Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-03-21
VANAOIUM PROVES
VALUABLE help IN
Steel PRODUCTION

In the days of the medieval al
chemist it was believed that it was
possible, by means of some undiscov-
cred laboratory operation, to convert
the baser metals into gold. With the
development 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, says CASTER
Magazine, there has been evolved as /,
result of the work of the more recent
chemists and metallurgists transmu'
tation in the properties of 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
a certain proportion of carbon con.
stituted steel transformed society and
created modern civilization. Without
steel we should relapse into barbar-
ism. Today it is known that in addi-
ton to carbon there are other ele.
ments the addition of which will i'm
part to steel certain properties in
creasing immensely it's value as ma
terial of construction and of opera
ton.
Among the substances which were
formerly classed as the rare" ele-
ments there are several which were
rare only because there was no suffi-
cient use for them to provide an in
centiv'e to discover natural sources of
supply.
Thus vanadium, known as an ele-
ment for hundred years, estimated
as having a value many times that
Of gold and used solely for few ar
tistic purposes in coloring fabrics,
has within few years risen i'm
mensely in Importance because of the
knowledge which has been acquired Of
the valuable properties which it i'm
parts to steel, while at the same time
it has fallen in cost to point about
one-half that of silver because the
very demand has revealed hitherto un-
known deposits.
The influence of vanadium
upon steel may we'll be re.
garded as triumph of modern
metallurgy, and vanadium steel
has become one of the most i'm.
portant of the so-called alloy steels.
The older steels, now known broadly
as carbon" steels, in distinction to
the various alloy steels, had certain
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 toughress
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 q scavenger, re-
moving oxides, nitrides, ETC., in a form
easily carried away to the Stag, and it
also toughens the steel directly, by it's
solid solution. under normal condi-
lions. in the carbonless portion, known
as ferrits. In addition it forms COM
pick 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 mate
rial of construction, especially for sit
uations in which shocks must be met
and resisted. The combination of high
strength and great toughness makes
it the material above all others for
parts as we'll as for rail-
way axles and engine frames, for
springs for the important parts of
vessels and for bridges and similar