Identification of the microstructural characteristics of Damascus steel in 4 indian blades through neutron diffraction

DOI

From 2009 we have measured at ISIS selected samples of Indian blades from Hyderabad and other private collections in order to determine their phase distribution by neutron diffraction.We have found that by neutron diffraction we can identify crucible steel by the high cementite content. However, there is a subclass within crucible steels of wootz (the so-called ¿Damascus steel¿). These are swords which had a visible pattern on the surface of the blade when made. Many of such swords have frequently been over-polished and identifying the presence of such patterns now hidden is desirable but extremely difficult. It is the orientation of the cementite into parallel rows which is eventually responsible for the visible pattern. So it is the orientation of cementite which must be identified. This can be achieved by studying the different texture level and distribution by neutron diffraction.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.24090234
Metadata Access https://icatisis.esc.rl.ac.uk/oaipmh/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_datacite&identifier=oai:icatisis.esc.rl.ac.uk:inv/24090234
Provenance
Creator Dr Antonella Scherillo; Dr Francesco Grazzi; Miss Elisa Barzagli; Mr David Edge; Dr Alan Williams; Dr Alessio De Francesco
Publisher ISIS Neutron and Muon Source
Publication Year 2016
Rights CC-BY Attribution 4.0 International; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess true
Contact isisdata(at)stfc.ac.uk
Representation
Resource Type Dataset
Discipline Photon- and Neutron Geosciences
Temporal Coverage Begin 2013-03-20T14:02:34Z
Temporal Coverage End 2013-05-27T08:25:32Z