The Iron Age 1923-07-26: Vol 112 Iss 4

THE IRON AGE New York, July 26, 1923 ESTABLISHED 1855 VOL. 112, No. 4 Strength of Steels at High Temperatures * Carbon and Alloy Steels Compared—Effects of Carbon Content and Heat Treatment on Plain Steels— Nickel and Chromium Steels BY H. J. FRENCH to determine the general effects of varying composi- tion, particularly with respect to alloying elements, upon the tensile properties of steel at temperatures up to about 600 deg. C. When work was started it was found impracticable to secure alloys in sufficient quantities and 7 VESTS described in this report were made primarily made under comparable condi- 100 - tions in which the proportions of a single element were varied 80 while all other factors were «© ,. kept constant, so that the in- o * vestigation was largely re- § 49 stricted to commercial steels. - Only short-time tests were ~— 20° made which do not give in- - formation so much desired, i.e., 2 comparisons under sustained © ¢9 | loads in those temperature ranges in which the time fac- £0 tor is of prime importance, but - sufficient work was carried 20 | out to warrant some conclu- 9 | sions of general interest. While long-time tests are required to determine limitirg temperatures below which def- inite loads can be applied with- én | out considerable flow and sub- sequent failure they do not, £0 + however, supply complete in- formation unless carried out 20 under actual operating tondi- ¢ , tions, for in most cases in & — which steels are required for , high temperature service other 2 factors such as resistance to 40; specific types of corrosion, etc., fil are of equal importance. Em- = phasis is therefore laid upon 0 be the fact that the scope of the tens a described tests is restricted to one phase of the general sub- 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 Temperature, deg cent Fig ] High temperature AND W. A. TUCKER others but no detailed review of their work will here be given. Instead there is appended a bibliography con- taining a summary of steels tested by various mMvesti- gators, and in addition such comparisons as appear necessary or desirable will be included in the various figures or tables which follow. Materials and Methods Used Twenty-two _ steels, first normalized or quenched and tempered, were tested at vari- ous temperatures between 20 and 600 deg. C. These include carbon steels of varying car- bon content, steels containing single alloying elements «such as nickel, chromium, cobalt, tungsten and uranium and commercial quarternary steels such as_ nickel-chromium, chromium-vanadium, chro- mium-molybdenum and _ nickel- uranium. Except as otherwise indicated, flat test specimens were used with a 2-in. gage length and reduced section of 7/16 in. x % in. and in all cases the equipment and procedure employed was exactly the same as that used in previous tests and already described in de- tail. The terms proportional limit, tensile strength, etc., used in this report are largely “ap- parent values,” i.e., values ob- served under a definite set of test conditions and do not have the same significance as in tests at atmosphéric tempera- tures, inasmuch as the prop- erties of steel are so largely tensile properties of hot dependent upon the rate of r rolled or normalized carbon steel Compos*tions : ject of the properties of steels C.0.18 Mn.0.43 P,0.017 8,0.035 Si,... loading throughout a large part at elevated temperatures. 0.38 0.56 0.014 0.013 0.14 of the temperature range con- The work supplements that 0.59 0.40 0.017 0.027 0.05 sidered. They serve solely as described in an earlier publica- Steels normalized by heating respectively to 900,850 a basis for Se@mparison of tion [9]¢ in which attention and 850 deg. C, and after 30 min. cooling in air various steels or treatments was called to the increasing interest in the behavior of steels subjected to high tem- perature service and the inadequacy of available data. Since that time considerable additional information has been presented by Edert [10], Dickenson [11] and *Published by permission of the director of the Bureau of Standards of the U. S. Department of Commerce The authors are physicist and laboratory aid respectively at the Bureau of Standards, Washington. +The references in brackets refer to those given in the bibliography at the conclusion of this report. and .were obtained in_ tests in which care was taken to load all specimens slowly at the same speed. Duplicate, and frequently triplicate, determinations were made at the majority of tempera- tures chosen and in such cases averages only have bten used in the data which follow. No extended description of inflections in physi¢a! properties-temperature curves will be attempted as tBureau of Standards, Tech. Paper 219 193 aig R= ~ 194 THE IRON AGE these are clearly shown for the different steels in the illustrations accompanying this report. The investiga- tion consists primarily of the compilation of a relatively large amount of test data, not well adapted to detailed comparisons of this nature, so that more attention will be paid to the general effects of heat treatment and different alloying elements and to features of special interest in connection with individual alloys. Carbon Steels Stress vs. mit of proportionality. Considerable dis cussion has centered upon the changes in proportional! A Somes . - - e ¥ well XL Pe Be N ‘ / + dete k he — \ “ 4 - * 5 ~ + —+ + at SS ae ee DDOND wT Pe . ~~ | a CULT | we 7 ee ee * et nd ¢ ‘ YY” ~ ~ >: > —y~ . ee Qn SS an od X a + = ny AL fp. = 2 J X eae ~ ’ 500 l High D é ns ' \ jue ned ans I ind te re I i stee ( { V ( p t N ‘ N ( Q hed samp h d ! i = i ed i ) t ‘ » ’ ‘ ( limit with first rise in temperature in medium or low carbon steels. Some investigators report direct de crease in values while others find negligible variations or a marked increase for alloys of similar composition in which all other factors such as tensile strength and elongation show close agreement Results shown in Figs. 1 and 2 low-carbon teels rolled col together with those already reported* fo or at blue heat (300 deg. c C.) indicate that the proportional limit of steel whicl has been largely relieved of stress by suitable treat ment decreases with rise in