Vol. 6 No.3 MARCH 1953 How to turn a high strength steel cup inside out, cold ~ 1 OFFHAND, anyone familiar with high Starting with a 38 in. diameter steel strength steels would say it couldn't be blank (Fig. 1) the press first ~raws the done. But one of our customers does steel into a shallow cup (FIg. 2). As it every day. the stroke continues, the cup is literally Employing a unique reverse-drawing turned inside out (Fig. 3) to form the method and using a U'S'SHighStrength finished cup (Fig. 4) which has very Steel especially adapted for this process, uniform wall thickness. Two of these they turn out cylindrical containers of cups are then welded together to make various kinds that are not only stronger a cylinder. 1- than those made from carbon steel but Made with high strength steel, cy weigh substantially less. inders weigh about 20 lbs. less. The To accomplish this, the steel has to maker gets 26 % more cyIin ders from . ht ~ meet two entirely opposite require- each ton of steel used. Lighter welgd 3 ments. It has to be so strong that it can be used in thinner gages to reduce makes cylinders easier to handle, an also pays off in lower freight costs- weight, and yet must have enouO"hduc- both on the steel from our mills and5~~ tility to satisfy the drastic fabrication cylinders shipped. (A customer er method that would be considered se- miles away saves as much as $10o p vere even for carbon steel. carload.) .I This method is used to draw cups Developing special steels for sp~laf for large, low-pressure cylinders. These customer needs is an irnportan.t JO °d cups, 14>-2in. in diameter and 24>-2in. United States Steel metallurgIStsb~_ deep, are drawn cold, from 12-gage enmneers. With their tremendous aC 4 steel blanks in one con- "•. they . are e ground of practical expenence, tinuous stroke in a re- ready to work on any pro bl em that m- f steel. verse draw press. The o volves the more efficient use. 525 '" diagrams at left show United States Steel ~orporatlOno pa. how it is done. William Penn Place, PIttsburgh 3 , . UN.'TED STATES STEEL They did what you can do to achieve success Thcsc 'Vcstinghousc cxccutivcs havc /lcvcralthing8 in comlllon DR. CLINTON R. lIANNA, Associate Director ••• It dcsirc to cxcel, intcnsc cnjoymcnt of their work, and cllrly Westinghouse Hesearch Laboratories Enrolled in Westinghouse Gradnate Sludent training in thcir fields of specialization. All entercll WI:sling- Trainin/? Course after gradua tion from Purdue housc through thc Gracluatc Studcnt Training Program .•• Ihe University in ]922. Dr. lianna, with over ]00 I'ateuts to his credit, is one of the natiou'8 lead. samc program that today is launehing young cngirwt:r8 on mg authorities on gyroscopically controlled earcers with 'Vestinghousc. regulating clevices. You can do what these men llid to 1Ic11icve sueeCIl8. They found out carly what their likings ami talcnts werc, whllt tlu:y wantcd to do, IInd sct their sights IIceordingly. With thc hell' of the 'Vcstinghousc Trllining Program, you, too, clln gcl off 10 II surc start on the carccr of your choicc. The Westinghouse Graduate Student Training Program This program has hccn earcfully Ilcvelopccl through 50 yenrs to cnllhlc top mcn, selcelecl in IClilling collegcs, to chooflc Ihdr carccrs wiscly from thc wille varicty of opportunilics IIvni1l1hll~ at 'Vcstinghousc. Thc progrllm givcs you II clcar lIIulcr81lt1uling of Ihc company and its procluclS ... lets you Iry outmllny typl:8 of work through planncd work aflsignmcnts ... ancl offcrs YOil thc bcncfit of pcrsonal counsel in seleeling Ihe fieJ.l for your carccr. Thc 'Vcslinghousc Graclualc Sl\Iclent Training Progrllm helps supply thc answcr to Ihat all.imporlllnt qucslion, "Whieh CARROLL V. ROSEIIEIlRY, Afanager Westinghouse Electric Utility Department is thc right c;rcer for you?" Upon graduation from Oklahoma A & 1\1 iu 1934, he enrolled iu the Westinghoi.se G,raduate For full inforllllltion on thn Wcstingholl8c Trllining Progralll, Student Training Program. A88igned lirst a8 a scnd for our 32-pllgc hook, "Finding Your Placc in Industry." sulesmun, he WU8udvunced to district Assistunl G.t02'O Electric Utility Munuger, hrllnch Electric Utility Supervisor, and in ]95] was uppointed EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT to his present post. YOU CAN BE SURE ... IF ITS \\estinghouse i-- ------------------ I To obtain copy of "Finding Your Place in I Industry", consult Placement Officer of I your university, or mail this coupon to: I Mr. H. A. Warren I Di8trict Educational Co..ordin.tor I \\'e81inghouM: .:lectric Corporation 306 Fourth Avenue I Pittsburgh 30, Penn.ylvania I DR. EDWIN L. HARDER I Namec----------------------- Westinghouse Consulting Engineer Enr?l!eu in Westinghouse Graduate Student I School Year------- Tr~lIung Course after graduation frolll Cornell I StreetL _ l!n,versity in ]926. Dr: lIarder has become na. I honullr known for his analytical and develop. I Cit).' ~7.one____.State------ Inent \\ork in power systellls. lie is co.developer I of the Anllcofll, an electric unalogue computer. I March, 1953 Out of the grimy scrap pile come BETTER STEEL PRODUCTS How Republic Steel Research is Helping Machine Tool Users••• and You! • An oily mess of steel chips under a machine! Here it is: I So much steel scrap? ... Yes, but scrap that can tell an important story about the machin- 1. Production of the best-possible steels and stee ability of steel. products-thousands of them. I 2. Recommendation as to which steel or stee Republic metallurgists know that. So they take product will do a specific job best. samples of chips CUt from various steels. They 3. Assistance in developing the most efficient ~nd study them-measure changes in hardness-right most economical method of processing or fabnca- down to each tiny grain of steel. tion to achieve the desired end result. That's just one of the ways in which Republic This doesn't necessarily mean that Republic works has learned so much about the intricacies of steel. miracles for steel users ... but it does mean that There are many others-each a part of Republic's Republic keeps alert to changing requirements- continuous program of research to improve its that Republic is vitally interested in its custom~s 3-FOLD SERVICE FOR STEEL USERS. -and that these working policies help to ma e Republic a good place to work, a good place to stay. REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION GENERAL OFFICES • CLEVELAND 1, OHIO Export Department: Chrysler Building, New York 17, New York Spartan Engineer What Can Phillips Offer the - -,. Technical Graduate? Of the more than 22,000 employ- ees of Phillips Petroleum Com- pany, 2200 are technical graduates ... chemists, physicists, geologists, and virtually every classification of engineering specialist. So versatile is petroleum as a raw material, and so complex are the processes whereby it is brought from the ground and converted into finished products, that its utilization requires technical men of the very highest competence in research, exploration, production, refining, chemical manufacturing, and transportation. To the tal- ented technical graduate Phillips offersa chance for on-the-job train- ing, and assignments of responsi- bility and importance. Phillips has been and still is pri- marily a producer of motor fuels and lubricants. But today's rapid expansion in new fields of petro- chemicals and high polymers offers unique opportunities for ambitious engineers and chemists. We invite qualified men to write to our Employee Relations De- partment for information about opportunities with our company . • PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY Phillips Chemical Company, . .. a Subsidiary Bartlesville, Oklahoma Merch, 1953 A Bearing Theory cars and trucks. It also manufactures many other types of civilian goods from heating and air conditioning systems to refrigerators, from fractional h.p. motors to Diesel locomotives. with a bearing on And, as a top defense contractor, GM builds every- thing from rockets and range finders to jet and Turbo- Prop airplane engines. So there's plenty to work on at GM. And plenty your job future of engineering brains to work with. Our many graduate engineers in top management prove that the engineer with the ability to make real use of what GM has to offer can build himself a very The futuristic-looking object in the picture above is a satisfying future in the GM family. demonstration model of Maxwell's distortion energy So why not ask your College Placement Officeto theory concerning the yielding of ductile materials. arrange an interview for you with the GM Co\1ege And it's used by our General Motors research Representative the next time he visits your campus? engineers in their study of "bearing fatigue." Or drop us' a line. From this study they have succeeded in discover- ing new facts about the "thick and thin" of bearing surface metals-and thus added to wearing qualities of GM Positions now available in these fields: journal and engine bearings. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING • elECTRICAL ENGINEERING We publish it here to point up a fact that should METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING. INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING not be overlooked by the engineering student with a bent for research. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING That ~act is the. wealth of opportunity for the research-mmded engmeer to function creatively at General Motors. GENERAL MOTORS . .Yet research engineering is only one of the oppor- Personnel Staff, tumtIes at General Motors for the graduate engineer. Detroit 2, Michigan For GM is not only a leading producer of motor- Spartan Engineer SpartaN ENGINEER Table of Contents EDITORIAL STAFF: • articles EDITOR Robert G. Kitchen DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT 8 ASSOCIATE EDITORS GEOLOGY AND ENGINEERING 9 Lee Mah A MEANS OF REDUCING BLIND Phil Sanford LANDING HAZARDS 10 PHOTOGRAPHER TECHNICAL WRITING GROWS 12 Ray Steinbach ENGINEBRING'S MIGHTY MIDGET 14 PUSH-BUTTONING BOSSY 15 BUSINESS STAFF: WHERE DO I FIT? 16 HIT IT AGAIN 18 BUSINESS MANAGER Jim Gusack RARE EARTH METALS 20 ASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER ZIRCONIUM 22 Tom Clark INFERNO TAMERS 30 ADVERTISING MANAGER Leo Jedynak CIRCULATION MANAGER • Features Dick McClaughry . PICTURE PAGE 28 NEW DEVELOPMENTS 32 CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 36 STAFF: SIDETRACKED 56 Josephine Fantauzzo Harlow Nelson Tom Ayres COVER Larry Jackson Operational headquarters for the Minll Rllgrll mine on Lake James Otis Pun Run. -Courtesy of Vllnlldium Corporlltion of Americll. Ralph Powell John Rood Zigurd Levensteins Published four times YMrly by the students of the SCHOOL OF EN. GINEERING, MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE, E~st L~nsing, Michig~n. The office is on the third floor of the Union Building. Phone ED 2.1511. FACULTY ADVISORS: Extension 251. Entered ~s second c1~ss m~tter ~t the Post Office in GENERAL Loosing, Michig~n, under the ~ct of March 3. 1879. W. E. Libby Address M~i1 to: P. O. Box ~, E~st Loosing, Michig~n. EDITORIAL and CIRCULATION Publishers represenl~tive D. D. McGrady Littell.Murr~y.B~rnhili. Inc .. FINANCIAL and ADVERTISING 101 P~rk Avenue, New York. 605 W. Michig~n Avenue, Chic~go Paul G. Gray PHYSICAL FACILITIES and Subscription r~te by m~il $1.00 per ye~r. PRODUCTION Single copies 25 cents. Theodore J. Brevik 5 March, 1953 The Ring Test The ring ~est,shown above, is a scientific founders as evidenced by the photograph below of method for determining the modulus of rupture cast iron pipe installed in 1664 to supply the town of pipe. It is not a required acceptance'test but one and fountains of Versailles, France and stilI in of the additional testsmade by cast iron pipe manu- service. Cast iron pipe is the standard material for facturers to ensure that the quality of the pipe water and gas mains ;nd is widely used in sewage meets or exceedsstandard specifications. works construction. Send for booklet, "Facts About A ring, CUtfrom random pipe, is subjected to Cast Iron Pipe." Address Dept. c., Cast Iron Pipe progressivelyincreased crushing load until failure Research Association, T. F. Wolfe, Engineer, occurs.Standard 6-inchcast iron pipe, for example, 122 So. Michigan Ave., Chicago 3, Illinois. withstands a crushing weight of more than 14,000 lbs. per foot. Such pipe meets severe service reo quirements with an ample margin of safety. Scientific progress in the laboratories of our members has resulted in higher attainable stand- ards of quality in the production processes. By metallurgical controls and tests of materials, cast iron pipe is produced today with precise knowl- edge of the physical characteristics of the iron before it is poured into the mold. Constant control of cupola operation is maintained by metal analy- sis. Rigid tests of the finished product, both ac- ceptance tests and routine tests, complete the quality control cycle. But with all the remarkable improvements in cast iron pipe production, we do nm forget the achievements of the early pipe Section of 285-year-old cast iron water main still serving the town and fountains of Versailles, France. (~11srl' - I ll()N PIPI~ SERVES CENTURIES FOR 6 Spartan Engineer Pioneers Wanted A YOUNG-MAN with vision is a priceless They found a future that is as secure as it .tl part' of our future. is challenging-for Goodyear, as one of the nation's basic industries, will always This we know at Goodyear Aircraft be doing business come defense, war or Corporation, for our record achievements peace. - as America's only producer of both Today Goodyear Aircraft Corporation is heavier- and lighter-than-air craft and offering opportunities'- in fields ranging their components -is' due in a large from plastics to electronics, from metal- measure to the pioneering of young grad- lurgy to aerodynamics-for young men of uate engineers who came to' us, casting vision seeking an assured future. about for a place where they could best We are interested in you if you are inter. put their talents to work. ested in pioneering new horizons. Submit They found it at Goodyear Aircraft, a a brief resume of your experience and place that offers every engineer an oppor- qualifications, or write us for an applica- tunity to specialize in the work of his tion blank and further information. choice-a place that encourages the forg- Address: Salary Personnel Department, ing of new "firsts" and new futures in Goodyear Aircraft Corporation, new fields. Akron 15, Ohio. ENGINEERS WANTED •... , h d' d d I ment and production of: AIRPLANES to InvestIgate the opportumties In researc, eSlgn an eve op • AIRCRAFf COMPONENTS AIRSHIPS • HEUCOPTERS-' GUIDED MISSILES • ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS • RADOMES • BONDED GUIDANCE SYSTEMS' TRANSPARENT ENCLOSURES' REINFORCED PLA5I1CS SANDWICH srnUcruRES • WHEELS AND BRAKES • RADAR STRUCTIJRES and many others. G~ODYEAR-The Company with COMPLETE Coverage of the Aeronautical Field 7 March. 