Metallurgical History Research Articles

CEA programme to model the failure of the lower head in severe accidents

The failure process of the reactor vessel lower head in severe accident conditions is likely to be complex, combining local melting, metallurgical transformations, plastic and viscoplastic flow, material damaging, plastic instability and rupture. A comprehensive research programme has been initiated in 1994 at Commissariat a l’Energie Atomique to work out the data and models necessary for the analysis of the mechanical phenomena involved. It relies on four activities: • modelling based on continuous damage mechanics coupled with plastic or viscoplastic flow under large displacements and large strains conditions; • material characterisation, consisting of tensile and creep tests at temperatures ranging from 600 to 1300°C; • model validation based on analytical or semi-analytical experiments performed on tubes and hemispheres submitted to an internal pressure at very high temperatures; • metallurgical investigations to analyse the role of metallurgical phenomena in the mechanical behaviour of the vessel and quantify the influence of the metallurgical history of the material. The first three activities are now well advanced and have produced significant results regarding the correlation between experiments and computations. They are now oriented towards the influence of geometrical discontinuities, complex loading histories, and strong thermal gradients. The metallurgical investigations have underlined the variability of the mechanical behaviour one can observe according to the various possible microstructures of the material.

Effect of surface depletion of lithium on corrosion behaviour of aluminium alloy 8090 in a marine atmosphere

Aluminium-lithium alloy 8090 is of great interest due to its low density and good mechanical properties. The high reactivity of lithium, however, makes it more prone to corrosion than other aluminium alloys, limiting its use in certain fields. In general, there is an intergranular attack with exfoliation in the most severely attacked sections of this alloy in marine and industrial environments. This attack also depends on the metallurgical history of the material, i.e. the part of the ingot from which the specimens are extracted. After one and two years' exposure to a moderately aggressive marine atmosphere, it was found that the materials taken from the centre of the ingot have a more widespread attack than specimens taken from the edges. This might be explained by the differing composition of the specimens according to their origin; more precisely, by the uneven distribution of the lithium, which tends to spread though the matrix of the ingot and form a lithium-impoverished layer several microns deep as a consequence of the series of thermal treatments applied.

Carbide Diagrams and Precipitation of Alloying Elements during Aging of Low-Alloy Steels

Low-alloy Cr-Mo-V steels with carbon content up to 0.3 to 0.4% are used for steam turbine components. The effect of exposure to high temperatures under long-term aging or service causes carbide reactions, the kinetics and type of which depend on aging and alloying conditions and metallurgical history. In this research, carbide transformations were investigated in several low-alloy Cr-Mo-V steels during prolonged aging and after service duration by means of physical-chemical phase analysis. The results and conclusions are summarized as follows. Generally, carbide reactions in all steels during martensite aging proceed as follows: M{sub 3}C {yields} MC + M{sub 2}C + M{sub 7}C{sub 3} {yields} M{sub 23}C{sub 6} {yields} M{sub 6}C. Carbide diagrams showing the regions of existence of different carbides have been developed. The type of carbide diagram for each steel is determined by alloying. The rate of preliminary cooling from {gamma} region causes the carbide diagram type to change. A decrease in the rate of cooling leads to the formation of more stable carbides. It was concluded that the M{sub 3}C {yields} M{sub 7}C{sub 3} reaction is replaced with M{sub 3}C {yields} M{sub 23}C{sub 6}. All the carbides typical for the given alloying are formed during martensite aging, sincemore » the metal proceeds through the successive stages of carbide transformations. After long-term service at 520 C to 560 C, Mo is mainly in carbides independent of its original content. Molybdenum precipitation in carbides during service occurs in the first 30,000 to 40,000 hours, and for times up to 200,000 hours, there is no significant change in Mo content in carbides. A carbide of M{sub 6}C was formed in the steel with 1% Mo, and M{sub 23}C{sub 6} carbide was found in all steels investigated.« less

