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By S. A. Montague

Mica can claim a considerably greater importance than would be assumed from its comparatively small dollar volume, which came to about $37,000,000 for the United States industry as a whole in 1957. Mica is one of the strategic minerals. We must depend on imports from distant sources for virtually all of our requirements of high grade block and all of our mica splittings. Mica is essential and indispensable for vacuum tubes and high-performance condensers, two electronic components which are vital military necessities besides being nearly indispensable to civilization today. Composition and Properties Mica is the general name for a group of some nine different minerals, two of which, muscovite and phlogopite, are the minerals used by the mica industry as its raw material. Several of the other varieties are commercially useful-vermiculite, * used for heat insulation in expanded form, and lepidolite, used as an ore of lithium while the others-biotite, roscoelite lepidomelane, paragonite and zinnwaldite have little or no commercial importance. Biotite frequently occurs as an undesirable impurity in muscovite. Table 1 lists various properties and other data concerning muscovite and phlogopite. Chemically, mica is a complex silicate of sodium, potassium and aluminum. Most varieties of muscovite are higher in sodium, and of phlogopite in magnesium. There are no important uses of mica where the chemical analysis is important, except that in some uses of ground mica, the content of iron oxide present as an impurity must be kept to a very low limit. Muscovite occurs in a range of color from the so-called India "ruby" which is more closely a pinkish brown, to light and dark green, with numerous other intermediate shades. Ruby color is usually preferred by industry, especially in the better qualities. When split very thin the color in most [ ] micas disappears. Muscovite mica is frequently found containing black and red "stain" as a homogeneous part of the books or sheets. In most cases this stain or impurity is magnetite

Jan 1, 1960

By James S. Browning

For the past several years, the Bureau of Mines has conducted laboratory and continuous process development work on weathered mica pegmatites and micaceous schist ores to determine the feasibility of recovering commercial-grade mica concentrates by flotation. The research has resulted in the development of two processes for flotadon of mica: an acid cationic method for recovery of coarse mica, and an alkaline anionic-cationic method for recovery of fine mica. The research indicated that the two processes may be effectively utilized separately or in combination for flotation of mica from weathered pegmatites and micaceous schists. Concentrates containing over 98 percent mica, with recoveries ranging from 77 to 92 percent, were obtained from the pegmatite ores. The micaceous schist ores yielded concentrates containing 95 to 98 percent mica, with recoveries ranging from 70 to 83 percent. Part 1 of this report summarizes the process development work and demonstrates the feasibility of producing commercial- grade mica concentrates. The report also includes details of commercial beneficiation and grinding of .mica.

Jan 1, 1973

By James S. Browning

Mica mining in the United States is confined largely to pegmatites and schists in a few well-defined areas. The largest region extends from central Virginia southward through western North and South Carolina, northern Georgia, and east-central Alabama. 1, 2, 3 Whereas in western North Carolina these pegmatite dikes are weathered to only a shallow depth, they are deeply weathered in the Carolina Piedmont and in Georgia and Alabama. Particularly in Georgia and Alabama, mica is found in the decomposed slates and schists adjacent to the pegmatites, and in deeply weathered granites. Most flake mica is obtained as the major marketable product by crushing and milling pegmatites.4 To a lesser extent, mica is produced as a byproduct of feldspars and spodumene.6 Past research by the Bureau of Mines has developed two methods for mica flotation. One method utilizes acid-cationic flotation for recovery of mica." This method requires thorough desliming of the ore with consequent fine mica losses. The other method utilizes an alkaline-anionic-cationic process for recovering fine size mica from pegmatite ores after desliming sufficiently to remove clay materials but not so drastically as to remove the fine mica. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 The latter process has also been successfully applied to a micaceous schist ore from California.14 This report summarizes the results of these research studies. Both of the flotation processes developed by the Bureau of Mines have been adopted by the mica industry and are being commercially utilized separately and in combination for flotation of mica from weathered pegmatite ores.

