Damascus steel is a legendary material from steel that has superplastic properties (the ability to undergo permanent deformation without cracking up to 1000%).

 With these unique properties, Damascus steel is widely used as a material for making swords and weapons. According to myth, weapons made using Damascus Steel will never be blunt or break. Besides having superplastic properties, Damascus steel also has a characteristic feature, namely the presence of a water pattern on its surface.

 Damascus steel was first made in India and then expanded to Syria. The name Damascus itself was given by Western nations who were involved in the Crusades and found this steel weapon in the city of Damascus, Syria.

 The origin of the name "Damascus Steel" is still being debated - Islamic authors al-Kindi (full name Abu Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi, circa 800 AD - 873 AD) and al-Biruni (full name Abu al-Rayhan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad al -Biruni, circa 973 AD - 1048 AD) are scholars who write about swords and steel made for swords, based on their surface appearance, geographic location of production or forging, or the name of a blacksmith, and each mentions "damascene swords" or " damascus “to some extent.

 The reputation and history of Damascus steel has given rise to many legends, such as the ability to cut through a rifle barrel or to cut a hair falling across the blade, though the accuracy of these legends is not reflected by the extant examples of patterned crucible steel swords which are often tempered in such a way as to retain a bend after being flexed past their elastic limit. A research team in Germany published a report in 2006 revealing nanowires and carbon nanotubes in a blade forged from Damascus steel, although John Verhoeven of Iowa State University in Ames, suggests the research team which reported nanowires in crucible steel was seeing cementite, which can itself exist as rods, so there might not be any carbon nanotubes in the rod-like structure. Although many types of modern steel outperform ancient Damascus alloys, chemical reactions in the production process made the blades extraordinary for their time, as Damascus steel was superplastic and very hard at the same time. During the smelting process to obtain Wootz steel ingots, woody biomass and leaves are known to have been used as carburizing additives along with certain specific types of iron rich in microalloying elements. These ingots would then be further forged and worked into Damascus steel blades. Research now shows that carbon nanotubes can be derived from plant fibers, suggesting how the nanotubes were formed in the steel. Some experts expect to discover such nanotubes in more relics as they are analyzed more closely. Wootz was also mentioned to have been made out of a combination of “shaburqan” (hard steel, likely white cast iron) and “narmahan” (soft steel) by Biruni, both of which were forms of bloomery iron formed under different conditions. In such a crucible recipe, no added plant material is necessary to provide the required carbon content, and as such any nanowires of cementite or carbon nanotubes would not have been the result of plant fibers.

 Damascus knives were first produced in the Near East from wootz steel ingots imported from South India (now Tamil Nadu and Kerala). The Arabs introduced wootz steel to Damascus, where the arms industry was booming. From the 3rd century to the 17th century, steel ingots were shipped to the Middle East from South India. There is also domestic production of container steel outside of India, including Merv (Turkmenistan) and Chāhak, Iran.

 Many claim that modern attempts to duplicate the metal have not been completely successful due to differences in raw materials and manufacturing techniques. However, some individuals in modern times have succeeded in producing patterns that form hypereutectoid crucible steel with visible carbide bands on the surface, befitting real Damascus Steel.

  Production of these patterned swords gradually declined, ceasing around 1750. Some gunmakers during the 18th and 19th centuries used the term "damascus steel" to describe pattern-welded gun barrels, but they did not use case steel. Several modern theories have ventured to explain this decline, including disruption of trade routes to supply needed metals, lack of traces of impurities in metals, possible loss of knowledge of craft techniques through secrecy and lack of transmission, suppression of industry in India by British Raj, or a combination. of all of the above.

 Many claim that modern attempts to duplicate the metal have not been completely successful due to differences in raw materials and manufacturing techniques. However, some individuals in modern times have succeeded in producing patterns that form hypereutectoid crucible steel with visible carbide bands on the surface, befitting real Damascus Steel.

  Production of these patterned swords gradually declined, ceasing around 1750. Some gunmakers during the 18th and 19th centuries used the term "damascus steel" to describe pattern-welded gun barrels, but they did not use case steel. Several modern theories have ventured to explain this decline, including disruption of trade routes to supply needed metals, lack of traces of impurities in metals, possible loss of knowledge of craft techniques through secrecy and lack of transmission, suppression of industry in India by British Raj, or a combination. of all of the above.

  The original Wootz was imported to various production centers, including Khorasan, and Isfahan, where Golconda steel was used to manufacture blades, as well as throughout the Middle East. Al Kindi states that crucible steel is also made in Khorasan which is known as Muharrar, apart from that steel is imported. In Damascus, where many of these swords are sold, there is no evidence of local production of crucible steel, although there is evidence of imported steel. Forged into a sword in Damascus. Because of this distance to the steel trade, disruption of the trade route for a long time could end Damascus steel production and eventually lead to the loss of the technique. In addition, the need for traces of major impurities from carbide builders such as tungsten, vanadium or manganese in the materials required for steel production may not exist if these materials are obtained from different production areas or smelted from ores lacking these major trace elements. . The technique for controlled thermal cycling after initial forging at a certain temperature can also be lost, thus preventing the final damask pattern from occurring in the steel. The disruption of mining and steelmaking by the British Raj in the form of production taxes and export bans may also have contributed to a loss of knowledge of the main ore sources or major techniques.

  The discovery of carbon nanotubes in the composition of Damascus steel supports the hypothesis that wootz production has stalled due to loss of ore sources or technical know-how, because carbon nanotubes deposition may have resulted from certain processes that might be difficult to replicate had the production techniques or raw materials used been changed significantly. Although it should be noted that claims that carbon nanowires were discovered have not been confirmed by any further research, and there is debate among academics including John Verhoeven about whether the observed nanowires were actually rafts or rods stretched from cementite spheroids.