The author would like to express his gratitude to the chairman of his supervisory committee, Dr. F. N. Rhines, not only for many discussions and suggestions pertaining to the problem but also for his constant encouragement. Research which eventually evolved into this thesis was performed under the supervision of Dr. R. E. Reed-Hill and the author would like to acknowledge his debt to many aspects of that work. The author is also indebted to Dr. R. T. DeHoff for his suggestions concerning the quantative metal lographic measurements .