Metalografia
Metalografia
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Case study
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: A bimetal bronze sword, unearthed from Hunan Province China, dating to the Warring States period
Received 26 April 2018 (476–221BC) was examined analytically by optical metallography, neutron diffraction and X-ray diffrac-
Accepted 10 October 2018 tion. The results indicate that the tin content of the blade is 16%, not higher as previously reported. The
Available online xxx
bimetallic bronze sword possesses a typical cast structure with annealing on the edge of spine. Distinct
corrosion compounds pyromorphite was identified, with pseudomorphic malachite having replaced the
Keywords: original alpha phase. Redeposited copper and unusual phosphorus-containing corrosion products were
bimetal sword
analysed to investigate the mechanism of formation.
Chinese bronze
© 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Corrosion
1. Introduction This kind of bimetallic bronze sword was only found in South China,
within the area of the Chu culture and its southward neighbours.
The earliest bimetallic artifacts found in Hebei province and Some bimetallic bronze swords excavated at Jiangxi, Zhejiang,
Beijing are bronze Yues with meteoritic iron blades dating to the Hunan and Guangdong were subjected to preliminarily alloy com-
Middle Shang Period (14th century BC). Various bimetallic objects positional analyses [3,4,5] showing higher tin contents for the blade
such as a bronze dagger with an iron blade, an iron Ben with a as compared with the back. Four bimetallic bronze sword fragments
bronze hilt, an iron sword with a bronze hilt and an iron knife with collected by the Shanghai Museum were examined using X-ray flu-
a bronze hilt dated from Western Zhou Dynasty (11–8th century orescence; the tin content in the blade was found to be 22–24 wt%,
BC) to early Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) were found while the back had 8–15 wt% tin [6,7]. Simulation experiments
in Henan and Shaanxi province [1], from the central plain and sur- designed by the author were used to reconstruct the casting pro-
rounding area. Iron as a precious material was often used together cesses: the back of the blade is cast first followed by annealing the
with bronze tools and weapons before the advent of its mass pro- tenon slightly, and then the piece-mould of the blade with finished
duction in the Late Bronze Age of ancient China. Recently two back inset is prepared for pouring. The back and blade would be
typical iron-bronze bimetallic artifacts, iron-blade bronze chipping integrated into a completed sword after the liquid metal solidifi-
knife and iron-blade bronze dagger axe (Ge in Chinese), were found cation and shrinkage (see Fig. 1, the middle part is finished firstly
in Liangdaicun village, Han cheng city, Shanxi province, which are and then inserting to the piece-mould with the blade hollow). Two
examined technically by metallography [2], the two bimetallic arti- bronze bimetallic swords dating to early Warring States Period
facts are dated to early Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC). (476–221BC) unearthed from Xintai city, Shandong province, were
There are two kinds of bimetallic artifact in Chinese archaeo- analyzed by X-ray, CT, XRF and metallography, which show the low
logical finds, iron-bronze combined mechanically, and bronze with and high tin bronze alloy are used respectively on spine and blade
different tin contents on corresponding parts of a sword. During the for every sword [8].
Warring States Period, (476–221BC), iron-bronze bimetallic arti- However, little attention has been paid to the corrosion phe-
facts were replaced by bimetallic bronze swords. These swords nomena of bimetallic swords, which provides a good opportunity
were cast together in two different alloys for the back and the blade. to investigate the mechanism of deterioration of different bronze
alloys with variable tin content under the same environmental con-
ditions. More case studies are needed to increase the technological
information on these swords from outside the central plain area in
∗ Corresponding author. ancient China.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2018.10.004
1296-2074/© 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: W. Huang, et al., The metallography and corrosion of an ancient chinese bimetallic bronze sword,
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Fig. 1. The casting method for bimetal sword (after Haiping, 2002).
Fig. 3. The colorful surface of the blade (yellow corrosion at the seam, left above).
Fig. 5. Redeposited copper in the crevice between the back and the blade (the
corroded alpha + delta eutectoid and lead particles can be seen). Magnification 20X.
content than the other sections. Fig. 5 It is worth noting that some
unusual yellowish green corrosion products are found in the seam
between the back and blade. On the other side of the sword, lay-
ered corrosion products are clearly visible, the cuprite is possibly
surrounded or covered by blue and green corrosion from loose to
compact green layers outwards. Soil minerals and corrosion prod-
ucts formed on the back section illustrate a light green color on the
outmost layer.
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Fig. 6. The corroded alpha phase in the middle area of the image. Magnification 20X.
edge of the tenon section indicate slight re-heating treatment after destructively [9,10,11]. The phases in the alloy substrate and
casting. corrosion products on the surface can be tested simultaneously,
A blade piece was sampled to be examined by time-of-flight and tin contents of the alloy are calculated in terms of chemi-
neutron diffraction, which provides a large volume and high cal formula [12]. Neutron diffraction analysis was performed on
penetration measurement of the bulk phase compositions non- the General Materials Diffractometer (GEM) of the ISIS neutron
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The total 16% tin content in the blade sample is different from the
composition reported by Haiping [6,7], which exhibits an average
23% tin content in the blade by XRF and a high result of 17–19% tin
content of the blade was also reported by Shifan [5]. Arguably, the
23% tin content, obtained by X-ray fluorescence energy dispersive
spectrometry, was due to the limited penetration depth of the X-
ray method, i.e. the composition is from the tin-rich layer on the
corroded surface of the blade that originates from copper depletion
to the environment. The phases and elements distributed in the
sword substrate are very unevenly distributed based on the neutron
diffraction data and metallographic examination.
