Book News Solidified Alloys' Is Also Presented with Reference to Both Amorphous and Micro-Crystalline Structures, with a Fur- 1
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tunities for the future. The new technology of 'Rapidly Book news Solidified Alloys' is also presented with reference to both amorphous and micro-crystalline structures, with a fur- 1. Book reviews ther contribution on the structure of liquid metals. Perspectives in metallurgical development. London, 'Microstructural Studies' reviews a broad range of The Metals Society. 338 pp. £29. materials. The transformation of austenite to ferrite is Reviewer: John V. Bee discussed in detail, together with the influence of struc- The city of Sheffield can justifiably be regarded as the ture on the properties of high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) birthplace of ferrous metallurgy as we know it, and the steels. The kinetics of the growth of gamma precipitates University of Sheffield has now been at the forefront of in a nickel-aluminium alloy and the homogenization of metallurgical teaching and research for a hundred years. single-crystal superalloys are also described. Returning Thus, this book which reproduces contributions to the to HSLA steels, their evolution is chronicled for several Centenary Conference of the Department of Metallurgy, applications, and specific data are provided on the ef- must be of special interest to all metallurgists. fect of titanium on controlled rolled-plate properties. A This review cannot provide an adequate account of all brief review is also presented on the principles of physical the papers included in this volume, but attempts to con- metallurgy that influence the structure and properties of vey something of their scope and tenor. different types of stainless steel. The session concerned with historical metallurgy 'Working and Forming' again considers a broad range presented not only the development of the Sheffield of processes from the computer modelling of hot work- Metallurgy Department but of Sheffield itself. Reading ing, through super plasticity and isostatic pressing, to these papers is like browsing through the 'Who's Who' metal cutting and one hundred years of tool material of metallurgy. It is clear that Sheffield has made an in- development. calculable contribution to the progress of metallurgy as The section 'Fracture and Fatigue Processes' includes a science and as an industry. an excellent review of the developments in the field of More-fundamental contributions were presented in the fracture mechanics. It is interesting to note the fundamen- session committed to Extraction and Process Metallurgy. tal changes in the attitude of engineers, which has These included a review of the existing knowledge on established quantitative design procedures to combat frac- some aspects of the physical chemistry of ferrous pro- ture and fatigue failures in service, and the early cess metallurgy, the kinetics of the reduction of oxides differences between the 'metal physics' and the from slags, the role of calcium, magnesium, and rare- 'metallurgical' schools in their approach to fracture and earth additions in ferrous ladle metallurgy, the structure fatigue. Today 'mutual understanding and confidence of fluxed sinter, and the process limitations of ESR and between the engineer and the metallurgist are arguably VAR for high-quality alloys. An important observation greater in the field of fracture and fatigue than in any was made by Baker et al. in their paper on high-quality other'. Specific topics considered in detail include steelmaking: 'Steelmakers are being pressed to produce developments in fracture mechanics and NDT related to steels to meet more demanding requirements, not only the assurance of the structural integrity of nuclear to preserve traditional markets against competitive pressure vessels, ferritic steel-weld metal microstructures materials, but also to meet new engineering and and toughness, fracture control in large-diameter technological demands'. This requires both tighter con- pipelines, creep of stabilized stainless steel at low stresses, trol of existing processes and procedures, and new pro- and plastic deformation and fracture of a two-phase alloy cessing steps. Former 'specials' must now be produced under compressive loading. in bulk quantities, and the trend is to ever-increasingly In 'Corrosion and Environmental Effects', both high- stringent specifications. temperature oxidation and the stress-corrosion cracking In 'Solidification Processes', the contributions provide of steels are reviewed. In addition, the potential and a good balance between theory and practice. The model- development of stainless-steel coatings for corrosion pro- ling of solidification processes is an increasingly impor- tection is discussed. It is concluded that ternary tant aspect of modern