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By Enrique Touceda

As in the case of steel and the non-ferrous alloys in general, the use of the microscope in connection with the manufacture of malleable cast iron has proved of inestimable value to the industry. Had its use not been invoked, many facts either would not be known at all or, if suspected, would be confined to the realms of conjecture. No fairer statement could be made than that the start of real progress in the industry was coincident with the application of metallography to the product, though the full significance of this statement can hardly be appreciated except by those who not only are conversant with conditions as they existed at the time referred to, but are familiar with the character of works' practice at the present time.. A few years ago, about the only test made to ascertain the physical properties of the product, except in the case of certain plants, was the bending of a casting to destruction, not only with the object of discovering whether or not the metal was ductile, but for the purpose of inspecting the fracture. The characteristics of the fracture, if correctly interpreted, were known to be of value in locating the trouble in castings that were inferior. In general, it was found that if a casting of medium or heavy section would bend through a wide angle before failure took place, the fracture in the majority of cases would have a black velvety appearance; while if it was held at different angles to the direction of the rays of light, it would show a change of color and an iridescent sheen. But an inferior air-furnace heat or anneal might yield castings which, if thin and consequently largely decarburized, could be bent double on themselves and still not possess the fracture described. If, on the other hand, a casting broke short, its fracture might have one of a great many different color and structural peculiarities. Depending on the cause of the trouble, such castings might have any of the fracture characteristics, of which the following is but a partial list.

Jan 1, 1922

The following is an extract of the Engineers' licensing law recently passed by the Colorado legislature; it went into force July 10. On the board of examiners are representatives of the four national societies. R. J. Grant, of Denver, represents the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers; H. I. Reid, of Colorado Springs, the. American Society of Civil Engineers; H. S. Sands, of Denver, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers; and Frank E. Shepard, of Denver, the American Society of Mechanical Engineering. Within sixty clays after the taking effect of this act the Governor of the state shall appoint a State Board of Engineer Examiners, to be composed of five members, who shall be legal residents of the state of Colorado and who shall have been engaged in the practice of engineering for at least ten years. Upon the expiration of the term of any members other than the state engineer the governor shall appoint their successors for a term of four years, from a list of five nominees elected by the licensed engineers acting in a general assembly called together for this purpose by the president of the board. Such assembly shall be held in the month of January next preceding the expiration of the terms of any members. The Board of Examiners shall adopt all necessary rules, regulations and by-laws to govern its proceedings, not inconsistent with this act or the laws of the state or of the United States.

Jan 8, 1919

By W. E. Rudolph, R. E. Baylor

DUE to its location in the Atacama Desert, one of the most barren of the earth's surfaces, Chuquicamata's water supply presents unusual problems. Yearly rain-fall averages less than one tenth of an inch at the plant. However, there are summer showers above 12,000 ft in the Cordillera to the east, the resulting run-off flowing through old river valleys buried beneath more recent volcanic formations, to be impounded within sediment-filled basins. This water emerges at springs where the outlets of these basins are blocked by lava flows, and here are formed the small streams which feed the only important river of the region, the Rio Loa. Chuquicamata's water is obtained from these springs and rivulets. [ ] The map above indicates four pipe lines from which potable and industrial water are supplied. Potable water, amounting to 4500 metric tons per day, is conveyed in the Toconce pipe line from springs 59 miles due east of Chuquicamata. This water is used not only for drinking, but also for boilers and other needs requiring high quality. For industrial water at the oxide plant, there are two 12-in. pipe lines from the Rio San Pedro, carrying a total of 17,000 metric tons per day of slightly brackish water. This water is at present used mainly for leaching and for hygienic purposes. Water Source Found For the present and future needs of the sulphide plant, it was calculated that at least 32,000 metric tons per day of make-up water would be required. For this purpose, a pipe line of 44 miles length was constructed to bring in the entire flow of the Arroyo Salado, one of the eastern tributaries of the Loa. The salt content of this water is so high (over 5000 parts per million of solubles, mostly chlorides) that it is highly detrimental to farming, and the Chilean Government had been studying projects to separate these waters from others of the Loa system in order to improve agricultural conditions in the fertile valley of Calama. So it happened that the Government was willing to award rights to the Arroyo Salado waters under agreement whereby the Mining Company removes waters from the Rio Loa system above Calama for all time. The outlet of these waters, after serving their purpose at the new concentrator and leaving the plant in tailing, is the Salar de Talabre, an old salt lake which presents fully ten square miles of surface to serve as an evaporating pan, the outlets having now been blocked by dams. Here the dry climate of Chuquicamata is a favourable factor, evaporation averaging slightly above 1/4 in. per day. The Toconce and San Pedro pipe lines have been functioning from 26 to 34 years, and through the use of special cleaning tools which were developed at the plant, as well as deaeration of the more active Toconce water, these pipes are now maintained at capacities which do not diminish as years go on. Constructing the Dam The Arroyo Salado pipe line design and construction involved certain special and interesting features, and inasmuch as this line and its intake works are solely for the needs of the new sulphide plant, more detailed description is given. The waters are impounded at a gravity dam constructed of concrete to a height of 100 ft above the river bed, keyed into the precipitous Dacite walls of the narrow canyon (barely 6-ft wide at the bottom, only 25-ft width at 50 ft above). A small secondary dam was built 100 ft down stream from the main dam, providing a pool of 15-ft depth to protect the main structure from flood flows over the spill-way during the rainy season. A system of four 36-in. syphons was designed for discharging these flood waters from the lower depths of the lake, in order to avoid eventual sedimentation behind the dam. The lake has a length of 3300 ft, and its water level is controlled by an adjustable spillway permitting draw-down of eighty inches, amounting to 41,000 metric tons of available capacity. This regulation is necessary because of wide fluctuations in stream flow between day and night due to freezing of feeders. During the construction of the dam the entire river flow was handled within a 36-in. pipe line some 2000 ft in length. As the excavations proceeded

