Quantitative mapping of carbon content in archaeological ferrous metals with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
Résumé
Carbon content is one of the most influential factors of the mechanical behavior of iron and steel and a time marker of the fabrication period. The quantitative assessment of carbon content distribution in archaeological artefacts gives us insights on their properties and nature. We performed micro-LIBS analysis on archaeological steel in order to reconstruct its carbon content distribution map. The quantitative mapping of the carbon distribution enabled us to infer the different phases of the metallographic structure without time-consuming Nital attack treatment. In addition, LIBS carbon content mapping revealed phases that are invisible with metallographic method.