The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1926-05-21
FIND ATOMIC FLAME
WILL FUSE METALS
Hydrogen With Electric Arc
Proves Success.


welding metal together will be revo-
lutionized by two new inventions of
the research laboratories of the Gen.
eral Electric company, for after years
Of search it is now possible to weld
SO that the fused metal is as strong
and as ductile as If it were never in
two pieces. Previous methods, using
an arc to furnish the intense neces-
sary heat, resulted in the formation
of compounds of the metal with oxy-
gen so that the weld was not as strong
as the rest of the piece.
AS the nitrogen and oxygen which
unite with the metal come from the
air, in these new processes the air is
excluded when the weld is being made
by bath of hydrogen, water gas,
wood alcohol vapor, and others which
do not easily form metallic COM
pounds.
Eight Hundred Volts Used.
One of the methods was developed
by DR.. Irving Langmuir, assistant di-
rector of the Schenectady laboratory,
and makes use of what he calls flames
of atomic hydrogen. based on dis
covery of DIR. r. w. Wood, professor
Of experimental physics at Johns Hop
kins university. Electric currents Of
20 amperes and at voltages ranging
from 300 to 800, were passed through
two tungsten rods so as to form an
arc similar to the arc between carbon
rods in a street arc light.
By passing stream of hydrogen
gas into the arc from a small tube,
an intensely hot flame is produced, be-
cause the molecules of hydrogen are
broken up by the temperature of the
arc into their constituent atoms. AS
the ordinary form of hydrogen is that
Of molecules, the atoms almost imme-
diately recombine, but in doing so
they liberate great amounts of heat,
about half again as much as the oxy-
hydrogen fame.
Iron rods an eighth Of an inch in
diameter melt within few seconds
when held about an inch above the
arc, says Doctor Langmuir. Metals
even harder to melt than iron, such
as tungsten and molybdenum, one Of
the most refractory substances known,
melt with ease. Quartz, however,
melts with more difficulty than
molybdenum, which Doctor Langmuir
suggests as being due to the fact that
the metals act as catalyzer,, or a
substance which speeds up chemical
change.
1.-THE use of hydrogen under these
conditions for melting metals has
proved to have many advantages, ;"
Doctor Langmuir said. Iron can be
melted or welded without contamina-
ton by carbon, oxygen or nitrogen.
Because of the powerful reducing ac-
ton of the atomic hydrogen, alloys
containing chromium, aluminium, silicon
or manganese can be welded without
fluxes or surface oxidation. The ra-
pidity with which such metals as iron
can be melted seems to exceed that of
the oxyacetylene flame, so that the
process promises to be particularly
valuable for welding.
Another Method Found.
The other method of producing due
tile YIELDS was developed at the Thom-
son research laboratory of the Cen
eral Electric company at Lynn, Mass,
by Peter Alexander, independently Of
Doctor Langmiir's work. The cleo
trio arc is passed between the metal
to be welded and an iron electrode,
and the gaseous atmosphere is sup
piled in the form of a stream around
the arc, so as to keep it entirely away
from air. Pure hydrogen, water gas,
methanol or wood alcohol vapor, or
dry ammonia can be used, as well as
q mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen,
for it is found that the nitrogen is not
harmful unless oxygen is also present.
All of these mixtures contain hydro
gen, and Doctor Langmuir suggests
that this method also depends in part
for its efficacy on the disintegraticn
of hydrogen molecules into their
atoms.