CRYSTALLIZATION AND ITS EFFECTS UPON IRON.
By N.B. WOOD, Member of the Civil Engineers’ Club, of Cleveland.
[Footnote: Read January 10th. 1882.]
The question has been asked, “What is the chemically scientific definition of crystallization?” Now as the study of crystallization and its effect upon matter, physically as well as chemically, will be of interest, considering the subject matter for discussion, I shall not only endeavor to answer the question, as I understand it, but try to treat it somewhat technologically.
Having this object in view, I have prepared or brought about the conditions necessary to the formation of a few crystals of various chemical substances, which for various reasons, such as lack of time and bad weather, are not as perfect as could be desired, but will perhaps subserve the purpose for which they were designed. I think you will agree with me that they are beautiful, if they are imperfect, and I can assure you that the pleasure of watching their formation fully repays one for the trouble, if for no other reason than the mere gratification of the senses. From the earliest times and by all races of men, the crystal has been admired and imitated, or improved by cutting and polishing into faces of various substances. I have also procured specimens of steel and iron which show the effect of crystallization, which was produced (perhaps) under known conditions, so that the conclusions which we arrive at from their study will have a fair chance of being logical, at least, and perhaps of some practical value.
When we examine inanimate nature we find two grand divisions of matter, _fluid_ and _solid_. These two divisions may be subdivided into, the former gaseous and liquid, the latter amorphous and crystalline; but whether one or the other of these divisions be considered, their ultimate and common division will be the ATOM. By the atom we understand that portion of matter which admits of no further division, which, though as inconceivable for minuteness as space is for extent, has still definite weight, form, and volume; which under favorable circumstances, has that power or force called cohesion, the intensity of which constitutes strength of material, which every engineer is supposed to understand, but which lies far beyond the powers of the human mind for comprehension or analysis. When we apply a magnet to a mass of iron filings, we observe the particles arrange themselves in regular order, having considerable strength in one direction, and very little or none in any other. Now, although we understand very little about the force which holds these particles in position, we do know that it is actual force applied from without and maintained at the expense of some of the known sources of force. But the force or power or property of cohesion seems to be a quality stored within the atom itself, in many cases similar to magnetism, having powerful attraction in some directions and very little or none in others. A crystal of mica, for instance, or gypsum may be divided to any degree of thinness, but is very difficult to even break. This property of crystals is termed cleavage. Cohesion and crystallization are affected variously by various circumstances, such as heat or its absence, motion or its absence, etc. In fact, almost every phenomenon of nature within the range of ordinary temperatures has effects which may be favorable to the crystallization of some substances, and at the same time unfavorable to others; so it will be seen that it is impossible to lay down any rule for it except for named substances, like substances requiring like conditions, to bring its atoms into that state of equilibrium where crystallization can occur. If we examine crystals carefully we find, not only that nature has here provided geometric forms of marvelous beauty and exactness, with faces of polish and quoins of acuteness equal to the work of the most skillful lapidist, “but that in whatever manner or under whatever circumstances a crystal may have been formed, whether in the laboratory of the chemist or the workshop of nature, in the bodies of animals or the tissues of plants, up in the sky or in the depths of the earth, whether so rapidly that we may literally see its growth, or by the slow aggregation of its molecules during perhaps thousands of years, we always find that the arrangement of the faces is subject to fixed and definite laws.” We find also that a crystal is always finished and has its form as perfectly developed when it is the minutest point discernible by the microscope as when it has attained its ultimate growth. I might add parenthetically that crystals are sometimes of immense size, one at Milan of quartz being 3 feet 3 inches long and 5 feet 6 inches in circumference, and is estimated to weigh over 800 pounds; and a gigantic beryl at Grafton, N. H., is over 4 feet in length and 32 inches in diameter, and weighs not less than 5,000 pounds; but the most perfect specimens are of small size, as some accident is sure to overtake the larger ones before they acquire their growth, to interfere with their symmetry or transparency. This you will see abundantly illustrated by the examples which I have prepared, as also the constancy of the angles of like faces. Chemically speaking, the crystal is always a perfect chemical body, and can never be a mechanical mixture. This fact has been of great value to the science of chemistry in developing the atomic theory, which has demonstrated that a body can only exist chemically combined when a definite number of atoms of each element is present, and that there is no certainty of such proportions existing except in the crystal. I hold before you a crystal of common alum. Its chemical symbol would be Al_{2}O_{3},3SO_{3}+KO,SO_{3}+24H_{2}O. If we knew its weight and wished to know its ultimate component parts, we could calculate them more readily than we could acquire that knowledge by any other means. But the elements of this quantity of uncrystallized alum could not be computed. Then we may define crystallization to be the operation of nature wherein the chemical atoms or molecules of a substance have sufficient polarized force to arrange themselves about a central attracting point in definite geometrical forms.