Jan 1, 1969

By Dale E. Hirschfeld

The clays in Eastern Washington occur in a variety of forms and are extracted for uses in Face Brick, paper coatings, and aggregates. Not in large volumes in comparison to other areas, not even from impressive large mines. However, mans utilization of these clays has progressed from historical clay tablets to the present technically oriented manufactured products of today. White Face Brick, perhaps the whitest produced anywhere is the unique product produced by INTERPACE CORPORATION's Mica Plant from these unusual clays. It is this basic characteristic feature of the clay's in the Mica area that differentiate them from the other clay's in this belt. ORIGIN The significant properties of clay's used in Face Brick are plasticity, fired color, fired strength, dry and fired shrinkage, the PCE or Pyrometeric Cone Equivalent, and extrudability. Testing clay's for these properties is standard laboratory procedure. No two clays are alike, and seldom can one clay be substituted for another. Mica White Clays respond favorable to all these properties, but more especially, the Mica Clays fire to a brilliant white color, from almost the natural state. The geologic history of Eastern Washington is largely conjectural because of the absence of rocks representing segments of geologic time. The oldest rocks in this area are the argillaceous and arenaceous sedimentary rocks which have been slightly metamorphosed. These rocks have been correlated with the Belt Series of the Pre-Cambrian age, although some may be older. These rocks were subsequently intruded by granadiorites and related rocks that are considered to

Jan 1, 1971

By R. C. Freas

The physical and chemical properties of mica are unique relative to most other industrial minerals. As such, mica is suitable for a variety of functional applications in new and emerging markets. This paper examines some of these applications and particularly the contribution mica makes in end product performance.

Jan 1, 1997

By AIME AIME

NOTWITHSTANDING the metropolitan appearance of M. L. Haider, the present Chairman of the Petroleum Division, he is not a native New Yorker, but was born at Mandan, N. Dak., Oct. 1, 1904. He began his travels at an early stage in life and after attending the University of Southern California for two years he spent two additional years at Stanford University and was graduated in 1927. After a few months as an analytical chemist for the Portland Cement Co. he became research engineer in the natural gasoline department of the Richfield Oil Co. where he remained for approximately two years before taking a position with the Carter Oil Co. in Oklahoma. He was chief engineer for this company for three years before being trans-

Jan 1, 1945

By J. R. Goode

ABSTRACT Aurora Energy Ltd. is considering a 10,000 t/d process plant to produce 97 million lb (43,998,460 kg) of U3O8 over a 17-year project from uranium deposits in coastal Labrador. This paper summarizes the test work, mostly done by SGS Mineral Services in Lakefield, Ontario, and the economic studies supporting flowsheet selection. The proposed flowsheet includes semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) and ball milling, acid leaching using air/SO2 as an oxidant, and resin-in-pulp (RIP) extraction of uranium from the leached slurry. Other unit operations examined include ore sorting, heap leaching, liquid- solid separation, solvent extraction, and nanofiltration for eluate upgrading. We also review the extensive environmental test work and studies that were completed.

Jan 1, 2012

By Zhenqi Cai

The ongoing Overpeck Valley Parallel Sewer Project of Bergen County Utilities Authority (BCUA), New Jersey, is a US $65 million CSO improvement program to meet a State DEP consent order by 2010. One major program component includes a total of 1.8 km (1.2 mile) long, 1,800 mm (72 in) diameter reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) installed by a Herrenknecht AVND1800AB MTBM. The alignment includes drives through 850 m (2,788 ft) of extremely soft glaciolacustrine varved clay, 980 m (3,214 ft) of loose to medium dense mixed soils containing silty sands, gravels, and boulders, and crosses under the New Jersey Turnpike, US Highway Route 46, and a CSX Railroad Intermodal Yard and a branch mainline. Two types of MTBM cutterheads are being used, one configured for the weak varved clay, and one for the mixed soil conditions. The MTBM is also equipped with a double-steering system consisting of a standard front steering joint and a second trailing steering joint to assist grade control should adequate steering not be achieved by the front primary steering in extremely weak soil conditions. This paper discusses the significant engineering aspects and challenges related to site settings, ground characterization, key MTBM features and performance, and required ground treatment.

