Taivaallinen teräs in its base alloy ore form.
A blackish gray alloy ore found primarily on the Ylijumalat home planet of Linnunrata and its method of forging originally discovered by the Ylijumalat saint, Ukko, taivaallinen teräs was regarded as the greatest achievement of Ylijumalat metallurgy. A single taivaallinen teräs Ylijumalat blade forged by a master metalsmith could cost anywhere between 10,000-50,000 credits, but the blades were known to survive dozens of battles and last hundreds of years without tarnish or damage. The success of the alloy was in part due to naturally occurring graphene (nanoribbons) and carbon nanotubes (which are actually graphene rolled into tubes) found encapsulating nanowires within the ore (technically an alloy due to having more than one element present), which gave the alloy incredible strength and toughness. The base metal of the alloy, which went by the name of simply teräs, had one of the highest metal heat capacities in the Galaxy in it's forged form. It was able to resist heat and energy and disperse them at an alarming rate due to the unique properties it had with the delocalisation of its electrons and metallic bonds that played a vital role in the heat capacity and conductivity of the metal. The metal was said to have a larger number of delocalised electrons and more densely packed atoms and refined nanostructures than the most metals in the Galaxy despite its light weight, and studies were constantly being made to determine whether or not phonons played an increased active role in the heat and energy capacity and resistance of the metal. Being able to disperse the heat at an alarming rate enabled the metal to maintain a conductivity further amplified by the naturally occurring nanotubes and nanoribbons, which were capable of having conductivity 1,000 times stronger than copper, due to electrical conductivity being closely linked to the temperature of the metal. This made the alloy naturally resistant to lightsabers*, but at the same time made the material extremely difficult to reforge. Reforging often required several days of constantly applied extremely high temperatures to return the alloy back to a malleable state. The base metal alone was reportedly a few times the strength of durasteel and resistant to oxidation. The blade sometimes included traces of the materials Vanadium, Manganese, Silicon, Nickel, Titanium, and Tungsten in varying percentages depending on the needs of the blade. The trace elements included Manganese, Nickel, and Vanadium to increase the overall strength and toughness of the blade, Silicon to aid in hardness (important for a blade's edge) and flexiblity which helped the blade absorb impacts, Tungsten to allow a sharper and longer lasting edge, and lastly titanium which helped in strength and corrosion, fatigue and cracking resistance. The combination of traces and Vanadium and Titanium caused even further strength in the blade already caused by the individual elements. The use of taivaallinen teräs wasn't restricted to just bladed weapons, but it could also be made for use in anywhere from armor to cybernetics to super capacitors for powering mass accelerators due to the carbon nanotubes and graphene that made the metal even more highly adaptable. For forging a blade, through a process of a carefully controlled fire using the Force or by specialized training and processes, the smith would forge the alloy to evenly distribute the graphene and carbon nanotubes throughout the blade. The process could also be done by more industrial means for those without access to the Force (it was also easier and produced nearly just as good results) to produce what is called monosteel which did not require the use of pattern welding varying rods or strips, but distributing the graphene and nanotubes and other trace elements by a carefully controlled forge was a measure of a smith's skill and considered tradition. The traditional process consisted of taking multiple strips or rod of the alloy into a bundle with the higher carbon contents on the outside and the lower contents in the center as the core of the blade although most smiths chose to simply use a mix of high quality grades of the metal to produce a superior blade while combining the effects of the alloy's contents, making the pattern welding process for purely traditional and aesthetic reasons. The process involved multiple steps of welding and folding or twisting the billets into a completed blade. The result was an energy and heat resistant lightweight blade that was capable of resisting lightsabers, being many times the strength and toughness of high grade durasteel and duranium* yet flexible to resist impacts, and potentially having the conductivity to channel electricity should the alloy be used for electroweapons. However, carbon nanotubes are known for being potentially toxic with chronic exposure, resulting in minor effects such as inflammation to severe effects such as Mesothelioma(a form of lung cancer) in prolonged cases of exposure. Therefore the weapons had to be specially treated by a mastersmith to prevent the carbon nanotubes from coming in contact with the skin because no mistakes could be made in the process. The process of treating the carbon nanotubes involved covering each layer of the alloy in a synthetic material that doubled as a flux and bonded with the nanotubes and nanoribbons which prevented direct contact with cells before and after the forging process. Additionally the synthetic material mimicked substances that the body would identify as "waste" and naturally expel any carbon nanotubes within the body. Visually a taivaallinen teräs blade was a dark metallic gray with series of wavy and watery design on the blade made visual through polishing and acid etchings. Sometimes Ylijumalat Force Users would imbue the Force in the blade to make it look like any Force runes placed on were actually flowing over the blade, and would also use the Force to find shatterpoints that may have been missed to fix them through the Force. The later was usually rare though due to a process known as normalizing that usually smoothed out any weaknesses so shatterpoints were usually only present if not forged by a mastersmith. Because of the durability, heat, energy, resistance to oxidation, and highly conductivity in some cases, the metal was often mistaken for a darker colored and highly refined variant of ultrachrome, which itself was often used as a "cheap" substitute despite taivaallinen teräs being more adaptable for numerous applications. The most famous line of bladesmiths happened to be the Tuoni family who were descendants of Ukko.
- Although the ore was lightsaber resistant due to being highly resistant to heat and energy, in theory a lightsaber could cut through the alloy if exposed for a long enough period of time, but it would take a long period of time that would not be likely encountered outside a laboratory setting.
- While the alloy is extremely strong by even by Star Wars standards, it is NOT strong as phrik or beskar in the Star Wars Universe, which is according to canon to be nearly indestructible. However, its carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons make it more adaptable to different tasks than phrik or beskar, especially nanotechnology.
- Carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons by themselves also are NOT lightsaber resistant or as tough (strength and toughness are not the same thing) as canon supermetals because the thermal stability of CNTs is only 750 Celsius in atmosphere, and lightsabers are portrayed as being magnitudes more capable in cutting through targets. Also carbon nanotubes are notoriously toxic, and currently no one on JvS but Nyyrikki Tuoni has addressed this issue. Technically everyone else using carbon nanotubes should be dying of cancer by now.
Behind the Scenes[]
- The name taivaallinen teräs is Finnish for "heavenly/celestial steel". It is worth noting that the Yijumalat's language is also called Taivaallinen.
- Having the ore be blackish grey, incredibly strong and tough, and named "heavenly steel" was done with the idea of the ore being a meteor in origins as meteor metals are often portrayed as being of supernatural strength and metallic gray or black in color.
- The JedivSith.com Patent page: http://jedivsith.com/viewtopic.php?f=1326&t=16745