Design Rules

Damascus Steel design

Damascus steel consists of at least two steel grades in a laminate. Both steel grades should be designed for the specific application of the finished part. A damascene knife edge should be built up by two knife steels, a damascus firearm barrel should be built up by two barrel steels.

The composition of a damascus steel must follow some obvious design rules for avoiding that the properties are deteriorated. There is an obvious risk that carbon diffusion from one steel to the other makes the properties unpredictable. In that case, the heating history of the material can cause varying properties.

 

The design rules are:

1. The application. Both components of a damascene steel shall be suitable for the specific application. The steel grades should be familiar to the workshop, so they can use the standard procedures when they machine the damascene steels.

2. The transformation temperatures. If the material is heat treated, the phase transformations must occur at the same temperatures in both alloys for avoiding unpredictable distortion at heat treatment.

3. The carbon diffusion. The mobile element Carbon can easily move from one component to the other. The higher temperature the faster. Therefore, carbon must have the same activity in
both steels at forging temperatures, and heat treating temperatures.

4. The etching. One or more alloy elements must differ enough, so one component gets galvanic protection from the other, when the damascus is etched in an acid.

Damasteels products are designed after these rules. A databank based metallurgical calculation system, Thermo Calc, has been used in combination with practical tests.

The rapid solidification powder Technology gives a much more evenly distributed solidification structure (right) than a conventionaly produced steel (left). 100 x magn.