Learning from the Past: The Reconstruction of the Original Damascus Steel. Experimental Study

Abstract

The original method of manufacturing Damascus steel has been forgotten over time. Due to differences in the raw material used and the manufacturing techniques, some of the current attempts at replicating Damascus steel have failed. The study of Damascus steel provided the opportunity to observe in detail the laborious process of manufacturing this material, which involves the free forging and welding of different layers of steel to obtain a particularly strong and durable final product. To carry out this research, high-quality materials were selected from a catalogue of steels, with a particular focus on achieving the best results. In this case, two types of steel were chosen to create Damascus steel: AISI 1095 and 15N20 steel. Both materials have been selected for their individual properties, such as mechanical resistance and durability, which contribute to the ultimate quality of Damascus steel. This rigorous selection of materials ensured a high-quality and authentic product. Throughout this study, a functional furnace was built capable of contributing to the welding and forging processes of these two different materials. This furnace played a crucial role in obtaining true Damascus steel. By applying a complex process of heating and forging and then repeating this process, the layers of steel were welded together, resulting in a final material that is extremely strong and has a unique aesthetic appearance. Processing and laboratory tests were carried out on the obtained Damascus steel to evaluate its mechanical properties, including the processing of the results using Autodesk Inventor Professional 2023 and simulation in Ansys 2023.

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