Abstract
Artisans in ancient India melted iron with woodchips as sources of carbon in clay crucibles and produced a hypereutectoid steel (C content ∼1.5% by weight) called Wootz steel. Their technique, perfected over centuries, resulted in steels of high strength and ductility. These steels were traded in Damascus and spread to many countries, which turned them into swords of amazing performance with aesthetically pleasing wavy patterns on the surface. Combining the expertise of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research in alloy design with that in laser processing by a team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, a new Damascus-like steel has now been created by additive manufacturing (AM), commonly known as three-dimensional (3D) printing. The key to the success of this work, as reported in a recent issue of Nature (doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2409-3), is the innovative use of the digital capabilities of AM to introduce a controlled hierarchical structure without the need for post-treatment.
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