temperature. In highly stressed metal resulting from cold or blue-work o1 quenching and that having residual stress such as often exists in thin sections of hot finished steel, the propor tional limit either remains at approximately its room temperature value over a well defined temperature in- terval or shows an increase with first rise in tempera ture. Effect of varying proportions of carbon. As shown in Fig. 1 the general form of the tensile strength-tem- perature curves is the same for rolled and normalized metal and for carbon steels of varying carbon content. However, the lower the carbon the lower is the tempera- ture of maximum strength but above about 350 deg. C the strength of the highest carbon steel drops more *Bureau of Standards, Tech. Pape July 26, 1923 rapidly than that of the others, results which agre with the early work of Howardt. All three steels have good ductility at temperature of about 350 deg. C. and above, but brittleness in th blue heat range (250 to 300 deg. C.), as shown by value of reduction of area, increases rapidly with carbor content. Likewise the increase in strength at various temperatures produced by raising carbon from 0.38 to 0.59 per cent is not nearly as great as that resulting from a similar increase from 0.18 to 0.38 per cent. It therefore appears desirable to keep carbon low espe cially when considering temperatures around 300 deg. C. Effect of heat treatment.—Curves showing the effect of temperature upon tensile properties of 0.33 per cent carbon steel, first water quenched or quenched and tem pered, are given in Fig. 2. Comparison with normalized steel shows ‘that the improved properties obtained at ordinary temperatures from quenching and tempering are not maintained at 465 deg. C., but benefits are de rived at temperatures up ‘to about 350 deg. C. This is shown by a similar increase in strength at blue heat for both normalized and quenched and tempered samples as well as by the fact that the limit of proportionality does not drop as rapidly with increase in temperature At the same time values of elongation and reduction of area in the quenched and tempered steel are very nearly equal to and in some cases greater than those in the normalized metal at corresponding temperatures. Values shown in Fig. 2 for the untempered stee represent combined effects of temperature and variatio in properties due to structural changes encountered upon tempering and have been included mainly to show the form of the proportional limit-temperature curve Alloy Steels Steel containing 1.25 per ce nt manganese.—Increas¢ in manganese in normalized low-carbon steel from the usual proportions to 1.25 per cent does not materially alter the changes in tensile properties with rise in tem Scat pi ieee Arn | ; | strengts + | Ten C yl in i “~ Fig } Higtl temperature tensile properties ol manganese steel. C, 0.38 Mn, Yr. © 047 Si, 0.12 Heated 30 min. at S deg ( nd air cooled Breaking strength id a noment of fracture perature, as is shown in Fig. 3, but produces a some- what stronger metal without appreciable loss in duc- tility. The benefits derived from such an increase are, however, greater at temperatures below about 400 deg. C. than above and became generally less as the tempera- ture is increased. Nickel steels.—Addition of 3.50 per cent of nickel ‘J. EK. Howard, “Physical Properties of Iron and Steel at Higher Temperatures,” THE IRON AcGp, April 10, 1890, p. 585 July 26, 1923 to normalized medium-low carbon steel raises the pro- portional limit and tensile strength at room tempera- tures with only a minor decrease in ductility but these advantages largely disappear at temperatures of about 500 to 550 deg. C. In fact, comparative tests made and ilready reported [9] show the nickel steel to be some- s—sh An Ten ahs sb 4B BRO OO EEO B00 emperature, deg. cent Fig. 4—High temperature tensile properties of 28 per cent nickel steel C, 0.20 Mn, 0.80 Si, 0.15 Ni, 28.6 Test bars 0.4 in. diameter with 2-in. gage length; first heated to 800 deg. C. for 30 min. and air cooled. Break- ing strength is unit load at moment of fracture what “softer” and more ductile at 550 deg. C. than plain carbon steel of similar carbon content produced under comparable manufacturing conditions. There would therefore seem to be little or no advantage derived from this nickel addition except at slightly elevated tempera- tures at which quenched and tempered carbon steel also shows superiority over normalized metal. Curves for 28 per cent nickel steel are given in Fig. 1 and show that the characteristic low limit of propor- tionality at ordinary temperatures is gradually lowered to a few thousand pounds at 550 to 600 deg. C. While the strength is slightly higher in this temperature range, the ductility as represented by elongation and reduc- tion of area is only about half that of carbon steel of similar carbon content. Likewise no appreciable gain in strength commensurate with the large proportion of added nickel is found at 300 deg. C., but special charac- teristics such as resistance to certain types of high temperature corrosion and low coefficient of expansion in certain low temperature ranges make this steel of special value. An interesting feature is the drop in both strength and ductility with temperature rise from 500 to 600 deg. C. A similar effect was observed beginning at lower temperatures in steel of slightly higher nickel content by Bregowsky and Spring [1]. Chromium steels.