Submitted by curator on Fri, 10/16/2015 - 13:42
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Inv. 31-52-225
Blade fragment
A cut from one side of the fragmented edge: magnification, 400x
Etchant: Klemms III
(Sn, 4.30%; As, 1.28%; Ni, 0.0.39%)
The overall pattern of polyhedral, twinned grains in this microstructure, together with the fineness of the grains themselves, indicates that this blade was both hot-worked and cold-worked. Inclusions occur in a modest density, and their elongation, together with the presence of some residual banding, are evidence of a significant compositional segregation in this artifacts alloy that the repeated anneals associated with each kind of working did not erase.
Microhardness VHN: 151 ± 18 (n=5)
Non-uniform; data scatter (with the VHN ranging 178 to 128) seems to be a genuine record of variation in grain size within the blades body. What microstructural evidence there might have been of deliberate working of the blades edge most likely is now lost to corrosion.
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