By Xinli Wang, Matthew Andriese, Jiann-Yang Hwang, Zhiwei Peng, Byoung-Gon Kim

"The microwave reflection loss (RL) of ferric oxide is studied in the temperature range from 297 to approximately 1400 Kat frequencies of 915 and 2450 MHz. It is shown that the maximum microwave absorption with RL of -38.46 and -35.97 dB can be obtained for ferric oxide having thicknesses of 0.03 and 0.01 m at 915 and 2450 MHz, respectively. The maximum absorption peak with RL below -10 dB is in a 250 K temperature range from 723 to 973 Kat 915 MHz, which shifts to the range between 823 and 1073 K at 2450 MHz. This migration is in good agreement with the variation of the dielectric loss tangent of ferric oxide.IntroductionMicrowave irradiation has distinguishing characteristics such as volumetric and selective heating compared with conventional methods, leading to extremely broad applications in materials heating and processing [1-5].The efficiency of microwave heating was found to be dependent on various factors, such as microwave power [6], frequency [7,8], radiation time [8], applicator geometry [8], sample microwave absorption properties and position as well as dimension [9-11 ], etc. Among these parameters, sample dimension plays an important role but is usually neglected by researchers in microwave processing of materials. In fact, although numerous studies have been directed toward the utilization of microwave energy to assist materials heating and processing, few reports were released on the effect of sample dimension [12,13].This is because all aforementioned factors influencing microwave heating generally exert interactive effects to each other during the heating process, making clarification of the effect of sample dimension difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to propose a parameter or concept for quantifying the effect of absorber dimension on microwave heating, increasing heating efficiency."

Jan 1, 2013

By Nomuqhele N. Nkosi, Yasuo Yabe, Musa D. Manzi, Raymond J. Durrheim, Siyanda B. Mngadi

This study examined rock failure in brittle rocks hosting the deep gold-bearing ore bodies on scales between millimeters and kilometres. This research study is part of the International Continental scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) project, “Drilling into Seismogenic Zones of M2.0-M5.5 earthquakes in deep South African gold mines” (DSeis). The broader ICDP-DSeis project aims include the examination of the extent of damage, the stress state around the fringes of the earthquake, and the potential existence of living organisms associated with deep-level earthquakes. Nevertheless, this study focused on two seismogenic zones – the Cooke 4 mine and Moab Khotsong mine. At Cooke 4 mine, the study examined the evolution of mining-induced fractures (M1-4) occurring ahead of the stope face during the extraction of the remnant shaft pillar. These fractures were monitored and delineated by a dense array of acoustic emission sensors that allowed hypocentres to be located with decimeter accuracy. Using this acoustic emission data, the DSeis team drilled and recovered the fractures, rock breccia and gouge using a sophisticated triple-tube drilling rig.

Apr 26, 2022

By Ronaldo Câmara Cozza

Iron aluminide alloy; Ball-cratering wear testing; Rolling abrasion; Wear volume; Coefficient of friction

Jul 31, 2018

By Cristiano José Scheuer

Experiments were carried out aiming to study the influence of micro-abrasive wear test variables and plasma treatment parameters, on the tribological characteristics of low-temperature plasma carburized AISI 420 steel. The first part of this study was conducted in order to evaluate the influence of abrasive particle size, normal load and counter body rotation speed on carburized sample wear behavior; and the second part was conducted in order to evaluate the treatment temperature and time effect on carburized samples wear behavior. Plasma carburizing treatments were performed at 8 and 12 h, for temperatures ranging from 350 to 500°C; and at constant temperatures of 400°C for times between 12 to 48h, and for 450°C for times of 4 to 16h. Micro-abrasive wear test were performed by mean of a calowear ball-cratering equipment using a polished ball of AISI 52100 steel rotating at 80, 120 and 160 rpm, for sliding distances from 2.6 to 104.2 m. Alumina abrasive particles with sizes of 0.05, 0.3 and 1.0 ?m were employed. The normal loads applied on this study were 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 N. Carburized sample was characterized by mean of OM, XRD and hardness measurements. Worn crater characteristics were evaluated by confocal laser microscopy. Results showed that the transient wear regime prevails along the outer layer length (composed by Fe3C and ?’C), and the steady-state wear stabilizes in the diffusion layer region (composed by ?’C). It was verified that the wear rate and wear coefficient decreases with treatment temperature in the range of 350–450°C and increase for 500°C. It was also verified that the wear rate and wear coefficient decreases with treatment time in the range of 12–36 h (for 400°C cycle) and 4–12 h (for 450°C cycle), and increase for larger treatment times due the chromium carbide precipitation. It was also found that the wear coefficient increases with the increase of abrasive particle size, and decrease with the increase in counter body rotation speed and normal load. Lastly, the analysis of the worn craters indicates the occurrence of grooving and micro-rolling abrasion wear mechanisms.

