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By Walter L. Maxson, Fred C. Bond

There is more information contained in a screen analysis than is ordinarily recognized, and there is an increasing need for methods of making this additional information easily available. As more comprehensive studies of crushing and grinding are made, and as the possibilities of decreased expense and increased extraction through a closer control of grinding are explored, methods of interpreting screen analyses assume an importance which they have not had heretofore. The information commonly desired, which can be determined from a complete and carefully made screen analysis, includes: (1) the size distribution of the material passing the finest screen, (2) the presence of a hard grinding fraction, (3) the location of natural grain sizes, (4) the presence of different materials with markedly different grinding characteristics, (5) the presence and amount of finely divided material such as clay, which is merely unlocked in grinding, and (6) the total surface area of the ground product. It is necessary to know the fundamental law of size distribution of a homogeneous material in order to correctly resolve a screen-analysis curve, and to understand the variations and anomalies that a sample may exhibit when compared with the ideal curve. This fundamental law was developed by Gaudin,1 who showed that when the logarithm of the per cent weight retained on any screen and passing the next larger screen in the Tyler standard screen scale was plotted against the logarithm of the screen aperture the resulting curve for the finer sizes of a homogeneous crusher or grinding-mill product would be a straight line. Gross and Zimmerley2 experimentally confirmed Rittinger's law, which states that the useful work done in crushing a homogeneous material is directly proportional to the new surface area produced; and showed that in the larger screen sizes resulting from impact crushing a

Jan 1, 1935

By Stephen Birch

LATOUCHE, or the Beatson plant of the Kennecott Copper Corpn., is located in the Prince William Sound district of Alaska about 80 miles west of Cordova and 60 miles from Seward. Ore was discovered and claims located on Latouche Island in July, 1897. The mines were worked in a desultory manner until 1910, when the property was acquired by the Kennecott Copper interests. The first shipment of ore was made in 1904; only the higher grade ore was mined and no attempt was made to treat the ore until it was taken over by the Kennecott, company. Since that time the mine has been developed to produce 1500 tons a day and a mill has been erected for treating this tonnage, using flotation entirely. The orebody is more or less lenticular in shape with a maximum width of about 280 ft. and a length of about 800 ft. The southern end of the lens is split by a horse of waste for about 400 ft. The hanging-wall limit is a well-defined fault associated with a band of pyrrhotite, having an average dip of 60°. There is no defined foot wall, the value of the ore governing the limits of the mining; in one part of the mine, however, it is defined by a minor fault. The orebody is located in a shear zone of the country rock of graywacke and slate. The principal mineral is chalcopyrite associated with pyrite and quartz. The mine is located a few hundred feet from tidewater; the mill is located on the beach and the ore is hoisted direct from the mine through a vertical shaft into the mill bins. Until the past year practically all the mining had been conducted in open pits. During the past two years, the ore above the 200-ft. level has been developed and a system of stoping devised to recover this ore; however, this system has not been in use long enough to give any definite results as to costs or efficiency. It consists, principally, of dividing the orebody into stopes, across the full width of the orebody, 70 ft. wide with a pillar 30 ft. wide between the stopes. Raises are driven through the stopes at intervals of about 60 ft. and all the ore is broken by drilling from these raises; in other words, similar to a shrinkage stope, doing the drilling from the raises instead of setting up on the broken ore as is customary. The ground is very much broken up by clay slips and seams running in every direction. Shrinkage stoping had been