1953 THE DEAN'S, PAGE Don't Look Now1 By LORIN G. MILLER Qe~n of Engineering But • • • We're Being Followed "There is a load every man lugs behind him, heavy, of self confidence. It begins to be evident in small invisible, sealed, concealed, perfumed, a package of dead circles, then spreads to larger and larger influence. It things he drags along never opened save to put in some should not be confined to a professional area but allowed horror of the mind-some horror of his own doing-to to expand into services to school, community and church. seal up and rot in secret. He pretends there's no such With the acceptance of responsibility, comes the comple- thing. He tries to walk as if he had no burden." This mentary function, the delegation of responsibility. No quotation from Maxwell Anderson's "Anne of a Thousand such division of labor should be made without an Days" is an apt description of the mental load we carry, accompanying authority. Mere disposition of tasks will drag or push which lowers our efficiency and cuts down not lighten this load. A man develops by standing on our power. This load need not be so bulky, so heavy his own feet. He does not wax strong by having others or so odorous if we exercise a little care concerning the do for him what he can and should do for himself, his nature of the items we seal, conceal, perfume and ignore community, his state and his nation. within the burden. Burdens are always lighter when shared. Cooperation One of the heavy items in the load the new graduate or "getting along" with fellow workers is an important carries is the whispered comment "young," "immature," feature of progress. Working as a team always accomp- "inexperienced." The load should be lightened immedi- lishes more than as a group of individuals. To antagon- ately with the knowledge that Galileo at 17 discovered ize fellow travelers, even in a good cause, is very seldom the isochronism of the pendulum, William Cullen Bryant good policy. Be unprejudiced in judgment and respect wrote Thanatopsis at 18, Braille, blind since 3 years of jUdgment of others. Except in rare cases is it wise to age, had developed the Braille alphabet before he was stubbornly insist on "rights." Consider the case of Mr. 20, one of the stellar contributors to the Los Alamos O'Day whose epitaph read project was a youth not old enough to vote and Edison "This is the grave of Mike O'Day was only 31 when the Edison Electric Light Company Who died maintaining his right of way. was formed and named for him. Youth as such is no handicap and should be purged from this apparent His right was clear, his will was strong, "load." But he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong!" Don't mix personal troubles with your work. Take A~o~her of the "inertia" items we drag along is unwIllmgness to proceed with the material or personnel pride in your work. Be willing to correct your mistakes or methods at hand toward a completion. Ingenuity as but remember that others make them also. Be active a word comes from the same root as Engineer and as a in cooperation. Practice the admonition in the Sermon talent should be a real feature of the engineer. To on the Mount "Whoever compel thee to go one mile, prod~ce requires ingenuity to which a measure of ag- go with him twain." greSSlV~ness and imagination must be added. The And finally, these dead, decaying faults of omission world IS looking for men who get things done. In the and commission will be less offensive to the olfactory words of Shakespeare nerves if the individual moral conduct is above reproach. "The wisest thing we suppose Morals are associated with living and living is exempli- That a man can do for his land fied by physical behavior. To be clean and to act clean Is the work that lies under his nose will do much to convince associates that intentions are With the tools that lie under his hand." clean. Intrinsic honesty, intellectual fairness and sin- This load can be further lightened by removing the cerity increase the moral stature and strengthen t~e faculty o~ unwillin~ness to accept responsibility. All moral fibre. The engineer's works are largely pubhc human bel~gS grow m dignity and self-respect by reason and depend Upon an honest and upright treat~~nt. of ?ccomphshment and the assumption of responsibility There is no greater danger to civilization than in trammg whIch has ever been recognized as the builder of engineers whose skills enable them to be leaders but The talent for responsibility starts with th d 1 men. whose minds are indifferent to their responsibilities as e eve opment citizens in a democratic society. 8 Spartan Engineer Geology and Engineering By JUSTIN ZINN Professor of Geology Several groups in the engineering profession either must remove in order to clear new farm land. The work directly on the earth's surface or else are vitally engineer does realize that his foundations must be firm interested in certain aspects of this surface. By the so he must examine the material around and below earth's surface, we mean the uppermost several thousand these foundations. He should know its properties, and feet of the solid material on which we live. There is in large projects its extent and structure, and here is no question as to the role of the mining engineer who where he sometimes has trouble. The scholastic train- must design and dig the shafts and drifts that enable ing he got in college may have omitted any geology in us to recover the mineral wealth from the rock of the his schedule of courses. Actually the engineer is well earth. The metallurgical engineer likewise is involved trained in mathematics, design, structural materials, with the earth, for his raw materials come from this surveying, etc., and is a very competent man in the source. The various works of the civil engineer are construction field but he may not know the ground on built on the earth's surface and in building his monu- which he expects to build. ments here, he likewise deals with this surface though Now what is the geologist made of? In the first he may not be very well acquainted with it. place, the geologist studies the earth's surface in order Many others who aren't ordinarily called engineers are to classify and determine the origin of the various also primarily interested in the earth's surface. The features found there. Where he can, he studies beneath soils, of course, are vital to the agricultural scientists the surface also, in order to delineate such things as ore and the general surface as the site of human habitation deposits and the structure of the rocks. Most geologists concerns the geographers. The geologists are the sci- are true scientists in that they are curious and contin- entists who really study this earth of ours, however, ually try to find relationships, origins and the reasons and it is their efforts that have provided us with the why. Such inspiration has enabled them to garner facts we now have about the origin, composition and enough facts about the earth's surface to make reason- ably accurate predictions about positions, continuations, structure of the earth's surface. sizes, etc., of rock bodies, faults and other structures. In a general way, it can be pointed out that two The geologist likes to see things built too, but he is rather distinctive groups of professional men are pri- more interested in the foundations and has the know- marily concerned with the earth's surface. One of ledge to predict the effects of rock and structure on such these groups comprises men who are known as en- foundations. In school the geologist masters a good gineers and the other those generally called earth deal of science where terminology and physical laws scientists. And this observation leads us to the principal are stressed, but he may get little .or no training in reaSOn for this article. The objectives, points of view typical engineering courses. He turns out to be the- and the training of these two groups is so different oretical while the engineer is a practical man. Of that if it weren't that both are primarily concerned course, there are exceptions to these statements, but with the earth's surface one would find little in common the writer has tried to describe the average person in among them. Let us ~implifY the discussion somewhat each field. by considering just the civil engineers from the en- It is true that the professional work of the engineer gineering group and the geologists from the earth and that of the geologist is quite different, but there is scientists and compare these two bodies of specialists a fair amount of common ground, particularly in back- as to their work, point of view and scholastic training. ground training. This might be pointed out by some The civil engineer is the one who builds things. He examples. One might take the case of the bridge directs the construction of buildings, roads, bridges, which is being planned across the Straits of Mackinac. tunnels and dams to list a few of his accomplishments. The engineering problem of spanning the water gap The technical pa;t of his work consists of calculating there with an adequate bridge is no more difficult stresses, loads, materials needed, dirt to be moved and than those connected with a number of other bridges so on, and his directing of the construction itself is already built in this country. However, the geology largely the culmination of a great deal of preliminary existing at the Straits presents a somewhat more work. The engineer is the one who builds, and this touchy problem. Adequate footings for the bridge prObably directs his general point of view. The dirt . supports depends upon the geological conditions. One or rock which must be moved in order to build holds (Continued on Page 52) little interest for him; it is like the brush the farmer 9 March, 1953 A MEANS OF REDUCING BLIND LANDING HAZARDS By LESLIE G. WOLSEY, E.E. '54 Drawings by Thomas J. Linton, E. E. '56 The recent accidents which have befallen the com- The first fundamental physical principle of radio- mercial airlines of this country stress an old and irksome location is the use of the echo made by radio waves when fact of aviation and add new emphasis to a frequently they have been projected against an object-known as asked question. The fact is that bad weather is the radio reflection. The second physical principle is the greatest single obstacle and hazard in aviation. The measurement of the time taken by the echo to travel question is, "What about the blind-landing systems from the reflecting object to the receiver. everyone has read and heard so much about? Do they utilization of the radio echo method for the location work or don't they?" of airplanes, and its utilization as a military weapon, If the answer to the question were yes, the fact would involved a great effort of applied science. This de- no longer be true. The truth is that systems for literally velopment of technique has been given the name, radar. blind landings-by which a plane's wheels are brought in Radar-radio detection and ranging-may now be de- contact with a fog covered runway the pilot cannot see- fined as the art of detecting, by means of radio echoes, are some years from perfection. But there are effective the presence of objects, determing their direction and low-weather approach aids which are used to guide a range, recognizing their character, and using the data pilot until he breaks out of the overcast and then lands his plane visually. The weather conditions have to be obtained in the performance of aviation problems or other functions. considerably better than zero-zero-which means no ceiling, no visibility. For example, at Newark airport At the present time there are two bad-weather ap- and New York International at Idlewood the aids are proach systems approved by the Civil Aeronautics Ad- not supposed to be used when the ceiling drops below ministration for use by the commercial airlines. Many 400 feet and visibility below three-quarters of a mile. of the major airports of the nation already are equipped There arc several different types of systems that with both these devices. could be used, one of which is based on radar. In order One aid is the Instrument Landing System" (ILS). In that one may fully appreciate radar and become this system, special radio apparatus is installed along acquainted with what it can accomplish, it would be an airport's instrument runway-the runway lying in the better if one knew some of the basic principles on which radar operates. direction of the prevailing winds of the area so that the pilot making an instrument landing generally will be headed into the wind. This radio apparatus sends out two beams. One establishes the direction in which the pilot should be flying; the other slants down toward the end of the runway and indicates the glide-path the pilot should follow in descent. The pilot can tell when he is on the beam by glancing at his ILS gauge on his instrument panel. When he is on the beam showing him his correct direction, a needle in the middle of the instru- ment remains vertical. And when he veers to either AHA