All That Glitters: Readings in Historical Metallurgy ed. by Michael L. Wayman

436 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE All That Glitters: Readings in Historical Metallurgy. Edited by Michael L. Wayman. Montreal: Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (1 Place Alexis Nihon, 1210—3400 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, H3Z 3B8), 1989. Pp. x+197; illustrations, references. $C50.00 + $C3.00 handling. Because scientists and technologists from Michael Faraday onward have from time to time interested themselves in the history of metallurgy, British and European metallurgical journals have had a tradition of publishing occasional papers on historical subjects. For example, important papers on topics such as African iron smelting, Roman ferrous metallurgy, and experimental bloomeries have ap­ peared in the Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute. This tradition has been continued by the editors of the Bulletin of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, who have run “Historical Metallurgy Notes” as a regular feature. The historical papers published in the Bulletin since 1979 have been collected into a volume edited by Michael Wayman. They are organized into two sections, the first on the development of metallurgy in general and the second on Cana­ dian metallurgical history. The papers are typically four to six pages long and deal with specific materials, processes, or places. Some report results of new research in archaeological metallurgy, while others are reviews or accounts of local history. Most have references. The book lacks an index, but, since the papers are short, this is not a serious handicap. The papers reflect the interests of a wide range of authors and cover a diverse group of subjects. Those in the first part of the book range over topics that are not specifically Canadian. They include work on the early use of native copper, brass, and cast iron; early metallurgy in Japan and India; and the origins of some of 19thcentury process metallurgy, such as the electrolytic zinc process. Canada is a major primary producer of metals, and the metallur­ gical industries have been a relatively large component of the Cana­ dian economy. An excellent study of the technological history of the 19th-century extractive industries in Ontario has been written by Dianne Newell (Technology on the Frontier, Vancouver, 1986), but we lack other secondary sources on the history of Canadian metallurgy. The second part of All That Glitters helps fill a gap. The papers here cover aspects of both ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy in Canada starting with Les Forges du Saint-Maurice, established in 1729, and continuing into the middle of the 20th century. Some of the topics, such as the history of iron smelting in the Atlantic Provinces, are likely to be quite unfamiliar to readers in the United States. Through the coverage of the principal nonferrous industries, Canada is now better served than the United States, since no overall history of nonferrous metallurgy in the forty-eight states has been written yet. TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 437 Anyone interested in historical metallurgy or the industrial history of North America will find this volume useful. One wishes that the professional mining and metallurgical societies in the United States took as much interest in and set as high a standard for historical works as do the Canadians. Robert B. Gordon Dr. Gordon is professor of geophysics and applied mechanics at Yale University. Daniel Hechstetter the Younger: Memorabilia and Letters 1600—1639— Copper Works and Life in Cumbria. Edited by George Hammersley. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1988. Pp. 395; maps, glossary, bibliogra­ phy, indexes. DM 142.00 (paper). For a large part of a lifetime, George Hammersley has been deeply immersed in the surviving records of the foreign metallurgical family primarily responsible for bringing copper mining and smelting to England in a period when that country was heavily indebted to Continental countries for technological innovations and improve­ ments. His background in the general history of the 16th and 17th centuries, his earlier researches on the iron industry, and his famil­ iarity with both English and German archival sources have equipped him well for the task. In Daniel Hechstetter the Younger, Hammersley edits three major documents, two from the Duke of Northumberland’s Alnwick ar­ chives and one from the Sloan MS in the British Library, which together constitute our main material...