Jan 1, 1952

After a year-long study comparing existing crafts and techniques for ocean exploration with the future needs of oceanologists, the University of Pennsylvania's ocean engineering research team has come up with a system proposal for prolonged deep-sea exploration. Given the assumption that it will be necessary to re-explore our oceans every 25 years or so, engineers from the University's Towne School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering believe the best sys- tem for future ocean exploration would consist of a stable, manned surface ship operating and controlling two types of vehicles-an unmanned untethered craft for broad search missions, and an unmanned, tethered vehicle for detailed work.

Jan 12, 1969

By T. M. Chance

THe necessity of adopting improved methods of bituminous-coal cleaning at many collieries is recognized by all familiar with the requirements of the various bituminous markets, the approaching exhaustion of the relatively small areas of inherently high-grade coal, and the difficulties encountered in maintaining a uniform grade of shipped coal. Many coals lose much of their market value by degradation in size, and, in any event, if the cleaning .process is to contemplate wetting the coal the minimum amount of fines should be produced to prevent sludge losses and the difficulties resulting from the moisture content of the wet fines. Hence, it is desirable to bypass the finer coal dry, if this can be done without too great increase in impurities in the final product. This procedure has given excellent results at washeries at Steelton and in the Birmingham district. If the raw fines are too impure to permit admixture with the washed coal, it may be desirable to use dry methods, such as the pneumatic table, rather than to wet an excessive amount of such fine material. The bituminous-coal cleaning plant should therefore: (1) Treat the raw coal in as large lump as possible and without sizing; (2) eliminate degradation of pure coal in the washing process; (3) avoid wetting the fines, if possible; (4) produce washed coal practically free from mechanically included impurities; (5) crush the refuse and retreat, if much intergrown coal and refuse are present, rather than precrush the entire feed. Ordinary gravimetric methods of concentration, whether hydraulic or pneumatic, will not meet all of these requirements, as the large lump includes those sizes now sent to the picking tables, if it is desired to treat material of such size. I do not know of any prior commercial method, based on the falling velocity, coefficient of friction or resistance to fracture, that permits the production of clean coal varying in size from, say, 10-in. lump to 1/16-in. mesh. The effect on the specific gravity of any given coal as a result of variations in ash and pyritic sulfur content is well known; in fact, it has been made use of in commercially ascertaining ash content by deter-

Jan 1, 1924

By C. W. Brown

In the author's experience and contact with engineering students the old form of recitations had grown into the lecture system in which the student was a passive receiver of digested material. Later, the tutorial system was developed because it was felt that the lecture system was breaking down. The student was too passive and was simply trying to absorb what was given him. The seminary method was then introduced and for the particular field the author believes that there is no better method, but that for 20 years he has been trying to change the attitude of the student in certain courses from a passive, almost noncommittal, to an active participation, to change him from a receiver to a doer. The student cannot look over the whole field. That must be presented by the instructor in charge. A topic such as structure or glaciation is taken up and from that standpoint are argued all the geologic problems that might confront the engineer. Problems relating to dams and foundations, and structures, tunnels and excavations, are particularly adaptable to the method. Usually, however, the problem comes to the engineer in more complicated form. By virtue of the character of the material the same topic cannot be assigned to the entire class. Different phases of the topic must be assigned. The greatest difficulty in after life comes in that the student cannot analyze the problem and has not the ability to see that there is a problem. He has had little or no training in the gathering of material and very little training in the arrangement of a report. Consequently, selecting different problems, putting them before small groups, and then starting the student on the way to make the knowledge of his particular topic an integral part of his own mentality, is something that will fix that part of the work firmly in his mind. Professor Brown has insisted on an introductory step in a great many classes, in that without the student knowning very much more than the general outline of the topic or problem, he is made in inductive fashion to take up the entire problem, look it over, and prepare an outline as far as he can; in other words, to expose the problem to his own mind. This preliminary outline is discussed with the student and if the arrangement or logic, with regard to the end in view, are faulty, he is shown where

