Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXX, Dec. 1910: Federal Investigations of Mine Accidents, Structural Materials and Fuels. Paper No. 1171Wilson, Herbert M. (Herbert Michael)
History
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXX, Dec. 1910: Federal Investigations of Mine Accidents, Structural Materials and Fuels. Paper No. 1171
Wilson, Herbert M. (Herbert Michael)
Building materials; Civil engineering -- Periodicals; Coal mines and mining -- Safety measures; Fuel
The chemical laboratory is fully equipped with the necessary apparatus
for carrying on special chemical research in silicate chemistry,
including electrical resistance furnaces, shaking devices, etc. It is
not the intention to do routine work in this laboratory. The office
adjoins this laboratory, and near it is the physical laboratory, devoted
to the study of the structure of raw materials. The latter contains
Nobel and Schoene elutriators, together with viscosimeters of the flow
and the Coulomb and Clark electrical types, sieves, voluminometers,
colorimeters, vernier shrinkage gauges, micrometers, microscopes, and
the necessary balances.
The room across the hall is devoted to the study of the specific
gravity, absorption, porosity, permeability, hardness, translucency,
etc., of burnt-clay products, all the necessary apparatus being
provided. In the two remaining rooms, intended for research work,
special apparatus adapted to the particular investigation may be set up.
All the rooms are piped for water, gas, compressed air, steam, and
drainage, and wired for light and power.
In the kiln house there is a test kiln adapted for solid fuel and gas.
It is of the down-draft type, with an available burning space of about 8
cu. ft. (Fig. 9). For heavier ware and the study of the fire behavior of
clay products under conditions approaching those of practice, a round
down-draft kiln, with an inside diameter of 6 ft., is installed. About
13 ft. above the floor level, and supported by iron beams, there is a
flue parallel to the long side of the structure. This flue conducts the
gases of the kilns to the stack, which is symmetrically located with
reference to the kiln house. Natural gas is the principal fuel. In
addition to these kilns, a small muffle furnace, fired with petroleum,
is provided for the determination of melting points, and an electric
carbon resistance furnace, with an aluminum muffle for high-temperature
work. For crucible-fusion work, a gas-fired pot furnace is installed.
[Illustration: Fig. 7.
CLAY-DRYING OVEN]
Along the north wall, bins are provided for the storage of fuel, clay,
sand, and other kiln supplies. There are two floor drainage sinks, and
electric current, steam, water, and compressed air, are provided.
[Illustration: Fig. 8.
DRYING CLOSETS FOR CERAMICS]
_Results of the Work._--More than 39,300 separate test pieces have been
made at the structural-materials testing laboratory. In connection with
the study of these, 86,000 tests and nearly 14,000 chemical analyses
have been made. Of these tests more than 13,600 have been of the
constituent materials of concrete, including tensile tests of cement
briquettes, compression tests of cylinders and cubes, and transverse
tests of various specimens.
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