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Research on Microstructure and Performance Mechanisms of Advanced Steels and...
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Research on Microstructure and Performance Mechanisms of Advanced Steels and Alloys

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Metal Casting, Forming and Heat Treatment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 3094

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Weina Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
Interests: steels; alloys; materials processing; mechanical properties; microstructure; mechanism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advanced steels and alloys, such as stainless steels, HSLA steels, high-manganese steels, Al 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, there is a demand for ways to reduce the weight, lower the cost, extend the service life, and improve the performance of steels and alloys components. The contradictory requirement of higher strength without compromising toughness has posed considerable challenges and led to the development of a large array of steels and alloys tailored for specific applications, such as aerospace, shipbuilding, marine engineering, automotive, electric power, and engineering machinery. To keep up with ever-increasing demands, it is necessary to develop high-performance steels with excellent mechanical properties and high-performance alloys with better physical and chemical properties. The chemical composition design, microstructure evolution, and manufacturing processes collectively determine the mechanical properties of the materials.

The main aim of the Special Issue is to discuss the topics of materials processing, manufacturing, mechanical properties, microstructure, mechanism, and applications in advanced steels and alloys. All of the advanced steels and alloys as well as composite materials in metals are of interest.

It is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue.

Dr. Weina Zhang
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. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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

  • steels
  • alloys
  • materials processing
  • mechanical properties
  • microstructure
  • mechanism

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 10057 KiB  
Article
An Investigation of Heat Treatment Residual Stress of Type I, II, III for 8Cr4Mo4V Steel Bearing Ring Using FEA-CPFEM-GPA Method
by Tao Xia, Puchang Cui, Tianpeng Song, Xue Liu, Yong Liu and Jingchuan Zhu
Metals 2025, 15(5), 548; https://doi.org/10.3390/met15050548 - 15 May 2025
Viewed by 164
Abstract
The heat treatment residual stress of 8Cr4Mo4V steel bearings seriously affects the contact fatigue life. The micro stress concentration at the carbide interface leads to the initiation of micro cracks. Therefore, in this paper, the systematic analysis of heat treatment residual stress of [...] Read more.
The heat treatment residual stress of 8Cr4Mo4V steel bearings seriously affects the contact fatigue life. The micro stress concentration at the carbide interface leads to the initiation of micro cracks. Therefore, in this paper, the systematic analysis of heat treatment residual stress of 8Cr4Mo4V steel is conducted. FEA was used to analyze the residual stress of type I after heat treatment process. Based on numerical simulation and EBSD results, CPFEM was carried out to study the distribution of type II residual stress. Using high-resolution characterization results, GPA was performed to study type III residual stress caused by crystal defects. The FEA results indicate that thermal strain and phase transformation strain dominate the macroscopic stress change before and after martensitic transformation. During the first tempering process, the phase transformation leads to the release of quenching residual stress. The large stress concentration at the carbide interface is revealed by CPFEM. High-resolution characterization of coherent interface between carbide and matrix reveals that the micro residual strain at this interface is small. Through a systematic analysis of the residual stress of 8Cr4Mo4V steel, a basis is provided for modifying the macroscopic and microscopic residual stress of heat treatment to improve the bearing performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Microstructure and Performance Mechanisms of Advanced Steels and Alloys)
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10 pages, 2840 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Final Cooling Temperature on Nano Cu Precipitation in a Cu-Bearing High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel
by Haitao Cui, Haicheng Liang, Xinglong Sun, Yonghua Li, Zhanjie Gao and Jinsong Liu
Metals 2025, 15(2), 150; https://doi.org/10.3390/met15020150 - 1 Feb 2025
Viewed by 573
Abstract
Nano Cu precipitation plays a crucial role in significantly improving the performance of the Cu-bearing high-strength low-alloy steel. The final cooling temperature effects the transformation products of austenite during the continuous cooling process, as well as the nano precipitations of steel. This study [...] Read more.
Nano Cu precipitation plays a crucial role in significantly improving the performance of the Cu-bearing high-strength low-alloy steel. The final cooling temperature effects the transformation products of austenite during the continuous cooling process, as well as the nano precipitations of steel. This study investigated the microstructure and hardness at different final cooling temperatures (750, 700, 650, 600, 550, and 500 °C) using the MMS-300 thermal simulation experimental machine (Northeastern University, Shenyang, China) and Vickers hardness tester. The changes in microstructure and the phase transformation law of austenite were determined during continuous cooling and then analyzed. The precipitation reaction of nano Cu precipitation during continuous cooling was studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), revealing the precipitation state under different final cooling temperature conditions. The results showed that the precipitations led to an increase and then a decrease in the microhardness, and the microhardness reaches its peak at 550 °C. The precipitations changed from spherical to elliptical, and the size gradually increased when the final cooling temperature increased. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Microstructure and Performance Mechanisms of Advanced Steels and Alloys)
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12 pages, 6264 KiB  
Article
Hot Deformation Behavior and Hot Processing Map of 50CrVA Spring Steel
by Yang Zhao, Jian Zheng, Zhi Liu and Liqing Chen
Metals 2024, 14(12), 1391; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14121391 - 4 Dec 2024
Viewed by 837
Abstract
It is important to explore the hot deformation behavior and establish the hot processing map of steel to design and optimize the hot rolling process. In this paper, 50CrVA spring steel was used as the experimental material. Single-pass compression tests were performed at [...] Read more.
It is important to explore the hot deformation behavior and establish the hot processing map of steel to design and optimize the hot rolling process. In this paper, 50CrVA spring steel was used as the experimental material. Single-pass compression tests were performed at 850–1150 °C and 0.01–5 s−1 on an MMS-300 thermo-mechanical simulation testing machine to investigate the hot deformation behavior and establish the hot processing map. The results show that as the strain rate increases and the deformation temperature decreases, the flow stress of 50CrVA spring steel increases. The constitutive equation of 50CrVA spring steel is ε˙=1.01×1014[sinh(0.0094σp)]4.53exp(−364,470RT). The dynamic recrystallization critical strain model is εc=4.19×10−3Z7.31×10−2. A hot processing map of 50CrVA spring steel was constructed to determine the plastic instability region and optimal hot working region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Microstructure and Performance Mechanisms of Advanced Steels and Alloys)
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18 pages, 7054 KiB  
Article
Effects of Ti Addition on Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Resistance of the Cu-Zn-Ni Alloy
by Xinglong Sun, Yulian Wang, Jinchuan Jie, Tingju Li, Zhigang Yuan, Haitao Cui and Jinsong Liu
Metals 2024, 14(12), 1360; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14121360 - 28 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 862
Abstract
The effects of Ti addition on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the Cu-30Zn-6Ni-1.5Ti (wt.%) alloy were investigated in the present study. Microstructure analysis confirms that the Ni3Ti and NiTi phases are formed in the Cu-Zn-Ni-Ti alloy. Most of [...] Read more.
The effects of Ti addition on the microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the Cu-30Zn-6Ni-1.5Ti (wt.%) alloy were investigated in the present study. Microstructure analysis confirms that the Ni3Ti and NiTi phases are formed in the Cu-Zn-Ni-Ti alloy. Most of the Ni3Ti particles dissolve into the matrix, whereas NiTi particles remained after the solution treatment. Moreover, nano-sized Ni3Ti and Cu2NiZn phases are precipitated from the matrix during the aging process. The yield strength improvement of the studied alloy is attributed to the Orowan strengthening (accounting for 42.5% of the total yield strength), then the grain boundary strengthening (31.1%), the dislocation strengthening (16.9%), the twin boundary strengthening (5.0%) and the solid solution strengthening (0.5%). After cold rolling with 90% deformation and aging at 440 °C for 1 h, the designed alloy has a hardness of 327.1 HV, a yield strength of 1192 MPa, an ultimate tensile strength of 1297 MPa, an elongation of 1.8%, an electrical conductivity of 11.2% IACS and a corrosion rate of 2.8 μm/month in 3.5% NaCl solution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Microstructure and Performance Mechanisms of Advanced Steels and Alloys)
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Review