IN WHKH THE l'iANEJ' side, this needle veers also. INDICATOR 5 ONRA T £ Another needle, actuated by the guidepath trans- mitter, operates horizontally. When the plane is on the glidepath beam, the horizontal needle lies in the middle INSTRUM[NT LANDINGSrSf£M of the instrument. But if the plane is above or below the glidepath, this needle lowers or raises itself. Thus when the aircraft is heading in the exact direction it should be and is descending correctly along the glide- path, the two needles are crossed in the middle of the Almost as soon as radio was invented meth d gauge at right angles. d . d f " ,os were eVlSe .or fmdm~ ~he origin of radio signals. This was possible by fmdmg the direction from which th Additional radio beams help the pilot. These beams, waves were coming. e called marker beacons indicate in the form of flashing But this was not radiolocation. Radiolocation d . d lights on the instrum~nt panei, how far the plane is on th e re fl ec t"Ion of radio waves from obJ'ect d epen s k from the point where it will touch down. There are it 'bl s an ma es POSSI e to detect the location of an obJ'ect three marker beacons: the first flashes in the instrU- . mere y by I re fl ection 0f radIo waves. Radio silence d k ment panel when the plane is about five miles from the f '11 ' ar ness or og WI not prevent an object from being located. ' runway; the second, about half a mile away; the third, about 200 feet away. 10 Spartan Engineer If the approach is successful and the ceiling is 400 monitored on the ground by the GCA radar operators. or more feet high, the pilot of the plane breaks out of the If the pilot is off the beam. the radar man informs the fog and picks up the runway approach lights, then the pilot. runway light, and from that point on he flies visually. Research on improved techniques for low-weather ap- Up to that time, however, he has been flying the plane proaches is, of course, going on. For example, the while his eyes constantly scan instruments on the panel Sperry Gyroscope Company and the Civil Aeronautics -the ILS needle, air speed indicator and other gauges. The other low-weather aid now in use is called Ground-Controlled Approach (GCA). This is a radar ANrrNNAJ" MOI/NrrO system which was given its first real test by the British ON MOBllr UNIT Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain. On the airfield a radar unit, constantly revolving, sends a beam out and up to approaching planes. The images of the planes appear in the form of little blips of lights on the radar scopes. Two radar scopes are used-one, called the search indicator, picks up a plane when it is from 30 to 90 miles from the runway; the other, the precision .160' /?OrAf/ON approach indicator, takes over when the plane enters the approach zone, about 6 to 8 miles from the end of the runway. VI NT/CAl Usually when an approaching plane contacts an air- Ii/AM port control tower under bad flying conditions, the pilot is asked by the tower operators if he wants to come in GROUND CONTROl Of AffReJAC /1 Jr)/) M by radar. If he does, the radar operations take over and talk to him by very-high-frequency (VHF) radio, which generally can pierce storms without static. To Administration have been flying Instrumentnl plnnes make certain which blip represents his particular plane, to make landings in the New York area In the worst the pilot is told to make several turns; his plane is thus weather possible-when all commercial planes arc grounded and even the birds are walking. One concrete thing the low-weather approach experi- ment has proved is that there must be chnn6tes in the current methods of observing and reporting weather. For example, if ceiling and visibility readings arc taken at or near the control tower, they mny have little or 110 relationship to the weather at the end of a ]ong runwa~' or over the approaches to it. The celling may be 400 or 600 feet at or near the tower and only 300 feet at the end of the runway. That can be extremely bad for the pilot coming into what he has been told was a higher ceiling. The people working on air safety arc confident that in time all-weather landings wiII be practically as rou- tine as night flying is now. But that time is distant. /./ Reprinted by permission of SUPPORT "The Christian Science Monitor" Navy men operating Ground-Controlled Approach radar, YOUR which guides planes to perfect landings during bad weather. followed on the scope and identified. Then the pilot is ENGINEERING COUNCIL talked down. He is told the direction to fly, the altitude and rate of descent to maintain. If everything goes right, the ground operator's voice tells him: "You're OVerthe end of the runway-take over visually. And everyone in the cockpit and in the GCA unit relaxes- strenuously. ATTEND The Berlin Airlift indicated that GCA will aid in reducing bad weather cancellations, disruption of sched- ules under instrument flying conditions, and stacking THE delays at airports. Most pilots with experience in ILS and GCA landings ENGINEERING EXPOSITION wiII tell you that both systems have proved to be depend- able, when used by well-trained pilots. However, many pilots prefer ILS to GCA because they don't see why they should turn their planes over to a man down on the May I May 2 ground .. In actual practice, both systems are often use~ to- gether. That is, a pilot making an ILS approach wIll be II March, 1953 TECHNICAL WRITING GROWS By ROBERT T. HAMLETT Reprinted from Sperry Engineering Review The tremendous expansion in the size and produc- The publications engineer is an engineering specialist tiveness of the engineering profession has been due, in a who relieves other engineers of the major portion of the large measure, to the ability of research and develop- responsibility for production of all publications required ment engineers to enlist other engineers for special tasks as a result of the engineers' work (Fig. 1). The publica- or services related to their basic problems. It was not tions engineer writes technical material, plans and directs so many years ago that an engineer was the engineer- preparation of copy, and carries through on all details he was charged with responsibility for all engineering concerned with actual production of the publication. It work on a project. This was possible because the end result of his engineering work was usually a single unit or instrument which operated without "tie-in" or refer- ence to other equipment. He found time somehow to solve all of the engineering problems that arose in connection with his "brain child." But the modern era of systems rather than instru- ments has changed the engineering approach to a very marked degree. One hears now about systems engineers, product engineers, project 'engineers, standards engineers, administrative engineers, test engineers, field engineers, production engineers, packaging engineers, industrial en- gineers, etc., etc. What has happened? Simply that the individual engineer can no longer carryall the burdens of the job of engineering a system or even a single instrument which ties into a system. While a very gifted engineer, possessing high skill in many branches of en- gineering, may still be able to visualize and guide the work on his project, he is no longer able to carry on the many individual investigations, attend the frequent en- Fig. I-Publications engineers produce a variety of gineering conferences, plan the fiscal and field testing matter requiring skills of both engineer and writer. programs, solve the production and packaging prOblems, etc. is necessary to repeat that he is first an engineer, then This ability of the engineer to pass on responsibility a writer, and finally a publications man. to other engineers has given rise to still another field Engineers have always labored under the stigma that of specialization within the engineering profession-that they cannot write well. It is a common attitude, even of technical writing. The products of this new field in pre-college education to assume that because the are instruction books, training manuals, engineering student is superior in m~thematics he must be inferior reports, technical data sheets, and many other types of in English. This affects the student's attitude and he technical information. The workers in this field are very naturally uses it as an excuse for not seriously variously referred to as technical writers, engineering stUdying the subject in which he is prejudged to be writers, . specification writers, technical report writers, inferior. When the "superior" math student goes to etc. ThiS author prefers to call the workers in this field engineering school it is a foregone conclusion that there publications engineers in keeping with other well-estab- is very little that can be done to help him there. Ho~- lished titles such as standards engineer, test engineer ever, he is given one or possibly two courses in English field service engineer, etc. This new title will be used throughout the article. (especially "arranged" for engineers) early in his college work. Usually no further attempts are made to h~lp What Is A Publications Engineer? him overcome a deficiency which will handicap him throughout his entire career. The principal reason why this author prefers the new title ~ublications engineer to that of technical writer is There is no doubt that some engineers cannot write that It more clearly designates the duties of such a well-but some lawyers, some accountants, and some worker, and also places him in a proper professional doctors cannot write well! Some doctors do not develOp status w~th fellow engineers, where he rightfully belongs. a pleasing "bedside" manner, so they become fi~e For he IS an engineer first and a writer second Th surgeons or specialists. So some engineers do not write term technical wr!ter, as commonly accepted, refers t: well, or simply do not have time to write wellc.-and a person who wntes material on technical subjects to becaUse of this, other engineers now find an interesting various levels of intelligence but is not usually con- and well-paid profession. cerned with the actual pUblication processes and prob- lems. The publications. engineer must be an engineer who has writing aptitude. This aptitude may have become 12 Spartan Engineer '. SIMPLIFIED, OP&IlATING PROCEDUIlES OV~RHAUL :," OPERATION" REPAIR' . " ••.. -MAINTENANCE .'. ,,' Fig. 2-Publications engineer's writing begins early with a project and follows product Into the field. very obvious because of the lack of encouragement received during his education. The author has seen many engineers, who felt certain that they were below average in writing aptitude, develop into excellent writ- ers of technical material. No one can doubt that' the engineering profession would be in a much better posi- tion if there were more effective writers amongst en- gineers. (The same might be said for effective speakers.) The publications engineer must be an engineer with unquenchable thirst for learning. If he is a mechanical engineer he must be learning more about electronics' if he is an electric.al engineer he must be learning ab~ut aero-dynamics, hydraulics, etc. He is constantly chal- MAINTAINS CLOSE LIAISON WITH SOURCES AND R.;VU:WF.RS lenged to describe something about which he knows WHILE WRITING FIRST ROVGII DRAFT AND DIRECTING PHOTOGRAPHERS. ILLUSTRATORS, AND TV PISTS practically nothing. But with his basic engineering education under his hat, he tackles each unknown with some confidence that he can understand and interpret }'IRST Rouell DRA'"Y ROUTED TO the facts for others who may know more or less about FIELD ENGI~ PATENT ATTOR- SAl.l.:S AND it than he does. Many fine technical descriptions result HEERS AND MAIN. HEYS U'OR PAT. AOV.:RTlSINC J'E RSONN t:1. TEHANCE PERSON. ENTADILITY ANU when engineers who are educated in one field begin to NEL (I'OR PRAC- INJ'RINCEMENT (J'OR COM"ANY TiCADlLITY CHECK CHECKI POLICY CIlt:CKI write on subjects in other engineering fields-they use analogies which greatly aid the reader in applying the description to his own experience. REVISES ROUCH DRAJ'T TO INCORI'ORA TE COMMENTS ANO CORIU:C. TIONS FROM ALL REVIEWERS wlIILt; CONTINUING 10 DlR£CT The publications engineer must have a working knowl- PIIOTOCRAPUERS. ILLUSTRATORS. AND TYPISTS edge of the advantages and disadvantages of many types of reproduction processes such as spirit duplication, mimeograph, Photostat, blueline and blueprint, Ozalid, "FINAL" DRA.'T 'ro CUSTOMER "OR COMMENTS ANl) AI'VRUYAL offset printing, and letterpress printing. He is familiar with type faces, paper stock, cover materials, binding LAYS OUT REPRODUCIBLE COPY J'ROM APPROVED ROUCII DRAJ'T methods, etc. He understands the problems involved WHILE DIRECTING TYPISTS AND TYPESETTERS in production of copy by typewriters, Varitypers, type- setting, and Phototype. He has a practical knowledge of the arts of photography and retouching, and he guides ~echnical illustrators in visualizing and rendering special Illustrations for use with his written words. ARRANGES REPRODUCIBLE COpy rOR TRANSMITTAL TO PRINTER All of his talents and acquired knowledge are com- bined in the process of preparing a publication that must CIIECKS PRINTED MANUAL J'OR COIUlECTNESS AND A/'PEARANCI: meet government or commercial specifications covering content, format, practicability, and literary standards. He is at the same time an engineer, a writing specialist, Fig. 3-Publicatlons engineer gains broad knowledre of a pUblications expert and a student of psychology! product: Its engineering, manufacture, and application. Persons with whom he consults directly are underscored Variety of Work in this diagram of manual's life cycle. When the young publications engineer has developed to be gathered on anyone product or system (Fig. 2). confidence in tackling new writing projects, he finds the Some of the assignments require the publications en- variety of writing assignments to be one of the most gineer to wprk intimately with the equipment; in some attractive features of his job. It is a familiar complaint cases he completely disassembles and reassembles the among engineers that they become too specialized and units. In other cases, he accompanies the equipment on know too little of what is taking place in the scientific trial runs or field tests. These experiences give a world around them. While no scientist can hope to keep "practical" satisfaction to those who like to feel that abreast of the tremendous evolution of technical achieve- they are not just "theoretical" writers. ments now taking place, the publications engineer finds :eal satisfaction in testing and adding to his knowledge Another attractive feature of the publications en- III many different fields. As an example, at Sperry gineer's work lies in the variety of contacts which he makes in the course of the development and approval ~he skilled publications engineer develops a descriptive of a publication, A typical life story of an instruction nowledge in such varied fields as radar, hydraulics, book prepared for the Armed Services (Fig. 3), gives an ~e~on:echanisms, gyroscopics, computing mechanisms, indication of the many individuals concerned in the alhshcs, optics, navigation, and aerodynamics. When preparation or approval of the publication prior to its the occasion demands he becomes, for a time, a writing final printing; the publications engineer works constantly SpeCialist in one or more of these fields. with all of those shown, In addition to the variety of writing from the product (Continued on Page 44) standpoint, there is also much variation in the material 13 March, 1953 ENGINEERINGtS MIGHTY MIDGET By D. D. McGRADY Metallurgical Engineering Department A thermocouple is constructed of two unlike metals A tabulation of the four most commonly used types joined together in a circuit such as shown schematically of thermocouples follows: in Fig. 1. A very small direct-current voltage is pro- A. Base Metal Thermocouples. duced when the measuring junction (or hot junction) 1. Copper-Constantan. (Type T) is at a different temperature from the reference junction (or cold junction). 