Jan 1, 1924

By Stephen Birch

Latouche, or the Beatson plant of the Kennecott Copper Corpn., is located in the Prince William Sound district of Alaska about 80 miles west of Cordova and 60 miles from Seward. Ore was discovered and claims located on Latouche Island in July, 1897. The mines were worked in a desultory manner until 1910, when the property was acquired by the Kennecott Copper interests. The first shipment of ore was made in 1904; only the higher grade ore was mined and no attempt was made to treat the ore until it was taken over by the Kennecott company. Since that time the mine has been developed to produce 1500 tons a day and a mill has been erected for treating this tonnage, using flotation entirely. The orebody is more or less lenticular in shape with a maximum width of about 280 ft. and a length of about 800 ft. The southern end of the lens is split by a horse of waste for about 400 ft. The hanging-wall limit is a well-defined fault associated with a band of pyrrhotite, having an average dip of 60". There is no defined foot wall, the value of the ore governing the limits of the mining; in one part of the mine, however, it is defined by a minorfault. The orebody is in a shear zone of the country rock of graywacke and slate. The principal mineral is chalcopyrite associated with pyrite and quartz. The mine is situated a few hundred feet from tidewater; the mill is on the beach and the ore is hoisted direct from the mine through a vertical shaft into the mill bins. Until the past year practically all the mining had been conducted in open pits. During the past two years, the ore above the 200-ft. level has been developed and a system of stoping devised to recover this ore; however, this system has not been in use long enough to give any definite results as to costs or efficiency. It consists, principally, of dividing the orebody into stopes, across the full width of the orebody, 70 ft. wide with a pillar 30 ft. wide between the stopes. Raises are driven through the stopes at intervals of about 60 ft. and all the ore is broken by drilling from these raises; in other words, similar to a shrinkage stope, doing the drilling from the raises instead of setting up on the broken ore as is customary. The ground is very much broken up by clay slips and seams running in every direction. Shrinkage stoping had been

Jan 1, 1925

By R. C. Croft

Chlorination is frequently employed as a method of chemical attack and separation of the constituents of minerals. Occasionally, bromination has been used similarly. Separation of metal halides resulting from the use of either of these halogens generally entails difficult fractional distillation of the halides. Recovery of the halogens for re-use has often been attempted in the case of chlorine by oxidation of chlorides. Though attractive thermodynamically, this method of recovery fails due to the formation of stable oxychlorides. Although a little less reactive than either chlorine or bromine, iodine offers advantages in the field of mineral treatment. It has been shown, for example, that iron may be removed completely from ilmenite by iodinating the latter in the presence of carbon or hydrogen at temperatures near 800°c where good reaction rates are obtained. Under these conditions titanium does not form an iodide and is not transported in the vapour phase as is the Fe12 formed. Other good separations obtained between zinc and iron in willemite and tin and tungsten in scheelite concentrates confirm that separations of metal iodides by sublimation are more specific than similar separations attempted by distillation of volatile chlorides. Readiness of iodides to form stable vapour-phase complexes appears to contribute to this specificity. The very low stabilities of most metal oxyiodides permit quantitative recovery of iodine by oxidation of metal iodides. In the case of Fe12 derived from iodination of ilmenite, full recovery of iodine can be achieved by air oxidation of this compound at temperatures ranging from 350 to 500° C.

Jan 1, 1973

By Robert P. Roberts

In order to obtain data on the thermal effect of the blast-furnace jacket and on the water consumption in these jackets a series of tests were run on the 56 by 180 in. blast furnaces at the Great Falls Reduction Department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., at Great Falls, Mont. The arrangement of the jacket is shown in the transverse section of one of the furnaces (Fig. 1) on which the tests were made. The nose, spout, and breast jackets have independent water supplies and discharges. The end and side jackets are connected in pairs, as regards water supply, the feed water entering at the bottom of the lower jacket and overflowing into the bottom of the jacket immediately above it, and discharging into an independent overflow pipe for each pair of jackets. Tests were run on the main side and end jackets, the breast jacket, the spout, and the nose. Measurements were taken of the quantity of water discharged per minute and the rise in temperature of the water in its passage through the jacket. The product of these two results, expressed in the proper units, evidently gives the number of units of heat removed per minute by the water. Sufficient work was done on each type of jacket to determine its behavior under different conditions, and the results from each set of conditions were checked by repeating the work from three to six times. The method used was as follows: The overflow from the jacket to be tested was arranged to discharge at will into a barrel, mounted upon platform scales. The discharge temperature was read just before turning the water into the barrel, and just before turning it back to the sluice; if the test lasted more than a minute, additional temperature readings were taken at 1-min. intervals from start to finish. The elapsed time of running the water into the barrel was determined with a stop-watch, and this figure, combined with the in-

