ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Characterization of replicas of Historical Damascus steels

Abstract: Wootz steel is a crucible steel that originated in the mid-1st millennium BC in South India, and sword blades made from Indian steel were highly prized and gained a legendary reputation for their quality. Wootz steel exhibits a peculiar pattern at the surface often defined as ?watered silk? that originates from the manufacturing method, not fully known nowadays. We performed several neutron diffraction experiments on ancient oriental blades, aiming at clarifying this intriguing mystery. In modern time, none of the attempt of producing wootz steel has been entirely satisfactorily in reproducing the appearance and microstructure of the original ancient material. We propose to investigate samples made following ancient techniques to identify common features to relate with the appearance and the microstructural characteristics of the ancient Oriental steels.

Experimenter: Dr Francesco Grazzi
Experimenter: Dr Alan Williams
Experimenter: Dr Anna Fedrigo
Local Contact: Dr Antonella Scherillo
Experimenter: Mr David Edge
Experimenter: Mr Andreas Schweikert
Experimenter: Dr Bastian Asmus

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2220741

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2220741

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Francesco Grazzi et al; (2026): Characterization of replicas of Historical Damascus steels, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2220741

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.