—As noted in a previous report [9] normalized steel containing 1 per cent chromium shows greater resistance to “weakening” by increase in tem- perature to about 550 deg. C. than either plain carbon or 3.50 per cent nickel steels. To obtain comparisons be- tween alloys of higher chromium content tests were made at 20, 300, and 550 deg. C. on three steels contain- ing respectively 2.9, 5.4 and 10 per cent chromium and 0.08 to 0.15 per cent carbon, as shown in Fig. 5. These steels, which were prepared at the Bureau of Standards, were melted in magnesia-zircon crucibles in a high frequency induction furnace and ingots about 1% in. square weighing 1000 to 1200 gms. were chill cast. They were subsequently forged at about 1100 deg. C. to VY» in. flats about 1% in. in width and then subjected to a high temperature quench from 930 deg. C. to assist in breaking up possible traces of ingotism remaining *“Stainless Steel at High Temperatures,” THe IRON AGE, 110, No. 7, p. 404 (Aug. 17, 1922). THE IRON AGE 195 after the limited hot reduction. The bars were next heated to 875 deg. C. and cooled in air and round tensile test specimens 0.4 in. in diameter in reduced section prepared. Unfortunately the silicon content varies between the low and two higher chromium steels, so that the re- sults shown in Fig. 5 represent the combined effects of varying proportions of both elements. However, the general effect of chromium is to retard or minimize “softening” around 550 deg. C., a feature which will be referred to again in a subsequent section of this report. The 5.4 and 10 per cent chromium steels are air harden- ing and show high strength yalues which can be modi- fied by change in initial temperature of cooling and which would be materially reduced upon long exposure at elevated temperatures. Quenching of stainless steel vs. high temperature tensile properties.—Tests were also made to show the effect of varying heat treatment upon one of the most important industrial air hardening alloys in the iron- carbon-chromium series for high temperature service, namely, 13 per cent chromium or so-called stainless steel. Results will not, however, be reproduced, as these data have already been published in THe IRON AGE.* This alloy has high strength and limit of proportionality in the range about 550 deg. C. where most carbon and structural alloy steels show a decided “weakening” and at the same time it retains good ductility. However, , Pc ! —_ \ a stu. cr’ 20+ , , cavern N be as + e- , ; Floor _— | Ss SSC | 300% Mh () - + - TEMS/ILE STRENGTH e00r T —,——— z 160+ > poles 140+ — “o + c cw —- & : A Ss) > |}00+—+——_+—- © - +———+ }———}— Jenene ww? 2 R - «. OS is BO+ Ss > a ee . : i B | 4§ | S on » | — 7 “a 2 T Tt ? T $——+- ~D —+—}; S | $2 fa An } & . eae _ ol 40 .—_—i Declan i 4 4 1 4 ee , | c.2 5 © oS To. ee he C nromum, per cent ' Fig. 5—Tensile properties of various chromium and chromium-silicon steel at 20, 300 and 550 deg. C Compositions : C,0.08 Mn, 0.57 P,0.014 8,0.042 Si,0.22 Cr, 2.88 0.12 0.64 0.010 0.030 0.63 5.40 0.15 0.59 0.005 0.054 0.79 9.97 Refer to text for complete preliminary heat treatments its advantages at lower temperatures, between 20 and 300 deg. C. over quenched and tempered carbon steel of similar carbon content are not so marked. (To be concluded in THE IRON AGE, Aug. 2) Oe vets eer pecensee Cray With the starting up of one blast furnace and sev- eral open-hearth furnaces at the plant of the British Empire Steel Corporation, Sydney, N. S., on July 16, and the determination of the company to operate cval mines at Glace Bay, the strike situation there is tak- ing on a new and more active phase. That there will be resistance to the operation of trains is assured and preparations are being made to provide a strong mili- tary escort. A general tightening up is reported. The police and military forces have a drag net over the whole area. Around reserve colleries a searchlight is playing all night, picking out small groups where pick- ets have gathered or miners congregate to talk matters over. vie July 26, 1923 THE IRON AGE BUSY AT INDIANAPOLIS Continued Activity of Metal Working Industries Building Breaks Records INDIANAPOLIS, July 23.—With the exception of the automotive interests, the metal working industries of Indianapolis are still running at about the same rate that has been maintained for the past three or four Walsh & McGee’s Bar Mill at Newark, N. J.. Nearly Completed The Walsh & McGee Steel Co., which was organized some time ago to manufacture rolled products, is com- pleting the construction of a mill at 646 Doremus Avenue, Newark, N. J. Since the organization of the company, Phillip C. Walsh, 3d, made an extensive sur- vey of rolling mills in the East, with a view to in- stalling such equipment and methods of operation as months. The demand for automobiles has fallen off to some extent, and production programs have been cur- tailed, but the manufacturers state that this is nothing unusual at this time of year, and they are making if preparations for fall programs which call for prac- tically the same rate of operations as was maintained during the spring months. Many of the manufacturers contemplate increasing the percentage of closed models this fall, and some fears are being entertained that body manufacturers, who are reported to be heaviily booked for the closed models, will be unable to take care will permit running a mill with the minimum labor re- quirement. Heating furnaces, it is stated, will be charged directly from a conveyor. In the charging and discharging of the furnace it is expected that one man will suffice where two were formerly required. The depth of the furnace is sufficient for charging and draw- ing operations to be done simultaneously. It is es- timated that a billet will be drawn every 10 or 12 seconds. Small bars in various sizes will be rolled and the initial capacity of the mill will be approximately 600 ty ; of the demand. : reer tons per month. A branch line has been laid to. the Bese With the exception of those foundries catering plant affording excellent shipment by rail in addition Bes fs ; largely to the automobile trade, there has been little to docking facilities on an 800-ft. water frontage on anaes decrease in the melt of pig iron. Chain manufacturers {the Passaic River. If present plans carry, the plant i i > Soesk ce ee oe ck eee ee es ae esque — ae dlrs . He no a er cle ble decline it th 2 lemand for deo » fer rings , ay Ss, en eee Se wy tg ly hay ae. a ; op h en oa | 4 2h cs oe the at f i; 5S, founder of the Concrete Steel Co., New York, is asso- est a : a pt ee P os pa xy ‘de os a connected with the National Steel Roller Co., New York, ee very heavy business, and on hand saw orders are from = ang Walsh Sons & Co., Newark, N. J. Mr. Walsh’s Rtas three to four months behind. Recent standardization 1} other, William Walsh, also is associated with him. oo ot a oe working out well in the saw manufactur- The offices of the Walsh & McGee company are located test” ing industry. Machine tool manufacturers report a