Metals, Alloys in Limelight as Defense Research Accelerates - C&EN


Metals, Alloys in Limelight as Defense Research Accelerates - C&EN...

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THE C H E M I C A L W O R L D THIS WEEK

complex methods. This degree of accuracy, he said, is adequate for engineering purposes. Rubber producers are always concerned over the ozone content in the air because it is this atmospheric component that is responsible for most of the deterioration of rubber goods in service. J. Crabtree of Bell Telephone Laboratories told the polymer chemists that they can make a rough test for this contaminant with their own product. After trying a number of effects of ozone on rubber for possible use as a quantitative test technique, Crabtree said, he finally found that the appearance of surface cracks in a strip under stress afforded the simplest and most reproducible procedure. His procedure is to take a board with holes for two pegs, and to peg a piece of specially formulated rubber onto the board under 50% elongation. The rubber is slightly overcured to speed the cracking. The board is then exposed to the atmosphere and examined periodically for the appearance of the first cracks visible under 7 x magnification. Ozone concentrations normally encountered in the atmosphere will crack within a few hours. The o until crocking is compared with an empirical curve to give the concentration. The curve is much steeper at high concentrations than at low. Crabtree says the results obtained are accurate within 25 to 35%.

C & E N REPORTS: American S o c i e t y f o r M e t a l s

Emphasis on high-temperature by jet plane production PITTSBURGH.-For the first time in 25 years, the American Society for Metals has added an extra meeting to its agenda. Approximately a thousand experts on all phases of metallurgy, from fundamental research to final application, met in Pittsburgh Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 to exchange information on metallurgical problems both new and old. Rising interest in new metals and alloys, spurred by such defense needs as jet plane production, accounted in part for the addition of the midwinter sessions, but contributions to the store of knowledge about more common metals and alloys made u p an important part of the meeting. The mushrooming of research projects connected with titanium, its compounds, and its alloys was made evident by the allotment of an entire session to papers concerned with this "comparatively new" metal. Alloys of titanium and vanadium,

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Metals, Alloys in Limelight as Defense Research Accelerates

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according to J. M. Raymer of WrightPatterson Air Force Base, are under study for extremely high temperature applications in jet aircraft and guided missiles. Such alloys have shown great promise in these and other uses where high heat resistance is required. As a by-product of the research in alloys, a new, higher value for the melting point of high-purity vanadium has been established. Dr. Raymer reported. From the previously established value of 3137° F., the figure has been raised to 3450° F.— an important differential in aerial warfare. Titanium's melting point already had been determined at about 3300° F. Among the first important titaniumbased alloys to find commercial applications were the titaniurn-chromium and titanium-iron alloys, according to R. J. Van Thyne of Armour Research Foundation of the Illinois Institute of Technology. With titanium-chrome combinations, it has been found possible, by increasing the chromium content, to effect necessary changes in molecular structure in low^er and less costly temperature ranges. Adding Chromium Raising the amount of chromium to as high as 45% of the alloying material, said Dr. Van Thyne, will lower the melting temperature of titanium by about 600° F. Like chromium, iron also will bring about molecular changes at temperatures lower than those obtainable with pure titanium, he added. More than 45% iron is not recommended. These findings in the titanium alloying field should prove of great value in the defense effort through savings in time and heattreating costs. With titanium itself, the development of scale (oxidation), a considerable factor in sheet products for aircraft, has been found to range through a wide variety of coloration. Each color tone, said Peter H. Morton of Case Institute of Technology» spells a warning which the metals engineer must understand. Since titanium is reactive to both nitrogen and oxygen, said Mr. Morton, the metal has a decided tendency toward scaling on exposure to air. The first sign of corrosion is the appearance of light-toned scale, which gives way to a fast-growing black scale. Different temperatures produce wide variances of color tone. Below 1562 e F. a light-colored scale turned to light blue; this in turn became mottled, took on a yellow coloration, and finallv turned brown. AND

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THE CHEMICAL W O R L D THIS WEEK

A n important n e w A m e r i c a n Chemical Society M o n o g r a p h NUMBER 112

The Phosphatides by Harold Wittcoff H e a d , Product D e v e l o p m e n t Section G e n e r a l Mills Research L a b o r a t o r y

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his new book, t h e first really complete one o n its subject for over 20 years, offers you a logical, fact-filled survey of virtually every phase of phosphatide research. I t interprets a n d fully describes t h e nomenclature, isolation, structure proof, properties, synthesis, physical chemistry, enzymic relationships, analysis, sources, biochemistry, medical aspects, metabolic relationships, and commercial utilization of all t h e known phosphatides. Particular emphasis is placed both on recent achievements and on w h a t remains to be accomplished in the field. Numerous gaps in present-day knowledge are carefully pointed o u t as a challenge for more intensive study. AA\ the literature through 1949 is critically surveyed and significant a d vances made in 1950 and 1951 are included. References following each major division of the book are unusually complete.

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