Module: Damascus and
                    Pattern-Welded Steels

Theme:

"Damascus steel" is a type of steel of legendary hardness and toughness that western European culture first encountered through the Crusades. While its name relates to the area in which weapons and armor were fashioned from this unique material, the source of the steel and the technology for making it was India (where the technology was practiced for well over 1000 years, up to about 1900). Damascus steel became of intense interest in western Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries, because of its legendary properties, its unique "damascene" visual appearance, and the inability of European craftsmen to understand or duplicate the process for its manufacture. The Europeans had developed ways to make tools and armor with a similar appearance, by forge-welding composites of iron and steel in the solid state to form "pattern-welded steel." Pattern welding advanced to a remarkable state of refinement in Europe in the 19th century. Only in the last twenty years has the scientific understanding of Damascus steel advanced to the point where it can be made reliably. Research on this unique material continues to the present.

Module Program:

This module will explore the history of Damascus and pattern-welded steels through study of publications and historical documents dating to the 17th century. We will review a first-hand 19th century account of observations of the Indian process for making the "Wootz" steel from which Damascus steel was made. In addition, we will study the history of the technology for making pattern-welded steels and contrast it with the Damascus steel processing. Recent articles will be included showing that both types of steels remain of strong interest today, both from an artistic/craft standpoint and for the potential for applying facets of the historical technology to make ultrahigh strength steels that might be superior to modern commercial steels. Principles of ferrous metallurgy will be integrated with the lecture material to give participants the necessary background to appreciate technical aspects of the topic, and laboratory work will include fabrication of pattern-welded steel by forge welding.

Material culture component:

Important issues that will be addressed include trade of Wootz from India westward, assessment of the perception of Damascus steel as a superior material by Europeans, understanding the reasons for intense scientific interest in Damascus steel in France in the early 19th century, and concluding with the qualities of Damascus and pattern-welded steels that have endowed both with such enduring interest.

Materials science/engineering and laboratory component:

An appreciation for the historical and cultural aspects of Damascus and pattern-welded steels requires integration of metallurgical understanding of the materials and processes used in their manufacture and the techniques for fabrication of useful objects from these materials. Lectures on ferrous metallurgy will cover the necessary fundamental principles, with specific emphasis on phase equilibria, solidification structures, hot working, and relation of microstructure to strength and toughness. Laboratory sessions will involve participants in using traditional hand forging techniques to produce billets of pattern-welded steels, and small articles such as letter openers will be fashioned from the material we make. Metallographic examination of the materials we work with at various stages of processing will help connect lecture material to practice.