Jan 1, 1929

By R. V. Higgins, A. J. Leighton

A fast method is needed for calculating thoroughly the performance of two-phase flobr~ in reservoir rock with complex geotrietry. The authors present such a method and .slzow its accuracy by romparison with laboratory performrrnce of a five-spot pattern. In making the performance c.alculations, the octant of the five-spot pattern was divided into four channels. The computer tinle required for the culculation was one rllinrcte. This is rorighly about minute per channel. INTRODUCTION By using an electronic computer it is now possible to make reservoir performance calculations in which fewer assumptions and more significant variables are included than was possible with a desk calculator. These performance calculations include such variables as the properties of the reservoir rock and its contained fluids, properties of the rock-fluid system and even different well-spacing patterns. Usually, the more variables that are included the higher the computer cost—and time on the computer is expensive. As a result, a short procedure is needed so the many variables will be included and accurate performance calculations will result. If a reservoir is composed of alternate layers of permeable and impervioi~s rock, and if each conducting layer has a different relative permeability, the combined computer cost for calculating each layer by the present long computer programs (which includes different well-spacing patterns and other variables) would be expensive. The performances of complex spacing patterns in a field often are studied by a potentiometric model, but in these model studies the analogy is to the flow of only a single phase. This paper presents a procedure to calculate the performance of a five-spot pattern with two phases flowing using a potentiometric model as a guide for the dimensions of channels and other related data. The time required to calculate the complete performance is about one minute on the IBM 7090 or four minutes on the IBM 704. The procedure can be extended to calculate the performance of more complex well spacings or an entire field with little modification. The procedure has been tested on the performance of the laboratory water floods of a five-spot pattern reported by Douglas, et alThe range of viscosity ratios in the laboratory experiments is from 0.083 to 754, which is extensive. The accuracy of the performance calculations is excellent as shown by the plotted points in Fig. I. The recovery as influenced by the geometry of the five-spot, taking into account the deviation from true radial character, has been predicted by Aronofsky and Ramey." The authors used a potentiometric model to determine the sweep efficiency to breakthrough of the flooding agent. Dyes, Caudle and Erickson,' by means of a laboratory model, show the influence of mobility ratio on recovery after breakthrough of the injected material. Dyes, et ai, used the X-ray shadowgraph technique and miscible phases in their studies. Craig, Geffen and Morse from the analysis of the performance of their laboratory model correlate many variables, including average saturation of a flooding agent determined by permeability relationship. Craig, et al, used X-ray shadowgraphs to determine the sweep efficiencies in sandstone models. In this report the sweep efficiency is not needed, and the important effect of continuously changing saturation gradients before and after breakthrough

By E. P. Mathewson

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) IN a discussion -of a paper on " The Basic Process as Applied to Copper Smelting," by Percy C. Gilchrist, read before the Society of Chemical Industry, London, Jan. 5, 1S91,1 Prof. W. C. Roberts Austen asked Mr. Gilchrist whether he thought that the substitution of a basic lining for acid lining in the Marshes process would afford anything like the service which it had been shown to render in the metallurgy, of iron. Claude Vautin stated that he had experimented for over two years with basic linings for Bessemer converters for copper mattes at Cobar, but had given up the attempt on the score of cost. Mr. Gilchrist in his reply stated that he did not believe in applying any system of Bessemerizing to copper. About the time of the presentation of the paper mentioned, Herman Keller, Superintendent of the Parrott smelter, in Butte, was experimenting on a large scale with converters lined with magnesite brick. He gave up the idea on account of the cost of linings and because no particular advantage was observed. My belief is that his tuyeres and converters were -too small. A short time; afterward similar experiments were tried at the Great Falls plant of the Boston & Montana Co., said at the Old Works of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. in Anaconda. These were abandoned on the score of cost and the lack of advantages. The same cause of failure, in my opinion, holds here. The Anaconda Copper Mining Co., however, adopted the magnesite brick lining for its tilting casting machines.