let- at 2 Rector Street. New York : er up in orders during the past four weeks, and curtail- ' : ie ment of production is expected unless demand improves. —_—____—_————_ aes bY There is no acute shortage of either skilled or un- 1° . - Nope ; : 'e . :, skilled workers. Workmen released from automobile June Shipments of Clay Fire and Silica Brick i, hy? pants have found employment in other lines, and the Show a Loss ; ae” labor supply about balances. as ey Statistics compiled by the Refractories Manufac- <a ete 3 Building operations to date this year have broken all ate ne a > 7 te fe previous records, but a decrease is expected in the sec- ae Association, Frederic W. Donahoe, secretary, oe: Oliver Building, Pittsburgh, for June show a loss of ond half. Plans now maturing call for a heavy program about 8 per cent in that month’s business in clay fire pat bh of building to commence shortly after the new year brick as compared with the previous month, and about igi opens. 7 per cent in silica brick by comparison with May. | ae f With the same capacity reporting for both months, the tery Increased Activities of Pennsylvania Iron and figures show that clay fire brick shipments for June Aras 8% : ys were equal to 76 per cent of monthly economical pro- at Steel Industries ducing capacity, as compared with 84 per cent in May, fet HARRISBURG, Pa., July 23.—Activities in the iron while silica brick shipments which in May were 66 per s. and steel industries are on the increase in Pennsyl- cent of monthly economical producing capacity were te vania, according to the semi-monthly labor report to down to 59 per cent for June. Shipments rather than e:5 Dr. Royal Meeker, secretary of Labor and Industry, mew orders tell the real story of business, since, as is are 2 for the period ending July 15. An improvement is indicated in the table, orders are subject to cancella- x noted in the common labor situation, although ma- tion. There was a slight loss of production in June in chinists and machine operators are in great demand. both classes of brick as compared with May, that in qo ae Erie reports most of its iron and steel companies clay fire brick being 4 per cent and that in silica brick 5 “i$ are strengthening their organizations by weeding out per cent. Stocks of clay fire brick at the end of June a > inefficient workers. There is no urgent demand for were 4 per cent greater than at the end of May, but pos skilled mechanics, although they can be placed with- Stocks of silica brick were less by 3 per cent than that ee} out difficulty. A slight surplus of semi-skilled workers of one month before. Net new business in clay fire - is reported. brick decreased 9 per cent, but that in silica brick Harrisburg reports that the supply of qualified gained by 4 per cent. workers does not cover the number lost through dis- The figures in detail, in 9-in. equivalents, figures in i missals, separations and otherwise. Several larger a being the percentages to monthly economi- = concerns in the district recently agreed to reduce the #! Producing capacity, follow: fe : number of working .days from seven to six for men Clay Fire Brick ae employed in the gas-producing and open-hearth de- June May = partments and such others as formerly required seven- ee reporting 75,341,977 75,341,977 ee aimee => . . . . , Stock, first of month 152,193,088 (201) 151,313,259 (200) yrs ay se ‘e s is expecte > rec » the turnove : , v a day service. This is expected to reduce the tu ee 61165692. (81> ee aenies (85) of labor. = , Shipments -e+eeees 57,785,828 (76) 63,511,279 (84) dee ie Johnstown ¥éports an improvement in the labor sit- Stock, end of month... 155,575,382 (205) 152,193,088 (201) re uation over the first of the month. All plants are op- New onders .......... eae rts Tea waa 5 y ‘ ‘ € é D esa ot wo 094,192 0,219 ie erating at capacity where efficient employees can be Net new business 44.981584 (58) 50,829°'724 (67) obtained; McKeesport says its plants are operating Unfilled orders ....... 89,365,766 (118) 102,869,510 (136) } : I y Pp p £ e+ .:, at as near capacity as is possible, in view of the Silica Brick ea shortage of skilled and semi-skilled workmen. Capacity reporting ; 32,565,500 23,565,000 i “ . . ee Stock, firs onth.. 34,960,553 (155 36,055,50 ; Maps The demand for workmen in the Pittsburgh district P,Q fret OF month re a oa can one <Ah) afi * is relatively good, and there are no indications of any Shipments ........... 13,258,749 (59) 14,878,632 (66) ah. marked change in the immediate future. Car com- Stock, end of month... 34,310,226 (152) 34,960,553 (155) a . ° ° ° . . I S 29% 9 9.955 5 4) i panies and railroads are said to be increasing their tae ele eee eee en erty a) SPs forces. The supply of workmen in the iron and steel Net new business..... 10,292,682 (46) 9.549622 (42) . trades generally is somewhat short of the demand. Unfilled orders ....... 34,927,877 (155) 37,892,944 (168) A French Steel Plant Built Since the War Schneider Works at Caen in Normandy Originally a Thyssen Enterprise \ Native Ores and British Fuel Used—Basic Bessemer and Open-Hearth Steels —_ BY CAPT. GODFREY L. CARDEN the existence of much iron ore in northwestern France. The principal field was located near the old town of Caen, in Normandy. Today an iron and steel plant employing 4500 men is in full operation at Mondeville, distant about six kilometers from Caen. The owner of the new works is Société Normande de Metallurgie. The major portion of the capital is in the hands of Messrs. Schneider of Le Creusdt. These interests succeeded the Société des Hauts- Forneaux et Acieries de Caen, under which name the present works were started. The moving spirit in the latter firm was Thyssen, of Mulheim-on-the-Ruhr. It was Thyssen who first saw the possibilities for a steel works in Normandy. Combining German with B ORINGS made about fifteen years ago disclosed French capital he acquired holdings in the Caen region and began the erection of furnaces and mill buildings. No considerable progress had been made when the World War put an end to his activities. The major portion of the present plant was con structed during the war. Here is one French operation in which expansion and development have continued after the close of