2. Iron-Constantan. (Type J) The amount of the voltage that is developed by a 3. Chromel-Alumel. (Type K) thermocouple is small and depends upon the metals B. Noble Metal Thermocouples. used and upon the difference in temperature from hot 1. Platinum-Rhodium 10%, Platinum 90%. (Type S) to .cold junction. At most a maximum of about 0.05 The temperature-voltage relationship of these thermo- volt (50 millivolts) is obtained at 2200°F. couples is shown in Fig. 2, from which it is seen that the voltage increases rather uniformly with the meas- ured temperature. The curves in Fig. 2 are drawn on the basis of the cold junction remaining constant at 32 0 F. . ~TAL 19 Table I shows the composition and properties of thermocouples, together with their recommended useful temperature range and approximate limit of error. A satisfactory thermocouple must meet certain general T.1 T2 qualifications, namely: 1'-1£ASURING I REFERENCE JUNCTION HrT.4l. f3 I JUNCT/ON 1. The metals must reasonably resist oxidation, re- duction, and corrosion at higher temperatures. 2. As large a voltage (e.m.f.) as possible should be Fig. I-Simple Thermocouple Circuit. produced by a unit temperature change. 3. The temperature-voltage relationship should fol- low a straight line over the useful range of temperature. (Continued on Page 48) TABLE I Composition and Properties of Thermocouples Type Alloy Polarity Range, of. Standard Identification / Composition Error Copper pure plus -300 to 700 :t1% Constantan 40% nickel minus 60% copper Iron pure plus 0-1400 :t%% magnetic Constantan 40% nickel 60% copper. minus nonmagnetic Chromel 90% nickel 10% chromium plus 0-2300 :t%% nonmagnetic Alumel 94'% nickel minus slightly magnetic 3% manganese 2% aluminum 1% silicon Platinum pure minus 0-2700 very soft Platinum- 10% rhodium plus . Rhodium 90% platinum 14 Spartan Engineer Push-Buttoni"g Bossy By WilliAM H. FRIDAY Agricultural Engineer 153 One does not have to go far back into history to find ing. The manual removal of manure requires about the beginning of farm mechanization. The late 19th 10 per cent of the farmer's time. The labor saving device century saw the dawn of a new era of farming, but the for mechanical cleaning of barns depends upon what farmers were slow in adopting the new inventions and type of barn is used. An application of hydraulic ideas. In fact the real mechanization of farming did cylinders was used in the creation of the front end not start until World War II when the American farmer manure loader which was a great stimulus toward loose was presented the greatest challenge he had ever faced. housing stabling, releasing the potentialities of the labor Increased production requirements were coupled with a saving Penn-type barn. man power shortage. This stimulated the application In answer to the request for a mechanical device to of engineering principles to the farming industry, and remove manure from the stanchion type barn, the though mechanization is not complete a man hour today mechanical gutter cleaner was developed. Four types is twice as productive as in the nineteen twenties. manufactured today are: the continuous chain; the re- But where did this mechanization occur on the farm? ciprocating; the chain pull-out, and the belt pull-out. The development of combines, hay balers, field choppers, Usage of the gutter cleaner saves untold amounts of and other machines of this type have been the major time, but the acceptance of the machine was relatively noticeable equipment, for field operations seemed to be slow until farmers began thinking about saving their the bottleneck on many farms. However, this has backs as well as money. Research has proved that both tended to shift peak labor loads to the buildings where a time and energy are saved resulting in capital gains dairy farmer spends approximately 50 per cent of his for the farming enterprise. An indication of the amount time. And better than three fourths of this time is spent of time saved is noted in that less than one fourth of with the actual dairy chores. Smaller and less notice- the former cleaning time is needed with the gutter able strides have been made in saving labor in the barns, cleaners. but the trend toward systematic operation is on the upswing. The future of the barn cleaner rests with the engineer. One of the greatest labor saving mechanisms for the As Kenneth L. Turk of Cornell University has stated, barn, the milking machine, which was invented in the "The equipment we have needs improved engineering, late 19th century, is still undergoing face lifting. Today but the principles of barn cleaners is sound, and there new methods applied to milking machines are making is a real need for them." them more than just a means of extracting milk; they Agriculture borrowed an important labor saver from are also transporting it to the milk can. New pipe line industry when it applied the use of mechanical conveyors systems which send the milk directly from the machines to farm units. As in industry these conveyors are used to the milk house remove the walking from milking and to shift the location of materials. Grains and hays can create greater barn efficiency. These systems are easily be moved into storage and transferred to other locations adapted to the milking parlors or the stanchion type as needed with a minimum of labor and handling. barn, and this pipe line application can save about one Speaking of borrowing, even the housewife's vacuum third of milking time. The engineering adaptations cleaner has been borrowed and applied in principle to involved have not changed the original principle of the grooming of cows. Because the farming h':dustry as alternating suction but have increased the size of the a whole is behind in the mechanization that many other vacuum line to give the desired results. Further en- industries have utilized, any device that can be reap- gineering challenges in this field are chemical in nature plied to agriculture is readily acceptable to agricultural because they involve finding solutions that will keep engineers and far sighted dairymen. the vacuum line in a sanitary condition without tearing Probably the nation is past the midway mark in its the pipes down daily, thus increasing efficiency as extra farm power revolution, exclusive of possibilities related labor time would not be needed for cleaning. to atomic energy, but continued invention of useful Milking is not the only phase of barn work that machines and farm implements and increased electrifica- mechanization has affected, for labor saving experts tion should give further impetus to mechanization. The scrutinized the feeding of animals and realized that trends in labor saving machinery for dairy barn applica- considerable labor could be saved through the use of tion is not entirely toward the invention of new ma- carts and grain bins. The maj or engineering develop- chinery, for much of the research is aimed at improving ment in this area is the silo unloader. The silo unloader present machines. Time and motion studies are being has a radial beam with scrapers that collect silage and made on farms to group several operations in one, and take it to the center of the silo where it is picked up by the results of these experiments will mean that there motor driven, air, or mechanical conveyor and delivered will be further development of machinery doing a to the silo shoot. This saves not only considerable time variety of tasks in one unit. Although it will never be in handling the silage but also conserves much energy. entirely possible to push-button dairy stable operations On some of the latest unloaders disks have replaced due to inconsistencies of the living creatures involved, scrapers, and the results are better with grass silage. agricultural engineers today are working diligently to Still one of the biggest jobs around the barn is clean- approach the maximum dairy enterprise efficiency. March, 1953 15 Where Do I Fit? By ROBERT G. KITCHEN Spartan Engineer Editor Where do I fit? Maybe the sales field is what you are looking for. If you have a pleasing personality and what is known as How many times have you, as an engineering student the gift of gab, try it, it was made to order for a man asked yourself this question? How many different like you. answers have you come up with? There are sales opportunities in every major en- Unless you are the exception to the rule, the times gineering field. have been many and the answers have varied consider- ably. Research may be the field you are looking for. There are many openings here, especially in the chemical and Let's start at the bottom and work our way up. metallurgical branches. It is a great chal1ce for the When you were in high school, your marks in math, fellow that likes to have the things he does change quite chemistry, and physics were very good. You either often. saw your counselor or figured in your own mind that A wide open field for engineers is the technical pub- engineering was your field. So you decided to go to lications field. There are many journalists around that college. would like positions of this type but they lack the In your first two years you studied English, history, background necessary for the job. Industry is looking and other basic courses. You began to wonder if you for men that are trained in the various fields to write were ever going to have a real engineering course. instruction manuals, work on periodicals, and perform many other writing jobs that can not be done by the Then in your junior year they gave you many of the common layman. courses that you were beginning to wonder if you were ever going to receive. These are just a few of the many opportunities that await the engineer. If you are still undecided, see one Now you are a senior and wondering where you are of the instructors that you have had for several of your going to fit in the machinery of America or what ever courses. Talk it over with him, he will probably be of your home country is. much greater help to you than you can imagine. First of all get the idea out of your head that you are What ever you decide to do upon graduation, if you better than the man that did not go to college but has are going to stay in your chosen field, join your pro- four or five years experience in the field. In the be- fessional society. That can be one of your greatest ginning he is much your superior. You have to accomp- assets. lish something before you are better than he is. Put it this way. When you graduate, you have in your possession many shiny tools. You can use these tools and through their use, become apt in handling them. On the other hand you may not use them and they will rust. You have put too much time and effort BE SURE TO into acquiring them, don't let them go to waste. One of the best ways to start out is to take the first ATTEND part of the registration examination. This part of the examination is the same for all the fields of engineering and consists of problems. These problems are from all The Fifth Annual the different fields and.it will make it easier if you take it while these out-lying fields are still fresh in your ENGINEERING EXPOSITION mind. If you get the passing grade on the first try you are well on your way in your chosen field. If you have decided upon a particular type of work in your field, try to get a job of that type. Stick with it until you know whether you are satisfied or not. If you find that you are not satisfied, get into another line. You are not helping yourself or your organization if you are not content with the work that you are doing. May I May 2 If you haven't decided just what you want to do, here are a few suggestions. 