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23 pages, 7536 KiB  
Review
A Review of Studies on the Influence of Rare-Earth Elements on the Microstructures and Properties of Copper and Copper Alloys and Relevant Applications
by Jin-Song Liu, Wen-Xin Yu, Da-Yong Chen, Song-Wei Wang, Hong-Wu Song and Shi-Hong Zhang
Metals 2025, 15(5), 536; https://doi.org/10.3390/met15050536 - 12 May 2025
Viewed by 206
Abstract
The rapid advancements in electronics, electric vehicles, and green technologies have imposed increasingly stringent demands on copper-based materials. These requirements include high thermal and electricity conductivity, corrosion resistance, and strength properties at both room temperature and high temperatures. Rare-earth elements are excellent microalloying [...] Read more.
The rapid advancements in electronics, electric vehicles, and green technologies have imposed increasingly stringent demands on copper-based materials. These requirements include high thermal and electricity conductivity, corrosion resistance, and strength properties at both room temperature and high temperatures. Rare-earth elements are excellent microalloying agents due to their typical metallic properties and highly active chemical characteristics; these properties and characteristics enable them to react with almost all elements except noble gases. The addition of rare-earth elements to copper and copper alloys can have several beneficial effects, such as impurity removal, purification, enhancement of the metallographic structure, and improved corrosion resistance. These effects can also raise the heat treatment temperature and enhance plastic processing, thereby further improving the overall properties of copper alloys. This review examines the influence of rare-earth elements (REEs) on copper and its alloys, along with their diverse industrial applications. It was found that elements such as La, Ce, Y, and Nd are commonly added to enhance properties like electrical conductivity, strength, corrosion resistance, purity, and hot workability in alloys such as pure copper, Cu-Ni-Si, Cu-Cr-Zr, and Cu-Fe-P. The review will lay a foundation and provide novel method for the development of advanced copper alloy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Microstructure and Performance Mechanisms of Advanced Steels and Alloys)
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