the process associated with the peak is obtained using the formula

Jan 1, 1970

By A. K. Mukherjee, John E. Dorn

The effects of strain rate and temperature on the critical resolved shear stress for (321)[111] slip were determined for the silver-rich CsCl type of intermetallic compound AgMg. The flow stress increased only slightly as the test temperature was first decreased below room temperature; a rapid increase in the flow stress was obtained with yet further decrease in temperature from about 250' to 4OK. The effect of both the temperature and strain rate on the flow stress over the low-temperature range could be rationalized satisfactorily in terms of the Peiwls mechanism when the deformation was controlled by rate of nucleation of pairs of kinks. IN spite of the well-documented interest of metallurgists and engineers concerning the mechanical behavior of intermediate phases and intermetallic compounds, very little definitive information is available on this important subject. As recently summarized by westbrook,1 only limited and modest progress has been made thus far in elucidating the details of the mechanism of plastic deformation for the intermetallic compounds; the available information largely concerns phenom-enological descriptions of empirical observations and experimental facts, principally with reference to poly crystalline aggregates. The present report on the elucidation of the rate-controlling mechanism for slip in the bcc structure of AgMg is part of the comprehensive program of a systematic investigation on the mechanical behavior of intermetallic compounds. The intermetallic compound AgMg has a CsCl type of lattice structureZ and is completely ordered up to its melting point of 820c3 This material was selected for our present investigation because of its simple crystal structure, moderate and congruent melting point, ordered structure persisting up to the melting point, and some solubilities of the constituent elements, which could be expected to help in the growing of single-crystal specimens. Whereas previous investigations on the properties of AgMg include hardness,*"6 slip systems,7 tensile flow stress of polycrystalline specimens,' and electrical resistivity,4 the current investigation will be directed principally at elucidating the rate-controlling dislocation mechanism responsible for slip in single crystals at low temperatures. It will be shown that the strain rate is consistent with a model involving the rate of nucleation of pairs of kinks by the Peierls mechanism for plastic deformation. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES Single-crystal specimens of the AgMg intermetallic compound were prepared and tested as follows: 1) A master alloy ingot of AgMg was produced by melting and chill casting the high-purity silver (99.995 wt pct) and high-purity magnesium (99.997 wt pct) in an induction furnace under a helium atmosphere. 2) Sections of the above-mentioned ingot were placed in a graphite mold containing a spherical cavity in which a single-crystal sphere of 1 in. diam was grown under helium by the Bridgman technique. 3) The operative slip systems were investigated at room temperature on a singlecrystal of AgMg, from measurements of the angles made by the slip traces on the two surfaces of the specimen, which were at 90 deg to each other. The investigation confirmed that the AgMg compound undergoes slip primarily in the (321) plane and in the [Ill] direction, but a small amount of secondary slip was also noticed in the (112) (111) system. No slip was observed in the (110) planes. 4) The single-crystal sphere, mentioned earlier, was oriented in a graphite mold containing a cylindrical cavity of 3/8 in. diam above the spherical receptable to give the angle xo = 45 deg between the axis of the cylindrical bar and the normal to the slip plane (321), and the angle AO = 45 deg between the slip direction [Ill] and the axis of the bar. Oriented single-crystal bar seeds were produced by melting, under a helium atmosphere, a polycrystalline bar in the cylindrical cavity above the oriented spherical seed and by growing an oriented single-crystal bar from the seed. 5) Finally, oriented single-crystal specimens were grown from these cylindrical seeds. 6) The cylindrical specimens were machined in a High-Tension Spark Cutting unit to give a 2-in. gage length. The spark-machined gage section was elec-tropolished in a bath containing 200 ml of H3PO4,

Jan 1, 1964