Jan 6, 1913

By M. C. Flemings, P. J. Ahearn

Dendvite morphology of unidirectionally solidified Sn-12 pct Bi alloy was determined with the aid of X-ray and macroetch techniques. Columnar growth direction (growth direction of primary arms) in this alloy is [110]; secondary arms grow in the [lii], [111), and [112] directions. Interstices between [112] dendrite arms fill in during early stages of solidification so that well-defined (110) planes are seen in the final structure (parallel to the heat-flozo direction). Similarly, interslices betweex the [111] secondary arrlls fill in to form (112) planes, and interstices between [1111 ] arms fill in to form (112) planes. DENDRITE morphology in alloys is conveniently studied in unidirectionally solidified castings. In this type of solidification, heat is extracted from a single chill surface of the casting while other surfaces are insulated. Solidification progresses from the chill and results in cast grains that are columnar with the long axis of the grain perpendicular to the chill. Dendrite morphology is conveniently studied by examination of etched surfaces parallel and perpendicular to the chill, as previously described.'" Experimental studies on the growth direction for tin are in general agreement. The major growth direction is [110]:-' although this is altered somewhat by supercooling. In one study, tin dendrites pulled from a supercooled melt had a growth orientation 12 deg away from the [110] direction toward the [002] direction.' This orientation could be changed back to the [110] or close to the [110] direction by changing the tempera- ture gradient in the melt. In a study using autoradio-graphic techniques, (111) directions were shown to be directions of preferred growth in addition to the [110) direction.7 PROCEDURE The samples employed in this study were cut from 12 pct Bi-88 pct Sn castings, 1.5 in. in diam and 3.5 in. tall. The casting procedure consisted of heating the charge to 390°C and then pouring the molten alloy directly into a gypsum sleeve mounted on a massive copper chill. Specimens were cut from the ingot, mounted, polished, and etched with Taffs reagent [FeC13 .6H2O, 2 g; HC1, 5 cu cm;H20, 30 cu cm; CzHaOH (95 pct), 60 cu cm].' The dendritic pattern was clearly visible after etching. Photomicrographs at about 8 and 35 times were taken on surfaces parallel and perpendicular to the chill. Laue back-reflection patterns were obtained from three different columnar grains in a singIe polished face 2 in. from the chill. The cut face was polished and positioned in the beam of a Laue camera, so that diffraction occurred from a single dendritic grain. The resulting diffraction pattern was interpreted to determine crystal log raphic orientation in relation to the heat-flow direction and in relation to microstruc-ture of the given grain. RESULTS Fig. 1 shows a horizontal and vertical section of the columnar structure, at low magnification. Light regions are rich in tin, and darker regions tin-poor; the primary phase is tin-rich a phase. The two sections shown were taken orthogonally from the same metallographic specimen. It is readily seen from Fig. 1 that the dendrites have

Jan 1, 1968

By H. L. Hopkins, OHIO, L. W. Kemph, CLEVEL AND, E. V. Ivanso

A balanced system of internal stress is set up in any metallic structure by plastic deformation below the annealing temperature. The internaI stress induced by cold rolling or other fabricating processes is generally recognized and its magnitude is known to be, within certain limits, a function of the degree of cold deformation. The plastic deformation that may accompany rapid cooling from elevated temperatures may not materially change the form of the product. The internal stresses so induced are not, therefore, so evident and nonrecognition of their presence has at times led to engineering failures. The heat treatment of aluminum alloys is a relatively new art and little information is available regarding the magnitude of stresses induced during the commercial heat treatment of aluminum alloy products. As the industrial use of aluminum increases, it is inevitable that products of increasingly large volume will be required. It has become necessary in the present commercial utilization of aluminum to heat-treat castings and forgings weighing hundreds of pounds. One of the factors governing the magnitude of internal stresses arising from rapid cooling from elevated temperatures is that of the size of the structure being treated. Some of the other factors are: cooling rate, elastic properties of the alloy, thermal expansivity, thermal conductivity, and the presence or absence of phase changes. Practically all aluminum alloys have a high coefficient of thermal expansion and some are capable of developing relatively high elastic limits. On the other hand, all commercial aluminum alloys have relatively high thermal conductivities, no invariant phase changes, and the quenching temperatures are comparatively low. In the absence of invariant phase changes involving change in the type of crystallographic lattice, the fundamental basis for the development of internal stress

Jan 1, 1934

By W. C. Dickerman, J. F. Thornton

TOTAL global war is making extraordinary demands on the oil industry. Huge quantities of 100-octane gasoline, extreme service lubes, toluene and other miscellaneous products are required. 100-octane gasoline is blended from isopentane, base stock, and alkylate. Isopentane is fractionated from natural or refinery gasoline; but since only limited quantities of base stock can be made in this way, catalytic cracking is rapidly becoming the major source of base stock. Alkylate, the most important component, is synthesized from isobutane and an olefin. Extraordinary demands are forcing the full utilization of all present sources and the development of new supplies of feed stocks. Fortunately, the United States finds itself with well-developed processes already available, and this is true of the manufacture of lubricating oil as well. Toluene is now being produced by new methods from special cuts fractionated from selected crudes or from catalytically processed naphthas. Designers of refinery equipment are modifying past practices to conserve every bit of material possible.

