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High-Performance Alloys and Steels

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 4738

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Haitao Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
Interests: electrical steels; stainless steels; advanced high-strength steels; strip casting; hot/cold rolling; thermomechanical processing; texture; strengthening and toughening; magnetic properties
Prof. Dr. Huihu Lu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
Interests: magnesium alloy; steel; mechanical property; microstructure evolution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advanced steels and special alloys, such as Al alloys, Mg alloys, Ti-based alloys, Cu alloys, and high-entropy alloys, are important cornerstones for the development of modern industries, agriculture, livelihoods, the military, and other fields. At present, many fields, such as the automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding, petroleum, chemical engineering, electric power, and electronics industries, have put forward requirements for the weight reduction, cost reduction, extended service life, and improved service performance of both steel and alloy components. To achieve these goals, it is necessary, on the one hand, to develop high-performance steels with excellent properties, such as higher strength, higher plasticity, better toughness, lower density, more favorable corrosion resistance, etc. On the other hand, we need to develop high-performance alloys with better mechanical properties and outstanding physical and chemical properties, such as higher electric conductivity, higher thermal conductivity, better hydrogen storage and corrosion resistance, etc. The chemical composition design, microstructure evolution, and manufacturing processes collectively determine the mechanical, physical, and chemical properties of the above-mentioned materials. This Special Issue covers these topics and focuses on the composition process–structure–performance relationships of high-performance alloys and steels. Appropriate submissions to this Special Issue include regular research articles, short communications, and reviews.

Prof. Dr. Haitao Liu
Prof. Dr. Huihu Lu
Guest Editors

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

  • alloys
  • steels
  • material processing
  • mechanical properties
  • physical and chemical properties