The Beginnings of the Use of Metals and Alloys ed. by Robert Maddin

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE 544 Book Reviews back-to-back crises ofthe Great Depression and the Second World War. His various attempts to fashion energy policy in the rapidly expanding federal bureaucracy of that time is a fascinating part of Clark’s study. Energy and the Federal Government is an important work that should be a required reference for specialists in government policy, technol­ ogists in the energy community, and scholars who have an interest in the area of energy development and policy. George T. Mazuzan Dr. Mazuzan is the National Science Foundation historian. The Beginnings ofthe Use ofMetals and Alloys. Edited by Robert Maddin. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1988. Pp. xiv + 393; illustrations, tables, references, index. $55.00. The Beginnings of the Use ofMetals and Allays represents the proceed­ ings of the second international conference on the subject (BUMA-II) held in Zhengzhou, China, in 1986. It includes twenty-seven of the thirty-six papers presented there (adequate translations of the nine Chinese contributions could not be obtained in time for publication) and three others from the 1981 BUMA-I conference. The authors, an international group of scholars (fourteen countries represented), treat early metallurgical developments in a diverse array of geograph­ ical and cultural settings: China, Africa, the Near East, Southeast Asia, Europe, India, Central and South America. The time period extends from the 8th millennium b.c. (Turkey) to the first millennium of the Christian era. Robert Maddin, the editor, is Honorary Curator of Archaeological Sciences at Harvard’s Peabody Museum and was one of the organizers of both BUMA-I and BUMA-II. The success of the conference and of this volume stems in large part from the achievement of Maddin and his Chinese colleagues in securing the participation not just of metallurgists but also of historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, chemists, and geologists. They, in turn, frequently report on signifi­ cant input from living artisans and artists. The articles have been arranged in roughly chronological-geographical order. In the recent past, models for technological innovation have tended toward one or the other of two extremes: the diffusionist concept, tracing each development to a unique source in time and place; and that of local, independent invention, free from outside stimulus, influence, or inspiration. Collectively, the papers in this volume bring us to a more rational middle ground, where each culture develops its technology neither de novo nor as a gift from abroad but idiosyncratically , subject to numerous influences, not the least of which are the local social and political milieu and the available resources. In Tamara Stech and Maddin’s words, “Technological systems such as metallurgy, TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 545 should be interpreted as integral parts of the cultural context in which they occur rather than as entities possessing their own dynamic, independent of context, which is uniform through time and space” (p. 173). Another contributor, Joyce White, introduces a new phrase, “indigenous innovation,” and aptly applies an old one, “appropriate technology,” to express the same idea. While a couple of the papers are generalist in their approach and a few consider a particular process, alloy, or artifact, the majority focus on developments in a particular region and time frame. China and Southeast Asia receive particular attention (understandably in view of the conference venue), but Oman, Sardinia, Yugoslavia, and Malawi are among the lesser-known regions whose early metallurgical history is studied. Throughout the book, there is considerable emphasis on the nature of technological developments in human and historical terms. Yet, as Cyril Stanley Smith remarks in a philosophical gem of a foreword, “the technical historian . . . [sees] the richness of history in the diversity of ways in which matter, with its constant properties, has been handled” (p. x). Two implicit themes forcibly struck me. First, the major contribution made to archaeometry by new instrumentation techniques. No longer restricted to wet chemical analysis and carbon-14 dating, the modern archaeometallurgist studies chemical composition by chromatography, neutron activation, atomic absorption, PIXE and EDAX X-ray tech­ niques, and mass spectroscopy; detection of buried metal by proton magnetometer surveys; and dating by thermoluminescence, archaeomagnetic aging, and sediment analysis. Photomicrography, now as in the past, is another powerful tool. Second, the materials...

Sir Robert Abbott Hadfield F. R. S. (1858-1940) and the dicovery of manganese steel

SIR Robert Hadfield’s discovery of manganese steel in 1882 is generally recognized as the landmark in metallurgical history that inaugurated the age of alloy steels. He related some of the details of this breakthrough in a major study, Metallurgy and Its Influence on Modern Progress (London, Chapman & Hall, 1925), and also set his work in a historical context with a subsequent publication on Michael Faraday’s alloy researches (1). However, many of the events surrounding Hadfield’s discovery are unknown. This paper, by drawing on Hadfield’s diaries, letters and experimental notebooks, which have recently come to light from his firm’s East Hecla works in Sheffield, adds new information about a key metallurgical development (2). After an introductory section, outlining Hadfield’s career before his discovery, his experimental work is discussed and the problems associated with the introduction of the revolutionary material are then highlighted.

Creep Behavior of Copper and Copper Alloys As Design Criteria in Pressure Vessel Manufacture

Abstract Six materials, copper and copper alloys, have been subjected to long-term creep tests (30 000 h) per DIN 50 118 at a range of 100 to 250°C, except for aluminum bronze which was tested from 150 to 300°C. The following annealed materials were tested: SF-Cu (DIN 1787)—equivalent to C 12200, Phosphorus Deoxidized Copper, high residual Phosphorus (Cu-DHP); CuZn39Pb0.5 (DIN 17 660)—equivalent to C 33500, low-leaded brass; CuZn20Al2 (DIN 17 660)—equivalent to C 68700, aluminum-brass, arsenical; CuZn28Sn1 (DIN 17 660)—equivalent to C 44300, Admiralty brass, arsenical; CuZn38SnAl (DIN 17 660), improved Muntz-metal, 60%, not standardized in the United States; and CuAl10Ni5Fe4 (DIN 17 665)—similar to C 62730 or C 63000, nickel-aluminum-bronze. The test conditions and the metallurgical history of the materials are described. The minimum value of the 1% creep strain and the average value of creep strength, both temperature and duration dependent, as well as the stress for minimum creep rates of 1% for a given time are also shown. The design criteria for pressure vessels are discussed.

Creep and transient testing of irradiated type 316 stainless steel

In this study the failure conditions of stress, temperature and time for an irradiated type 316 stainless steel have been analyzed. A Larson-Miller parameter relationship has been used to predict failure when the irradiation and metallurgical history of the material were known. Creep failure tests plus temperature and pressure ramp-to-failure tests were conducted on type 316 annealed stainless steel cylindrical segments which were used as cladding for metallic nuclear fuel elements. The results were compared using a plot of the natural logarithm of effective failure stress versus the Larson-Miller parameter (time-temperature relationship) values. Failure curves for various cladding segments were characterized by two linear relationships, each representing a distinct fracture mechanism. One of the fracture mechanisms was independent of material irradiation and metallurgical history, while the other fracture mechanism was highly dependent on the metallurgical history (annealed as against cold worked) and on the irradiation history (fluence and temperature) of the material. A comparison was made between observed in-core failures and experimental out-of-core failures, leading to the conclusion that out-of-core test results can be used to predict in-core failures accurately when the fuel cladding history is known.

