Sept., 1923
T H E JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
of such measurements is interesting from the viewpoint of the selection of proper types of cotton, the probable value of new crop cotton for yarn made at a particular plant, study of the efficiency of a manufacturing operation from the viewpoint of the raw product, tracing the cause of poor yarn, and the application of correct measurements baqed upon accurate knowledge of cause. Contrasted to this study and application there is another important study based on the assumption that an industry as old as the cotton industry must have in each mill a number of good features. This involves the careful noting of all details of the factors of production and quality, a proper analysis, and adaptation of the good points to the mills concerned.
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The photomicrographic analysis of materials ha.; been of the greatest help in recording arrangement of fibers, uniformity, effects of settings, degree of dye and size penetration, balance of structure, and many other things which are important but not discernible to the naked eye. Our activities along the chemical lines have been rather limited and have been confined largely to the study of warp sizing. This problem has been considered as a problem in physicq, using chemistry as a mean? of designating the materials. We believe that much progrws has been made and that the results warrant the existence of a research organization, but the surface has hardly been scratched and developments in the future years are bound to be nothing shdrt of phenomenal.
Heat Treatment Progress during 1921 By A. E. White DIRECTOR,
DFPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY
HE PROGRESS of ferrous metallurgy, especially that closely allied with the heat treatment of steel, has shown no outstanding milestones this past year, progress having been one of refinement and lacking in spectacular accomplishments in matters of materials, equipment, and in the character of the personnel employed. With regard to materials, there has been a growing interest in the developments of heat-resisting and nonoxidizing alloys. There is daily a greater appreciation that we must have alloys which will withstand oxidation and deformation at temperatures higher than the normal atmospheric temperatures; also that we must encourage the use of alloys that a t high temperatures retain to the greatest degree a proper combination of strength and ductility. The use of carburizing boxes that will withstand warpage and oxidation under thc conditions of service to which such boxes are subjected has received considerable attention. One of the recent alloys brought out for this general purpose is known as Calite, composed essentially of nickel, aluminium, and iron. The structural material that has received the greatest consideration this past year, though not of this year’s development, is molybdenum steel. It is an alloy steel comparable to our nickel steels, chrome-nickel steels, and chrome-vanadium steels. Practice seems to indicate that the chromemolybdenum type is an acceptable forging steel, and that the nickel-molybdenum type is a satisfactory case-hardening steel. In the matter of equipment used for the heat treatment of steel, there have been no outstanding developments, though many plants throughout the country have made changes in furnaces nnd furnace appliances which go a long way toward placing the heat treatment of steel on a scientific basis. Pyrometric control is now available so that temperature in the furnace is no longer subject to the variations of manual control. This pyrometric control, at one time only possible in electrically heated furnaces, is now possible in both gasfired and oil-fired furnaces. There also is a growing tendency toward the use of conveyor type furnaces, and this in turn tends to eliminate the human factor. Combined with all these facts is an increased use of fixtures for quenching, better designs of furnaces to secure more uniform tempera-
T
OF MICHIGAN,
ANN ARBOR,MICH.
ture in the same furnace, and better refractories, resulting thereby in a decided reduction in maintenance costs. Combined with all of these factors the personnel in the heat treatment departments of tho various plants throughout the country has improved. This has been due in some measure to the depression, since only the better men were retained and they realized that in order to hold their positions they must operate as intelligently as possible. In the heat treatment rooms there are many college-trained men, and large numbers of the others have had a t least a high school education. These men are keen to absorb new ideas and new methods, and they appreciate also that to procure them they must exchange ideas. This broadmindedness on the part of those engaged in the steel heat treating field has no doubt been one of the reasons why it has developed so rapidly. There are but few shops in the country that prevent their men from freely exchanging ideas with their fellows. An appreciation on the part of our technical societies that their function is in large measure the bringing together of the technically trained men and the operatives whose advantages in their given field have not been as great, has been of no little moment in the advance of the art of heat treatment. Numerous investigations in this general field are under way. On some, preliminary reports have already been made, whereas on others the work has not progressed to a degree warranting publication. Some of the most outstanding investigations are: The work of Professor Moore and his colleagues on “The Fatigue of Metals,” the work in progress on “Drill Steel” under the combined auspices of the United States Bureau of Mines, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and others; and the work of the U. S. Bureau of Standards on: 1-Gage steels. 2-High temperature tests of commercial steels. 3-Proper mixtures for use in selective carburization. 4-A suitable method for the measurement of hardness in hardened steels. 5-The use of magnetic testing for the determination of uniformity in steel.
