By E. Creutz, Head, Department of Physics, Carnegie Institute of Technology and D. Gurinsky, Head, Division of Metallurgy, Brookhaven National Laboratory” Peres sas of carly interest to the nuclear physicist working on the fission chain reaction for several reasons. It has an extremely low capture property for the ther- mal neutrons which produce the fission of uranium. Being of rather small atomi weight, it is useful as a medium for slowing down the fast neutrons from fission (neu- trons having energies of about one to two million electron volts) to thermal energy (about 1/40 electron volt), at which energy Fabrication of Beryllium Metal level they have a large probability of pro- ducing fission in uranium. Elements of greater atomic weight simply scatter off the neutrons without taking up much of their energy. Also beryllium is of interest because of its rather good resistance to corrosion. Unfortunately, very little was known about the fabrication possibilities of beryl- lium in 1944. Casting techniques had been developed by the Brush Beryllium Co. and others, but attempts at forging and extrud- ing had not been very successful because of its poor duetility. Extrusion — The first successful attempt to extrude beryllium took place at the Wol- verine Tube Div., Calumet and Heela Copper Co. in May 194, with the cooperation of J.P, Schumar and J. F. Rodgers. Since it was believed that failure on previous attempts might have been due to insufficient pressure, a special container and die were made to take a Jin, diameter billet on which the full 600-ton force of the press could be applied if necessary. ‘The beryllium billets were enclosed in covered graphite crucibles and heated in an air-filled furnace. After heating to 1900? F. for as long as 10 hr., little change in the ¥*This work was carried out while the authors were members of the Metallurgical Laboratory, University of Chicago, operating under the Manhattan Project, METAL PROGRESS; PAGE 82 beryllium surface took place other than some small yellow spots indicating very sligh: carbide formation, Immediately before es- trusion, the container was lined with a mag- nesium eup which was to melt and serve as lubrication, since heryllium does not alloy readily with magnesium. By this technique rods were successfully extruded down to *: in, diameter, It was found that a thin liner of graphite was at least as satisfactory as the magnesium, This broke up during extrusion but served to keep the beryllium from alloy- ing with the stecl of the die and container Pressure required for a nominal reduc- tion in area (about 16 times) was about 60,000 psi. for a billet of 4% in, diameter sheathed in yj, in. of graphite. Higher pres- sures were required with smaller containers and smaller billets. Best results were ob- tained with the billet temperature in excess of 1995°F. although temperatures down tc 1650° F. were used. ‘The good lubricating properties of the graphite liner are shown by the excellent flow properties of the beryllium. billets. Figure 1 shows that the flow lines start almost perpendicularly from the container wall (billet surface), indicating relatively small surface frietion. ‘This condition exists to some extent even inside the die, provided that the included angle of the die is not tov large. This does not happen, however, in a flat die nor one in which the included angle is as large as 160°. A result of poor lubrication, and prob- ably also of too high billet temperature, is the rattlesnake effect on a billet that was extruded at 2055°F,, Fig. 2. Since the metal for the billet was not pure (it may have contained as much as 0.1% aluminum), hot shortness was to be expected. ‘Tubing was extruded using drilled billets. Several I-in. id. tubes were made without damage to the mandrel, but a %-in, mandrel was pulled in two. However, this fact does not necessarily te a limitation on the size of tube which can he extruded. A lower billet temperature could probably be used with sufficient pressure, which would result in less weakening of the mandrel. A bell-mouth die appears desirable for good extrusion of beryllium, If the ineluded angle is too large (120°), there is a tendencyExtrusion of Beryllium sion—that is, a 4%-in. billet was extruded to 2 in. and then to qin. ‘Tubes extruded with small area reduetions (2 to 8 times) tend to split lon- gitudinally while cooling. Tubes are satisfactorily extruded if the billet is provided with a hole, and the reduction is 8 or more times. Cans may be made Fig, 1—Unextrnded End of Beryllium by impact extruding Billet Showing Flow Lines That Meet around a mandrel. Here