Iron Artifacts : History, Metallurgy, Corrosion and Conservation

Contents: Preface. Publisher’s note. Introduction. I. History (History of iron on global perspective): Introduction. 1. The magic form of iron. 2. The discovery of steel: A global perspective. 3. Advent of cast iron. … II. Metallurgy (Nature of ferrous materials and manufacturing process of iron): Introduction. 1. Raw materials uses for production of iron. 2. Manufacturing process. 3. Allotropes of iron. … III. Iron artifacts: (Deterioration and corrosion): 1. Deterioration and corrosion of iron artifacts an introduction. 2. Corrosion in soil burial iron artifacts. 3. Corrosion of iron in marine environment. … IV. Conservation: 1. Preliminary evaluation of excavated artifacts on site in respect to conservation perspective. 2. Conservation of iron artifacts in conservation laboratory. 3. Final conservation steps. Bibliography. Index.

“It is primarily intended for use to metal conservators. Engineers, metal conservation scientists, sculptures and student striving to acquire some background and perspective on this subject. Conservation of the iron artifacts is one of the major challenges of our time for metal conservators. With the advancement of science and technology several new materials have come out time to time. However a random survey indicates that there is hardly a book, which covers from history of iron to philosophy and conservation of iron including technique of casting deterioration and metallographic studies for measurement of types and level of decay of metals.

This book is expected to be useful not only for the university students technologists and practicing conservators, metal sculptures, artists and metallurgists but also for all those who are entrusted with the responsibilities for conserving the iron and iron artifacts.

This book gives a detailed development of iron technology on global perspective after Bronze Age, development in metallurgical identities, microstructure of metal at different temperature and various inclusions. It also explains the metallurgical factors affect the corrosion resistance, type and factors of corrosion. The last section gives the conservation method both curative and preventive.” (jacket)