Microstructural Investigation on a Medieval Sword Produced in 12th Century A.D.

Abstract

The construction of sword during the medieval age reaches a good level of quality in the western world where the “Damascus” swords assumes a legendary fame. Even from the ancient times two types of “Damascus” swords have been known: the eastern type based on the application of the ipereuctoid steels and the Western Damascus or Welded Damascus, because obtained through the friction welding of thin strips featured by different carbon contents. In this study a sword found in 1948 on the Adige riverside, near Legnago, has been sectioned and examined by optical microscopy, SEM-EDS, SEM-EBSD and the micro-hardness Vickers testing in order to point out the main microstructural features of the welded system, to identify the chemical composition of the non-metallic inclusions and the crystallographic textures produced by the forging operation. The obtained results have permitted to formulate plausible hypothesis about the significant aspects of the production process: temperature of the ore reducing furnace and of the thermo-mechanical route followed by the ancient artisans.