hostilities. I visited the Mondeville works some weeks ago and was afforded every facility by M. Morette, the director-general; M. Homery, as- sistant; M. Legelin, in charge of blast furnaces; M. Tripier, head of the technical staff; M. Bullet, in charge of fuel utilization, and M. Paquet, in charge of rolling mills. To circle the Mondeville mills inclosure is to traverse Beyond the Coke Ovens May Be Seen the Network of Structural Shapes Conspicuous in This Blast Furnace Installation and One of the Groups of Five Hot Stoves 197 spar we ect THE seven kilometers, and within the inclosure there are 50 kilometers of rail- road tracks. The site of the works is a commanding plateau overlooking the valley of the Orne. Approxi- mately 160 hectares (1 hectare equals 2.47 acres) comprise the works area on this plateau. From this wonderful view is obtained of the rounding country. Caen is seen in the distance, while the white metal roads of the region are traceable by the eye for miles away in many directions. The Orne touches the base of the plateau, and running parallel that stream and close to it the Canal Marit'me. Between the Orne and the canal the com- pany owns.a further area of 200 hectares on which runs its railroad- connections with the state railroads and the harbor.=From the steel. works. to the craft in the company’s own port the distance is about a mile. of approximately a distance eminence a sur- with is seen It requires 50,000 tons of coal per month to keep the Mondeville plant running at full capacity, and practically all coal used is brought in fron England. The canal from the sea is about 10 miles Jong.and at present admits steamers of 2500 tons carrying capacity. The maximum draft is 17 ft. Canal now in progress aim to admit 5000-ton steamers to the port of Caen. The Orne reaches the sea at Quis treham. Normandy ore is the principal return freight improvements IRON r 4, AGE Ta BR RE Td How the Furnaces Are Charged and How the Fur- nace Gases Are Handled Are Indicated in These Two views f the Two Blast Furnaces at Caen for bringing in coal. In addition, the Mondeville works are shipping abroad about 50 per cent of their output, mainly to England. Apart from steamers steel rails, these shipments are mostly billets and blooms. The transportation cost between Caen port and the mills ranges from 2 to 3 francs. This is cheap when compared with transportation charges imposed on steel works in eastern France. Between Antwerp, for example, and many of the works in eastern France, the rail charges are approximately 30 francs per ton. Coal and Coke There is no coal at Caen, and therefore it is found advantageous to import coal from England, since steamers’ can come directly to»the port of; Caen, thus rendering transportation cheap. Coal destined for coke is discharged at Caen into 50-ton cars, and is unloaded automatically at the works into pits of 25,000 tons capacity.- The coke produced ‘is used for the works furnaces and a-surplus is sold. The present output is approximately 10,000°tons:-per-10 ‘days. This production is obtained from 14,000 tons of ¢oal, wet, as received from the cars. There are six batteries, each comprising 42 ovens of 10 tons capacity. Five batteries were at work at July 26, 1923 e time of my visit, and the above production is be'ng ured with these five groups. About have en working on an average every day. The time of king is about 30 hours, 160 chambers are aded daily ( 24 hr. x 200 30 hr. \ The maximum 160 ) itput of six batteries is er day. ‘ke oven is 200 ovens since rated at 1500 The Société Franco-Belge de used. The coke oven gas available-is used for the open earth and soaking pit furnaces, being mixed with a onvenient proportion of blast furnace gas. The Ruhr occupation having shut off the flow of German coke to both France and Belgium, Mondeville being called upon to furnish more coke for the ‘rench market. The demand has increased appreciably in recent months. The price of English coal at the ime of my visit was about 50 shillings per ton. The stopping of coal from the Ruhr has been felt the entire industries of eastern France. french mines as destroyed by the Germans are not yet n condition to serve French wants, and to restore mines will take yet. The Lens mines were damaged most and these mines were regarded as important adjuncts of he steel industry. Blast two blast furnaces at Mondeville rated capacity of 400 tons per day each. tons of coke Tours type of steel hese as sources of supply several years Furnaces There are with In actual The Hearth and Bessemer Converters, To- gether With a 700-Ton Well- Open - Furnaces man Mixer, Are Located ina Building 886 Ft. Long ff THE IRON AGE 199 practice, the total daily production is around 700 tons. Total 15 ft. 5 in.; top The principal dimensions of the furnaces are: height, 89 ft. 6 in eartn d‘ameter, diameter, 15 ft. 1 in.; total volume, 606 cu. m., or 21,250 cu. ft. The entire operation in connection with dis- harge of ore and charging is automatically effected under electric control. Each furnace is equipped with five Cowper stoves. The blast pressure may vary from 10% in.). is conveyed in liquid state of mercury (8% to 15 to 60 m. per sq. The metal for steel making Blast the making of cement and brick, or by 30-ton ladle cars. furnace slag is utilized in is used for ballast. The gas from the furnaces, after cleaning, is employed in boiler heating, also in the steel furnaces, and as power for the gas engines in the central power station. The Normandy ore varies according to the mines from which it is taken, but generally it runs about 14 per cent iron. Ores from the May and Saint-Andre mines run about 15 silica. The Saumont per cent mine controlled by the Société Normande de Metallurgie furnishes an oolitic carbonate which after calcination has about the following composition: _ ee es 145 to 47 per cent ft are --..- 19 to 17 per cent MOO: skeet 5 to 4 per cent Pe * kite ct 0.8 to 0.7 per cent I was assured that there was ample lime available in the vicinity of Caen. I state this because I heard some doubts expressed in this respect. i D/ and 200 THE IRON hod .