Damascus and pattern-welded steels - Forging blades since the iron age

Steels are a class of materials with multiple and complicated transformations;
this is true even for steels of the basic cutlery industry. A damascus steel
is a fascinating subject to study, rich in multiple facets, that appears in a
first approach as a composite material artistically exploited. Damacus steel
was developed in the first millennium AD in India or Sri-Lanka. Its reputation
is related to its exceptional properties and to the moire pattern. A similar
damask pattern could be obtained by forge-welding giving rise to
controversies. Recent findings allow a better understanding of this pattern
formation. This book presents firstly, observations of ancient blade samples
examined with modern technologies such as electron microscopy. The features of
many typical swords from different periods are discussed: Celtic, Merovingian,
Viking and oriental wootz swords, Persian shamshirs, Japanese katana, rapiers
etc. In the second part, microstructural observations at different levels of
magnification are displayed and their interpretation is discussed in detail,
thus revealing the secret of sophisticated forgings. One chapter is devoted to
introducing the main transformations undergone by these steels during the
forging processes. The book is intended for all those people interested in the
history of science and more specifically to the metallurgists, to the
archaeologists and all the researchers confronted with the problems of the
expertise of the vestiges, to the blacksmiths, and to the collectors of
valuable artistic blades. Madeleine Durand-Charre has taught structural
metallurgy at the Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble and at the University
Joseph Fourier of Grenoble. Her research work concerned microstructure
formation and determination of phase equilibria. She investigated complex
alloys such as superalloys and steels. Her work on vanadium cast irons was
awarded the Vanadium Shield in 1989 from the Institute of Metals. She is
author of several books and articles in metallurgy.