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Microstructure Engineering of Metals and Alloys, Volume III

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Metals and Alloys".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 1709

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
Interests: functional surfaces; bioactive coatings; microstructural engineering; materials for solid oxide fuel cells; metallurgy; Al alloys
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

After our successful first two volumes of the Special Issue “Microstructure Engineering of Metals and Alloys,” we decided to make an additional special issue as a collection on this topic. Metals and alloys are materials that combine high mechanical properties such as strength, ductility, and stiffness with high physical properties such as electrical and thermal conductivity. These materials are generally split into ferrous (steels and cast irons) and non-ferrous alloys (aluminum, magnesium, titanium, copper, nickel, zinc, and others).

Both materials’ structures are formed of one, two, or more phases, and structural defects (vacancies, dislocations, grain boundaries, and others) affect their properties. Therefore, microstructure engineering is an effective approach to achieve the desired performance of metals and alloys. Moreover, this topic attracts researchers all around the globe who focus on different aspects of structure formation, including processing, alloying, and tailoring of a production condition.

Metallic microstructure observation is commonly carried out using an optical microscope. However, from the middle of the 20th century, electron microscopy (EM) became a more effective structural evaluation method. Microstructure characterization with EM makes a “deep view” into the metal available. Thus, recent progress in understanding the structural formation of some metals may be referred to as the development and implementation of electron microscopy. Additional available techniques are also valuable in understanding metallic structure, such as X-ray and electron diffraction analysis, which is responsible for phase detection, and electron backscatter diffraction, which provides crystallographic information.

The scope of the Special Issue will focus on recent innovations in the microstructure engineering of metals and alloys. Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Ferrous and non-ferrous alloys
  • Metals fabrication
  • Alloying and modification
  • Microstructural evaluation
  • Optical and electron microscopy
  • Coatings and surfaces
  • Metal joining processes
  • Modeling and simulation of metallic materials

I invite you to submit a manuscript, which can be a full paper, communication, or a review of this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Konstantin Borodianskiy
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microstructural evaluation
  • metals and alloys
  • phase composition
  • optical and electron microscopy
  • coatings and surfaces
  • mechanical, chemical, and physical properties
  • metal fabrication processes
  • modification and alloying processes
  • welding, brazing, soldering and other joining process in metals
  • modeling and simulation of metallic materials

