Metallic Rolling and Plastic Forming

Dear Colleagues,

Metallic rolling and plastic forming serve as foundational technologies in modern industry, producing essential components that range from large-scale structural frameworks to precision electronics. The ongoing pursuit of thinner, lighter, and stronger materials has accelerated progress in vehicle lightweighting, energy efficiency, and emission reduction. By adopting streamlined and low-energy processes, these methods also contribute to sustainable development. Moreover, as key enabling technologies for high-end equipment manufacturing, they supply critical materials to strategic emerging sectors such as aerospace and new energy, thereby consolidating the national industrial foundation.

The field is currently evolving toward greater intelligence, precision, and environmental sustainability. Current research focuses on enhancing production efficiency via headless rolling and intelligent models, while addressing challenges in forming high-strength materials and advancing the capabilities of domestic high-end equipment. Key R&D obstacles remain, including limited model adaptability under complex conditions, difficulties in coordinating microstructures with performance, and a lack of unified technical standards across the value chain. Looking ahead, technologies such as dynamic digital twins and artificial intelligence are expected to enable precise forming control and support the transition to integrated forming. Promising research directions include new plasticity theories based on deep learning, ultra-fine-grain-forming processes for extreme service conditions, flexible manufacturing systems for small-batch production, and green technologies aimed at energy conservation.

The upcoming Special Issue of Materials aims to present new developments in metal processing, with an emphasis on rolling and plastic forming. It will cover innovations in forming processes, materials engineering, process simulation, and machine learning-based modeling and optimization. We are pleased to invite you to submit research papers and reviews related to the latest achievements and developments in metallic rolling and plastic forming. All comments and suggestions for the Special Issue are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Jingguo Ding
Prof. Dr. Xu Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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