Jan 1, 1942

By P. Shahinian, M. R. Achter

In a comparison of the creep -rupture properties of nickel in air arid in vacuum there is a reversal in relative strengths with variations in stress. At low stresses the properties are better in air while at high stresses they are better in vacuum. In the early stages of creep in a high stress test the specimen in air nzay have the lower creep rate but the one in vacuum is creeping at a lower rate in the later stages. A mechanism, involving two competing processes in terms of oxidation strengthening and weakening by surface-energy reduction, is proposed to explain these reversals. It had generally been assumed that, relative to their properties in air, the high-temperature strengths of metals would be increased in an inert atmosphere as a result of the elimination of the deteriorating effects of oxidation. However, several recent investigations have shown that the creep strength may be greater in air than in nonoxidizing gases. Pickus and Parker1 found that the creep rate of nickel was lower in air than in hydrogen or nitrogen. Internal oxidation was mentioned by Shepard and Schalliol as a possible cause for the longer creep life of Hastelloy C in air than in vacuum or helium. Sweetland and Parker, who observed lower creep rates for aluminum and copper in air than in helium, discuss the possible applicability of the dislocation-barrier mechanism to explain their results. Surface oxide layers may interfere with the escape of dislocations through the surface or with their generation there. In addition to showing the strengthening in air of low-alloy and stainless steel, and nickel and cobalt-base alloys, shahinian4 presented notch-effect data which indicate the role of stress concentrations; alloys of relatively low ductility were more sensitive to atmosphere strengthening when notched specimens were used. Although Bleakney's copper wires had a lower reduction of area in air than in vacuum, it is difficult to interpret his results in terms of strength changes since the stresses employed were not measured. In contrast to these data showing the strengthening in air, a number of investigations, most at relatively low temperatures, have demonstrated that the environment may cause a decrease in strength. These results are generally explained in terms of the effect of environment on surface energy. In a review of the subject, Benedicks and Harden use the concept of atomic bonding to explain how the adsorption of impurities would decrease the energy of a clean surface. A decrease in surface energy would facilitate the propagation of cracks or extension of the surface. Use of this mechanism is made by sato7 to explain the weakening of steel specimens bent in various liquids, by Potek and Shcheglakovs for the reduction of fracture strength of steel in molten metal, and by Benedicks and Harden for the reduction of strength of a variety of materials in a number of liquids. A similar explanation might be used for the results of Forestier and Clauss. The fracture stress of fine wires pulled in a variety of gases, including air, is lower than in vacuum. They attributed their results to the "tendency" for the gases to condense on the metal surface. That the strength of metals is affected by the type of gas in which the test is conducted has been demonstrated convincingly; the mechanism of the effect, however, is still uncertain. This investigation represents one in a series to explore the influence of variations in alloy composition and test conditions on the atmosphere effect in the expectation that the results would afford an insight into the processes taking place. To determine the effect of specimen composition, the present investigation was conducted

Jan 1, 1960

By T. M. Berry

In the past few years changes have taken place in shaft sinking. Progress has been made with types of machinery designed, developed, and made available to shaft sinking contractors. This is particularly true of drilling and mucking equipment. Compared with conventional clamshell loading, mucking or loading with a crawler-mounted overshot loader is a new technique for shaft work. There are several methods of clamshell loading. Dravo Construction Co. mounts an air tugger on the clamshell to operate the closing line. The load, or holding line, is attached to the hoist of a crane or whirler at the shaft collar. The clamshell is raised or lowered by the hoist when a signal is given by a bell or light system operated by men at the bottom of the shaft. Two men control the drift of the clamshell with tag lines, pulling it to any position in the shaft for loading, or over the shaft muck bucket for emptying. One man operates the air tugger to open and close the clamshell by means of two lines attached to the operating air valve, just as reins are used to drive a horse. One man operates the signal telling the hoist operator when to raise or lower the clamshell. This method requires two hoisting lines in the shaft-the line from the mine hoist that lifts