Jan 1, 1914

By Robert Roberts

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) In order to obtain data on the thermal effect of the blast-furnace jacket and on the water consumption in these jackets a series of tests were run on the 56 by 180 in. blast furnaces at the Great Falls Reduction Department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., at Great Falls, Mont. The arrangement of the jacket is shown in the transverse section of one of the furnaces (Fig. 1) on which the tests were made. The nose, spout, and breast jackets have independent water supplies and discharges. The end and side jackets are connected in pairs, as regards water supply, the feed water entering at the bottom of the lower jacket and overflowing into the bottom of the jacket immediately above it, and discharging into an independent overflow pipe for each pair of jackets. Tests were run on the main side and end jackets, the breast jacket, the spout, and the nose. Measurements were taken of the quantity of water discharged, per minute and the rise in temperature of the water in its passage through the jacket. The product of these two results, expressed in the proper units, evidently gives the number of units of heat removed per minute by the water. Sufficient work was done on each type of jacket to determine its behavior under different conditions, and the results from each set of conditions were checked by repeating the work from three to six times. The method used was as follows : The overflow from the jacket to be tested was arranged to discharge at will into a barrel, mounted upon platform scales. The discharge temperature was read just before turning the water into the barrel, and just before turning it back to the sluice; if the test lasted more than a minute, additional temperature readings were taken at 1-min. intervals from start to finish. The elapsed time of running the water into the barrel was, determined with a stop-watch, and this figure, combined with the in-

Jan 7, 1913

By George S. Rice

DEFINITE data on the amplitude and effect of ground movement in specific mineral formations, caused by various methods used in the mining of ores, coal, and nonmetals, or in the extraction through wells of petroleum, sulphur, and soluble salts, are increasingly needed because of legal liabilities from damage to overlying or adjacent properties, and growing concern as to the conservation of national mineral resources. Not since the committee was established in 1923 has it been so difficult to get technical papers giving ground movement and subsidence data from specific mine operators. The reasons given, as above indicated, are pending or threatening lawsuits. There are three major objectives in ground movement and subsidence studies : (1) Maximum recovery of a mineral resource. (2) Minimizing damage to surface structures, highways, railroads, and agricultural lands caused by caving or subsidence, which may in some situations, as along the Gulf of Mexico shore, cause flooding by surface waters. (3) Lessening damage to overlying or adjacent mineral by back-filling of mine excavations as completely as possible.

Jan 1, 1940

By J. H. Brophy, A. I. Prill

The authors have previously investigated the solid-state activated sintering of tungsten powder with various Ni-Cu additions.' Log shrinkage vs log time plots showed changes in slope from 4 to x at intermediate times during the sintering process. This was attributed to a change in the rate-controlling mass-transport process from solution of tungsten into the tungsten-alloy interface to diffusion of tungsten in this interface. It was postulated that the melting of the activating layer should not affect this transport process. However, the superposition of rearrangement due to the presence of a liquid phase complicates the data analysis. It is the purpose of this note to apply the analysis of Prill, Hayden, and rohy' to account for "rearrangement shrinkage'? in liquid-phase sintering of the W-Ni-Cu system. This results in "solution-precipitation stage" shrinkage plots which were comparable to those obtained in solid-phase activated sintering of the same system. If one assumes total shrinkage to be the sum of rearrangement and solution precipitation, the effects can be isolated easily.2 This results in the general equation:

