Evening star., 1941-08-30
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

The lifetime of all iron and steel
the skeleton of modern civilization
has been more than doubled in the past
half century.
This is entirely the result of indus
trial research on which between S8,000,-
900 and $1OOOO,O00 now is spent year.
1t is revealed in report just issued by
the National Resources Planning Board.
The savings reach many billions and the
present high mechanical way of life
would be impossible without them, but
the progress has been by small, highly
technical steps which have attracted
no attention from the general public.
In $780, it is explained by Frank T.
Sisco, New York metallurgist, who con-
Quoted the study for the board, the
average life of a sheet or bar of steel
after leaving the foundry was about Is
years. BY 1910 this had been pushed
up to % years and it now exceeds IS
years. Much of this advance, he says,
has been due to methods for rust pre-
vention and new alloys. AS illustra-
tions of this progress he points out:
The continuous rolling mill has been
responsible for a reduction in the price
of sheet steel for automobile tenders
from to 3la cents a pound. Today
only the nose of the fender need be
polished and the coat consists of one
coat of primer and one of finish. In
1923 three polishing operations and four
priming and finishing coats were
necessary.
The development of low-alloy steels,
which cost between 312 and cents a
pound, as compared with 2l2 cents a
pound for unalloyed structural material,
Is having a great effect on the design
and construction of railway rolling
stock. A hopper car constructed of low
alloy steel weighs 10000 pounds and
carries 10000 pounds as compared
with a weight of $4,000 pounds and
carrying capacity of 125,OO0 pounds for
the conventional car. This is equivalent
to converting seven tons of dead weight
into revenue producing capacity. Saw
ings accompanying the use of higher
temperatures and pressures in power
generation are even more spectacular
and are due almost solely to the devel-
opment mostly in the United States of
alloy steels which resist reformation at
high temperature"
One of the most significant accom-
plishments. he points out, has been the
preservation through research of the
nickel and chromium industries in the
interval since the World War, so that
they are able to do the job allotted
them in the present defense program
without any long period of preparation.
These metals impart hardness to steel
and. when the fact was discovered
they at once became essential for arm
ament.
Nickel production. the report says. in
creased from 10000 tons in 1900 TO $4,000
tons in 1917, about half of which went
into armament With the end of the
World War came a collapse to the 1900
level
1T became painfully apparent" he
says, that no permanent benefit could
be derived either by the manufacturers
of the alloying metals or by the steel
industry as a whole, from metals whose
most important application was arma-
ment. Extensive research was started
to find new and peacetime uses.
Between 1920 and 1885 practically
no armament was made anywhere in
the world. In 1920 alloy steel produc-
ton was 100000 tons In 1887 it was
5000 900 tons, which went into automo-
biles, railway rolling stock, shipbuild-
ing, oil refining equipment, power-gen-
Grating machinery, agricultural equip
ment, building construction and electric
heating appliances.
Between 1920 and 1887 one company
alone spent s18, $50, 900 in development
and research to create peacetime uses
for nickel. During that time the yearly
production rose from 10000 to 125 900
tons, of which only 3 to 5 per cent was
used for armaments. Even in 1887.
when Europe had started to resrm on a
huge scale, less than per cent of the
worlds supply of nickel was used for
ornaments. Research by manufactur-
ers of alloying metals has developed
peacetime uses for their products to
the point that complete world disarma-
ment would not cause a ripple in their
yearly production. 1t would In fact,
even be welcomed because organization
for war has had Oppressive rather than
stimulating effect on total nickel con-
sumption"