Evaluation of a XVIII Century Steel Bar in the Cathedral of Mexico

A cracked segment from a XVIII century steel bar was removed from the Cathedral of Mexico City for analysis in hopes of determining the source of the bar, its manufacturing process and the significance of several cracks. The historical and experimental analysis showed that the bar was manufactured by a puddling process typical of English steels and one crack was caused by lack of fusion when small bars were forge welded to form the bar used in the Cathedral and another crack was a fracture that also accompanied the forge welding process. The cracks developed during manufacture and were not the result of in-service degradation.