Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Damascus Steel

This article deals with examination of the mechanical properties of Damascus steel. Damascus steel is steel used for blades or knives – similar to the past (Damascus steel was a type of steel used for blades in the Near East – made from wootz steel – imported from India). This steel is characterized by significant patterns. The aim of the present study is to point out the laborious method of Damascus production, and to compare the mechanical properties of the initial Damascus steel layers comparison with whole reference Damascus material steel itself.

Element Decay

This paper attempts to establish the existence of element decay by making a historical case for the existence of theory decay, a phenomenon where theories leave an agent’s mosaic without any re-evaluation or decision on the agent’s part. The phenomenon of theory decay is to be theoretically distinguished from rejection without replacement; while the latter is a result of an agent’s deliberation, the former is a result of an agent’s inaction. To locate historical instances of theory decay, there should be evidence that the agent under study existed continuously throughout the period under study, that the theory was accepted at some point and unaccepted at some later point, and that the theory left the mosaic without any decision on the part of the agent. With these indicators at hand, I discuss five potentially promising historical cases: Poisson distribution, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, Damascus steel, Greek fire, and Cremonese violins. I argue that there is solid historical evidence to interpret the last case as an instance of element decay, which is sufficient to establish the existence of the phenomenon. I show that element decay is best seen as a non-scientonomic phenomenon; its existence highlights that individual and communal agents have limited capacities of knowledge retention and transmission and, when these limits are reached, element decay often takes place. This suggests that sufficient epistemic capacity to retain and transmit knowledge is a necessary precondition for the existence of scientonomic patterns, which emerge and hold only when the agent has measures in place to counteract potential element decay.

INFLUENCE OF PHOSPHORUS IMPURITY ON THE STRUCTURE AND NATURE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GENUINE DAMASCUS STEEL

It is established that the ancient knife blade belongs to the Eastern group of Indo-Persian steel type genuine Damascus steel with a pattern of "Kara-Taban", which literally means blackshiny. The methods of spectral, x-ray phase and optical analysis show that the genuine Damascus steel is a high-purity non-alloy high-carbon steel with a high content of phosphorus. It is revealed that phosphorus, having a high segregation coefficient of impurity contributes to the process of segregation of carbon in the process of crystallization of crucible ingots. The main physical and chemical factors influencing morphology of structure formation of genuine Damascus steel are revealed. It is established the relationship between the structure and the nature of the destruction of the genuine Damascus steel under impact load.

Forging of Copper and Iron Plates by the Damascus Technique

Forging of different steel grades is called Damascus technique and results in a layered composite material termed “Damascus steel”, but forging of different copper alloys is termed “mokume gane”. In this paper the joining of copper and iron plates by forging is described. Metallographic investigations showed well bonded interfaces of copper and iron. A very small diffusion zone was observed. To study the diffusion between copper and iron two heat treatments were performed in Ar atmosphere. After 30 minutes at 1000 °C a marginal Cu-Fe interaction took place. Above the melting point of Cu at 1100 °C an intense Cu-Fe interaction was observed, which significantly changes the interface of both metals. Cu penetrated Fe along the grain boundaries and Fe droplets were formed sporadically. This correlates with the typical morphologies of liquid metal embrittlement (LME). Moreover, Fe is dissolved in Cu at 1100 °C and after cooling fine Fe precipitates in the Cu phase were detected.