DAMASCUS STEEL REDISCOVERED.

Abstract

The forgotten art of making these steels may have recently been rediscovered at Stanford University. The metallurgical key is the use of ultrahigh carbon contents and the use of thermal-mechanical processing procedures for attainment of sub-micron microstructures. Such steels are superformable (superplastic) at warm temperature and strong and ductile at room temperature. The preparation and properties of fine-grained ultrahigh carbon steels are described, including their use in making laminated composites similar to the structures noted in Japanese laminated tools and welded Dasmascus steel.