16 Spartan Engineer Do you want a iob with a challenge? It's a challenge to serve the public need, to build essential equipment for essential work. International Harvester accepted that challenge half a century ago and turned it into a business philosophy. Today, the products we build are used throughout agriculture and industry, in transportation, construction, food preservation. In order to hold our position of leadership, we must continue and expand our re- search and engineering. We will continue to grow with men and women like you. International Harvester offers a satisfying, rewarding career to the young and ambitious college graduate. Each job carries with it plenty of chance for advancement. We like ambition. Any young graduate tak- ing a job at Harvester can rise as far as his abilities will take him. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER ~ 80 N. M 1CHI G A N A V EN U E, CHI C AGO 1, 1 L L 1 N 01 S 17 March, 1953 The Story of Vanadium HIT IT AGAIN By ROBERT C. OLIVER JOSEPH G. MYERS Junior Metallurgical Engineers Away back in 1911, a customer of a certain foundry at the very crest of the Peruvian Andes some 15,400 ordered some special castings and insisted that vanadium feet above sea level to discover a bonanza of vanadium steel be used. The foundry, lacking experience with ore. Vanadium at that time was the world's rarest this new-fangled alloy, poured the castings without metal. The development of Mina Ragra which followed much faith or enthusiasm. opened the way for revolutionary changes in the prop- erties and applications of cast irons and steels. When the castings were solidified and broken from the molds, a workman went over them using a heavy Although deposits of Vanadium have been found in hammer to knock off the sprues, or projecting points. Naturita, a small town of 200 tucked away in the south- Usually one or two blows were enough. But not this western corner of Colorado; Mina Ragra remains the time! The workman hit once, twice, and again. After world's largest source of the metal. 40 blows he called the foreman. The ore taken from this mine has to travel four and The foreman braced himself and hit squarely with one-half miles down a heavy grade. Here at Jamushan all his strength. Nothing happened. Again the sledge on Lake Pun Run are modern plants for the concentra- tion of the ore. The concentrate is loaded into barges and towed six miles across Lake Pun Run to Casa La- guna. Then by railroad it is taken to the seaport of Lima where it is loaded on freighters bound for the ports of Eastern United States. Upon arrival in this country the ore is taken to Bridgeville, Pa., where it is further processed in plants operated by the Vanadium Corporation of America. Vanadium is usually marketed as ferrovanadium con- taining 35-45 per cent of the metal. This alloy used in vanadium steels has been a key factor in the develop- ment of the modern airplane, automobile and locomotive, and is widely used in the field of high speed and other tool steels and dies. Boasting a melting point of 3119°F, and an even more remarkable specific heat value of 0.1769 cal./gramj"C as a pure metal makes it possible for extreme conditions to be met in con- nection with resistance to very high temperatures. The ferrovanadium also imparts high resistance to shock and fatigue. Courtesy of "Van corum Review" The properties of vanadium alloyed steels amazed the V.iew of the Mina Ragra mine showing white porphry first steelmen to use it. For example: a vanadium steel dike ~hich cuts the orebody in two in the middle. razor honed only once, was used to shave 605 men in a VanadIUm ore pits are shown on each side of the dike. month and a half; and bars of the same steel have been bent double without cracking. The reason for this came down, and again. The foreman's face grew red toughening effect is seated in the carbide of vanadium, and his arms tired. After 50 blows he dropped the which is the hardest and most stable carbide found in sledge on the floor and stalked over to the superin..: alloy steels. 0.1 to 0.25 per cent vanadium in a car tendent's office. spring will permit it to snap back into shape after being compressed for one year. The superintendent, obviously irritated and annoyed, ar~ived on the scene and slugged the casting with 150 Vanadium increases the well known effects on the mIghty blows. properties of steel of other alloying elements such as nickel, chromium, manganese, and molybdenum. The sprues were then sawed off. This metal's history has no more dramatic contrast Today we know that vanadium is perhaps the most than its price. Today ferrovanadium sells for $2.70 to powerful alloying element commonly added to steel- $3.00 per pound of contained vanadium, a decrease of two pounds per ton, or even less, has remarkable effects $4,789 from the price of the metal fifty years ago. on the steel's hardness and strength. Indeed, this metal has helped to modernize manY of In 1906 vanadium was worth five times th 1 gold, and it was in January of that year th t e vaAue of the industrial achievements that have placed the United . l' a an mer- States among the leading producers of iron and steel lcan geo OgISt struggled up onto a windswept plateau commodities in the world. 18 Spartan Engineer Ne~Idea:s To :Keep Au.eriftl: Strong in the Ai.. A viation progress requires new ideas-and plenty of them. And that's why North American always has career opportunities for young engineers who do fresh thinking. North American is a company that thinks in terms of the future. That's why it has been an industry leader for 24 years, designing and developing the leading planes of World War II, the B-25 Mitchell and F-51 Mustang, and America's present day front-line fighters, the F-86 Sabre Jets. Today, North American is pioneering in many new fields-guided missile, jet, rocket, electronics, atomic energy-thinking ahead to keep America strong in the air. When you are prepared to enter the engineering profession, consider the career opportunities at North American. In the meantime, feel free to write for any infor- mation you might want concerning a career in the aircraft industry. Write D. R. Zook, Employment Director, 5701 W./mperial Highway, Los Angeles NORTH MlERlOlN 1\lTJ1lTION. IN~. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA' COLUMBUS, OHI.O 1'!oT;thAmerican has built more airplanes than any other company in the wor:ld 19 March, 1953 Ra're Earth Metals By WilliAM POLLARD RICHARD lAMBERT KENNETH HERRICK Met. E1s1 154 Rare earth metals are now only "medium rare"! These Although these methods are still very expensive and com- rare earth metals, through the new uses developed for plicated and need more development, they are meeting them since the second World War, now enjoy a greater the present need fairly well. abundance and importance than ever before. Before Before the intensified research program of World War World War II no practical uses had been developed II, Zirconium existed only in a powdered form. This for these metals and, as they were difficult to obtain in powdered Zirconium was found to be more fiery and their pure state, they seemed destined to remain a sort violent than Magnesium and found a use in incendiary of scientific curiosity-hence their classification as rare bombs. After it was learned how to produce Zirconium earth metals. Some of these metals were Zirconium, in the ductile form, the temper of the metal was changed Germanium, Hafnium, Beryllium, Lithium, and Cerium. to a docile one. In this solid form it can be used as a The increased demand for new metals and metal alloys, structural material in rockets and aircrafts because of brought on by World War II, sent the research engineer its low weight and high strength. It is used in the into his laboratory to reinvestigate the few previously chemical industry because it will not corrode under the known facts about this rare metals group. This intensi- action of HCI and HNO:; acids, and in steel making as a fied investigation showed that these supposedly useless purifying agent. It is also used in modern surgery metals had a great many uses indeed. These new uses because the metal is not affected by body fluids. Be- meant that new and more efficient recovery processes cause of its ease of formability, high melting point, low had to be developed to economically obtain these metals tendency to absorb slow neutrons, and high corrosion in their pure state. resistance, Zirconium finds a key use in atomic energy The rare earth metals are not rare in the sense that research. The atomic submarine is now a possibility they constitute a small percentage of the earth's crust. because of Zirconium. They are quite abundant on the earth. Germanium Metallurgically, Germanium has little use as it is an occurs in the earth's crust in about equal amounts as the extremely brittle metal and cannot be used for any common metal zinc. There is as much Zirconium in the structural or tool purposes. With the development of earth as there is carbon. The point of importance is radar and radio in World War II, the need arose for a that the rarity of these metals arose from processing very good semi-conductor which would be easy to work difficulties and the fact that very few concentrations of with. Research showed that Germanium had the desired the ores of these metals can be found in the earth's crust. properties and because Germanium fulfilled these needs Most of the Germanium and Hafnium is obtained as so well, it has changed from a curiosity to an important a by-product of other extraction processes. For example, element through its use in the field of electronics. It most of the Germanium is obtained as a by-product of was found that single crystals of Germanium, the size the Zinc extraction process. The Zinc ore, containing of a kernel of corn, could replace complicated vacuum oIily 0.01 to 0.1 percent Germanium, is roasted to volatil- tubes. This property of Germanium makes Dick Tracy's ize the Germanium. These vapors are then condensed wrist watch radio a reality. to bring about the recovery of Germanium. It can be Cerium is finding an increasing use as an alloying seen that only a very small amount can be recovered by agent with non-ferrous metals, particularly -.'!agnesium. this process. An even smaller amount of Germanium This is also true of Beryllium, which is now an alloying is obtained from its principle ore "Germanite;" but this agent with Copper. process is not in general use today. Hafnium is associat- Up to the present time no commercial applications ed with Zirconium in ore, and it is obtained as a by- have been developed for Hafnium, except in the atomic product of Zirconium recovery. energy program, where specific applications have not Zirconium, on the other hand, is recovered from the been revealed. One of the suggested uses of this metal mineral Zircon (ZrSi04). Zircon is an accessory mineral is in the manufacture of electronic tubes. in igneous rocks. As is true of Germanite and other As occurs with the introduction of each new metal, minerals containing the rarer metals, Zircon is found in suitable applications appear only after its physical and a lot of places in the earth; but not much is found in chemical characteristics have been fully evaluated. With anyone place. Before the war, Zirconium was produced the rapid advancements in the Atomic Energy Program, only in the powdered forin, but now it can be produced Jet Engine Development, and Electronics, these metals in the ductile form. One of the problems of research and others will receive much more research and atten- engineers was to obtain the metal in the pure form. Only tion. From each new metal comes problems of mining, in the pure form can the metal be of any use today. extraction, forming, joining, heat treatment and cleaning The Atomic Energy Commission made the first request and finishing. This opens other areas to the Metallurgists for large quantities of Zirconium and Hafnium from the and Metallurgical Engineers of the present and future. Foote Mineral Company. In order to supply the new To be sure, to the solution of the current problems in demand in conjunction with the development of atomic these fields confronting America, the Metallurgist or energy, new processes had to be developed. Science Metallurgical Engineer will make a substantial contribu- came through with the new methods that were needed. tion. 20 Spartan Engineer • Young Allison aircraft engineers, powerful turbine engine and the pilot's signments while in our test department ~ho not so long ago were in engineer- ability to perform the assigned job. was as engineering representative dur- Ing schools as you are now, are playing ing four months of cold weather engine Floyd Boyer is a Montana .boy who tests in Alaska in the winter of 1951. an important part in development of came to Allison from Georgia Tech in Today, as Project Engineer in charge controls for today's high-powered tur- 1940 as a junior test engineer. By early of turbo-prop fuel controls, he looks bine engines. 1944 he had been advanced to experi- after the application and development Their job is to design an instrument mental engineer and in 1948 to senior engineering on these devices. which will relieve the pilot of much of pr.ject engineer. His work on engine Kent Hahn spent his first year with t?e manual control in engine opera- controls began during World War II Allison working in several depart- tIon. Once the throttle is set, the con- when he helped develop the automatic ments and is now a project engineer in trol takes over and supplies the right boost control for the two-stage super- the controls development group, work- amount of fuel to the engine. The con- charged V171 0 reciprocating engines. ing on propeller coordinating controls. trol must compensate for changes in In 1951 he was made group engineer He also has had assignments on en- outside temperature, atmospheric pres- in charge of turbo-prop control devel- gine deicing controls, and on controls Sure and other variables involved in opment and now guides the work of for the turbo-prop engines in the Alli- changes in altitude. twelve other engineers. son Turbo-Liner where the commercial E. J. "Gene" Bevers worked with us advantages of turbo-prop engines are This automatic control enables the as a student engineer in the summer of now being demonstrated. pilot to concentrate his efforts on the 1944 before graduating in 1945. The Let's check together on a job for fulfillment of his mission. Meanwhile, Army called him for a two-year hitch YOII with the world's most experienced his engine is protected against over- but he was back on the job in January, manufacturer of turbo-jet and turbo- speeding, high temperature and other 1947. One of his most interesting as- prop engines. critical factors affecting the life of the Allison is looking for young men with degrees in MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING. A lesser number of openings exist for majors in Metallurgy, Electronics, Mathematics and Physics. Write now for further information: R. G. Greenwood, Engineering College Contact, Allison Division, General Motors Corporation, Indianapolis 6, Indiana. DIVISION GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION • Indianapolis, Ind. Design, development and production-high power TURBINE ENGINES for modern aircraft ••• heavy duty TRANSMISSIONS for Ordnance and Commercial vehicles ••. DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE PARTS •• _ PRECISION BEARINGS for aircraft, Diesel locomotives and special application. 