Jan 1, 1967

By E. T. Wessel

UNEXPECTED brittle failures of metals in practical applications are a serious problem to many industries and to the nation as a whole. Considerable effort has been devoted to studies of the brittle behavior in metals. However, the major portion of this effort has been directed at developing techniques and apparatus for the purposes of determining the susceptibility of metals to brittle failure and of making various types of observations of the phenomena. Relatively minor effort has been made to understand the basic mechanisms involved in initiating brittle failures. A more complete understanding of the nature and mechanism of the brittle failure problem would be very helpful in efforts directed toward predicting and avoiding brittle failure and toward the development of suitable materials and designs that are not susceptible to a brittle behavior. The intent of the present investigation is to acquire this basic understanding. The pronounced transition from a ductile-to-brittle behavior is most prevalent in metals having the body-centered-cubic lattice structure, primarily be- cause metals of this structure exhibit a strong dependence of yield strength upon temperature and the rate of straining. The generally recognized qualitative concept of the ductile-to-brittle transition is that brittle (cleavage) failure occurs when the yield strength exceeds the cleavage fracture strength. This condition can apparently be achieved by decreasing temperature or increasing strain rate. Likewise, a normally ductile metal can be made to fracture in an apparently brittle manner by the introduction of triaxial stresses (notches) where the ratio of normal to shear stresses can be increased to such an extent that the normal stress exceeds the fracture strength before the critical shear stress for plastic flow is achieved. Neither of these concepts require any prior plastic deformation or explain why the observed fracture strengths are so much less than the theoretical cohesive strength. The results of several investigations of the ductile-to-brittle transition in body-centered-cubic metals illustrate rather conclusively that measurable amounts of nonelastic deformation do precede cleavage fracture, even at extremely low temperatures. These studies suggested that the early stages of plastic flow, particularly abrupt yielding, and their relationship to brittle fracture should be examined

Jan 1, 1958

By Charles F. King

The only investigations on record of the reactions occurring (luring the Bessemer blow are of charges containing a large percentage of manganese, with the exception of' two partial analyses by Snelus and Barker of the English method, where a low percentage of manganese was used. They do not give the analysis of the spiegel, [lor do they report any graphitic carbon after the first stage of the process. Both report only traces of manganese after the first stage until the addition of spiegel. The slags corresponding to the samples of metal were not analyzed.

Jan 1, 1881

Ask any mineral industry executive what he considers one of the most expensive aspects of getting a product to the ultimate consumer and invariably the answer will be transportation. Some company officials say that transportation charges alone account for over half of the total cost of most products. If these judgments are correct and a recent invention turns out to be the long-awaited breakthrough that shippers have been looking for, then many producers can look forward to slashing their delivery costs by 90%.

Jan 9, 1969

By AIME AIME

MEMBERS of the Engineering Education Committee held two meetings at Joplin preliminary to the opening of the main meeting there. The first was held on Sunday afternoon. It was attended by all who had arrived early enough and as among the dozen or' fifteen who were present the heads of a half dozen schools of mines were included it was a representative gathering. C: H. Fulton, chairman of the Committee presided and T. T. Read acted as secretary of the meeting. The chair., man reminded those present that last year there had been some discussion as to the advisability of the proposal, made by Edward Steidle, that a, separate society, devoted to education in the mineral industry, he organized. Many .people had felt that there are already so many societies in existence to demand one's time and attention, that it would be a mistake to add to their number and the counter suggestion had been made that the work of this committee could be so reorganized as to meet all the needs that a separate society could fill. He therefore presented for discussion these four' questions: (1) Shall a subcommittee .be appointed to study, and report in February, 1932, the possibility of the reorganization of the work of the Engineering Education Committee into the equivalent of an' Institute division; (2) if the work is so reorganized what shall be the relation of the work of the Committee (division) to the work of the-Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education; (3.): what are the, cardinal objectives of education for the mineral industry; and (4) what should be done as regards the movement in some institutions to plan their work-in the light of that being done in other institutions, for example, in geophysics?