metallurgy, and this is considered chromium-nickel-iron alloys, rather than a true stainless in terms of the computer-aided design of castings. The steel, would be used for thin deposited films, while application of heat-transfer models to continuous casting stainless steel itself would be employed for thicker and a physical model for thick-section low-alloy steel coatings produced by clading or spraying. welds are also described. On a more practical note, 'Future Developments in Metallurgy' addresses only graphite-morphology control in cast iron is discussed in alloy development in non-ferrous metals. Nevertheless, terms of the mechanisms of crystal growth, and the sur- it is clear that there are widespread opportunities, par- face quality of continuously cast steel in terms of the heat- ticularly in the micro-electronics and communication in- transfer characteristics of the casting powder. Of par- dustries. Special mention is made of magnetic alloys, ticular interest is the 'design and development of steel amorphous metals, surface engineering, and ultra-fine castings for off-shore applications'. While the use of steel filamentary composites. From this it is concluded that, castings has generally declined over the past thirty years 'industrialists need to seize the chance to exploit the often owing to the improving technology and economic advan- unique combination of properties in terms of marketable tages of weld fabrication, the particular benefits of products' . castings (such as cost and resistance to fatigue) have led It is a pity that the contribution regarding developments to completely novel applications in hostile environments. in ferrous metallurgy is not included in this volume. In This provides the foundry industry with exciting oppor- that presentation at the Conference, a fascinating scenario 232 JULY 1985 JOURNAL OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGY was proposed for the steel industry in 2000. General in- its strength and acoustical velocities decrease with increas- tegrated steelworks were seen as being replaced by ing grade and increasing temperature. These and other specialized 'one product' integrated steelworks. In addi- aspects are discussed in the last chapter. tion, raw materials for these plants would be semis im- ported from low-cost primary steelmaking countries. 2. Recent publications Thus, we may see the emergence of truly international steel industries. CANADIAN MINERAL POLICY SECTOR. Although this review is necessarily superficial, with the Metallurgical works in Canada. Primary iron and steel more-detailed comment restricted to the papers reflecting 1984. Mineral Bulletin MR 203. Ottawa, Canadian the reviewer's own interests, it is hoped that some of the Government Publishing Centre, Supply and Services, outstanding scope and breadth of the papers appearing 1985. $6.00. in this volume have emerged from this review. This This publication lists in detail the facilities, productive volume provides a fascinating insight into the past and capacities, products, and other data of companies that an excellent summary of the state-of-the-art in many comprised the primary iron and steel industry in Canada metallurgical fields, and points to many exciting at 1st January, 1984. There are also separate sections on possibilities in the future. I strongly recommend this book the steel pipe and tube industry, and on the iron powder to all metallurgists, academic or industrial. and ferrite industry. Tin and its uses no. 143. Greenford (England), Inter- . Mechanics of oil shale, edited by K.P. Chong and national Tin Research Institute, 1985. J.W. Smith. London, Elsevier Applied Science Publishers This issue contains articles on tin plate aerosol con- Ltd, 1984. 603 pp. £75. tainers, the Third International Tinplate Conference Reviewer: R.W.O. Kersten (London, October 1984), the toxicology of tributyVtin Although this book may not be of interest to South compounds, solder pastes for electronics, and the use of African mining engineers, the manner in which the data liquid tin as a solvent metal. are presented could be interesting and instructive in . Mining 1985, edited by Diana Russell. Harlow mining in South Africa and in other fields of prospecting. (England), Longman Group Ltd, 1985. 540 pp. £46. The editors have book collated the available data on This volume, a Financial Times International Year- oil-shale mining, since it appeared that different com- book, presents detailed information on the activities and panies had investigated only portions of the entire pro- financial performance of over 700 companies across the cess and, when confronted with an integrated operation, world involved in the mining, production, and process- had found problems that they had not considered at all. ing of minerals and ores. In addition, the data supplied The first two chapters deal with the sedimentological