21 March, 1953 Zirconium A Vital Material Reprinted by permission of Westinghouse Electric Corporation Scientists of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation "These qualities make zirconium only second perhaps have revealed how zirconium - a long-known but little- in importance to uranium in the building of the West- used metal - has been brought into mass production: inghouse submarine reactor," Dr. Shoupp explained. how now it is linked with uranium in importance as a "The urgency of this work, of course, has concentrated material for construction of a submarine "nuclear scientific attention on zirconium and the result has been reactor." astonishing. When Westinghouse atomic scientists tackled the as- signment of building the first submarine reactor, there Startling Progress in Three Years was not enough usable zirconium to do the job. Then "More progress has been made in the development of the Atomic Energy Commission gave Westinghouse the zirconium within the last three years than was made green light to undertake mass production on its own. during a whole generation in the development of iron The story of how the bottleneck was broken and high and steel." quality zirconium produced by the ton in time to meet And why wasn't this long-known but little-used metal brought into mass production long ago? "Simply because it was extremely difficult to produce in pure form," Dr. Shoupp explained. "When none of the common metals met the requirements the hunt was on for something better." The search led to the sandy beaches of Florida on the East Coast and Oregon on the West Coast. Zirconium ore is found in the sands that wash ashore, not only in these two states but in many locations throughout the world .. In one fortunate respect, zirconium is much more plentiful than uranium. The problem, since zirconium first was discovered in 1789, has been how to produce the metal in pure form, free from many impurities with which it combines in nature. Several different processes were developed many years ago, but only to a point where small quanti- ZIRCONIUM PRODUCTION AISLE-These large tanks ties of pure zirconium could be produced-and these at are furnaces in which the zirconium deposition process a high cost. was begun at the Westinghouse Atomic Power Division. The tanks were evacuated, then heated, to begin the The program to make zirconium a cheap, safe material chemical reaction which ultimately resulted in produc- for atomic energy work really began in 1948. At that tion of zirconium "crystal bars" 99.9 per cent pure. time Capt. H. G. Rickover threw Navy support behind the process development work then being carried out by the Bureau of Mines in Albany, Oregon as he was looking forward to the days when the Navy would the need, wrote another chapter in the book of atomic- require zirconium for nuclear power plants on ships. age engineering accomplishment. About this same time, the Atomic Energy Commission Dr. W. E. Shoupp, director of development for the developed an interest in the metal and many of the Westinghouse Atomic Power Division, explains the sud- AEC laboratories and contractors began studying and den demand for zirconium this way: working with zirconium in earnest. "F~r water-cooled nuclear reactors - such as the Westmghouse submarine reactor - zirconium is one of Supply Urgently Needed the best materials that will work," he said. "Iron, steel When the requirements for the Westinghouse submar- aluminum and the other metals of normal strength and permanence simply won't do at all." ine reactor became evident, it was apparent that pieces of zirconium the thickness of a lead pencil and costin.g Zirconium metal is lighter than steel. It has remark- $250 a pound were not going to be sufficient. So It ab~e corros!on-resistance, an extremely high melting- became necessary in July, 1950, for Westinghouse to pomt, and IS a fine structural metal in that it is quite step into the zirconium processing business. strong and wor~able. Most important for its use in a nuclear reactor IS the fact that it does not "waste" neu- With its scientists _ headed by Dr. Z. M. Shapiro and trons - the atomic particles that split uranium atoms Alexander Squire _ frequently working more than 15 and keep the atomk engine "running" Wh hours a day and usually seven days a. week, a Westing- m t I "b 0r b" . ereas some ~ouse zirconium refining plant was set up, staffed and e a.s ~ 7 these neutrons and thus interfere with In full production within 14 weeks. In that period atomIc fISSIon, zirconium offers nQ such jnterference, production of pure zirconium "crystal bar" was boosted 22 Spartan Engineer from several hundred pounds per month to thousands air. Strangely enough, however, one reason pure zir- of pounds per month. conium is used in nuclear reactors is because of its "We were able, through these efforts, to produce a great resistance to water even at the high temperatures zirconium metal of superior quality without which suc- involved. cessful completion of our submarine reactor project was deemed impossible," Dr. Shoupp declared. "Equally important, was the fact that we also were able to pro- duce sufficient quantity of the metal to do the job. "We achieved quantity production of zirconium that is 99.9 percent pure. Purity with respect to certain elements is the key to zirconium's resistance to corrosion and to the ductility of the metal." Nothing was ,overlooked or left untried in the race to achieve high-quality, volume production of the vital metal, Dr. Shoupp related. At one step of the process, the scientists were momentarily stumped. The stickler: to achieve a positive, air-tight seal for various large metal caps and valves which operated at very high temperatures and had to be removed frequently. "Several important steps in the process took place in large meta] evacuated tanks," Dr. Shoupp said. No ordinary gasket that would stand up under extreme operating conditions could be used to seal off the caps and valves at the top of these tanks. So the material PURE ZIRCONIUM BY TilE TON-Westinghouse en- finally selected for use as gaskets was pure gold. gineer Alexander Squire examines a stock of zirconium "Pure gold," Dr. Shoupp explained, "was the cheapest, crystal bar produced at the firm's Atomic I)ower Division satisfactory material we could find. It is soft enough plant. Slightly lighter than steel and highly resistant to make a perfect seal and stands up well under heat to corrosion and heat, the glistening metal plays a key and corrosive conditions." role in the construction of the first atomic power plant for submarine propulsion. Unlike other possible materials, strands of gold wire were cheap for this purpose because they could be re- processed after being used once, and again drawn into Before the fundamental characteristics of this ]ong- wire. Although costing $35 an ounce at the start, the known but little-used metal were established, fires were gold could be used over and over again. not infrequent. Westinghouse scientists and engineers Westinghouse scientists devoted considerable time to did much to bring an end to these exploratory-stage the problem of making zirconium a corrosion-resistant, hazards so that zirconium is now a useful metal. as well as a cheap material for atomic power plant use. The Westinghouse zirconium production process began They explain that it is indeed a paradoxical metal: with what is called zirconium "sponge" - porous chunks If handled properly it is a strong, stable and corrosion- of metal that look like coke. The sponge, produced by the Bureau of Mines at A]bany, Oregon, is the result of a six-step reduction process that begins with the zirconium-bearing sands from the ocean beaches. While relatively pure, zirconium sponge still contained im- purities which had to be removed before the meta] could be used successfully in the first submarine nuclear reactor. The sponge was loaded into a big tank which also held a container of zirconium tetra-iodide - a combina- tion of zirconium and iodine. The "head" or top cover of the tank from which was suspended a series of four- foot-long hairpin-shaped zirconium wire filaments then was put in place. After the tank had been heated in a salt bath and evacuated, electric current was passed through the zirconium wire. This started a chemical l4-WEEK JOB--To meet the urgent need for pure reaction. zirconium in quantity, this Westinghouse zirconium pro- The brick-red substance known as zirconium tetra- duction aisle was designed, equipped and put in operation iodide vaporized and deposited pure zirconium on the within 14 weeks. The sunken tanks at the far end of the hot wire filaments: The freed iodine then migrated aisle to the left are where the zirconium crystal bars back to the remaining sponge material and the cycle Were "grown" by deposit of pure zirconium on hairpin- began once again until a considerable thickness of zir- shaped zirconium wire "filaments." At right foreground conium was deposited on the wire "hairpin." When can be seen the "insides" of a deposition tank with the the hairpin was finally removed, it was an irregul.ar, zirconium wire strung from top to bottom. hexagonal bar of super-pure zirconium that shone hke resistant material' but if handled improperly, it is silver. brittle, unworkabl~ and corrodible. In some forms it These four-foot-Iong "crystal bars" were ~olled: then may also be inflammable. chopped into small pieces and melted down mto mgots. If chips from zirconium being machined ignite, water The ingots themselves eventually were forged and rolled. will not put out the fire. The hot zirconium combines Today the value and safety of zirconium are proven with the oxygen from the water to cause the zirconium and the' complicated processes for making it are well !o burn even more vigorously. In addition, hydrogen (Continued on Page 40) IS liberated which also burns or may even explode in 23 March, 1953 there's a great future • In the 195X Pontiac! The future of the automobile industry is way of designing. The majority. of ~ lead. practically unlimited. A predicted 80,000,- ing positions in automobile engmeenng ~ 000 vehicles are expected to be running held by men whose basic training was In America's roads by 1975. designing. It's one of the best paths for !he The automobile industry has shown ahnost young man who. wants an engineenng continual growth-far beyond the most career based on opportunity, future ad. . Ius optimistic expectations of the experts of vancement and liberal compensa t IOnp not so many years ago. General Motors employment benefits. . the And while the industry itself has shown Yes-there is a great future for you III this steady growth, Pontiac has grown even 195X Pontiac. more spectacularly. Today Pontiac holds an enviable position. Its reputation for quality and value and its public acceptance C r-f'.~ - ...;.~ ,,-:' ~'JI1I~1I III f",,11 ....-.~ un " I" III :]. are unsurpassed. 