Jan 1, 1931

In March 1962, over three months ahead of schedule, production began from the Ventersdorp Contact Reef of the Western Deep Levels Ltd. mine on the West Witwatersrand. Few mines have captured the interest of mining men and the public as has Western Deep Levels. It has presented the gold mining industry with a challenge which involved the opening of an ultradeep mine with the attendant problems of exceptionally heavy capital commitments ($77 million to start of production), high rock temperatures and pressures at great depths, cementation and pumping in an area notorious for the volume of subsurface water, and the necessity for entirely new thinking and the application of new ideas. HISTORY Not all the problems facing Western Deep Levels were, however, new. Situated 43 miles from Johannesburg, just off the main road to Potchefstroom, Western Deep Levels was the sixth company to undertake mining operations on what is known as the West Wits line and it could draw on the wealth of experience gained by other pioneer mines in the area.

Jan 12, 1962

By G. W. Elger, H. E. Bell, J. E. Tress, J. B. Wright

This paper describes laboratory techniques and subsequent results of US Bureau of Mines (USBM) research to produce chlorination-grade feed- stock from an abundant, low-grade, domestic, rock ilmenite ore. The research is part of the Bureau effort to devise technology that may help decrease US dependence on imported raw materials. A rock ilmenite containing about 46 wt % TiO2 was smelted in an electric arc furnace with coke, wood-chips, and Na2CO3 to separate most of the iron as pig iron and to form a low-iron, titanium-enriched slug. The slug was ground, pelletized, oxidized, and then sulfated with mixtures of SO2 and air in a continuous 4.5- to 9.1-kg/h (10- to 20-lb per hour) apparatus at 1023° to 122J0 K (1380° to 1740° F). The sulfated slug, containing 60% to 65% TiOb, was reground and leached in water at ambient temperature to decrease the combined levels of the troublesome calcium, magnesium, and manganese impurities from 7.0 to 1.7 wt 70. The final product was upgraded to about 8.4 wt % TiO2. This material is potentially suitable for chlorination in a fluidized bed reactor. The most favorable results were achieved with leached slug sulfated at a feed rate of 4.5 kg/h (10 lb per hour) and at temperatures of 1073° to 1123° K (1470° to 1560' F).

Jan 1, 1986

By Raymond M. Howe

Some time ago, a prominent engineer asked a representative of the firebrick industry to prepare a comprehensive paper on blast-furnace refractories. It was to have been the purpose of this paper to gather practical experiences from widely different sources, in the hope of determining what kind or kinds of firebrick were best adapted for certain uses. This engineer sent questionnaires to the large consumers of blast-furrace linings and stovebrick and received very detailed replies as to their experiences. These replies are conflicting, but, having been turned over to the writer, form the basis of this attempt to meet the request. Because of the impossibility of making final recommendations at this time, a few of the more interesting and commonly known methods of studying refractories are also discussed, as well as the more recent developments in this field. The first reply to the questionnaire stated that good service was being secured from the linings. This satisfactory condition was attributed to the use of a very good distributor. The writer believed that manufacturers try to and do produce a good product and that the proper handling of equipment is of the utmost importance, if good results are to be secured. The type of bricks used was not mentioned. The second reply stated that good life was secured from the furnace linings, but that the writer had had soft-fired stovebrick crumble and, for that reason, preferred a hard-fired product for use in this position. The type of bricks used was not mentioned. The third reply stated that firebrick had crumbled from the mantle up; the cause was not known. The fourth reply stated that the stove linings were satisfactory. Hand-made furnace linings failed after.4 years' service so a steam-pressed lining- was installed which was still good after 4 years of service. Consequently, a second steam-pressed lining was installed but this disintegrated at the top after the furnace had been in blast 7 months. The firebrick manufacturer attributed this failure to the expansion of iron blocks that had been installed at the stock line to prevent erosion. The fifth reply stated that the present "hard-burned" hand-made furnace lining had worn away very uniformly to the depth of only 5 in.