Aug 17, 2017

By Cristiano José Scheuer

The effect of low-temperature plasma carburizing treatment on the micro-abrasive wear resistance of AISI 420 steel was investigated by mean of a CSM Calowear ball-cratering equipment. Carburized samples were treated at temperatures of 350, 400, 450 and 500°C for a fixed time of 12 h, using a gas mixture containing 99.5% (80% H2+20% Ar)+0.5% CH4. Micro-scale abrasive wear tests were conducted with a 25.4 mm AISI 420 steel sphere, using an abrasive suspension of alumina (Al2O3) with particle size of 1 ?m (abrasive concentration of 0.11 g/cm³). The contact normal force, abrasive flow and ball rotation speed were fixed at: 0.5 N, 0,2 drop/s, and 120 rpm. The wear craters were analyzed using a confocal laser microscope, Olympus OLS 3000. The wear analyses were performed for test times of: 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 360, 540, 720 and 900 s (equivalent sliding distance: 0.84, 1.68, 2.52, 3.36, 5.04, 10.09, 15.14, 20.19 and 25.23 m, respectively). The results indicate that the wear coefficient in the outer layer and in the diffusion layer are different, being lower in the latter. It was also verified that the wear coefficient on the outer layer region decreases with increasing treatment temperature in the range of 350 to 450 °C, and increase again for 500ºC. The diffusion layer wear coefficient is similar for all the carburized samples. Finally, for all studied conditions, the analysis of the wear craters surface indicates the occurrence of grooving and micro-rolling abrasion wear modes.

Aug 8, 2018

By Piotr D. Moncarz

As major urban areas begin to run out of "good-terrain" for their expansion, they begin to claim high water-table areas within or adjacent to water fronts or swamps. Similarly, major infrastructure projects encroach on or cross high organic content areas. The associated major structures often require deep foundations located in soils investigated through core samples removed at a discrete number of locations. The investigation is nearly always preoccupied with soil mechanical properties, sometimes with soil non-organic chemistry for concrete and metal corrosion, seldom, if ever, for organic-chemistry and bio-conditions as related to concrete longevity. Not surprisingly so, bio-corrosion of concrete is one of the least understood phenomena by practicing civil engineers. This paper shows how low-iron, organic-rich sediments may trigger sulfate degradation of concrete, even when standard pre-construction chemical analyses indicate only a moderate sulfate level. The discussion is illustrated with a case of a pile foundation in the United States driven into marine channel sediments and sediment-derived fill material. The concrete piles lost their structural integrity due to secondary ettringite formation and depletion of iron in the cement paste. Disintegration of concrete occurred only where it contacted superficial marine sediments and sediment-derived fill material. Concrete in direct contact with seawater or native sand and silt materials appeared to be sound. Sediments in contact with the degraded concrete were highly anoxic and had a history of sewage contamination, contained low concentrations of total iron (<2%), Fe(III) (<0.3%) and moderate levels of sulfate (1500ppm), and exhibited high bacterial activity. This environment resulted in the microbial dissolution of Fe(lll)-rich ferrite in hardened cement paste. Iron depletion in the cement paste had made the concrete vulnerable to degradation by sulfate, even at moderate levels of sulfate concentrations in the sediments.