* $ *} * -* - y , a It is found that the Normandy ores are well adapted . to the manufacture of Thomas and foundry pig irons. as A common mixture consists of 60 per cent crude and 40 per cent Saumont calcined ore. From these ores the Mondeville furnaces have been able to meet pig iron Y specifications calling for 0.5 to 0.9 per cent silicon, 1 to a 1.5 per cent manganese and 1.8 per cent phosphorus, \ this latter being secured by the use of a higher phos- phorus limestone from the department of La Somme. is By an addition of calcined pyrite, foundry pig iron of Meg] the Cleveland type containing 1 to 1.3 per cent phos- phorus is secured, which satisfies the British mar- ' Ket The Mondeville works import about 700 tons of | ‘ manganese ore per month. “ Bessemer and Open-Hearth Furnaces [The Siemens-Martin and the Thomas furnaces art housed in a building 270 m. (886 ft.) long. Side by ei 4 * ‘ . J ow ') > . Ms $ ' € - 7 if a, Ci eo ~~ Above the Rolling Mills for the Lighter Products is the Schneider Works at Le side are five Martin furnaces of 30 tons capacity each, y operating with gas from the blast furnaces and the coke ovens or from 10 Hilger gas producers. The basic Bessemer plant has been laid out for five 30-ton con- ° verters, three of which are in actual service. There is also in the same building a Wellman mixer of 700 tons capacity. By using this mixer as a reservoir, metal is accumulated in the operations on Sunday. stoppage of basic Bessemer The steel furnace building is the largest single structure in the works. It is com manded by a 60-ton traveling crane. Slag from the Thomas furnaces is sold in the market for agricultural purposes. Scrap was costing the Mondeville works last spring about 250 francs per ton, and at times it goes consider- AGE July 26, 1923 ably higher, though early in the year the market was as 200 francs. Scrap has always been in de France because the French territory lacks in pig iron. In addition, the Germans in the latter part of last year came into the market and absorbed scrap. Now that France is short both in and coke, she must resort more than ever to the basic and to the use of higher as low mand in much coal open-hearth process per- centages of scrap. Central Power Station The central power station is located in a building 200 m. long. The motors in service are the product of the Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques, Belfort. Two gas engines of 4000 and 5800 hp. were at work on 4000-kw. alternators. The were made by the same Belfort shops. work double-tandem, two engines to one motor, and gas engines These engines PPrrReans me TT oT a View of the Three Blast Furnace Gas Engines, Two Built by Creusot and One by Thyssen at Mulheim on the Ruhr are reported as giving excellent results. Blast furnace gas is used. I noticed quite a little play on the engine This is purposely allowed, being deemed good practice, since it affords a certain amount of elasticity to the shock. In addition to the gas engines there are three tur bines, one of 5000 kw. and two of 3000 kw. each. The turbines furnish current for lighting and, when neces- sary, are utilized to help out the gas motors. There are also two turbines of 3000 kw. each used in connec- tion with the blowers for furnaces, and one turbine rated at 400 to 500 kw. to furnish the starter blast for the furnaces. Finally, there are installed three motors of about 2800 kw. operated by gas engines which serve to blow the blast furnaces and steel con- beds. July 26, 1923 verters. Two of these last mentioned engines are of the single type and one double. Thyssen built two of the three and Schneider the third one. Rolling Mills Two mills are now in operation at the Mondeville works: One reversible duo, 850 x 900 mm. (33% in. x 35% in.), and one semi-continuous mill of 300 x 400 mm. (11% x 15% in.). Room has been provided between them for intermediate size mills and between the furnace building and the main mill for an independent blooming mill to be erected. The main mill consists of four stands; the first, which may be run independent- ly by one of the motors, is used for blooming; the second for shaping, and the third for finishing, en- abling the rolling of bars up to 110 m. (360 ft.) long. A fourth stand is used for rolling billets for the market. The main rolling mills are producing at present between 18,000 and 20,000 tons of finished product monthly. Only one type of ingot is used, whether of Martin or Thomas steel, the size being 3% tons. A full range of standard and tramway rails is rolled, and in addition the output includes channels, joists, billets from 2 to 10 in., and sheet bars. The list will be increased later by the addition of plates and angles. Sheet bars are being rolled of 6, 8 and 10 in. width, and of varying thicknesses under 2 in. At the time of my visit considerable work was being done on sheet bars and 2-in. billets for England. Rolling Mill Power Station For driving the mills the current, 3-phase, coming from the central station at 5000 volts (3200 hp., 50 cycles, 336 to 420 revolutions, Belfort motor) is trans- formed in a sub-station into a continuous current by two Ilgner groups having a flywheel of 75 tons weight. This current serves both the reversible train and the semi-continuous train. When necessary, a third Ilgner PURCHASE EXPLAINED Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. Tells Employees of Merger of Steel & Tube Co. of America In a communication to employees, the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., Youngstown, comments on the pur- chase of the Steel & Tube Co., Chicago, stating: The transaction by which the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. became the owner of all the assets of the Steel & Tubs Co. of America was completed at the New York offices of this conmpany when the property was formally transferred by officials of Steel & Tube to President Campbell and Treas urer Morris, representing this. company In payment a ce! tified check for $33,000,000 was handed to the sellers, and bond obligations amounting to approximately $22,000,000 more were assumed by this company Formal possession of the properties was taken by W. G Reilly, acting for the company at Chicago at the same time, and the Steel & Tube plants and properties of all kinds are now being operated by this company The deal was made as of