Pulsed Neutron Imaging Based Crystallographic Structure Study of a Japanese Sword made by Sukemasa in the Muromachi Period

K. Ohmae; A.H. Pham; K. Watanabe; K. Oikawa; H. Sato; Y. Kiyanagi

doi:10.21741/9781644900574-32

Pulsed Neutron Imaging Based Crystallographic Structure Study of a Japanese Sword made by Sukemasa in the Muromachi Period

Kenichi Oikawa, Yoshiaki Kiyanagi, Hirotaka Sato, Kazuma Ohmae, Anh Hoang Pham, Kenichi Watanabe, Yoshihiro Matsumoto, Takenao Shinohara, Tetsuya Kai, Stefanus Harjo, Masato Ohnuma, Sigekazu Morito, Takuya Ohba, Akira Uritani, Masakazu Ito

Abstract. Energy-resolved neutron imaging using a pulsed neutron source is capable of visualizing crystallographic information over a large area of a sample by analyzing position-dependent Bragg-edge transmission spectra. We applied this method to a Japanese sword, signed by Sukemasa, to elucidate position dependent crystallographic characteristics, including but not limited to: degree of hardening, crystallite size, degree of preferred orientation. By comparing the degree of hardening to that of a contemporary short Japanese sword (dagger), the Sukemasa showed relatively small changes in the position of Bragg-edge (110) and its broadening. No coarse grain was found within the detector resolution (ca. 1 mm), and the crystallite size of the blade area was analyzed to be almost uniform and less than 1 m. We thus recognize in a comprehensive manner that the Sukemasa sword was manufactured with great care.

Keywords
Japanese Sword, Quench Hardening, Martensite, Bragg-Edge Transmission, RITS Code

Published online 1/5/2020, 7 pages
Copyright © 2020 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Kenichi Oikawa, Yoshiaki Kiyanagi, Hirotaka Sato, Kazuma Ohmae, Anh Hoang Pham, Kenichi Watanabe, Yoshihiro Matsumoto, Takenao Shinohara, Tetsuya Kai, Stefanus Harjo, Masato Ohnuma, Sigekazu Morito, Takuya Ohba, Akira Uritani, Masakazu Ito, Pulsed Neutron Imaging Based Crystallographic Structure Study of a Japanese Sword made by Sukemasa in the Muromachi Period, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 15, pp 207-213, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644900574-32

The article was published as article 32 of the book Neutron Radiography

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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