Dec 1, 1956

By Zay Jeffries

THE object of the present paper is to enlarge somewhat on the general principles advanced in my discussion 1 of Mathewson and Phillips' article on. The Recrystallization of Cold-Worked Alpha Brass on Annealing.2 It will also serve as an acknowledgment of Prof. Howe's3 most important remarks on my contribution. In this paper the writer has adopted Prof. Howe's suggestion to substitute the term "germinative temperature" for "critical temperature for grain growth." Instead of being an exact or certain temperature it should be considered that the germinative temperature phenomenon exists throughout a small temperature range. Factors Influencing Fast Growth Phenomena The development of grains of macroscopic size at the germinative temperature should be considered the extreme condition of a general rule. When considered in this light it is not strange that the development of these large grains should be the exception and not the rule. The principal factors influencing the operation of the laws of fast growth temperature are as follows: 1. Rate of heating.

Jan 10, 1916

By J. E. Papin

MORENCI ores contain as an average about 0.015 pct molybdenite, MoS2. Incidental to the concentrating operations applied for the recovery of copper minerals, approximately two-thirds of the molybdenite is floated and appears in the final copper concentrate. The economic importance of molybdenum and the success achieved in its recovery in milling operations elsewhere encouraged research directed toward its recovery in marketable form. Several procedures are utilized to effect separation of molybdenite from copper and iron sulphides, but only two have wide application. In the better known of these two methods the molybdenite in the copper concentrate is depressed in a flotation operation using soluble starch as the depressant. The tailing from this treatment thus becomes a low-grade molybdenite concentrate which after thickening, filtering, and low temperature roasting is repulped with water and subjected to additional flotation steps for recovery of the molybdenite. A thio-phos-phate collecting agent is employed in flotation of the copper minerals. Presumably the stability and lasting effects of that collector type necessitated the practice of depressing molybdenite followed by subsequent roasting to insure elimination of copper and iron sulphides from final molybdenite concentrate. The second important method of recovery is applied at various southwestern plants. In those plants xanthates are in use as copper collecting agents. It has been found that xanthates are relatively unstable and their collecting power for sulphides is destroyed by very simple procedures. The method generally applied is to subject the xanthate-acti-vated concentrate, in the form of a pulp, to prolonged heating using steam as the heating medium. A concentrate thus treated may then be subjected to a flotation operation for recovery of the molybdenite, using mineral oil collecting agents, and the copper and iron sulphides will be depressed. Neither of the above processes was applicable to Morenci concentrates. Morenci uses a thio-phos-phate collecting agent in its flotation operation. However, it was established that soluble starch was not a depressant for Morenci molybdenite; therefore the first step in that process was not applicable. AS would be expected the copper and iron sulphides in Morenci concentrates could not be depressed by the heating methods used on xanthate activated concentrates. Low-temperature roasting did eliminate the effects of the thio-phosphate but had to be rejected as uneconomic in as much as the tonnage of concentrates involved was too great. Preliminary research having established the above facts, it became obvious that new methods would have to be developed for the recovery of molybdenite from Morenci concentrates. A broad laboratory investigation was initiated along two general lines, both directed toward depression of copper and iron sulphides. One approach was through the use of water-soluble oxidizing agents with the objective of destroying the thio-phosphate in the concentrate and thus eliminating its collector effect. The other approach involved the use of soluble sulphides, which have long been recognized as sulphide depressants. These efforts resulted in laboratory processes which showed promise. Research was then extended to a pilot plant having a daily capacity of several tons of concentrate. This operation soon demonstrated that soluble sulphide—basically sodium polysulphide—when applied to a pulp made slightly acid with sulphuric acid, proved to be the most effective sulphide depressant. The rate of concentrate treatment in this plant and the low molybdenite content of the concentrate prevented carrying the process to a conclusion, namely, production of molybdenite concentrate of marketable grade. Laboratory treatment of pilot plant concentrate indicated that a marketable product could be made from it, given a tonnage suited to available cleaner flotation machine capacity. Accordingly, the molybdenite plant was enlarged to permit treatment of the total copper concentrate from the extension plant, maximum of approximately 800 tons per day. In the enlarged plant a major difficulty was encountered. No criteria could be established as a basis for control of the process. In the early stages of flotation, because of the small amount of molybdenite involved, there was no visual evidence of the relative floatability of molybdenite with respect to