81 I ~_ There is, indeed. a future with Pontiac. But .more imp-lrtant is this: the most Pontiac's huge, new engineering building. is on~ 01.::; industry's most modern with every concelllable JaCI practical way to this great future is by for designing better and better Pontiacs. PONTIAC MOTOR DIVISION. PONTIAC, MICHIGAN G ENE R A L M:OTons C o:n P 0 n A T ION 24 Spartan Engin YOUR first job is the foundation for a successful future. You want to prove yourself-to get background and experience for bigger assignments. Our Company offers you this opportunity. Detroit Edison is an independent electric company, owned by 55,000 investors and operated by 11,000 employees who serve more than half of Michigan's population. Here, in every sense, is a forward- looking, growing concern-one which by 1954, will have doubled its faciliti~s of a decade ago. As one example of its foresightedness, Detroit ~~disonengineers are working with Dow Chemical Company as one of our nation's five atomic research teams. Intensive studies are under way concerning nuclear heat in relation to thermal electric generating plants. And so numerous opportunities for advance- ment exist now and should continue to develop in every department of the Company. • Detroit Edison is constantly on the lookout for graduates with initiative and ability who can be trained to fill positions of rl'sponRi- bility in the future. I On-the-job training forms an important part of the Detroit Edison picture. For the last '27 years the Company has operated a special College-Graduate-in- Training I'rogram designed to acquaint new employees with the principal operating department.'i and company points of view. As you visit departments you are not only learning about the Company's business and organi- zation but you also have a chance to select DETROIT EDISON PLANS ENGINEERING FUTURES the right kind of work and department you desire. Here you will associate with men of long experience who are nationally recog- nized for their leadership in the public utility field. Thus, you will lay the Don Blodgett set his sights on advancement [01- groundwork for your advanceml'nt and lowing graduation from the University of Wiscon- career success. sin with a BSEE. Five years of Army service delayed his start with Detroit Edison until 1946. Many men who now hold high ranking Since then his career has been filledwith challenge positions in The Detroit Edison Company and responsibility. Today finds Don a Senior got their start on training programs like Engineer directing the work of our high-power those offered to you today. laboratory, which proves new equipment design and construction before integration in our Elec- trical System. Career planning in Don's case still goes on for his engineering future is bright at Detroit Edison. For the f~lI story of your career opportunities ~t Detroit Edison. simpl.y call or wnte for a free copy of this new booklet, What About the Electnc Power Industry'!" The Detroit Edison Company 2000 SECOND AVENUE, DETROIT 26, MICHIGAN 25 March, 1953 Preparing for specific responsible po. sitions with Trane in sales, research and product design, these graduate engineers are attending a streamlined six-month training course at full pay. This interesting course moves rapidly and adapts the graduate's knowledge of engineering to the position he has chosen. Trane Offers Engineering Graduates OUTSTANDING OPPORTUNITIES IN AIR CONDITIONING Qualified graduate engineers can step quickly Graduates move quickly into responsible, well into an interesting and prosperous career in the paid positions. Men who joined the company rapidly growing field of air conditioning. The Trane through this training program include the president Company, leading manufacturer of air conditioning, and numerous company officers, managers of most heating, ventilating and heat transfer equipment, Trane sales offices and home office sales divisions. is seeking graduates for responsible positions in Trane's record has been one of steady growth sales, research, product design and production. and leadership for nearly forty years, during both Those selected will join the Trane Graduate Training Program in La Crosse at full pay. Each peace and war. Today, new Trane products are be- man will receive a specialized course to assure per- ing developed constantly creating new depart- sonal success in the position he has chosen. ments and promotions assuring continued He will learn how Trane equipment is used in growth and business opportunities. jet aircraft, tanks, submarines, ships, skyscrapers, For an outstanding career in one of the fastest factories, industries, homes and buildings of all growing industries, consider your future in air .con- types. He will see how rapidly air conditioning is ditioning with Trane. Write immediately to MIlton becoming a necessity ... how it is destined to be- R. Paulsen, Training Department Manager, for t~~ come a standard requirement in homes, automo- brochure "Trane Graduate Training Program. biles, schools, offices ... everywhere. Next six-month class starts in July. WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT TRANE. How much can graduates of their training pro- gram earn? What about competition? Is Trane strong financially? Does the company offer out- standing opportunities to young men? Fo.r t?e unbiased answers, read FORTUNE mag. ?zme s repo~t on Trane in their August, 1951 Issue: Your h~ra.ry should have a copy. A reprint THRne THE TRANE COMPANY .• LA CROSSE, WIS. of t~lI~report IS m~!uded in the uTrane Graduate Eastern Manufacturing Division, Scranton, Pennsylvanj: Trammg Program brochure which is in your Trane Comp~ny of Canada, Ltd., Toronto,. Ca~a. Placement Office. Sales Offices In 85 United States and 14 Canadian CIties MANUFACTURING ENGINEERS OF AIR CONDITIONING. HEATING. VENTILATING EQUIPMENT 26 Spartan Engineer Basic research and engineering advances make Victor's 1953 TV receivers the finest YOll can Erst with the major advances- CONTINUE WITH YOUR EDUCATION PAY-AT RCA Graduate Electrical En~ineers: ileA since Television begarl ! Victor-one of the world', (oremost manu .. lncturcn of radio nnd electronic product. -offen you opportunity to "nin valuahle, well-rounded tmini"" nnd cxpcrif'nce at its micro-sharp electron beam and superfine a good salary with opportunitics for ad. Families living in television areas vanccrncnt. Ilorc arc only five of the many phosphor screen which ensures the finest projects which offer unusual promise: have seen from the beginning why picture quality. It is also seen in reception • Development and desistn of radio re- ~o.re people buy ReA Victor tele- at a distance-as well as in automatic tuning ceivers (including broadcast, short. wave of all channels, both VHF and UHF. and FM circuit~, television, and phono. VISIOnsets than any other brand. As graph combinations). television spreads to new communi- Today's RCA Victor receivers result • Advanced development and design of ties, millions more learn the same . AM and FM broadcast transmillen. R-F from the same research and engineering induction heating. mobile communications leadership that perfected the kinescope equipment, relay systems. Enthusiastic reception of the 1953 picture tube, the image orthicon TV • Design of component part5 such as RCA Victor sets proves that advanced re- coils, loudspeakers. capacitors. cameras, reflection-free metal-shzll search and engineering means finer TV. • Development and desi~n of new re. picture tubes - and which opened cording and producing meth0d5. Yo.usee it in the new"Magic Monitor" cir- UHF to television service. • Design of receiving. power. cathode CUItsystem which automatically screens ray. gas and photo tubes . ~ut interference, steps up power, tunes * * • Write today to College Refatimu Di,,;- sion, ReA Victor, Camden. New Jersey. he best sound to the clearest picture. RCA research assures you better value- Also many opportunities for !\Iechanical more for each dollar you invest-in any and Chemical Engineers and Physicisb. Further proof of this leadership is the product or service of RCA and RCA Victor • Dew ReA "Deep Image" picture tube with March, 1953 •• RADIO CORPORATIOJV World leader in radio-first OF All/ERICA in tele\.ision 27 Action Shots Of Heat Treatment Lab Photos by Foundry Lab Air Flow Testing Spartan Engineer I'L Engineering Laboratories Sand Tcstlng Lab Engineering Drawing Lab Ray Steinbach Machine Shop 29 March, 1953 InFerno Tamers By VAN w. BURMEISTER Metallurgical Engineer 154 Without refractories, with their ability to tame fire Fireclay, silica, chrome, and magnesite are the most and render high temperatures usable for the benefit of widely used refractories in the steel industry. Most mankind, there would be no light, heat, or power, no refractory products are produced in brick form-in a metals, no transportation, no manufacturing as we know myriad of shapes and sizes. it today. Although refractories lack the surface glamour There's a definite art to making a really compact brick. that characterizes the very industries they serve, they After the particles of raw material are crushed they are wield a tremendous influence on the entire economy of passed over screens of progressively smaller mesh in the world. Every processed material of modern civiliza- order to sort them into various sizes. Certain amounts tion-oil, glass, chemicals,' iron, copper, aluminum, steel- of each size are all put in together and mixed up. Then requires the use of refractories. The unheralded re- the mixture is fed into molds and pressed into bricks. fractories industry has contributed immeasurably to vast If the bricks are basic they may have only a chemical industrial progress, so much so, that it probably ranks bond holding them together. Most bricks are fired in second to agriculture in basic necessity. kilns before delivery. Ancient Egyptian artisans developed the art of molding Not long ~go the piers of bricks between the doors at bricks long before 3,000 B.C. when the oldest known the front of an open hearth furnace lasted through as pyramid was erected near Cairo of sun-dried clay brick. few as 25 heats of steels. Now modern piers in an open Burned silica brick were used as early as 500 B.C. hearth furnace last as ;many as 150 heats. These ad- The birth of the refractories industry was signaled vances are due to the use of modern science in making about the middle of the eighteenth century when fire- and testing bricks. With new equipment, new methods, brick were made in England by common brickmaking and new men the refractories industry will continue to methods, and of special fire-clays then available. improve its product thus providing longer furnace life Today refractories are essentially heat-resistant clay and more economical production for the industrial infernos of America. and mineral products used primarily as lining for furn- aces that heat or melt materials at temperatures ranging up to 3,100°F and above. The metallurgical industries, particularly the steel industry, is the largest user of refractories. Approximately 3,000,000 refractory bricks are used in I once had a classmate named Jessar a blast furnace with its stoves and piping, around Whose knowledge grew lesser and. lesse... 3,500,000 in a battery of coke ovens, and 1,000,000 in an It at last grew so small open hearth furnace. The price of these high grade He knew nothing at all bricks ranges presently from $2.00 to $5.00 apiece and And now he's a Thermo professor. the way they stand up under heat, steel men consider them well worth it. Using poor bricks at a cheaper price would present the time-consuming placing them often and thus slow down production. work of re- making of substances that stand up .under fire is a The * * * complex and difficult science. Heat and chemical A drunk opened the doors and fell to the bottom of the reaction will eventually wear any substance away. Still, elevator shaft. Staggering to his feet and brushing him- refractory men are continually improving their products self off he indignantly muttered, "I said up." and many of the important advances in the steel industry have come as the result of tougher and more durable refractories. In one blast furnace a refractory lining has lasted through 15 years of almost continuous operation involv- THE FIFTH ANNUAL ing heat of some 3,000°F without repair. Refractory bricks not only have to be made to withstand high temperatures without softening, but they must also resist ENGINEERING EXPOSITION chemical actions. This calls for a very complex brick. The chemical action of molten slag and steel could dissolve some substances as if they were a cube of sugar. IS COMING Refractories are classified as to what they are used for. Silica and fire-clay resist acids. Basic refractories MAY I and 2 are used primarily because of their resistance to the alkalies 'of steel slags and their resistance to intense heat. 30 Spartan Engineer • • It took a lot of engineering to make a better "grasshopper" How the grasshopper at Western Electric's St. Paul Shops Engineers are well pleased with their new-style "grass- fuse works hopper" fuse-a small fuse used in Bell tele- Small fuses like this are used by the millions phone central office equipment. The former to protect certain telephone central office cir- model-in production for years-had been cuits against current overloads. Odd in appear- gradually refined 'til it seemed almost beyond ance, the fuse is called the "grasshopper" be- further improvement. It was simple, inexpen- cause of its spring which is released when the sive, efficient, came offthe line fast. But ... fuse blows, displaying an indicator "flag" in open view and tripping an alarm so the trouble It's an old Western Electric engineering custom can be spotted and corrected at once. to keep trying to make Bell telephone equip- ment still better, at still lower cost. The "grass- NEW DESIGN hopper" was studied by a young engineer out ONE.PIECE FORMED SPRING WITH INDI. fl CATING FLAG-MADE BY STANDARD PUNCH ~ /.~ of the University of Minnesota, Class of '40, PRESS METHODS. ASSEM~LED FUSE who joined the Company in 1946. His studies FIBRE STRIP SPRAYED WITH COLORED LACQUER FOR CODE IDENTIFICATION. indicated the most effective way to improve INDICATOR SPRING HelD BY AND STAKED ~ efficiency and cut costs further was to change TO flAT TERMINAL-SOLDERING ElIMI. ~ the design. NATED. Pursuing this lead the engineer and his group saw their opportunity to make an important contribution. They investigated the latest tool- ing techniqu~, new metals, finishing materials and methods, all of which are constantly under study by engineers at Western Electric plants. A simplified design, which permitted the use of the most modern tooling methods, resulted in a better fuse at lower cost that is saving thou- sands of dollars a year for Bell telephone companies. There's an endless stream of such challenging as- signments at Western Electric. Engineers of varied skills-mechanical, electrical, civil, chem- ical, metallurgical-find real satisfaction in working together on the important job of pro- viding equipment for the best telephone service • Engineer and punch press operator check production of on earth.. parts for newly designed grasshopper fuse. Western Electric ... .. A UNIT OF THE BELL SYSTEM SINCE 1882 31 March, 1953 New Developments News of What's New in Industry PLASTIC MODEL AIDS VIBRA liON ANALYSIS Edited by RALPH POWELL, E.E. '55 • THE NEW SOUND, INAUDIBLE A new industrial sound that can't be heard is making industry sit up and take notice. High-powered ultra- sonics, or inaudible sound waves, is offering the best means yet devised for industrial cleaning of small parts. By directing the high-pitched sound waves through a liquid solvent into tiny corners and crevices of small This young lady demonstrates a new use for the machine-parts, the cleaning action of the solvent is more standard medical hypodermic syringe, cementing to- effective in removing dirt, grease, lapping compound, gether parts of a plastic model used for investigating and metal particles than any other method. The compactness of ultrasonic cleaning equipment in effects of vibration on generators and other large elec- addition to its more effective and faster cleaning ~lso trical machines before the actual units are built. The offers a great saving in industrial floor space. "shot" of acetone and plastic cement is injected into The new cleaning method is not limited to small holes drilled through both parts to be joined. This parts, such as watch parts, electric shaver heads and novel method helps insure a better job of fixing sections parts for airplane instruments. The only remaining of the model which must withstand vibrations from the question is how far the method can be extended to in- electro-magnetic driver shown at the top of the plastic clud~ different kinds of parts, and how large a pro- frame of the first picture. port~on of the total metal-cleaning business can be In the second picture she is recording the vibrations profitably handled with ultrasonics. of a generator frame model with the aid of a crystal phonograph pickup. In testing, a varied range of vibra- NEW SYNCHRONOUS * * * CONDENSER FOR EDISON tion frequencies are applied by the electro-magnetic driver. The method may be used to investigate vibratory A new 60,000j72,OOO-kva synchronous condenser is a effects on any large complex machinery where it is 13,~00-~olt, 600 rpm, totallY-enclosed hydrogen cooled impossible to get such information by mathematical um~ wIth an overhung exciter on the main shaft and computation. Similar in shape to the actual machine, an mdoor buck boost Rototrol m-g set to regulate th the models are inexpensive and save costly design v~ltage on the machine. The condenser was sUPPlie~ changes later. wIth hydrogen control equipment, surface-type coolers for 30 degrees C. cooling water, and two oil-ring lubri- cated water-cooled bearings. * * * WORLD'S LARGEST AUTOTRANSFORMER NOW HELPING TO SUPPLY POWER FOR ATOMIC ENERGY PROJECT .