Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-02-07
MODERN ALCHEMY.
Making Steel 10 Worth More to the
World Than Making Gold.

World Than Making Gold.
In the days Of the medieval alchem-
lists it was believed that 1t was posi-
BILE by means Of some undiscovered Ia
boratory operation to convert the
baser metals into gold. With the de-
velopment Of modern chemistry this
belief was shown to be baseless, at
least in the sense in which the older
workers held it.
At the same time there has been
evolved as a result Of the work Of the
more recent chemists and metallur-
gists a transmutation in the properties
Of that most widely used material steel
which Is Of far more real value to the
world than any formula for making
gold could ever be. ..'
The discovery that iron containing
certain proportion of carbon consti-
tuted steel transformed society and
created modern civilization; without
steel we should relapse into barbar-
ism. Today 1t Is known that In addi-
ton to carbon there are other elements
the addition Of which will impart to
steel certain properties increasing i'm
mensely its value as a material Of con-
struction and Of operation.
Among the substances which were
formerly classed as the rare" elements
there are several which were rare only
because there was not sufficient use for
. ~ tnnanftua N dionnU-
er natural sources Of supply.
Thus vanadium, known as an element
for hundred years, estimated as hav-
ing a value many times that Of gold
and used solely for a few artistic pur-
poses in coloring fabrics, has within a
few years risen immensely in import
ance because Of the knowledge which
has been acquired of the valuable
properties which 1t imparts to steel,
while at the same time 1t has fallen in
cost to a point about one-half that Of
silver because the very demand has
revealed hitherto unknown deposits.
The influence of vanadium upon steel
may well be regarded as triumph of
modern metallurgy, and vanadium
steel has become one Of the most i'm
portart of the so-called alloy steels.
The older steels, now known broadly
as carbon" steels in distinction to the
various alloy steels, had certain fairly
we'll ascertained properties together
with determinate limitations.
They could be made ductile within
certain limits Of strength or strong
within certain approach to brittleness.
but when both strength and toughness
were demanded it was realized that
something else in addition to carbon
was essential. That something has
been shown to be vanadium.
The influence Of the addition Of small
proportions Of vanadium to steel is
two-fold; it acts as a scavenger, re-
moving oxides, nitrides, ETC., in form
easily carried away to the Stag, and 1t
also toughens the steel directly, by
its solid solution, under normal condi-
tions, in the carbonless portion, known
as ferrite. In addition it forms COM
plex carbides Of such a nature as
greatly to strengthen the steel stati-
cally.
The result Is product so vastly su-
perior to the ordinary carbon steel as
to render it practically a new material
of construction, especially for situa-
tions in which shocks must be met and
resisted. The combination Of high
strength and great toughness makes 1t
the material above all others for auto
mobile parties as we'll as for railway
axles and engine frames, for springs
for the important parts Of vessels and
for bridges and similar structures.
For the latest types Of engineering
work, such as flying machines, subma-
rines, torpedoes and similar work the
possession of a material Of high resist
ance to stresses of all kinds enables
some Of the most difficult elements Of
the work to be solved.
While the application Of vanadium
to steel constitutes at present its most
important use, 1t has also marked in
fluence upon cast iron and upon cop
per, and while its use has not yet been
developed 80 far in these directions,
there Is every reason to believe that
these applications will follow.-Cas-
sier's Magazine.