Jan 1, 1956

By John J. Egan

THE present list of problems relating to the physical chemistry of steelmaking has been prepared by the Committee on the Physical Chemistry of Steelmaking, from answers to a questionnaire Submitted to a number of metallurgists engaged in both industrial and educational work throughout the United States. The purpose of the project is to make available to research laboratories a list of problems, all reduced to their simplest terms, the solution of which would aid in creating a better understanding of the steelmaking process. It is not intended to restrict the problems to practical steelmaking. The list also includes the study of the properties, and their correlation, as well as the physical and chemical reactions, of all Substances that occur or that may be in any way associated with steelmaking operations, Such as metallic substances, refractories, nonmetallic inclusions, and the constituents of slags. Many of the problems can be carried out in university or other research laboratories. Others may be most successfully attacked by cooperation of the research men with the operating personnel. It is the Committee's earnest wish that this cooperation be fostered. It is requested that investigators who are working on any of the problems listed and who anticipate future publication of their results, notify the Secretary of the Committee that such investigation is in progress. Suggested additions to the present list are also requested. The Committee is undertaking to act as a clearing house for information regarding the topics in this field that are being actually studied. Interested persons are invited to correspond with the Secretary. I. Data involved in the state of equilibrium for the various systems (laboratory work, almost entirely). A. SPECIFIC HEATS, HEATS OF FORMATION, ENTROPIES AND FREE ENERGIES OF VARIOUS PURE ELEMENTS OR COMPOUNDS; ALSO CERTAIN TYPICAL SLAGS AND REFRACTORIES. I . Determination of specific heats and entropies of oxides, sulphides, nitrides, etc. over a wide temperature range. 2. Determination of free energies of oxides, sulphides, nitrides, etc. over a wide temperature range. 3. Determination of the heats of formation of the oxides, sulphides, nitrides, etc. 4. Determination of the thermodynamic properties of the more important mineralogical constituents of the basic open-hearth slags such as calcium silicates, calcium phosphates, calcium ferrites, manganese silicates, FeO and Fe2O3. 5. Determination of the specific heats of open-hearth slags, including liquid silicates, if possible.

Jan 1, 1941

By R. E. Reed-Hill, W. H. Hartt

The second order, {1011}-{1012} twin bands observed in critically deformed magnesium are often accompanied by an unusual form of kinking. These kinks, which lie adjacent to and run more or less parallel to the twin band habit, allow plastic deformation that occurs inside the twins to be accommodated into the matrix. The bend planes of these kinks cannot be explained using slip dislocations with Burgers vectors lying in the basal plane. A mechanism involving a single set of {1012)(1011) dislocations is proposed to account for the kink band habit, in good agreement with the experimental observations. It has been shown that second order, {101l)-{1012} twinning is an important phenomenon for magnesium deformed in the ambient temperature range. A detailed study of these twins has recently led to a better understanding of their irrational habit plane1 and their relation to fracture in magnesium.' This paper is concerned with a third aspect of these twins; this being the kink bands, originally referred to as shear accommodation kinks,3'4 that are often induced in the adjacent matrix. A twin band and its shear accommodation kink usually appear as a single macroscopic deformation, as seen in Fig. 1. The complex nature of these deformed regions is easily revealed, however, with the aid of a suitable microscope. It has been proposed374 that the primary function of these kinks is to accommodate the nonhomogeneous deformation that normally occurs in the second order twins. The twins tend to form as small discrete lamellae lined up approximately one in front of the other.''' Very large plastic deformations varying in magnitude from one twin to the next, may occur inside these lamellae. The kinks serve both to pass this strain into the matrix and to accommodate strain variations between twins. Deformation within the kinks, subsequent to their formation, has also been observed;3,4 and it is thought that this contributes to the strain accommodation process. The bend planes of the kinks have a habit near that of the twin band itself, which lies about 56 deg from the matrix basal plane. This orientation does not bisect the angle formed between the basal plane to either side of the bend plane and therefore differs markedly from the kink structure usually observed in hcp metals.'-' The present paper reports the results of a study of shear accommodation kinks and proposes a possible solution to the problem of the orientation of the bend plane. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Rectangular cross-section tensile specimens with axes parallel to (1010) and faces to (1210) and (0001) were cut and acid machined from a high-purity magnesium single crystal. After straining on an Instron machine the specimens were examined by both optical and replica electron microscopy. The basic procedures have been previously reported."' EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Structure of Shear Accommodation Kinks. A typical, large (101l)-{1012) twin band with its associated shear accommodation kink is shown running diagonally from upper left to lower right in Fig. 1. In this optical micrograph the twin band, consisting of a row of small, highly deformed twin lamellae, is visible as a narrow dark band along the left hand edge of the structure in question. The kink lies to the right of the twins, is approximately three times as wide, and is lighter in contrast. The horizontal slip lines visible on the general specimen surface correspond to matrix basal slip and are parallel to the tensile axis. Note that on the right-hand side of the band these slip lines can be followed from the matrix into the kink. At the kink band boundary the slip lines suffer a clockwise rotation of about 25 deg. Rotations of this magnitude are not uncommon. When a surface such as that in Fig. 1 is given an etch1 making it sensitive to polarized light, it has been observed that the slip traces in the kink are parallel to the basal plane trace in this region. This is in excellent agreement with the assumption that these regions are indeed kinks. Fig. 2 is an electron micrograph of this same twin band and kink. Note that a row of small supplimation pits has formed

