A question for super science geeks!

[Dannyalcatraz]

I've got a campaign W.I.P. that involves a postapocalyptic setting in a fantasy realm.

I was wondering what RW modern materials might survive the collapse of civilization due to a vast meteor shower that might get reworked into masterwork arms & armor, and what kind of characteristics they might have.

I'm thinking that some of the super ceramics like zircon carbide (and others that have a Mohs hardness above 10) would be extremely valuable, but might only survive in small shards- suitable for making a serrated edge of a weapon (like obsidian shards or a shark's teeth), but not being able to be made into a whole weapon.

Man-made synthetic corundum and diamond might screw with the economics of the world...and may even have different values as magical components.

Certain titanium alloys might also survive, but might only be able to be reworked in a magical forge since a regular smith's forge couldn't hit the temperatures neccessary to re-melt the stuff.

And there is a lot of stuff out there- what about plastics?

Any ideas?

 

[der_kluge]

Pretty much all kinds of stuff would survive, unless you're looking at a global fire of epic proportions. Even then iron and just about all metals will survive in some form or another.

That, and styrofoam. There'll always be styrofoam.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Lots of aluminum would probably still be around. It doesn't rust and is pretty nonreactive. This is significant because our ability to extract aluminum from ore is very, very recent compared to most other metals.

 

[Darklone]

Last thing I heard was that there's not much that will survive 2000 years ... many materials will survive but not their shape nor functionality.

 

[Galethorn]

(Note: I'm not a 'card-carrying' scientist yet; I'm just starting my junior year of a geology major.)

Bronze statues are expected to remain more or less intact for around a million years (IIRC), but I don't think they would really be helpful for, you know, weapons, if the 'standard' stuff in the fantasy setting is iron/steel.

Ceramics
I can definitely see those lasting for centuries, if not thousands of years, but not necessarily intact. The fact of the matter is that even super-ceramics are relatively brittle. I can definitely see them being used for serrated edges of things, but not being any more effective than bronze, iron, steel, or stone, except maybe in terms of how long they stay sharp.

Titanium
One thing to note about titanium is that while, yes, you can melt it if you have a hot enough furnace, it'll catch on fire a lot sooner if it's being heated in an uncontrolled environment. It burns like magnesium, only hotter.

Polymers
As for plastics, it seems they don't last as long as was originally thought. Biological enzymes, solar radiation, and other destructive forces inherent to nature seem to be fairly effective at turning polymers into their constituent parts.

 

[blargney the second]

Titanium
One thing to note about titanium is that while, yes, you can melt it if you have a hot enough furnace, it'll catch on fire a lot sooner if it's being heated in an uncontrolled environment. It burns like magnesium, only hotter.

I think you're thinking of tungsten, which burns like crazy in nitrogen. Titanium just takes on all sorts of wonderful colours after you heat it with a blowtorch.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Lots of aluminum would probably still be around. It doesn't rust and is pretty nonreactive. This is significant because our ability to extract aluminum from ore is very, very recent compared to most other metals.

Aluminum does rust it's just more resistant, however it rusts differently than ordinary steels. In steel and most other iron alloys the rust will eventually form a skin that cuts off oxygen and starves the rust to a very slow rate. But aluminum when it does oxydize rusts right through more quickly. So I think after an initial period you'd find less aluminum rather than more.

Not many objects or mechanisms beyond the most simple would remain functional for very long after the systems that kept them so went away. The materials themselves would last quite a while in certain cases. Concrete for example would last for tens of thousands of years in many cases. Certain types of buildings made from concrete and brick would as a structure continue to stand and be inhabitable for at least a thousand years even after the subsystems like lighting, plumbing, etc inside them failed.

EDIT: Magnesium wouldn't be seen anywhere near salt water due to problems with salt induced corrosion. The longest lasting metals would probably be some of those Inconel alloys, damn near impossible to rust. On the other hand they'd be very difficult to rework into anything else either.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

OK, but what does it all mean in practical terms for the searchers in the ruins? What happens when they work the materials of the ancients into new masterwork & magical items?

For example, someone comes upon a cache of unworked aluminum, perhaps in a storage area of a ruined metalworking factory. I know its lighter than steel and very strong, but also that it can ignite. As a "special material" I can see it getting a weight advantage somewhat like mithril, but with some kind of vulnerability to magical fire attacks. Does that sound right?

Titanium...would it be the same, only moreso? Perhaps its suitable only for weapons- they would do more damage when enchanted with Fire or Fireburst (perhaps x1.5?), but magic would prevent the metal from being consumed,

What about plastics as a component for lightweight armors (only), that gain a bonus against detection spells & powers? Or like that new Dragonscale body armor, it might provide additional protection against missile attacks. To maximize utility, the plastic would be sealed in pockets, like lamellar.

As for things like zircon carbide, perhaps it would be useful in creating "__________" of sharpness, perhaps...but possibly only for small slashing weapons.

 

[Galethorn]

I think you're thinking of tungsten, which burns like crazy in nitrogen. Titanium just takes on all sorts of wonderful colours after you heat it with a blowtorch.

Nope, I'm thinking of titanium. It burns crazy in oxygen. However, like magnesium and aluminum, it can be difficult to light--unless you get it up to the sorts of temperatures at which you can forge it or cast it. Titanium, aluminum, and magnesium are all closely related elements, with very similar properties, including flammability.

To quote Wikipedia,

Titanium burns when heated in air 610 °C (1,130 °F) or higher, forming titanium dioxide. It is also one of the few elements that burns in pure nitrogen gas (it burns at 800 °C or 1,472 °F and forms titanium nitride, which causes embrittlement).

 

[Quartz]

What we need to know is the level of civilisation and technology at the time of the campaign, plus what is the surviving knowledge.