, 1877-04-30

tvH ~ lAE WuttE SUlt u Af3
esenaate, ' ;e,sea ays: peses
IT, y oas e Il fhssT
ture nay be: and We believe with him TINT. .'lIe
SHa,ts" |a'ts, gs,h " ssts S1 a." f H;po'ioS tp
THE FUTURE OF STEEL.
Interesting Statements and Explanations.
lecture on the s'fa' Fa.ure u' q steeln wa. de-
llvcrc IN Friday evening, ct The Royal 1nstitu.
tton, by NJ Bran veil, I. i. T., paat President
Of ~ lnststation Of Mechanical Engineers.
al constract!on,. whether u buildings. Of
brtlycs, or Ut ships. Was effected by the en-
ployment of stone, hFick, OF timber, and To the
great Charge Which has Lcen wrought In this
when shst and wrought Iron, were lc!ng used
sxtcnafvciy steel WAS not employed as a str1tc-
tural material ut all. Htecl vas atfll Iuxnry;
Il wa made In small purtln1s. y was sold at
pence pound, or eScn mnrc: ard u WIS eln-
pIoyEl tDr sw1ris, cutlery, surgical Instruments,
watch springs ineelanics' tuuls, necdles, aud
ss tty use wss s sii tTng % a wtere tc M lpoe
tance ot superior material was such as 10 justify
the large expenditure incurred. 1t was felt In
Those days, as. Indeed, 1t had been felt for ages
WA '' 10 Se trusted: indeed. is trustwortblnc.s
had passed Into proverb, "As true Is steel.'
Before describing the circutnstanscs which lad
causca tlv great lncrcasc III iho u,olcr.,
asv ~ q, stee nc " .h te;ntsa var. 4
Of iron and OF the Inotles OF their prcpa-
ration from the. orc; this part of bis
discourse hctng i,lussFascd by drawings Of the
blast snd other furnaces which are employed in
use In three great t-Irou, wrought
iron, ami steel. Cast-iron is again Invisible
intH ordinary eaat'roc, chilled castlron, and
diyi.ibic into ordiiary wrousht-iron and casc-
hardened wrouehtir6n. Steel Is rot thus
dvIsible, hut IL may be Of very varied composi-
tion, producing Qualities Ranging from those
quenched IN cold water, tu those which exhibit
EasI vaTiaiioIas mny be due TO 10
SStsnsss y s q ts5 .sGths viii e which ts r.: < esn:
combined; and sesles Of cuele. models was cm-
ployct to show that these smsl1 qiantties. In.
Significant rs they seem II dcscsipt!on, yet bear
IL rery apprgcIablo relation to the Grnergl bulk
In thc days when steel was q luxury, It was
made exclusively III small quantities, III taking
wrought Iron from which the workman l.ad
lahurtuusly elected nj tho carbon, by putting
charcoal, and by heating it there during many
hours. Tho iron took up tue carbon, and thu
bars, when they were withdrawn, being found
covered with reslf'cs, ths result, was called
blistcrod steu1 The bars werc neither uniform
nur Homogeneous, and tic articles made from
them were frequently eufccblcd b. bost welding,
consequent upon this want ri uniformity.
About the miula Of tho last tccntury, tho mettl-
ipgots, was discovered by Iluntsman; but hts
procees was very, expensive, on account Of thu
quantity OF fuel which Was consumed, mud G1sv
on account of thc cost Of Tic necessary .cEusi-
WeFc small; but KFupp ovcrcanc this difficulty
by castiug the c0ntcnts Of many cr,lciblea into d
slugae mold, aud lo was thus enabled t0 tx
htb|t, IN 1851, m ingot weighing 4,500 pounds,
MI In tSG3, ono weighing twcnty tons.
ln the meanwhile, tic French Chetllst Chcnot
had been attempting TO Improve the tanufnr-
turc; and le succeeded In tnakinK steel direct
| from thu orc BY PROCESS which produced sonnc
q thu hcs, that hal evcr been seeri, but whiet!
