| MadSci Network: Chemistry |
Drudwyn, I'm not familiar with medieval metalurgical methods, but I will give you some of the different characterists of various metals. Copper: This was one of the earliest metals used by people. It is easy to work with, but was relatively soft and oxidized easily. Bronze: This was probably the next step in metal development. Bronze has improved strength and oxidation properties over copper. Bronzes are an alloy of copper and (in increasing order of strength) silicon, manganese (see next section - brass), or aluminum. Bronze tools helped civilization develop rapidly. Brass: Manganese bronzes are also known as the high-strength yellow brasses and leaded high-strength yellow brasses. These alloys contain zinc as the principal alloying element with smaller amounts of iron, aluminum, manganese, nickel, and lead. These bronzes are easily cast. Iron: This is a very strong metal but has problems with corrosion and can be brittle if not heat treated properly. Iron is the base metal used for all forms of steel. Steel: The main factor contributing to the usefulness steels over other metals is the wide range of mechanical properties which can be obtained by heat treatment. For example, softness and good ductility may be required during fabrication of a part and very high strength during its service life. Both sets of properties can be obtained from the same material. Steels can be softened to a greater or lesser degree by annealing. Annealing is achieved by heating the steel to an appropriate temperature, holding, then cooling it at the proper rate. Likewise, steels can be hardened or strengthened by means of cold working, heat treating, or a combination of these. Steels can be alloyed with carbon, manganese, silicon, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and boron to give desired properties. Stainless Steels: these are made by alloying with chromium and nickel. Chromium adds corrosion and oxidation resistance and high-temperature strength, and nickel gives toughness and ductility. Specific alloys of any of these metals is too extensive for me to list here. Some materials links that might help you with your research are: http://www.thenewsteel.com/, http://www.asm-intl.org/, http://www.copper.org/, http://www.matweb.com/, http://www.mrs.org/, http://www.brinell.kth.se/part1.html. Authoring a book takes a lot of talent and patience. The few publications I've produced were specialty items that most people will never see. I wish you luck on yours and hope you're sucessful with it. Todd Engelman
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Chemistry.