Manufacture of Damascus steel: Metallographic study

Abstract

Damascus Steel is the denomination that the Europeans gave to the material with which the musulman swords were manufactured during the Era of the Crusades. This hypereutectoid steel presents a high content in carbon, more than 0.8 %, and in some cases up to 2 % in weight. The secret of its good mechanical characteristics is based in the hot forging process in the temperatures interval between 650 and 850 °C. The final quenching in water, brine or other aqueous solutions, confers to the swords manufactured with this steel a good resistance to its cutting edge and a high toughness. In the present investigation, the manufacture processes of this type of steel are studied. Electronic scanning microscopy has been applied to the study of materials manufactured by the authors following the ancient craftsmen methods of forging and quenching.