Bethlehem Steel lamellar tearing problem (1970s)

Tom's experience with lamellar tearing as a Bethlehem Steel problem during his employment there.

My friend John wrote this book. It's a great book, I refer to it. I can talk about lamellar tearing, which was a problem in the 1970s when I worked at Bethlehem Steel. I've got to go to Australia this summer, and there's a crushing machine four stories tall in the Philippines that was used for mining gold. It was all cracked because the steel had lamellar tearing — when something occurs in the base plate. You ever have baklava? Three kilos, three layers, and however they put the nuts in, it falls apart. That's what lamellar tearing is, what occurs in the base. But the problem is, these cracks occurred in the base plate — had nothing to do with the welding. This guy wrote a report, 237 paragraphs, I read it.