Fresenius defines it thus: “_Every operation, or process, whereby bodies are made to pass from the fluid to the solid state, and to assume_ certain fixed, _mathematically definable, regular forms_.” It would be folly for me to attempt to criticise Fresenius, but I give you both definitions, and you can take your choice. The definition of Fresenius, however, will not suit our present purpose, because the crystallization of wrought iron occurs, or seems to, _after_ the iron has acquired a _solid state_.
Iron, as you all know, is known to the arts in three forms: cast or crude, steel, and wrought or malleable. Cast iron varies much in chemical composition, being a mixture of iron and carbon chiefly, as constant factors, with which silicium in small quantities (from 1 to 5 per cent.), phosphorus, sulphur, and sometimes manganese (e.g. spiegeleisen) and various other elements are combined. All of these have some effect upon the crystalline structure of the mass, but whatever crystallization takes place occurs at the moment of solidification, or between that and a red heat, and varies much, according to the time occupied in cooling, as to its composition. My own experience leads me to think that a cast iron having about 3 per cent. of carbon, a small per centage of phosphorus, say about 1/2 of 1 per cent., and very small quantities of silicium, the less the better, and traces of manganese (the two latter substances _slagging_ out almost entirely during the process of remelting for casting), makes a metal best adapted to the general use of the founder. Such proportions will make a soft, even grained, dark gray iron, whose crystals are small and bright, and whose fracture will be uneven and sharp to the touch. The phosphorus in this instance gives the metal liquidity at a low temperature, but does not seem to influence the crystallization to any appreciable extent. The two elements to be avoided by the founder are silicium and sulphur. These give to iron a peculiar crystalline appearance easily recognized by an experienced person. Silicium seems to obliterate the sparkling brilliancy of the crystalline faces of good iron, and replace them with very fine dull ones only discernible with a lens, and the iron breaks more like stoneware than metal, while sulphur in appreciable quantities gives a striated crystalline texture similar to chilled iron, and very brittle. Phosphorus in very large quantities acts similarly. The form of the crystal in cast iron is the octahedron, so that right angles with sharp corners should be avoided as much as possible in castings, as the most likely position for a crystal to take would be with its faces along the line of the angle. Steel, to be of any value as such, _must_ be made of the purest material. Phosphorus and sulphur _must_ not exist, except in the most minute quantities, or the metal is worthless. If either of these substances be present in a bar of steel, its structure will be coarse, crystalline and weak. The reason of this is unknown, but probably their presence reduces the power of cohesion; and, that being reduced, gives the molecules of steel greater freedom to arrange themselves in conformity with their polarity, and this in its turn again weakens the mass by the tendency of the crystals to cleavage in certain directions. Carbon is a constant element in steel, as it is in cast iron, but is frequently replaced by chromium, titanium, etc., or is said to be, though it is not quite clear to me how it can be so if steel is a chemical compound. However this may be, we know that a piece of good soft steel breaks with a fine crystalline fracture, and the same piece hardened when broken shows either an amorphous structure or one very finely crystalline, which would indicate that the crystals had been broken up by the action of heat, and that they had not had sufficient time to return to their original position on account of the sudden cooling. The tendency of the molecules of steel after hardening to assume their natural position when cold seems to be very great, for we have often seen large pieces of steel burst asunder after hardening, though lying untouched, and sometimes with such force as to hurl the fragments to some distance. If a piece of steel be subjected to a bright yellow or white heat its nature is entirely changed, and the workman says it is burnt. Though this is not actually a fact, it does well enough to express that condition of the metal. Steel cannot be burnt unless some portion of it has been oxidized. The carbon would of course be attacked first, its affinity for oxygen being greatest; but we find nothing wanting in a piece of burnt steel. It can, by careful heating, hammering and hardening, be returned to its former excellence. Then what change has taken place? I should say that two modifications have been made, one physical, the other chemical. The change chemically is that of a chemical compound to a mixture of carbon and iron, so that in a