Jan 1, 1920

By Earl W. Palmer, Cyril Stanley Smith

StKip of any of the metals used for deep drawing operations occasionally yields cups that are defective because of a rim that varies in height around the cup in a wave-like manner. Some such defects are traceable to tools or other press factors, but when the protuberances formed (usually four in number on brass and other copper alloys) are symmetrically disposed with respect to the rolling direction of the strip, they are invariably attributable to the metal. The effect is known as "earing" and the protuberances are called "ears." Other terms frequently heard are "tips," "scallops," and "corners." It is recognized that the effect is most commonly a result of a directional crystal structure produced by rolling and annealing operations in the manufacture of the metal strip. Numerous papers dealing with various aspects of the earing effect have appeared in the literature, those listed in the references1 being especially interesting and valuable. An investigation of the factors influencing earing of brass cups has been in progress in the laboratories of the American Brass Co. for several years, and it was thought desirable to make some of the results generally available in summarized form. The present paper discusses many factors that do and do not contribute to ear formation. In addition, a section is devoted to methods of minimizing the earing tendency of brass sheet by proper selection of the cold-rolling and annealing schedule by which it is produced. In the space available, it is impossible to quote detailed experimental procedures and numerical results. However, the authors make no statement that they do not believe to be properly substantiated, either by experimental evidence obtained under laboratory conditions or by experience in the actual production of deep-drawing brass in the brass mill. Mechanism of Ear Formation It must be clearly understood that the formation on cups of symmetrical ears, four or more in number, is attributable solely to the strip metal, and results from the strip having different deformation characteristics in different directions. The tools used in the drawing process, or the type and completeness of lubrication of the strip, have nothing to do with the problem of ears, although they do, of course, greatly affect the "drawing quality" of the strip and the general appearance of the cup. A single tip may be drawn up on the rim of a cup because of misalignment of the tools, or because the gauge of metal varies from side to side of the strip. The two-ear form that sometimes appears is also traceable to gauge variations. However, the four-ear and six-ear symmetrical forms that we are concerned with here are caused by factors inherent in the structure of the metal itself.

Jan 1, 1942

By Cyril Stanley Smith, Earl W. Palmer

StKip of any of the metals used for deep drawing operations occasionally yields cups that are defective because of a rim that varies in height around the cup in a wave-like manner. Some such defects are traceable to tools or other press factors, but when the protuberances formed (usually four in number on brass and other copper alloys) are symmetrically disposed with respect to the rolling direction of the strip, they are invariably attributable to the metal. The effect is known as "earing" and the protuberances are called "ears." Other terms frequently heard are "tips," "scallops," and "corners." It is recognized that the effect is most commonly a result of a directional crystal structure produced by rolling and annealing operations in the manufacture of the metal strip. Numerous papers dealing with various aspects of the earing effect have appeared in the literature, those listed in the references1 being especially interesting and valuable. An investigation of the factors influencing earing of brass cups has been in progress in the laboratories of the American Brass Co. for several years, and it was thought desirable to make some of the results generally available in summarized form. The present paper discusses many factors that do and do not contribute to ear formation. In addition, a section is devoted to methods of minimizing the earing tendency of brass sheet by proper selection of the cold-rolling and annealing schedule by which it is produced. In the space available, it is impossible to quote detailed experimental procedures and numerical results. However, the authors make no statement that they do not believe to be properly substantiated, either by experimental evidence obtained under laboratory conditions or by experience in the actual production of deep-drawing brass in the brass mill. Mechanism of Ear Formation It must be clearly understood that the formation on cups of symmetrical ears, four or more in number, is attributable solely to the strip metal, and results from the strip having different deformation characteristics in different directions. The tools used in the drawing process, or the type and completeness of lubrication of the strip, have nothing to do with the problem of ears, although they do, of course, greatly affect the "drawing quality" of the strip and the general appearance of the cup. A single tip may be drawn up on the rim of a cup because of misalignment of the tools, or because the gauge of metal varies from side to side of the strip. The two-ear form that sometimes appears is also traceable to gauge variations. However, the four-ear and six-ear symmetrical forms that we are concerned with here are caused by factors inherent in the structure of the metal itself.

