Wootz steel

[6] The method was to heat black magnetite ore in the presence of carbon in a sealed clay crucible inside a charcoal furnace to completely remove slag.

[6][7] Locals in Sri Lanka adopted the production methods of creating wootz steel from the Cheras by the 5th century BC.

Production sites from antiquity have emerged, in places such as Anuradhapura, Tissamaharama and Samanalawewa, as well as imported artifacts of ancient iron and steel from Kodumanal.

[9] In the South East of Sri Lanka, there were some of the oldest iron and steel artifacts and production processes to the island from the classical period.

[8] Wootz steel was widely exported and traded throughout ancient Europe and the Arab world, and became particularly famous in the Middle East.

[8] From the 17th century onwards, several European travelers observed the steel manufacturing in South India, at Mysore, Malabar and Golconda.

The use of high-carbon alloys was little known in Europe[20] previously and thus the research into wootz steel played an important role in the development of modern English, French and Russian metallurgy.

[21] In 1790, samples of wootz steel were received by Sir Joseph Banks, president of the British Royal Society, sent by Helenus Scott.

[8] Wootz is characterized by a pattern caused by bands of clustered Fe3C particles made by melting of low levels of carbide-forming elements.

[26] The presence of cementite nanowires and carbon nanotubes has been identified by Peter Pepler of TU Dresden in the microstructure of wootz steel.

Oleg Sherby and Jeff Wadsworth and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have all done research, attempting to create steels with characteristics similar to wootz, but without success.

[citation needed] Reibold et al.'s analyses spoke of the presence of carbon nanotubes enclosing nanowires of cementite, with the trace elements/impurities of vanadium, molybdenum, chromium etc.

[citation needed] With fellow experts, the Georgian-Dutch master armourer Gocha Laghidze developed a new method to reintroduce "Georgian Damascus steel".