Experimental Studies on Vataharanaloha - an Ancient Aircraft Material

Abstract

This paper reports the preparation and characterization of an ancient aircraft material Vataharanaloha, described in the ancient Sanskrit scientific treatise ‘Bharadwaja’s Vymanika Sastra’. The material deciphered as a copper-iron alloy was fabricated by ancient liquid metallurgy technique. The density, tensile strength, hardness and electrical conductivity of the alloy (before and after heat treatments) were validated with the descriptions in the text of applicability for exhaust pipes in an ancient aircraft. The alloy specimens showed microporosity to some extent and thus made the material lighter than expected with a reduction of 10 % than the theoretical density. The cast specimens exhibited moderate tensile strength and hardness. Electrical conductivity was more than twice the initial value, after heat treatment in all the specimens.