To make it even more complicated there are several things called wootz steel. Most generally, wootz is a form of crucible steel. You put the iron, carbon, trace minerals and flux in a sealed crucible and heat it up. Getting it right is super-tricky, of course, particularly for getting output of a consistent carbon content. There are hundreds of different recipes, and it's possible that the traditional Indian wootz never got hot enough to be completely liquid. That would lead to a heterogenous steel, hence the pattern-welded looking steel. It's a pretty decent theory, but to the best of my knowledge has never been demonstrated.
In the end, I'm not nearly enough of a materials scientist to evaluate the nanotubes thing fairly. There are enough yahoos in the world who think they know more about metalurgy than they really do without me jumping on in.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: Damascus nanotubes
In the end, I'm not nearly enough of a materials scientist to evaluate the nanotubes thing fairly. There are enough yahoos in the world who think they know more about metalurgy than they really do without me jumping on in.