Jan 1, 2002

By T. N. Singh, Vasudev Singh

To explore and exploit the natural resources like oil, gas, economic mineral water drilling is still considered to be the reliable and economical method. When a drill bit penetrates the rock mass either by percussion or by rotary and may be some times a combination generates stress and thrust on the rock mass as well as on the drill bit. The strength and hardness of the rock govern the life of the drill bit and its runnage. Physico- Mechanical properties of rocks have great influence on drillability. It is observed that higher the strength of rock, reduce the life of the drill bit while drilling, ultimately decreases the drillability. An attempt has been made in the present paper to establish relation among various physicomechanical properties i.e. uniaxial compression strength, tensile strength, shear strength, Schmidt hardness and abrasivity with drillability of different rock types. The specific energy of each rock type has been calculated using micro-bit drilling. The rocks from different lithological succession were collected. The rock specimens were prepared according to the norms of International society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM).

Jan 1, 2008

By S. P. Marsh, D. Banerjee

"Casting processes involve phenomena that occur on widely disparate length-scales. Simulation of macroscopic effects, such as heat transfer and convection, are generally addressed by solving the appropriate equations in discretized form on a finite-element mesh. Microscopic phenomena are described by micromodels that may be empirical or analytical in form. Coupling of phenomena in these two regimes is a critical issue in predicting microstructure and defect formation resulting from macroscopic process conditions. A formalism has been developed for expressing micromodels in a consistent manner using stereological parameters to quantify the geometric characteristics of the developing microstructure. This approach provides a robust and physically consistent method for coupling local micromodels with the macroscopic fields. The macroscopic state variables at each node serve as global constraints on the micromodels that are applied to a local unit volume. An outline of an equiaxed solidification model based on this approach is presented, along with preliminary simulation results. Coupling of convection and enthalpy effects between the micro and macro regimes is also discussed. IntroductionThe primary goal of casting simulations is to improve the reliability of cast parts while minimizing cost and development time. Effective simulations can speed up the mold design process and reduce the likelihood of defective parts by refining a particular casting process on a computer, reducing the dependence on cost- and time-intensive prototype castings. The challenge in developing effective simulations stems from the need to address physical processes that occur over a wide range of length-scales, from microscopic (atomic) and mesoscopic (microstructural) scales to macroscopic distances comparable to the size of the casting itself. Overviews of the various thermophysical phenomena and computational factors that are important in solidification modeling are provided in the literature by Rappaz [1] and Tseng et al. [2].Macroscopically, the solidification process is largely governed by the rate of heat flow from the alloy through the mold wall. Another important effect that occurs on the scale of the casting size is convective flow of the melt, which is driven by density-variations in the melt. Macroscopic calculations employ finite-element or finite-difference methods to solve the sets of equations that govern these effects, and the spatial resolution is determined by the grid spacings used for the calculations. Typical spatial resolutions are on the order of 10-2 to 10-3"" meters. This represents a compromise between the resolution required to simulate the continuum transport processes accurately, and the computational time required to model the entire solidification and cooling process."

Jan 1, 1994

By Vaughan R. Voller

"The wide range of length and time scales found in solidification processes are outlined and discussed. Methods for Direct Microstructure Simulation (DMS) are introduced. Key features in sharp interface and phase field models are presented. Concepts in micro-macro solidification modeling are covered. Basic details of microstructure and segregation models are provided. A description of a recent segregation micro-macro model is presented in detail.IntroductionA solidification process involves the containment of a liquid region, which, due to cooling, transforms over time to form a fully solid product. The development of the solid microstructure and the segregation of solute components during this transformation are controlled by phenomena that occur across a wide range of length and time scales. A ""successful"" model of a given solidification process needs to account for these phenomena. Standard models of solidification employ a discrete grid of node points and associated volume elements in the special domain, with a discrete time step to track the transient changes of nodal values, describing the composition and microstructure. Through the use of such models significant progress has been made towards a complete understanding of solidification process and phenomena (see the conference proceedings in Refs [1-9]). As solidification models become more sophisticated, however, they all run into the problem of resolving the full range of disparate space and time scales.Two approaches can deal with this problem1. Direct Microstructure Simulation (DMS) where the grid size and time step are chosen to scale with the smallest length and time scales of the given problem.2. Micro-macro modeling where the grid size and time step scale with the macroscopic process scale and phenomena at smaller scales are accounted for via sub-grid modeling and volume averaging.Currently full DMS of solidification is beyond the reach of available computer power and the application and development of micro-macro models is an important and critical research area."