Nov. 1, 1922, and the Steel & Tube Co. of America has been operated since that time for the account of the Youngs town Sheet & Tube Co. This is one of the important transactions in the steel industry in recent years. The properties and plants secured by this company are located in eight States, consisting of very extensive and valuable holdings of iron ore, including the celebrated Newport and Anvil mines on the Gogebi: Range, extensive zine ore properties, coal properties in West Virigina, Kentucky and Ohio, blast furnaces and ore mines at Maysville, Wis., five blast furnaces at the Iroquois plant, South Chicago; the Mark Works at Indiana Harbor, con- sisting of by-product coke ovens, blast furnace, Besseme! and open-hearth steel plants, skelp and pipe mills; a tube mill plant at Zanesville, Ohio; an electric steel plant and rolling mills at Kalamazoo, Mich.; tube mills at Evanston Ill., and other miscellaneous properties. The most im- portant of these plants are located on excellent lake-front harbors, with an abundance of land available for extensions This purchase gives the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. advantages in the diversification of its products and the THE IRON AGE 201 “group having a flywheel of 40 tons is used for driving the small mill. There are two motors in the rolling mill, one for blooming and one for finishing. The total continuous current is made available here. The power building for the rolling mill is served by a 100-ton traveling crane. This building was erected since the war. At this writing there are passed as a maximum about 300 ingots per day, working over a period of three shifts of 8 hours each. The small or semi-con- tinuous mill produces about 4000 tons of output per month. Because of this heavy demand when the mills are all working a third heavy gas engine will be in- stalled to meet this and future requirements. Many of the workmen now employed at Mondeville are Russians. These men are remnants from the Russian forces brought to the Western front during the war by way of Vladivostok and the Suez Canal, while others are said to be more recent acquisitions following the disbanding of Denikin forces. Apart from the proximity of the rich ore fields, the Mondeville plant is in a favored position for export trade by reason of its water connections. Pending the deepening of the canal, as referred to above, the pres ent practice is to barge the steel products to Havre and load there in deep-draft vessels for long voyages. Mondeville is profiting at this period of railroad tieups in drawing on England for coal, and the fact that 50 per cent of the output of the plant is for English orders indicates a certain amount of independence of Continental conditions. Mondeville, in a way, is profit- ing from the situation in the Ruhr much after the manner of English mills. So long as English coal is available, Mondeville can carry on and expand. Indeed, what may be seen there now is only a first step on the way to future developments, for which ample space has been provided. geographical location of its plants for the economical dis- tribution of these products which will place it in a more favorable position to serve the market. It also makes this company, in point of raw materials owned and productive capacity, the third largest steel producing concern in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It is expected that the consolidation of the newly acquired properties under the management of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. will proceed in much the same manner as that of the Brier Hill properties, although it is a larger and more omplicated proposition and will naturally require more time Automobile Production in June WASHINGTON, July 24.—The Department of Com- merce announces June production of automobiles, based on figures received by the Bureau of the Census in cooperation with the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce and covering approximately 90 passenger- car and 80 truck manufacturers each month, as fol- lows: Automobile Production (Number of Machines) Passenger Cars —o Trucks 1923 1922 1923 1922 January 223,706 $1,693 19,398 9,416 February 254,650 109,17 21,817 13,195 March 319,638 152,959 34,681 19,761 April 344,474 197,216 37,527 22,342 May 350,180 232,431 *43,012 23.788 June 336,317 263,027 40,565 25,984 *Revised The Norwegian Industries Fair, to be held in Chris- tiania, Norway, from Sept. 2 to 9, is expected to fea- ture prominently in four classifications Norwegian products in metals. Officials announce that reserva- tions for exhibits are booked to an extent 20 per cent greater than the bookings of 1922. Those interested should address the nearest Norwegian consulate. staan See ‘ 202 THE IRON AGE Tool for Milling Hexagons on Valves The Geometric Milling Tool Co., 110 North Jeffer- son Street, Chicago, has put on the market the milling tool illustrated, which is primarily intended for use in valve manufacture but may also be applied to the pro- duction of locomotive nuts, oil cups and gages. The purpose of the tool is to drill, face and mill the six sides of a hexagon in one operation. This is accomplished by a simple planetary motion of three cutters, each having two cutting edges. These cutters revolve and also rotate on a fixed circle, thus generat- Hexagon Milling Tool for Use In Manufacturing Valves The six sides of the hexagon are produced by the planetary motion of these cutters, each of which has two cutting edges The parts of the tool are shown in the upper view and the layout of cutters immediately above ing a cycloid curve, as shown in the illustration, which also indicates there is a slight curvature to the sides of the hexagon. This, however, is said to be so slight that it is not objectionable. The tool can be operated in an ordinary drill press, in conjunction with a simple fixture to hold the work and to guide the casing or body of the tool. The casing is held stationary by means of an arm, gib or pilot pin, permitting it to move up and down, but not 'to rotate. In setting up the tool, it is indexed to conform with the outline, or center line, of the hexagon to be milled and remains permanently fixed thereafter. The tool is equipped with