Mechanized delivery of coke breeze into the ladle at two-bath furnaces

The studies also showed that the properties of the weld metal are determined in large part by the metallurgical history of the metal of the welding wire (the steelmaking technology and the conversion technology). Even though two heats of wire metal may have nearly the same compositionincluding the same content of low-melting impurities and gas and slag inclusions -the resistance of the weld metal obtained from these wires to hot cracks may differ sharply. In the future it will be necessary to select the metal used to make highalloy welding wire.

Effect of irradiation on the critical currents of alloy and compound superconductors

The effects of irradiation on the critical current density J c(H) of several superconducting compounds and Nb-Ti alloys have been examined by a number of workers. The irradiations in the studies include electrons, fast neutrons, ions and fission fragments. In alloys, changes in J c(H) on irradiation depend on the metallurgical history of the material and indicate that radiation defects modify the interaction between the fluxoid array and the sample microstructure. Radiation defects in alloys can also affect J c(H) through small decreases in T c , the transition temperature and ρ, the normal state resistivity. Irradiations of A15 compounds to moderate fluences (dependent on the type and energy of irradiating particle) lead to decreases in T c of ∼1 K and increases in J c(H) with dose for most of the samples investigated and can be qualitatively understood as resulting from changes in ρ and the pinning force acting on the fluxoids. At higher dose levels, larger depressions of T c and possibly γ, the electronic specific heat coefficient, lead to drastic reductions J c(H) . The effect of various energetic particles and irradiation temperature on J c(H) are discussed.

Intermetallic compounds: Their past and promise

This review serves to call attention to intermetallic compounds as a class of materials of great practical importance in both ancient and modern times and as a fascinating topic of scientific inquiry. Exploration of the relevant metallurgical history illustrates the processes by which both ideas and practical developments evolve and emphasizes that some of the threads may be traced back very far in time. Three general conclusions are drawn from the review: a) The intrinsic properties of intermetallic compounds are truly unique and at present levels of understanding are not predictable from the fundamental parameters of the constituent atoms, b) Successful applications of intermetallics do not result from the mere knowledge of their composition, crystal structure, and intrinsic properties but require as well a skillful and understanding control of their processing, c) There is desirably and necessarily a strong interplay between science and technology in the development of the intermetallic field. The technological opportunity forecast by some unique property measurements stimulates further related scientific investigation. Conversely scientific advances, both those specific to intermetallics and those pertinent to metallurgy more generally, facilitate the rate of reduction to practice of empirical discoveries.

Mechanical properties of large forgings of steel 25

1. The metallurgical history has a relatively small effect on the fatigue strength of steel with high ductility. This is explained by the low sensitivity of such steels to stress concentrations. 2. The technique of manufacturing large forgings of steel with high ductility from ingots from two heats ensures fairly high quality of the steel and the same fatigue strength as for rolled steels.

A method for predicting X‐ray fluorescence anomalies in multiphase metal alloys

AbstractThe problem presented by a multiphase metal system is studied, where one element is able to migrate from one phase of the alloy to another due to different states of heat treatment. The experimental work was performed on the simple Al + Si system; the results demonstrate that in extreme cases relative analytical errors of 400% may be accumulated if the ‘metallurgical history’ of sample and standard is neglected. The Claisse‐Samson particle size formulae for powder samples are applied to the grain size of the phases present in the allows with good agriment, and may be used to predict whether analytical problems are to be expected.

THE METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION OF A DEBASED SILVER COIN OF MAXIMINUS DAZA ISSUED BY CONSTANTINE I

ABSTRACTSNon‐destructive methods of chemical analysis always involve uncertainties, and in some circumstances they can be quite unsuitable for a true analysis. The greater value of a completely destructive chemical analysis and a comprehensive metallographic study for revealing the intentions of the moneyers and the entire metallurgical history of an ancient coin is demonstrated for the case of a rare silver‐coated debased silver issue of the early fourth century A.D.