Jan 1, 1942

By R. L. McCarron, G. R. Belton

The diffusivities of oxygen and sulfur in liquid iron have heen determined hy a capillary technique in which the surface concentrations of the solutes were established by means of appropriate H2/H2 and H2S/H, gas mixtures. Total diffusate and concentration profile results are shown to be in good accord, yielding for- 1560 and Supporting results at 1660°C are also presented. The conditions necessary to avoid gas transport control in this type of experiment are discussed. IN spite of their importance in understanding the kinetics and mechanisms of refining reactions, the dif-fusivities of oxygen and sulfur in liquid iron are not well established. Accordingly, as a first step in studies of rates of solute absorption from the gas phase into liquid iron, new measurements of these diffusivities have been made and are presented in this paper. The only published results for the diffusion of sulfur in pure liquid iron are those of Kawai.' He used a diffusion couple technique in which two cylindrical specimens, one containing sulfur and the other with negligible sulfur concentration, were joined together and held in a refractory capillary. After an experiment, the sample was quenched and the concentration distribution of the solute determined. Kawai recognized that significant changes in solute distribution occurred during melting and freezing and he attempted to correct the concentration profiles for these effects to give a sulfur diffusivity of 4.6 x 10-6 sq cm per sec at 1560°C. The method of correction, however, was not rigorous and the uncertainty in this result cannot be easily assessed. Koslov et a1.2 have reported the diffusivity of oxygen in iron as 7.8 x 10"3 sq cm per sec at 1660°C. This value appears to be unreasonably high but, unfortunately, details of their experiments are not available. Shurygin and Kryuk have used the rotating disc method for a study of oxygen diffusion in liquid iron. In their experiments a silica disc was rotated in liquid iron containing oxygen, and the rate of formation of liquid iron silicate was determined by measuring the decrease in weight of the disc. On the assumption that the rate of dissolution was controlled by the diffusion of oxygen in the iron, the diffusion coefficient was computed to be 5.2 x sq cm per sec at 1550°C. However, the Levich equation, which was used to interpret the rate data, was originally de- rived for the case of mass transfer between a solid disc and a single-phase liquid. The hydrodynamic and diffusion boundary layers in the iron stirred by a disc, via coupling of the silicate melt, may be appreciably different from those predicted by Levich's equations. Recently, Novokhatskiy and Ershov, using an identical experimental method to that of Shurygin and Kryuk, obtained a diffusivity for oxygen in liquid iron of 1.22 x 104 sq cm per sec at 1550°C: no reasons were offered for the disagreement. Schwerdtfeger5 has also recently studied the diffusivity of oxygen in liquid iron. He reacted shallow melts of liquid iron, 0.5 to 1.0 cm deep and contained in high-purity alumina crucibles, with appropriate H20-HZ-He mixtures. The total sample was analyzed, without sectioning, to obtain the average concentration of diffusate. A value at 1610°C of D = 12(3) x 10-5 sq cm per sec was obtained from the results of twenty experiments.= Oxygen profile measurements, which were carried out in three additional experiments using long capillaries and the semiinfinite boundary conditions, indicated a diffusivity about half that computed from the shallow bath experiments. Possible sources of error in Schwerdtfeger's study will be discussed later in this paper. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE The essential arrangement of the diffusion cell is shown in Fig. 1. The liquid iron was contained in an alumina capillary, 3 to 4 mm diam and 3 to 9 cm long, which was supported by a hollow alumina pedestal and this whole assembly was held within a movable alumina reaction tube. This tube, which was about 7 mm in bore