demountable and interchangeable cut- ters, which are easily sharpened and replaced, and is sturdily built of materials selected for their respective purposes. It is bronze-bushed throughout. The tool is made in standard pipe sizes of sizes %, %, %, 1 and 1% in., and can be equipped with special cutters if desired. The tool is said to have drilled, faced and milled a standard valve body in about 15 sec., running at 180 r.p-m., and without leaving burrs. Slow wear on the cutter is a feature emphasized. A saving of from one- half to several minutes per unit, depending upon the manufacturer’s facilities, is accomplished by the use of this tool, it is asserted, and production costs can be cut from 20 to 30 per cent. The tool has been in use for some time, both in its experimental stage and actual production. July 26, 1923 Nick-Bend Tests of Wrought Iron Previous work on this subject by the Bureau of Standards has shown that the character of the crys- talline areas which are often obtained when wrought iron bars are fractured by the nick-bend test is deter- mined largely by the relative size and distribution of the slag threads. In general the smaller the slag threads and the more uniformly they are distributed, the greater is the tendency for crystalline areas to occur. In order to confirm this tentative conclusion, con- siderable attention has been given to the nick-bend test of open-hearth iron. It was noticed that the full-sized bars, broken in the regular manner of the nick-bend test, invariably gave crystalline fractures. The ob- servations previously made on the difference in the nature of the crystalline break on the tension and com- pression sides of the bar were also confirmed. On the other hand, a large number of the small impact speci- mens cut from such bars and tested by the Izod and Charpy methods gave silky fractures. Evidently, the nick-bend test should not be considered merely as an impact test of the Izod and Charpy types on a large seale. By annealing impact specimens of the open-hearth iron at high temperatures up to and including 1150 deg. C., which renders the grain size larger and more uniform, the fractures obtained in the impact test were very similar to those in the simple nick-bend test of the untreated iron. However, some of the bars an- nealed at high temperatures still showed a silky frac- ture after the Charpy impact test. It appears prob- able, therefore, that the resistance of the iron to shock is not determined simply and wholly by the grain size; but that other features, such as the form of the grain, particularly the character of the junction between neighboring grains, may affect the results. Microscopic examinations of fractured specimens are being made to throw light upon this. Bench Stand for Portable Drill The bench stand illustrated, for use in connection with portable drills, permitting them to be used as bench machines, has been added to the line of the Standard Electric Tool Co., Cincinnati. The device will accommodate %, %, 9/16, 5, % and %-in. capacity ma- chines. Drills may be conveniently de- tached from the stand by means of the brackets shown, and the _ brackets may be raised or lowered by means of the bolt holding the lever. Quick return tension may be ad- justed to any point desired, and the ver- tical lever is made long enough to give high pressure, per- mitting of quick op- eration. The verti- cal column is of solid steel, 1% in. square. The base is provided with T-slots, as shown, for fasten- ing of the work. The vertical ad- Portable Electric Drill Mounted In justment of the drill Bench Stand. The vertical column is 9 in., and the dis- is of solid steel, 1% in. square tance from the col- umn to center of the spindle is 6 in. The vertical travel of the drill when operated by the lever is 4% in. The horizontal adjustment is 360 deg. The height of the stand from the bottom of the base to top of column is 36 in. The weight is 85 Ib. net. The drill furnished for this stand includes regular equipment of spade handle and lamp socket cord. July 26, 1923 NEW METAL SAWING MACHINE Cold Saw with Capacity for 12-In. Square Bars Hardened Gears Used—Convenient Control The Cochrane-Bly Co., Rochester, N. Y., has placed on the market a cold sawing machine having a capacity for 13-in. round stock, 12-in. square bars, 10 x 15-in. rectangular sections and 18-in. I-beams. The features of the machine include setting of the bed into a deep pan, as shown, the pan catching the oil and chips, and draining the oil into a large reser- voir from which it is recirculated. The bed of the machine is scraped to precision surface plates to pro- duce true surfaces for the saw carriage. The saw arbor is 6 in. in diameter, is hardened and ground and fitted into a solid bearing. Bolted joints in the carriage bearing have been eliminated. Eleven feeds from % to 2% in. per min. have been provided. The feed screw is directly in line with Cold Saw for Cutting 12-In. Square and 13- In. Round Stock. The bed is set into a deep pan, as shown, which catches oil and chips. The bed is scraped to precision. surface plates, and the saw arbor is hardened and ground and fitted into a solid bearing. Three changes of speed and 11 changes of feed are available. The power required at 50 ft. per min., % in. and 2% in feed is 5.37 and 15.51 hp. respectively the center of the saw arbor and is placed as close as possible to the saw blade to bring the feed pressure as nearly as possible in line with the resistance of the saw. The nut on the feed screw is split and is adjustable endwise to eliminate lost motion. Lost motion between the.screw and gear box is taken up by adjustable hardened steel nuts. The feed screw is driven by worm and worm gear and compound spur gears. The tumbler A gives six changes, which are doubled. by sliding gears B into mesh with gears on the worm shaft. The feed is started, stopped and reversed from the front or back of the machine by levers CC. A double pawl holds the clutch block in neutral position or im engagement with the feed gear, or permits it to engage with the reverse gear. The pawls are lifted by means of a rack and pinion ar- rangement operated by. lever C, movement of which to the left raises the feed pawl, tripping the machine into