Effect of metallurgical history on critical current density in NbTi alloys

Data are presented describing critical current density Jc as a function of Ha, applied magnetic field, for NbTi alloys containing between 22 and 38 at.% Nb. The effect on Jc(Ha) of precipitation heat treatments between 275 and 565°C was studied in conjunction with cold area reductions up to 99.9%. The highest critical current densities, Jc(Ha), were in the range 1.0 to 3.6×105 A/cm2 at 3.0 T where most of the data were obtained. Critical temperature data are presented as a function of alloy composition and metallurgical preparation.

Resin-Loaded Papers - A Versatile Medium for Sampling and Standardization

AbstractResin-loaded papers composed of approximately 50% cellulose and 50% ion-exchange or chelating resin provide an ideal matrix for many X-ray spectrographic analyses. Standards are prepared by multiple filtration of solutions of known composition through the paper to achieve quantitative collection or by the use of a radiotracer as a monitor for nonquantitative collection. Solutions prepared fram unknown samples are processed in the same manner as the standards.Advantages of the resin-loaded papers are: reduction of interelement effects because standards and unknowns are present in a similar low X-ray absorbing matrix; physical parameters such as metallurgical history, grain size, and surface preparation are eliminated; and sampling errors are significantly reduced and sensitivity greatly increased by concentrating trace elements separated from large samples.Application of these papers to a variety of metallurgical, geological, and water samples will be summarized. The possible use of resin-loaded papers as standards for air pollution monitoring will be examined.

Plutonium Oxidation in Moist Oxygen‐Nitrogen Mixtures

Plutonium oxidation studies were conducted at 90°C in dry air and moist oxygen‐nitrogen mixtures using both cast and rolled plutonium. Oxidation in dry air obeyed a linear rate law with average rate constants of 0.042 and 0.050 mg/cm2hr for the cast and rolled plutonium, respectively. Both metal samples were found to oxidize faster in the moist oxygen mixtures than in moist nitrogen. Linear oxidation rates were observed in moist oxygen‐nitrogen mixtures with average rate constants of 0.68 and 0.34 mg/cm2hr for the cast and rolled plutonium. In moist nitrogen oxidation followed a parabolic rate law with average rate constants of 3.60 and 1.11 mg/cm2hr1/2 for the cast and rolled samples, respectively. The reaction with water vapor observed during this investigation was greatly influenced by the purity of the metal as well as its metallurgical history. Samples of cast, electrorefined plutonium containing some microcracks reacted very rapidly, while for the relatively impure rolled material the reaction was somewhat slower. In all cases at this temperature, the reaction with water vapor was diffusion controlled and not reaction controlled as has been reported previously. The diffusing species is believed to be ions formed by the dissociative adsorption of water on plutonium dioxide.

The use of a glow-discharge lamp as a light source in the spectrometric analysis of gold

A spectrographic method has been developed to analyse gold alloys with a glow-discharge lamp as a light source. The measured line intensities are referred to the constant sputtering rate of the sample. The method shows very good accuracy and reproducibility. Direct determination of all sample components including the matrix element, is possible. The effects of metallurgical history are suppressed. Calibration curves can be programmed in spite of a third partner effect. The reason for the third partner effect is investigated and the influence of the sample composition on the discharge is discussed.

Losses due to moving fluxoids in superconductors

Abstract A macroscopic description of the intermediate state in hysteretic superconductors, previously applied to the case of near-static fluxoid distributions, has now been extended to the case of fluxoids constrained to move at definable average velocities. The model allows the prediction, analytically and semi-quantitatively, of the results of flux-flow experiments and it establishes an analytic correlation between those results and measurements of the frequency dependence of the apparent critical current density determined by a.c. magnetization. Since a number of physical parameters of the superconductors is incorporated into the model, a variety of checks on the validity of the model description is available. Samples having a single composition and metallurgical history were tested extensively both in the flux-flow geometry and in a.c. magnetization under a variety of test conditions. Analysis of these experimental results in terms of the model constitutes both a test of the model and a quantitative ...

アルゴンアーク溶解試料成型による鉄鋼の発光分光分析

On applying the emission spectrophotometric analysis to steel, we have usually determined using complicated corrections and layer-separated calibration curves in accordance with the difference ot its metallurgical history. Besides it couldn't be applied to irregular shaped samples such as the chipped and wire.The following method was examined to solve above problems: melting irregular shaped samples such as the chipped, block and wire by Ar-arc melting furnace, casting as the bottom and determining by the emission spectrophotometric analysis.It was showed that this method didn't require the correction by its metallurgical history and was satisfactory in regard of precision and accuracy.Significant improvement in operation efficiency is expected by simultaneous determination of many elements by this method, compared with the chemical analysis as before.