Jan 1, 1969

By E. A. Devuyst, M. A. Mosoiu, V. A. Ettel

Nickelic hydroxide is an important metallurgical reagent used for precipitating cobalt from nickel sulfate solutions. Existing methods of preparation of nickelic hydroxide involve electrolytic oxidation of Ni(OH)2 or the use of strong oxidizing agents such as chlorine, ozone and persulfate. Although the oxidizing properties of the SO2 + O2 system have been known for some time, e.g., detection of SO2 and oxidation on iron in acidic solution, the application of this system for the preparation of nickelic hydroxide as a process was not considered in the past. The present paper describes a new method for chemical preparation of nickelic hydroxide which has been developed in INCO laboratories. The technique consists of reacting nickelous hydroxide suspensions with a slurry of calcium sulfite in the presence of air or oxygen. The main advantage of the process is the cost of reagents and an absence of soluble by-products (e.g., C1-). The chemistry of this process is unusual since the redox potential obtained during the reaction exceeds that of the oxygen electrode. Therefore, the effect of CaS03 is not just a catalytic acceleration of the reaction NI(OH)~ + 02. The so3= must be involved in the stoichiometry of the overall reaction producing in the initla1 phase some strongly oxidizing intermediate species.

Jan 1, 1981

By Lester W. Strock

METALLURGISTS handling lead and zinc ores have long been familiar with the spectrograph as a routine analytical tool, as its earliest regular use by American industry was in controlling impurities of zinc metal and its alloys. This application has been extended to other metal industries on an extensive scale, accompanied by refinements of procedure to such an extent that a large part of some metals produced, especially magnesium, aluminum and steel, are checked only by spectrographic methods for conformity to specifications. The spectrographic analysis of ores and other poorly conducting powdered solids presents difficulties not encountered with metallic samples, which can be arced or sparked as self-electrodes or can be readily dissolved, so that their solutions can be analyzed, as in the American Society for Testing Materials standard methods for zinc and zinc-base alloys. Spectra of powdered solid samples can be prepared by using carbon electrodes provided with a crater of suitable size, into which the sample is packed. Ore samples and many other powdered solid materials usually analyzed in the chemical and metallurgical laboratory are more complex and varied in composition than samples of metals produced in large tonnages. More preliminary work therefore is usually necessary in devising a spectrographic method for analyzing a given type of powdered sample than for analyzing metal samples, in order to use that method with confidence. The knowledge that the standard samples and unknowns produce equivalent line intensities at equal concentration is the fundamental basis of any quantitative spectrographic method. On the other hand, powdered samples have an advantage over metals in that any desired number of chemical compounds can be mixed dry in any desired ratio to produce a synthetic standard. Experience has shown, however, that spectra of elements in finely divided compounds introduced into a standard in preparing a synthetic ore sample do not always behave in the electric arc in a manner that produces spectral line intensities similar to those observed at the same concentration in a natural mineral. In ore samples minor elements frequently are contained in the crystal lattice of larger particles of an abundant ore mineral. Their dissociation and volatilization from the sample into the arc then proceeds differently in the standard and sample, with resultant differences in intensity. During the past 10 years I have devised and applied several quantitative spectrographic methods for determining various elements in rocks and minerals in connection with studies on their geochemistry,1 but the incentive has gradually changed since the summer of 1940 to the specific practical problem of searching for domestic sources of rare and strategic metals. The

Jan 1, 1945

Phase II of President Nixon's economic game plan will incorporate many top flight metals mining companies. The large corporations must receive approval from the Cost of Living Council before increasing prices and or wages. The theory here is that, with large companies complying with advance approval, smaller firms will be examined more closely by government, and thus will be forced also to comply. Rep. Paul McCloskey (R.-Calif.) called for a moratorium on strip mining for "the few years involved before we adopt a national energy policy and a national land use policy." McCloskey, who is a cosponsor of Congressional legislation that would outlaw strip mining, told a hearing that a "moratorium can scarcely hurt us until national energy and land use policies are adopted."

Jan 1, 1971