XRF or SEM-EDS have the same short penetration depths of a
fewm in a small area on the corroded surface of the bronze alloy.
The compositional data from the surface methods are less represen-
tative in revealing the alloy constituents reliably. More practical
case studies are needed to explore the compositions of bimetal
alloy quantitatively, for example by using non-destructive neutron
diffraction.
Fig. 7. Layered corrosion products on the blade surface (Magnification 20X Polarized Furthermore, a 23% tin content of blade is not good for the
Light). mechanical properties of sword as a weapon [13]. Although high
tin contents can improve the hardness of bronze alloys, 23% or
more tin generates brittleness for weapons while decreasing the
source at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK. Neutrons are tensile strength. Ancient Chinese mirrors often contain tin con-
produced by stopping 800 MeV protons in a tungsten target. ISIS is a tents of more than 20%, which enhances light reflection by the shiny
pulsed source operating at 40 Hz, thus delivering 40 polychromatic silver-coloured surface. However such high tin bronze mirrors are
pulses of neutrons per seconds to the sample. The pulsed operation fragile. So the tin content of 16–18% for the blade of the Hunan
allows determining the wavelength of each diffracted and detected sword should be reasonable.
neutron in the polychromatic pulse via a time-of-flight (TOF) mea- The lead content of the blade is 7%. Lead can only improve the
surement. A neutron detector at a scattering angle 2 measures fluidity of the melt, and has no other purpose with regards to the
the neutron TOF, i.e. the time that passes from the generation of mechanical properties of the sword, since lead is generally not
the neutron until its capture in the detector. GEM has about 7000 added to bronze if it is hammered or worked to shape. For ancient
individual scintillation detector elements viewing the sample from Chinese bronze, lead is usually added for the facility of alloy flowing
different angles. during casting.
Table 1
Phase composition and tin contents from neutron diffraction data of the blade.
Identified phases: weight fraction (%) Calculated tin content: weight fraction (%)
Alpha-Cu/Sn (1) 57
Alpha-Cu/Sn (2) 13 Alpha-Cu/Sn(1) 14.1 % Sn calculated
Delta phase 20 Alpha-Cu/Sn(2) 10.2 % Sn calculated
Epsilon phase 0.5 Delta 33 % Sn on phase diagram
Lead 7 Epsilon 38% Sn on phase diagram
Cuprite 2.5
Malachite < 0.2 Total tin 16 wt% Sn
Total lead 7 wt% Pb
(TOF-ND: GEM diffractometer; data analysis: GSAS program for Rietveld analysis).
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Table 2
Corrosion products of the bimetal sword examined by X-ray diffraction.
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phenomena are explained by the author as follows: preferential mineral pyromorphite has been found in the oxidation zone of a
removal of tin seems to have been the first stage followed by the polymetallic vein in Argentina [27], the appropriate formula could
formation of cuprite, metallic copper was deposited from solution be Pb5 (PO4 , AsO4 )3 (Cl,OH)·xH2 O suggested by recent research [28].
when cupric or/and cuprous ion solutions were saturated under Pyromorphite corrosion may be related to phosphate-
reducing conditions. Bosi [20] provides a review and some case containing soil ascribed to degrading bones. Pyromorphite
studies on Chinese and Italian artifacts, which determined that in could be formed in the soil as a weathering product of lead-bearing
most cases unalloyed copper was located in the core of the objects minerals or inclusions. Phosphate amendments to the soil could
far from the outer corrosion products layer. Three types were pro- induce further formation of pyromorphite [29], which is effective
pose at immobilizing lead and reducing the associated bioaccessibility
[21]. It is speculated that the bimetallic sword was buried in a tomb
• irregularly shaped forms, that pseudomorphically replaces other where the bone deteriorated to produce phosphates in a complex
phases, which is closely related to long-term corrosion processes; burial context. The phosphate and lead in the soil with chloride
• globular, that are surrounded by a layer of copper sulphide ions, for example, react to generate pyromorphite under environ-
formed during roasting of the copper ore; or; mental conditions distinct from that of lead carbonate produced
• large, irregularly shaped masses, that display a twinned in some Chinese bronzes. The lead dominantly transformed into
microstructure, which is due to incomplete mixing of copper and pyromorphite and lanarkite Pb2 O(SO4 ) in the bimetallic sword
tin during the casting of the alloy. case, whereas no cerussite was found.
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Please cite this article in press as: W. Huang, et al., The metallography and corrosion of an ancient chinese bimetallic bronze sword,
Journal of Cultural Heritage (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2018.10.004