Damascus steel
Description
A very strong, hand-wrought Steel made in Near Eastern and Asian countries from approximately 900 to 1600 CE. Damascus steel was made from a heterogeneous metal mixture of Iron and steel that was drawn out, folded over, and then welded many times. This sequence produced wavy patterns in the steel which were enhanced with acid etching. The hot metal mixture was also placed selectively in contact with organic materials to add carbon (up to 2%) to the alloy. Damascus steel was primarily used for sword blades. Damascus steel was the forged steel of the blades of swords smithed in the Near East from ingots of Wootz steel[1] either imported from Southern India or made in production centres in Sri Lanka,[2] or Khorasan, Iran.[3] These swords are characterized by distinctive patterns of banding and mottling reminiscent of flowing water, sometimes in a "ladder" or "rose" pattern. Such blades were reputed to be tough, resistant to shattering, and capable of being honed to a sharp, resilient edge.[4]
Synonyms and Related Terms
damask steel; damasked steel; Damaszenerstahl (Deut.); acero de damasco (Esp.); Damast staal (Ned.)
Wootz (Indian), Pulad (Persian), Fuladh (Arabic), Bulat (Russian) and Bintie (Chinese) are all names for historical ultra-high carbon crucible steel typified by carbide segregation.
Resources and Citations
- David C. Scott, Metallography and Microstructure of Ancient and Historic Metals, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 1991
- Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997
- The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
- Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "Damascus steel." Accessed 5 Nov. 2004.
- Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascus_steel (Accessed Nov. 10, 2004)