chemical sense it resembles cast iron. The change physically is that of crystallization, being due partly to chemical change and partly to the effect of heat. I have procured a specimen of steel showing beautifully the effect of overheating. The specimen is labeled No. 1, and is a piece of Park Brothers’ steel (one of the best brands made in America). It has been heated at one end to proper heat for hardening, and at the other is what is technically called “burnt.” It has been broken at intervals of about 11/2 inches, showing the transition from amorphous or proper hardening to highly crystalline or “burnt.” Malleable or wrought iron is or should be pure iron. Of course in practice it is seldom such, but generally nearly so, being usually 98, 99, or even more per cent. It is exceedingly prone to crystallization, the purer varieties being as much subject to it as others, except those contaminated with phosphorus, which affects it similarly with steel, and makes it very weak to cross and tensile strains. I have never estimated the quantity present in any except one specimen, a bar of 11/2 round, which literally fell to pieces when dropped across a block of iron. It had 1.32 per cent. of phosphorus and was very crystalline, though the crystals were not very large. Iron which has been, when first made, quite fibrous, when subjected to a series of shocks for a greater or less period, according to their intensity, when subjected to intense currents of electricity, or when subjected to high temperatures, or has by mechanical force been pushed together, or, as it is called, upset, becomes extremely crystalline. Under all of these circumstances it is subjected to one physical phenomenon, that of motion. It would seem that if a bar of iron were struck, the blow would shake the whole mass, and consequently the relative position of the particles remain unchanged, but this is not the case. When the blow is struck it takes an appreciable length of time for the effect to be communicated to the other end so as to be heard, if the distance is great. This shows that a small force is communicated from particle to particle independently along the whole mass, and that each atom actually moves independently of its neighbor. Then, if there be any attraction at the time tending to arrange it differently, it will conform to it. So much for theory with regard to this important matter. It looks well on paper, but do the facts of the case correspond? If practically demonstrated and systematically executed, experiments fail to corroborate the theory, and if, furthermore, we find there is no necessity for the theory, we naturally conclude that it is all wrong, or, at least, imperfectly understood. Now there is one other quality imparted to iron by successive shocks, which, I think, is independent of crystallization, and this quality is hardness and consequent brittleness. One noticeable feature about this also is, that as “absolute cohesion” or tensile strength diminishes, “relative cohesion” or strength to resist crushing increases. Specimens Nos. 2, 3, and 4 are pieces of Swedish iron, probably from the celebrated mines of Dannemora. Nos. 2 and 3 are parts of the same bolt, which, after some months’ use on a “heading machine” in a bolt and nut works, where it was subjected to numerous and violent shocks, (perhaps 50,000 or 60,000 per day), it broke short off, as you see in No 2, showing a highly crystalline fracture. To test whether this structure continued through the bolt, I had it nicked by a blacksmith’s cold chisel and broken. The specimen shows that it is still stronger at that point than at the point where it is actually broken, but the resulting fracture shows the same crystalline appearance. I next had specimen No. 4 cut from a fresh bar of iron which had never been used for anything. It also shows a crystalline fracture, indicating that this peculiarity had existed in the iron of both from the beginning.
I next took specimen No. 3 and subjected it to a careful annealing, taking perhaps two hours in the operation. Although it is a 1-1/8 bolt and has V threads cut upon it we were unable to break it, although bent cold through an arc of 90 deg., and probably would have doubled upon itself if we had had the means to have forced it. Now what does this show? Have the crystals been obliterated by the process of annealing, or has only their cleavage been destroyed, so that when they break, instead of showing brilliant, sparkling faces, they are drawn into a fibrous looking mass? The latter seems to be the most plausible theory, to which I admit objections may be raised. For my own part, I am inclined to the belief that the crystal exists in all iron which is finished above a bright red heat, and that between that and black heat they are formed and have whatever characteristics circumstances may confer upon them, modified by the action of agencies heretofore mentioned.
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