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 5657 KiB  
Article
Tensile Fracture Behaviour of Prismatic Notched Specimens of Cold Drawn Pearlitic Steel: A Macro- and Micro-Approach
by Jesús Toribio, Francisco-Javier Ayaso and Rocío Rodríguez
Materials 2025, 18(8), 1690; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18081690 - 8 Apr 2025
Viewed by 212
Abstract
This paper focuses on the study of the tensile fracture behaviour of prismatic notched specimens of cold drawn pearlitic steel, providing a macro- and micro-approach. Two types of notched samples with very different notch radius (sharp and blunt notches, PAA [...] Read more.
This paper focuses on the study of the tensile fracture behaviour of prismatic notched specimens of cold drawn pearlitic steel, providing a macro- and micro-approach. Two types of notched samples with very different notch radius (sharp and blunt notches, PAA and PCC) and the same notch depth were studied, thereby allowing a study of the fracture behaviour under different levels of stress triaxiality (constraint) in the experimental specimen. The studied samples are machined from pearlitic steel wires taken from a real cold drawing chain, analysing the entire drawing process, from the initial base material (hot rolled bar; not cold drawn at all) to the final commercial product (prestressing steel wires; heavily cold drawn), including two intermediate stages in the manufacture chain. The aforesaid specimens were subjected to tensile fracture tests and analysed at macroscopic and microscopical level using the scanning electron microscope (SEM), thereby obtaining micrographs of the different areas appearing in the specimens under study and assembling full micro-fracture maps (MFMs) of the fractured area. The aim of the research is to analyse the macro- and microscopic changes produced by the variation in stress triaxiality state (constraint), along with the different fracture processes. The first relevant finding is the increase in fracture path deflection for higher drawing degrees, and for greater triaxiality levels associated with sharp notches. Another finding is the variation in area of the different fracture zones, i.e., outer crown (OC), fracture process zone (FPZ) and intermediate zone (ZINT), which are characterised by their specific micro-mechanisms, micro-void coalescence (MVC), cleavage (C) and special (large) micro-void coalescence (MVC*). The higher the stress triaxiality level, the larger the area occupied by the ZINT in the fracture process. The fracture behaviour tends to unify along with the degree of drawing, with less dependence on the state of triaxiality imposed on heavily drawn wires. Results have been obtained in which the increase in triaxiality, imposed by the smaller radius of curvature of the notch (sharp notch), as well as the greater degree of drawing of the wires, cause the fracture process to place the FPZ at the notch tip. It is demonstrated that the variation in stress triaxiality and the drawing degree can generate different locations of the fracture initiation zone (FPZ). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Alloys and Steels)
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13 pages, 6467 KiB  
Article
Metadynamic Recrystallization in the Isothermal Double Compression of CP800 Steel
by Xiaoyu Yang, Zhenli Mi and Wangzhong Mu
Materials 2025, 18(7), 1549; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18071549 - 29 Mar 2025
Viewed by 235
Abstract
The global drive toward decarbonization has spurred industry interest in the compact steel production (CSP) process for manufacturing automotive steel sheets. Understanding the hot deformation behavior, particularly the metadynamic softening mechanism occurring between passes, is essential for evaluating process feasibility under CSP process. [...] Read more.
The global drive toward decarbonization has spurred industry interest in the compact steel production (CSP) process for manufacturing automotive steel sheets. Understanding the hot deformation behavior, particularly the metadynamic softening mechanism occurring between passes, is essential for evaluating process feasibility under CSP process. This study investigates the metadynamic softening behavior of CP800 steel intended for CSP applications, utilizing isothermal double compression tests performed at the deformation temperatures of 1173, 1273, and 1373 K, strain rates of 0.1,1, and 5.0 s−1, and the interpass times of 1, 10, and 20 s. The softening behavior was assessed through the deformation flow stress–strain curves under varying conditions, and a kinetic equation of metadynamic recrystallization was proposed and validated against experimental data. Additionally, the effect of initial austenite grain sizes of 42 μm and 92 μm on metadynamic recrystallization were analyzed. Results indicate that the final rolling pass temperature should exceed 1173 K to prevent mixed grain structures. Although grain refinement induced by the metadynamic recrystallization in CP800 steel was found to be independent of initial grain size, the final grain size itself remained sensitive to the initial grain dimensions. Adopting lower holding temperature and shorter holding durations prior to rolling is advisable for energy-efficient CSP, provided compositional homogeneity and suitable deformation temperatures are maintained. These insights contribute valuable guidance for optimization CSP process in the production of CP800 steel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Alloys and Steels)
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22 pages, 7091 KiB  
Article
Research on Control Strategy of Stainless Steel Diamond Plate Pattern Height Rolling Based on Local Constraints
by Zezhou Xin, Siyuan Qiu, Chunliu Wang, Huadong Qiu, Chuanmeng Sun and Zhibo Wu
Materials 2025, 18(5), 1116; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18051116 - 1 Mar 2025
Viewed by 459
Abstract
The rolling system for stainless steel, particularly in the production of diamond plates, represents a complex industrial control scenario. The process requires precise load distribution to effectively manage pattern height, due to the high strength, hardness, and required dimensional accuracy of the material. [...] Read more.
The rolling system for stainless steel, particularly in the production of diamond plates, represents a complex industrial control scenario. The process requires precise load distribution to effectively manage pattern height, due to the high strength, hardness, and required dimensional accuracy of the material. This paper addresses the limitations of offline methods, which include heavy reliance on initial conditions, intricate parameter settings, susceptibility to local optima, and suboptimal performance under stringent constraints. A Multi-Objective Adaptive Rolling Iteration method that incorporates local constraints (MOARI-LC) is proposed. The MOARI-LC method simplifies the complex multi-dimensional nonlinear constrained optimization problem of load distribution, into a one-dimensional multi-stage optimization problem without explicit constraints. This simplification is achieved through a single variable cycle iteration involving reduction rate and rolling equipment selection. The rolling results of HBD-SUS304 show that the pattern height to thickness ratio obtained by MOARI-LC is 0.20–0.22, which is within a specific range of dimensional accuracy. It outperforms the other two existing methods, FCRA-NC and DCRA-GC, with results of 0.19~0.24 and 0.15~0.25, respectively. MOARI-LC has increased the qualification rate of test products by more than 25%, and it has also been applied to the other six industrial production experiments. The results show that MOARI-LC can control the absolute value of the rolling force prediction error of the downstream stands of the hot strip finishing rolls within 5%, and the absolute value of the finished stand within 3%. These results validate the scalability and accuracy of MOARI-LC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Alloys and Steels)
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11 pages, 7669 KiB  
Article
Effect of Tempering Temperature on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Cr-Ni-Mo-V Rotor Steel
by Chao Zhao, Xinyi Zhang, Xiaojie Liang, Guowang Song, Bin Wang, Liqiang Guo, Pengjun Zhang and Shuguang Zhang
Materials 2025, 18(3), 555; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18030555 - 26 Jan 2025
Viewed by 677
Abstract
In this paper, we investigated the effects of the matrix and precipitates in Cr-Ni-Mo-V rotor steel on its mechanical properties after water quenching and tempering (450–700 °C). The results indicate that the microstructure and mechanical properties of the steel can be significantly adjusted [...] Read more.
In this paper, we investigated the effects of the matrix and precipitates in Cr-Ni-Mo-V rotor steel on its mechanical properties after water quenching and tempering (450–700 °C). The results indicate that the microstructure and mechanical properties of the steel can be significantly adjusted by changing the tempering temperature. An excellent combination of tensile strength (1028.608 MPa) and elongation (19%) was obtained upon tempering at 650 °C. This is attributed to the martensite lath with a high dislocation density, solid solution strengthening and the strengthening effect of spherical Mo2C and VC particles. At a tempering temperature of 550 °C, the precipitation and development of rod-shaped Fe3Mo3C resulted in a considerable drop in strength. At 650 °C, the dissolution of Fe3Mo3C and dispersion precipitation of Mo2C and VC led to a large rise in strength. At 700 °C, the coarsening of Mo2C and VC, together with the recrystallization of the martensite lath, resulted in a loss in strength. Meanwhile, as the tempering temperature was increased from 450 °C to 700 °C, the tensile fracture characteristics of Cr-Ni-Mo-V rotor steel gradually changed from cleavage fractures to dimple fractures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Alloys and Steels)
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26 pages, 7129 KiB  
Article
Multiscale Modeling of Nanoparticle Precipitation in Oxide Dispersion-Strengthened Steels Produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion
by Zhengming Wang, Seongun Yang, Stephanie B. Lawson, Cheng-Hsiao Tsai, V. Vinay K. Doddapaneni, Marc Albert, Benjamin Sutton, Chih-Hung Chang, Somayeh Pasebani and Donghua Xu
Materials 2024, 17(22), 5661; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17225661 - 20 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1395
Abstract
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) enables the efficient production of near-net-shape oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) alloys, which possess superior mechanical properties due to oxide nanoparticles (e.g., yttrium oxide, Y-O, and yttrium-titanium oxide, Y-Ti-O) embedded in the alloy matrix. To better understand the precipitation mechanisms [...] Read more.
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) enables the efficient production of near-net-shape oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) alloys, which possess superior mechanical properties due to oxide nanoparticles (e.g., yttrium oxide, Y-O, and yttrium-titanium oxide, Y-Ti-O) embedded in the alloy matrix. To better understand the precipitation mechanisms of the oxide nanoparticles and predict their size distribution under LPBF conditions, we developed an innovative physics-based multiscale modeling strategy that incorporates multiple computational approaches. These include a finite volume method model (Flow3D) to analyze the temperature field and cooling rate of the melt pool during the LPBF process, a density functional theory model to calculate the binding energy of Y-O particles and the temperature-dependent diffusivities of Y and O in molten 316L stainless steel (SS), and a cluster dynamics model to evaluate the kinetic evolution and size distribution of Y-O nanoparticles in as-fabricated 316L SS ODS alloys. The model-predicted particle sizes exhibit good agreement with experimental measurements across various LPBF process parameters, i.e., laser power (110–220 W) and scanning speed (150–900 mm/s), demonstrating the reliability and predictive power of the modeling approach. The multiscale approach can be used to guide the future design of experimental process parameters to control oxide nanoparticle characteristics in LPBF-manufactured ODS alloys. Additionally, our approach introduces a novel strategy for understanding and modeling the thermodynamics and kinetics of precipitation in high-temperature systems, particularly molten alloys. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Alloys and Steels)
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Graphical abstract

