Neutron diffraction for non-destructive evaluation of composition and microstructure in highly heterogeneous ancient steel from Mongolia

Recent analytical research on ancient metal objects recovered in Mongolia revealed that the early bronze and iron-making technologies can be clearly differentiated from those practiced in contemporaneous China. The nomadic life style of Mongolian population was not compatible with the production of large size artistic artefacts, typical of urban centres, therefore they developed a tradition of production of high quality transportable small size artistic objects.Iron artefacts recovered in Mongolia often display evidence of small-scale engineering processes applied to their production. We expect to determine, using neutron diffraction on iron and steel samples, the average carbon content and the texture degree corresponding to the various observed microstructures

近期针对蒙古国出土古代金属器物的分析研究显示，早期青铜制作与冶铁技术，可与同期中国所使用的同类技术明确区分。蒙古先民的游牧生活方式，与城市中心典型的大型艺术器物生产难以适配，因此他们发展出了制作高品质、可便携的小型艺术器物的传统。蒙古国出土的铁质器物，往往带有其生产过程中应用小型工程工艺的痕迹。本研究拟通过对钢铁样品开展中子衍射（neutron diffraction）分析，测定与各类观测到的微观组织相对应的平均碳含量与织构程度。