| did not overcome the cost ut the melting. and
which has not been pursued to any extent In
practicr. Aluut tho year 1850 q 0crnlan ellenlst
Cs!epc) devised 4 method which WIS used 70 Q
very considerable extent in England, AMI whirl!
eousistcd In hiopplD9 the pudding prtcess llactl
for making wrought irpn befuru nll tho carbon
had been expelled from THO i'iass, nnd when
tnst 70 nusi, @ retnainea ~ q t., t. leave tho pro
however, all uncertain one, III consequence Of
the difficulty Of asccrtainng when the precise
| point Ind bGcn reachod,-a difficulty whte, will
bo better aplreeiateu when i Is Ecmemoerod
| teFnltne tho quantity 1t carlUn down TO 10th
part Ut per cent. Nlcpo Introduced another
isnproycMlcnt. which holds ita ground. by sng.
der, mid mixed with sufficient ilrc:clay, to g!ve
e.'hcs'on. rs lining for tbs naolis tn whicl.!
sand or loau were usea, such Us suffice
% Ss sSn tsn.s sss Ssss Il Tss sSs ssS ssd sse TUT
melted thu ,natcrla' Of the mold, which thus
becalna penetrated by spicllle Of steel 70 thai
the casting WAS usetuss. The crucDu material,
Of hsat, was abie 10 fusist II, and ii th!s way
tho most perfect castings III steel sre still pro
duced.
tEustworthy naeston a. The props. .opel;. y;
gruat Invention into the field. In Ills metloI
alr ia blown through molten Iron until
all thB impurities, and even some Ut
expelled, aud then . certatn proportion
of spicOeletscn, or cast-lron containing a larEc
Rdnixturo 0f carbon aud OF snanuanese. II
poured IN. The carbon Restores 10 the Iron tho
steel: and the manganese plsyn part which Il
lnRntfcstfy useful, but which 70 not yct thor.
oughly understood. Tho manufacture Of bcs.
se'Hcr steel gave great Impulse to the employ
iroll; but, unfortunately, the earlier specimens
werv very uncertain In their quality, md hence
II fell into dlaseputa Tor railway bridges, for
ahipluslding, and Tor many other purposes fur
| WHICH HllUHlut1 VI fh{tAklpU alUOtk Q1ucFtu4
samples was required
Tho next Improvement was that Introduced
BY Dr. hca,ens, who nlelts III his srxcncrat!vu
gas furnace . mixture VI ps9-tron and Iron ore.
The ore and tho ilgiron ro-aet one upon the
other, the caribou Of thu ptgtEon aI.d the oxygen
VI ths ore unite 10 "a ~ decartHtlke the ply
Iron Assl to dc-oxytlIkc thv iruu ORE, the result
being 1uid wfuught-iron. which, solta!Is scarys'
! " y tracc Of carbon "A snlpll pEllun ran bu
! withdrawn from tima 10 tltns, and tcstui tsI
seo whether tue process Is eotntEcls; mi,
of tke,aa.a. u sddcd to tie l'ath. anl
tile nula metal is converted lnto steel.
The whole process occupies ubont eleven hours;
l 10 that, including Inc short day Oh Saturday,
thsrteeu elatgcs-tael. pf seven, nime, u twelvs
tous-aru obtained IroiU each furnacu every
week. Moreover. in consequence 1T ths power
OF testing thc material betura tho spie,t4tikn ID
added, this moie Of manufacture ea,l os 1c!ict!
| upon With absolute certainty tn produce steei VI
thu p1seiss quality that Ii aesfred. 1hua, A.
cordfug. ~ Ar. Btarnwsll, whlu the fHet Is up'
doubted that by The Dessclner pruecss, whcI'
conducted by skl|lful men thoroughly 4vquxlnt.
cd with their business, trustworthy results suf