Container Wall Almost Perpendicularly also, if the reduction is small, cracking may oceur. for the rod to be pulled apart and split lon- Beryllium containing 1% titanium or 3% gitudinally. The large radial compressive aluminum ean be extruded under similar con- force supplied by an included angle of 90° ditions. The 3% aluminum alloy has a greater or less gives better results, However, with — tendency to give poor surfaces than the pure high temperature and hot dies, good results metal or the titanium alloy. have been obtained, even with the 120° dies. Forging — In order to improve the strue~ ‘The combination of high temperature ture of cast beryllium and thus improve and high pressure required poses a real die physical properties such as malleability and problem; nothing better could be found than ductility, experiments were performed on the Fig. 2— Rattlesnake Effect in Extruded Rod 18-4-1 high speed steel treated for maximum toughness and hardness. + Fig. 3— Ultimate Tensile Strength of Be- With proper lubrication and by ryliium as a Function of the Logarithm extruding the billet while in a thin ip Eee abe 1 oF he patio ot the Pile graphite jacket, abrasion of the die 7 is Jess than with uranium and TT other difficult materials. A problem ot +— is the occasional cracking of the hard die, As the reduction in area dur- ing extrusion is inereased, both the yield point and tensile strength of beryllium are increased. ‘This may he seen in Fig. 8 where the average ultimate tensile strength of several samples is plotted as a function of twice the logarithm to base 10 of the ratio of the billet diameter to the diameter of the extruded rod. The last point at 512 times redu tion corresponds to a double extru- Log.P g s s Tensile Strength, Psi. , re S DECEMBER 1952; PAGE’ 83Forging of Beryllium forging of beryllium at Westinghouse Electrie Corp., Bloomfield, N. J. Three centrifugally cast billets 2 in. dis and 4 in, long were enclosed in soft steel jackets % in, thick, Inasmuch as previous experiments showed that above 1920’ F, a molten alloy is formed if iron is in contact with beryllium, a layer of caleium oxide was tamped between the jacket and the beryllium, and a steel cover was welded to the jacket to completely con- confined samples (Fig. 4) were heated to 1920” F. and forged radially under a number of strokes; reheating was necessary to main- tain the desired temperature. ‘The partially confined steel-jacketed samples were forged longitudinal Welding — Attempts to weld beryllium by means of the atomic-hydrogen are and flux, the argon-shielded a.c. arc, and the helium-shielded dc. are have been unstecess- ful. Straight polarity (tungsten cleetrode be- ing negative) as well as reverse polarity Fig. 4— Beryllium Billet fine the billet. Three billets were also pre- pared in a similar manner except that no cover was put on the steel jacket; some un- jacketed beryllium billets were also forged in these tests. Results of the experiments indicate that with an unjacketed billet, the best product was obtained if the billet before forging was somewhere between 2100 and 2190° F. and the billet was forged with one stroke. Repeated blows resulted in a number of radial cracks starting from the outer edge and working in- ward. Too low a temperature resulted in complete cracking of the billet. ‘The totally helium and argon-are welding methods are successful. Conclusion — It has been fou to fi {¢ beryllium metal by ext forging. With the first method it is useful to jacket and lubricate the billet with a thin shell of graphite, and with the second, it is d possible sion and important to confine the billet with a mild steel jacket to prevent edge cracking. Me- chanical properties —in particular ultimate tensile strength—are appreciably improved over those available in cast beryllium after treatment by either of these fabrication methods. eS Beryllium Beryllium and some of its compounds are extremely toxie when taken into the lungs or blood stream, This toxicity is highly specific, varying greatly with indi- viduals. Sever I deaths traceable to the handling of beryllium metal powder and powdered beryllium compounds have oc- curred during the past few years. There- fore, extreme precautions should be taken Poisoning in handling any of these, particu carrying out operations where dust or fumes are generated. Handling of the metal with gloves or machining only under adequate fluid Iubrication and with the operator wearing a respirator are highly recommended. ‘The effects of beryllium poisoning frequent ent until several years after exposui do not become appar- ‘AL PROGRESS; PAGE 8¢