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5716 KiB  
Article
Microstructures and High-Temperature Mechanical Properties of Inconel 718 Superalloy Fabricated via Laser Powder Bed Fusion
by Nan Li, Changshun Wang and Chenglin Li
Materials 2024, 17(15), 3735; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17153735 - 28 Jul 2024
Viewed by 456
Abstract
The Inconel 718 superalloy demonstrates the potential to fabricate high-temperature components using additive manufacturing. However, additively manufactured Inconel 718 typically exhibits low strength, necessitating post-heat treatments for precipitate strengthening. This study investigated the microstructures and mechanical properties of the Inconel 718 superalloy fabricated [...] Read more.
The Inconel 718 superalloy demonstrates the potential to fabricate high-temperature components using additive manufacturing. However, additively manufactured Inconel 718 typically exhibits low strength, necessitating post-heat treatments for precipitate strengthening. This study investigated the microstructures and mechanical properties of the Inconel 718 superalloy fabricated via laser powder bed fusion. The room-temperature and high-temperature tensile properties of the Inconel 718 alloy samples following various post-heat treatments were evaluated. The results indicate that the as-built samples exhibited columnar grains with fine cell structures. Solution treatment resulted in δ phase formation and grain recrystallization. Subsequent double aging led to finely distributed nanoscale γ′ and γ″ particles. These nanoscale particles provided high strength at both room and high temperatures, resulting in a balanced strength and ductility comparable to the wrought counterpart. High-temperature nanoindentation analyses revealed that the double-aging samples exhibited very high hardness and low creep rates at 650 °C. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure Engineering of Metals and Alloys, Volume III)
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14 pages, 12957 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Response of Ti-6Al-2Zr-1Mo-1V Alloy Manufactured by Laser Powder-Bed Fusion
by Hanzhao Qin, Alafate Maierdan, Nan Li, Changshun Wang and Chenglin Li
Materials 2024, 17(13), 3361; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17133361 - 8 Jul 2024
Viewed by 624
Abstract
Titanium parts fabricated by additive manufacturing, i.e., laser or electron beam-powder bed fusion (L- or EB-PBF), usually exhibit columnar grain structures along the build direction, resulting in both microstructural and mechanical anisotropy. Post-heat treatments are usually used to reduce or eliminate such anisotropy. [...] Read more.
Titanium parts fabricated by additive manufacturing, i.e., laser or electron beam-powder bed fusion (L- or EB-PBF), usually exhibit columnar grain structures along the build direction, resulting in both microstructural and mechanical anisotropy. Post-heat treatments are usually used to reduce or eliminate such anisotropy. In this work, Ti-6Al-2Zr-1Mo-1V (TA15) alloy samples were fabricated by L-PBF to investigate the effect of post-heat treatment and load direction on the dynamic response of the samples. Post-heat treatments included single-step annealing at 800 °C (HT) and a hot isotropic press (HIP). The as-built and heat-treated samples were dynamically compressed using a split Hopkinson pressure bar at a strain rate of 3000 s−1 along the horizontal and vertical directions paralleled to the load direction. The microstructural observation revealed that the as-built TA15 sample exhibited columnar grains with fine martensite inside. The HT sample exhibited a fine lamellar structure, whereas the HIP sample exhibited a coarse lamellar structure. The dynamic compression results showed that post-heat treatment at 800 °C led to reduced flow stress but enhanced uniform plastic strain and damage absorption work. However, the HIP samples exhibited both higher stress, uniform plastic strain, and damage absorption work owing to the microstructure coarsening. Additionally, the load direction had a subtle influence on the flow stress, indicating the negligible anisotropy of flow stress in the samples. However, there was more significant anisotropy of the uniform plastic strain and damage absorption. The samples had a higher load-bearing capacity when dynamically compressed perpendicular to the build direction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure Engineering of Metals and Alloys, Volume III)
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16 pages, 11927 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Different Zn Forms on Sintering Basic Characteristics of Iron Ore
by Jiantao Ju, Jian Zu, Xiangdong Xing, Lei Yang and Xinru Xiang
Materials 2024, 17(12), 2919; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17122919 - 14 Jun 2024
Viewed by 435
Abstract
The micro-sintering method was used to determine the sintering basic characteristics of iron ore with Zn contents from 0 to 4%, the influence mechanism of Zn on sintering basic characteristics of iron ore was clarified by means of thermodynamic analysis and first-principles calculations. [...] Read more.
The micro-sintering method was used to determine the sintering basic characteristics of iron ore with Zn contents from 0 to 4%, the influence mechanism of Zn on sintering basic characteristics of iron ore was clarified by means of thermodynamic analysis and first-principles calculations. The results showed that (1) increasing the ZnO and ZnFe2O4 content increased the lowest assimilation temperature (LAT) but decreased the index of liquid phase fluidity (ILF) of iron ore. The addition of ZnS had no obvious effect on LAT but increased the LIF of iron ore. (2) ZnO and ZnFe2O4 reacted with Fe2O3 and CaO, respectively, during sintering, which inhibited the formation of silico-ferrite of calcium and aluminum (SFCA). The addition of ZnS accelerated the decomposition of Fe2O3 in the N2 atmosphere; however, the high decomposition temperature limited the oxidation of ZnS, so the presence of ZnS had a slight inhibitory effect on the formation of SFCA. (3) The Zn concentrated in hematite or silicate and less distributed in SFCA and magnetite in the form of solid solution; meanwhile, the microhardness of the mineral phase decreased with the increase in Zn-containing solid solution content. As the adsorption of Zn on the SFCA crystal surface was more stable, the microhardness of SFCA decreased more. The decrease in microhardness and content of the SFCA bonding phase resulted in a decrease in the compressive strength of the sinter. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure Engineering of Metals and Alloys, Volume III)
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