Abstract
A PAPER on the important practical subject of “The Deterioration of Lead Cable Sheathing,” by Messrs. S. Beckinsale and H. Waterhouse, read at the spring meeting of the Institute of Metals, represents work done in the Research Department, Woolwich, for the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association. The authors have examined a large number of lead cable sheaths which have failed in service by inter-crystalline cracking, and it was found in all cases that the material which had failed was lead of a high degree of chemical purity. It has been suggested that this type of cracking may have resulted from overheating during the extrusion of the sheath. It is shown, however, in the present paper that for lead of the composition generally used, working can be done from room temperature up to within a few degrees of the melting point without leading to cracking, and the only difference observed in the lead rolled at different temperatures was that the grain size tended to increase as the temperature was raised. It was not found possible to reproduce any cracking corresponding with that observed in service by variations of the working temperature.
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T., F. The Cracking of Lead Cable Sheathing. Nature 121, 922 (1928). https://doi.org/10.1038/121922a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/121922a0