~ 156,000-kva, three-phase, 60-cYcle autotransform belIeved to be the largest op t', er, th era mg umt of its kind . e world, is now at its West Fr '. In where it is helping to supply ankfort, IllInOIs, site project near Paducah Ky power for an atomic energy The autotransforme~ we'ighs measures more than 30 f t I more than 200 tons and feet high. ee ong, 17 feet wide and 22 It was shipped upright in its on a . I d own one-piece tank speCIa rop-frame railroad c The unit is being used to step a:. kv to 230 kv. p voltage from 138 32 Spartan Engineer Engineers get ahead at Boeing production design, all going on at once. fine residential and shopping districts, A major guided missile program is just and schools of higher learning where en- one of Boeing's many projects-with-a- Aircraft development is such an inte- gineers can study for advanced degrees. future. Other programs, which offer )'011 gral part of our national life that young graduates can enter it with full expec- There are openings in ALL branches plenty of room to get ahead in engineer- of engineering (mechanical, civil. electri- mg, are America's first-announced jet tation of a rewarding, long-term career. cal, aeronautical and related fields) for tr.ansport project, research in supersonic Boeing, for instance, is now in its 36th work in aircraft DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, flight and nuclear-powered aircraft, and year of operation, and today employs PRODUCTION, RESEARCH and TOOLING. Also development of the B-4? and B-52 jet more engineers than at the peak of for servo-mechanism and electronics de- bo~bers, the airplanes that have given World War II. signers and analysts, and physicists and Boemg more experience with multi- Boeing engineering activity is concen- mathematicians with advanced degrees. engine jets than any other company. trated at Seattle in the Pacific Northwest For further information, and Wichita in the i\lidwest. Both com- . No other industry approaches this one consul, your Placement Office, or write: munities offer fine fishing, hunting, golf, m offering young engineers such a wide JOHN C. SANDERS, SiaN Engineer- Personnel boating and other recreational opportu- range of experience, or such breadth Boeing Airplane Company, Seattle 14, Washington of a pp I'lcatIOn . - from pure research to nities. Both are fresh, modem cities with BOEIND 33 Marc:h, 1953 r------------------~ I I I I I I I I I I I I The complexity of modern I I I I air defense-extreme airaaft :_-----------------~ speeds, highly complex weapons, PLANNING THE RIGHT ANSWERS tieli' combat strategies, the advanced r------------------, state of today's tecllllology- poses I I I I serio tiS problems for the I I I I scientist and engineer. I I I I I I I I I I ~------------------~ One s(~nificallt sollltion lies in the consistent with a superior performance. Dr. E. C. Nelsoll (left), Head of Comp~'ter extel/sipe tlse of airbome alttomatic These techniques, employing many Systems Department, alld J. H. IrvlII~, eqllipmcnt, inelllding electronic digital special talents, are responsible at Hughes Head of Systems Planning alld AnalYSIS compllters, to allgment or replace the for the successful design, development Department, discuss a pro bl em In . the alld production of complexly interacting systems plarmillg and allalysis stage. hllllllln elemellt in aircraft control. automatic systems for all phases of elec- PHYSICISTS tronic control of interceptor navigation, A~I:' 1-1 UGH )':8 Research and Develop- AND flight control, and fire control. Similar ENGINEERS ment Llboratories each problem is at- accomplishments may be pointed to in tacked basically, beginning with systems the guided missile field. Hughcs activitics in the computer field are planning and analysis. This consists of an creating some nClV positions in the Systems exhaustive examination of the require- Methods of systems planning and anal- Planning alld Analysis Departmellt. Expe- ysis responsible for achievements in the ments of a problem, together with an riellcc in ti,e dcsigll alld application of military area are also being applied at evaluation of the best means for satisfying electrollic digital computers is desirable, b~t these requirements. The objective is to de- Hughes to adapt electronic digital com- 1I0t esst'lltial. Analytically illclilled phys,'- puter techniques for business data proc- sign the simplest possible mechanization cists alld cllgineers with a background In essing and industrial controls. systems work are invited to apply. ~------------------, I I SOIENTIFIO AND Address: : HUGHES: CULVER CITY, ENGINEERING STAFF : Research : LOS ANGElES COUNTY, : alld DCl'elopmem : CALIFORNIA I Laboratories I. I I L------- J 34 Spartan Engineer ~ DOW ADDS NEW EXPORT COMPANIES Dow has recently formed two subsidiary export companies to serve foreign industry's increasing demands for high-quality chemicals. In the Western Hemisphere, Dow Chemical facilities, increased production, new prod- Inter-American Limited with sales offices in ucts developed ... an over-all growth and Montevideo, Uruguay will s.upply chemicals expansion that requires a steady influx of to Mexico and to many countries in Central men of varying talents, as well as providing excellent opportunities for those within the and South America. Dow organization. Industries in other continents-Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia-will be served by Dow Chemical International Limited. Its Dow's Booklet, "Opportunities rcith The Dow Chemical Company," first sales office will be in Zurich, Switzerland. especially raiUenfor those a~out ~ enter the chemical profes:KOn, IS These two new export companies are only amilable free, upon request. Write one example of the continued growth taking to The Dow Chemical Company, Technicnl Employment, Midland, Michigan. place at Dow. Each year finds new Dow plant you can depend on DOJV CHEMICALS 35 March, 1953 Clubs and Societies ETA KAPPA NU REA D The Gamma Zeta Chapter of Eta Kappa Nu held its winter term initiation and banquet March 14, 1953. Initiated into the electrical engineering honorary fraternity along with ten undergraduate students was Edward E. Kinney, of the Building and Utilities Depart- ment of Michigan State College. "Operation Cirrus" The ten student initiates were John O. Cheney, John E. Clark, William M. Crampton, David L. Cummins, Leo Jedynak, Lee Mah, Clifford C. Mosher, Howard R. New- Education in Arabia comb, Hugh A. Phillips, and Leslie G. Wolsey. Speaker for the evening was Mr. Claude E. Erickson of the Board of Water and Light in Lansing. "Engineering Research-Cum Laude" New Developments * * * TAU BETA PI The Michigan State College chapter of Tau Beta Pi elected new officers for 1953-54 at its last meeting, March 12. The men elected were Leo Jedynak, presi- dent; Lee Mah, vice-president; David L. Cummins, cor- responding secretary; Wayne D. Erickson, recor<;ling secretary; Rolland Z. Wheaton, cataloguer, and Delbert R. Elliot, representative to the Engineering Council. The society has planned to invite outside speakers in to talk on engineering subjects during the spring term. These and other features Angry father: "What do you mean by bringing my in the May issue daughter home at 3 o'clock in the morning?" Mild suitor: "Well, sir, I have to be at work at 7." of the SPARTAN ENGINEER * * * "You down there!" shouted Father from the head of the stairs! "It's two-thirty! Do you think you can stay all night?" "Er, thank you," said the callow lover, "but I'll have to phone home firs!." General Electric's Bell Telephone's "HOUSE OF MAGIC" "SWITCHING CIRCUITS" at THE FIFTH ANNUAL MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE Engineering Exposition MAY I MAY 2 36 Spartan Engineer ~-~G~ ~C'~~~~ C'.~ 'r 5tii~J~/ says ROBERT D. BAIRD, Ph. D. University of J/linois, B. S.-/942 • Univer.,ityof Wisconsin, M. S.-/949 University of Wisconsin, Ph. D.-/95/ and now a member of Engineering Calculalions Group "I'VE ALWAYS been interested in the basic marily on blowers and steam turbines." problems of engineering. But when I got out of school, I needed additional Aided by Experts courses to do the things that interested me. "Si?ce joining A~C, I have had the oppor- More mathematics-more mechanics were tumty to work WIth the company's leading required. Since joining Allis-Chalmers, consultants, and was encouraged to attend these gaps have been filled." evening courses at the University of Wis- consin, in Milwaukee, which led to a Variety of Experience Master's degree. "I became interested in the Allis-Chalmers "In 1949 the company awarded me a Grad.uate Training Course during a plant graduate fellowship for 12 months' resi- to~r I.nmy Senior year. As I watched men dence study at the University ofWisconsi~ bUlldmg steam turbines, electric motors, and I got my Doctor's degree in Mechanics. transformers, pumps, rotary kilns, crush- ers, and many other products, I was im- "So you see, whether you want to do basic ..i __ pres~ed by the variety of experiences to be engineering or be a sales engineer, de- obtamed at A-C. It looked to me like a signer, production or research engineer, Vihrutin!: screens by Allis-Chalmers arc cross-section of heavy industry. When I Allis-Chalmers Graduate Training Course found throughout theworld,wherevereoal found that GTC students choose the de- and ore arc mined and rock is quarried. offers a wonderful opportunity." partments the~ work i?, .as well as the type of work, I decIded to JOIn Allis-Chalmers. "As a G!C student, I was given every opportumty to work in many departments. Facts Graduates Should Know About However, ~he basic problems involving Allis-Chalmers Graduate Training Course aerodynamIcs, mechanics and elasticity 1. It's well established, having been screens, rectifiers, induction and dielec- appealed to me and I chose to work pri- started in 1904. A large percentage of tric hcatcrs, grain mills, sifters, ctc. the management group are graduates 5. He will have individual attention of the course. and guidance in working out his train- 2. The course offers a maximum of 24 ing program. months' training. 6. The program has as its objective the 3. The graduate engincer may choose right job for the right man. As he gets the kind of work he wants to do: design, experience in different training loca- engineering, research, production, sales, tions he can alter his course of training erection, service, etc. to match changing interests. 4. He may choose the kind of power, 7. For information watch for the Allis- processing, or specialized equipment Chalmers representative visiting your with which he will work, such as: steam campus. or call an Allis-Chalmers dis- or hydraulic turbo-generators, circuit trict office, or write Graduate Training breakers, unit substations, transformers, Section, Allis-Chalmers, Milwaukee I, motors, control, pumps, kilns, coolers, rod and ball mills, crushers, vibrating Wisconsin. Rough-machined tur~ine spi~for 120,000- ALLIS-CHALMERS ~ kw steam turbine. Calculating torsional ~tress and critical speed on shafts like these IS part of Baird's job. 37 March, 1953 Meet an E gineer-Businessroan ... n Class of '50 .. (~.'" - !.l'>' . • One of the interesting angles of L&N Field Engi- Back at the office, you talk things over with ~- neering is that you get into it soon. You're not rushed other sales engineer, who supervises your work. dis~ -you get full training, and what's more, you're verifies your ideas about both the controls you f trained as an individual, with full recognition of your cussed with customers; suggests you check one 0 present strengths. But, even so, it's only a few them with the district manager, in case that new months before you're ready for the polishing of field service work, and that in turn swiftly fits you for a accessory from the horne office should be includ~ 'aft And he has a request that you call at an arrcr business day something like this: plant tomorrow or the next day. You start off with a visit to, say, a bolt-making plant. There you gather the instrument-engineering And so, almost before you know it, you~re on;;: ladder and climbing. This big, long-establishe