Inspection about the corrosion of metallic archaeological artifacts in ground

Honda, Takashi*; not registered

In general, it is very difficult to evaluate the residual state of metallic iron and the original shape of iron-base archaeological artifacts, as these are covered by thick oxide films formed in the ground during over several hundred years. The purpose of this research is to quantify the corrosion of an artifact such as base, knife, and nail, which was digged out of the relics about 500-1,000 years old. (1)The outer oxide film layer and the inner metallic iron can be quantitatively divided by using X-ray CT method. Furthermore, the original surfaces of artifacts can be estimated from the obtained images, even if the metallic iron has corroded completely. The X-ray CT images were also compared with those obtained by X-ray transmission inspection. (2)The corrosion amounts and rates were evaluated on the basis of thicknesses, densities, and iron concentrations of oxide films. (3)The characteristic differences between ancient iron and modern carbon steel were evaluated by analyzing the ancient iron slag.