12 pages, 12269 KiB  
Article
Exceptional Strength–Ductility Combinations of a CoCrNi-Based Medium-Entropy Alloy via Short/Medium-Time Annealing after Hot-Rolling
by Yongan Chen, Dazhao Li, Zhijie Yan, Shaobin Bai, Ruofei Xie, Jian Sheng, Jian Zhang, Shuai Li and Jinzhong Zhang
Materials 2024, 17(19), 4835; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17194835 - 30 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1260
Abstract
Strong yet ductile alloys have long been desired for industrial applications to enhance structural reliability. This work produced two (CoCrNi)93.5Al3Ti3C0.5 medium-entropy alloys with exceptional strength–ductility combinations, via short/medium (3 min/30 min) annealing times after hot-rolling. Three [...] Read more.
Strong yet ductile alloys have long been desired for industrial applications to enhance structural reliability. This work produced two (CoCrNi)93.5Al3Ti3C0.5 medium-entropy alloys with exceptional strength–ductility combinations, via short/medium (3 min/30 min) annealing times after hot-rolling. Three types of intergranular precipitates including MC, M23C6 carbides, and L12 phase were detected in both samples. Noticeably, the high-density of intragranular L12 precipitates were only found in the medium-time annealed sample. Upon inspection of the deformed substructure, it was revealed that the plane slip is the dominant deformation mechanism of both alloys. This is related to the lower stacking fault energy, higher lattice friction induced by the C solute, and slip-plane softening caused by intragranular dense L12 precipitates. Additionally, we noted that the stacking fault and twinning act as the mediated mechanisms in deformation of the short-time annealed alloy, while only the former mechanism was apparent in the medium-time annealed alloy. The inhibited twinning tendency can be attributed to the higher energy stacking faults and the increased critical twinning stress caused by intragranular dense L12 precipitates. Our present findings provide not only guidance for optimizing the mechanical properties of high/medium-entropy alloys, but also a fundamental understanding of deformation mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Alloys and Steels)
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