Jan 1, 2001

By S. S. Yuan, Q. Z. Zhu, J. F. Shao

"This paper aims at enriching a homogenization-based anisotropic damage model for hard rocks under complex loading. A new damage criterion is proposed to capture material strain softening. Within the framework of irreversible thermodynamics, we are particularly concerned with two strongly coupled dissipative mechanisms: frictional sliding and damage by microcracking, which usually take place at cracks within cohesive geomaterials under compression. Focusing on the representative elementary volume containing multiple crack families, the free enthalpy of the matrix-cracks system is obtained. Importantly, a back-stress term is involved in the local stress applied to microcracks. This back stress plays the hardening/softening role in the friction criterion which is formulated at local scale. Strain hardening owns to the accumulation of frictional shearing and dilatancy while strain softening is caused by crack growth. The multiscale damage model is used to simulate laboratory tests on the Westerly granite under true triaxial compressions. INTRODUCTIONWhen subjected to compressive loads, hard rocks present nonlinear mechanical behaviors and induced material anisotropies. In that process, two main dissipative mechanisms have been largely identified: damage by crack growth and frictional sliding along closed crack faces, which are usually strongly coupled to each other on crack scale. Theoretical investigations have shown that the damagefriction coupling analyses allow explaining a large number of experimental phenomena involved in brittle or quasi-brittle materials. Concerning constitutive modeling, the standard Eshelby’s solution-based homogenization procedure for heterogeneous materials was recently applied successfully to describing the mechanical and poromechanical behaviors of cracked frictional solids."

Jan 1, 2015

The current understanding of the mechanics of rock fracturing during smooth blasting is largely empirical and qualitative due to an inability to model the dynamic process at the fundamental level. In order to overcome this difficulty, a numerical simulation of smooth blasting is performed using the Dynamic Lattice Network Model. This model is capable of simulating material inhomogeneities and the dynamic evolution of fragmentation at the micromechanical level. In this study, smooth blasting techniques are numerically analyzed to characterize the development of the damage rock zone during explosive fracturing.

Jan 1, 1995

By B. K. Saikia

A preliminary attempt has been made to study the particle size distribution (PSD) of minerals in one of the industrially important pulverized Indian coal sample using computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy (CCSEM). The results show that clay minerals, quartz, pyrite, and pyrrhotite form the bulk of the mineral matter. Minor minerals, such as calcite, dolomite, ankerite, barite, oxidized pyrrhotite, and gypsum are also observed in the coal sample. The PSD of the included minerals is generally observed to be finer than that of the excluded ones in the coal. Thus, the coal rich in included minerals has more small mineral particles, which may affect its reactivity. The proportion of included to excluded is found to be higher in major cases. Si is found to be mostly occurred as quartz and clay minerals, while Al mostly occurs as silicate minerals. Fe is primarily present as iron sulfides, iron oxide, and Fe-Al-silicate. S is partitioned into iron sulfides and gypsum. Most Ca occurs as carbonates and gypsum, with a minor fraction associated with clay minerals. Mg is found to be mainly present as dolomite and clay minerals, with a very minor fraction present as ankerite. The majority of alkali elements are associated with aluminosilicates. P is mostly associated with kaolinite and/or present as more complex compounds containing Al, Si, and other elements as apatite are found to be absent in the coal studied. Ti is mainly present as rutile and kaolinite. The geo-chemical association of the trace elements has also been discussed. Keywords: minerals, Assam coals, Indian coals, CCSEM study

Sep 1, 2012