Jan 1, 1970

By W. G. Matteson

The origin of the salt domes of the Gulf coastal plain has been investigated by many of the most able geologists, but the problem cannot be said to have been satisfactorily solved. Since 1860, numerous theories have been presented, only to be discarded, at least in part, as more complete infomation revealed their fundamental weakness. Real progress toward solution dates from 1902, when Hill1 advanced the theory of secondary deposition of the domal materials from saturated solutions of hot saline waters ascending from great depths under hydrostatic head along structural lines of weakness. Shortly thereafter, Harris,² using Hill's hypothesis as a basis, explained the doming and pronounced uplift associated with these salt cores as the result of forces exerted by growing salt crystals. This was a marked advance over the ideas of Coste3 and Hager,4 since no evidence of igneous intrusives, as they assumed to explain the uplifts, had been found associated with the domes. Harris5 developed his theory until it offered such apparently plausible explanations of so many details of dome phenomena that his hypothesis and conclusions received widespread acceptance, despite some serious objections, and today his theory, somewhat modified, is considered by many able investigators to be the best explanation of the origin of these domes. The immense production of oil per acre, the recognition of the high lubricating quality of the oil, the development and recognition of the efficiency and advantages of oil-burning vessels, with the subsequent exceptional demand for fuel oil, and the resultant advance in the price of coastal crude, have been responsible for a prospecting and develop- 1 Robert T. Hill: Beaumont Oil Field with Notes on Other Oil Fields of the Texas Region. Jnl. Franklin Inst. (1902) 164, 143. 2Gilbert D. Harris: Rock Salt in Louisiana. Louisiana Geol. Survey Bull. 7 (1907) 76. ³E. Coste: Volcanic Origin of Natural Gas and Petroleum. Jnl. Canadian Min. Inst. (1903) 6, 73. 4Lee Hager: Mounds of the Southern Oil Fields. Eng. & Min. Jnl. (July 28, 1904) 78,137, 180. 6Gilbert D. Harris: Geologicel Occurrence of Rock Salt in Louisiana and East Texas. Econ. Geol. (1909) 4, 12.

Jan 1, 1921

By B. Chalmers, Stefan Wojciechowski

Rotary oscillation of the mold has been used to produce mechanical stirring of the melt during unidirectional solidification. Al-Cu alloys (1 to 4 wt pct Cu) were solidified to study the influence of alloy composition, temperature at which intensive cooling was initiated, and intensity of stirring on the temperature distribution in the sample, the resulting structure, and the copper microsegregation at the columnar to equiaxed transition. The Proposed explanation for the equiaxed solidification in stirred castings consists of the melting off of dendrite fragments, their partial remelting in hotter liquid, and the subsequent growth of the surviving part when the temperature of the melt is lowered. This may result in the formation of a crystal network, which can stop the growth of the columnar crystals and produce the equiaxed zone. It has long been known and many times affirmed that ultrasonic vibrations or relative motion of liquid and solid can significantly reduce the length of the columnar zone and refine the grains in the equiaxed zone in ingots and castings. Because of the technological importance of these phenomena many investigations have been conducted in which ultrasonic energy or mechanical vibration,1-6 electromagnetic stirring,7"10'17 magnetic stirring,"'12 or mechanical stirring13'14 were used to produce the relative liquid-solid motion. More recently, the question of the importance of natural (or thermal) convection has been raised.15-l7 Several possible mechanisms have been suggested.l,8,18-20 They can be divided into two main groups. The first group includes such nucleation hypotheses as nucleation frequency enhancement due to cavitation at the mold wall or other surfaces; cavita-tion in the body of the liquid resulting from the pressure wave, or an agglomeration mechanism, which involves the formation of nuclei by the accretion of subcritical nuclei. The second group considers the grain-refining action to be due to crystal multiplication phenomena such as the removal of the dendrite fragments by viscous forces or by a high-pressure cycle following cavitation or by a melting-off process. Sbme recent investigations give good experimental support to the melting-off proposa1.21-23 The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of mechanical stirring during the unidirectional solidification on the structure of alloy samples and on the solidification variables. The motion of the liquid was produced by rotary oscillation of the mold around its vertical axis.

Jan 1, 1969