Katylar

Thanks everyone! So just to clarify and surmise: Blades - Hard Edge and point, Tough body/spine (good yield strength, very high ultimate strength) Axes/Hammers - Tough Arrows - Hard (for penetrating power and sharpness). Brittleness less of an issue? Mail - Tough (so it doesn't shatter or break). It's most to stop cuts and stabs, so dissipating energy is less of an issue. Plate Armor - Tough (elastic more than plastic, if possible) and work-hardened in some areas (to avoid easy penetration) Did I get it right?

Hi Justin, Thanks for the direction. I've registered there and am now waiting for account activation. Looks like I'll have to wait a bit before I can post my question, but I'll be reading through the VAST old threads for now. But just a quick tip: so if really Hard materials are bad for armor, then tough+elastic materials are the way to go? However, wouldn't they be too easily dented and/or deformed? For example, on mail... wouldn't an arrowhead or dagger just bend the links so the point gets through?

Hi Everyone, Thanks for the feedback. Like I said before, one of the main features of the story is that it tries to link/justify each "fantasy" element to something that actually exists, though vastly exaggerated. As Arthur C. Clarke once posited, any advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. So my main though is this: what if everything that is considered "magical" is just something so technologically ahead of its time that it was thought as supernatural? We do have some examples of hyper-advanced materials that are now only being studied already in use in some primitive fashion in the olden times, produced with techniques learned by serendipity. I read somewhere that Damascus Steel gets is superior quality because of the presence of carbon nanotubes? Another one of the points of the storyworld is that design, skill and knowledge can trump these magical or "supermaterials" any day. However, in order for that point to really come across, I need to give examples of magic/superweapons MADE from a magic/supermaterial, and then compare it to one made from relatively mundane (but high quality) materials but with more ingenuity. So I've kinda settled on what material can be used for weapons, but I'm still iffy about the metal/ceramic that I'll label as being "Adamant/Adamantine". Supposedly, this magical material is impervious to damage and offers great protection. No mention about being lightweight, so I'm ok with choosing a super-dense material and just saying that's one of the drawbacks of it (heaviness). Now, for the armor (or shield) material. What type of properties would be the best? Would it be hardness (so it doesn't get penetrated or scratched)? Or plasticity (so it doesn't shatter or break apart on impact?) Or... once again a balance of the two? From what I'm seeing, HARD armors would be great against arrows and stabs. But more ELASTIC (ductile/malleable) would be tougher. Regardless, both would be ineffective against blunt-force trauma (as the hard armors would shatter, and the elastic armors would just transfer the impact to your body). This coincides with what I know (the development of plate armor quickly led to maces and flails, which were pretty much the game-breaker and whose only weakness was that the user had to have to physical strength to wield them effectively). As for the word-definitions, they really cleared up a lot of things for me. But can I know if there's a specific definition for the word Strength as far as material science is concerned? Or is it an ambiguous, catch-all word? So am I write in assuming that a HARD metal is the best option for Mail Armor and Full Plate? Or would the problem of brittleness be too severe? Any thoughts? Thanks!

Hi Everyone! Glad to be a part of this community. I'm currently writing a low-fantasy story right now which tries to explain some of the more fantastical archetypes in a more realistic sense (in as much as exaggerated reality can be pulled off). One of the things I've encountered is that I'm trying to find a possible (REAL-LIFE) analog to some of the fantastic super-metals that high-fantasy stories tend to use for their weapons and armor. I can always write that the processes in making these high-tech materials were stumbled upon serendipitously or something. I wanted to post this on a more relevant forum, but didn't want to offend anyone by asking about hypothetical/fantasy smithing-projects on boards where people talk about the actual work. For example, let's say that Adamant/Adamantine is a metal (or ceramic). So far, my research has turned up that the consensus for this fantasy-material is that it's hard and durable. So it's always used for its defensive or structural properties. Ergo, armor. So I've been looking around, and the best I could come up with is either a Titanium Alloy, or Tungsten Carbide (which isn't really a metal, but can be passed off as one). I'm leaning more towards the latter, since it has a better hardness and stiffness over-all... and isn't that what you're looking for in armor? Or am I wrong? Is plasticity more important in making armor? Let's assume that in my world, we have super-dedicated smiths who will be willing to spend months on a single project, so having a material that's hard to work with is not a dealbreaker (remember, these are supposed to be the unique, one-of-a-kind weapons and armor). Ceramics, of course, are hard... but they're also very brittle. So they're not viable materials for mail and/or plate-armor. I'm not sure if Tungsten Carbide is brittle, too. I read at some forum that Tungsten (pure) is also a good candidate. And according to some sites on the net, the PURE metal is not brittle and has a good bit of malleability and ductility. I know it's tremendously heavy, but let's disregard that for now. However, I'm not entire convinced about how reliable those posts/articles were. For weapons, I've been reading up a lot. It gets really confusing when it comes to what properties should be exhibited and balanced, since grammatically speaking, they're pretty much synonymous... Hardness, Strength, Toughness, Durability...etc. But what I got from my research is that: Strength/Hardness is for keeping an edge and damage-capability, but leads to Brittleness. Toughness means impact-absorption, so I guess this is needed. When people say "soft" I actually don't know if they mean something is highly ductile and malleable (opposite of being able to keep an edge, but good for not shattering your weapon). So as far as weapons go... can anyone leave a few tips for me as to what these scientific/technical terms actually mean in the practical sense? I can then just find a material which has a balance of these properties I'm comfortable, and stick with that. Right now I'm leaning towards this new Palladium/Silver alloy, it's a metallic glass. But right now, everyone keeps saying words like "Strong" and "tough" and "hard"... and I honestly get confused since most people don't seem to use the same definitions. Any thoughts? Thanks! Katylar