Microstructure investigation of iron artifacts excavated from Sungseonsa Temple in Chungju city

충주 숭선사지 출토 철제유물의 미세조직 분석

Sungseonsa Temple site in Chungju city in Chungcheongbuk-doProvince is written in "Goryeosa" as a building for Queen Sinmyeongsunseong, the mother of Gwangjong in AD 954 in Goryeo Dynasty. The museum in Chungcheong University takes charge of the excavation for 3 times from 2000 to 2002 and identified that its construction was carried out till Joseon Dynasty. Among the iron artifacts from the first excavation such as a weeding hoe, a hand knife, a lock, two nails and a plow which had conservation treatments, the sample was collected. Its micro-structure and method of manufacture were investigated. Excavation report for those artifacts has not published yet, therefore, the date of each artifacts is not clearly confirmed. The samples were collected from each part of the objects and then embedded in epoxy resin and etched with nitric acid. The examination of its microstructure is carried out under the microscope and the hardness values were measured by Vickers hardness tester. From the results, some artifacts show different manufacture method sin the each parts. The forming processes of the iron weeding hoe and the iron sickle are similar but the blade of iron weeding hoe was strengthened by carbonization whereas the blade of the iron sickle was done by quenching. The hand knife and the nails were produced through almost same methods and shows similar microstructures. The hand knife seems to be made by repeated beating and folding in low temperature resulting in fine crystallization, but the nail shows large crystallization due to processes in high temperature. Lock is made of white cast iron, that does not show any heat treatment.