Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.3
2.5
Journals
Metals
Special Issues
Metallic Materials Behaviour Under Applied Load
share announcement

Metallic Materials Behaviour Under Applied Load

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Crystallography and Applications of Metallic Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2025 | Viewed by 1916

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zhiping Xiong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
Interests: steels; high entropy alloys; fracture mechanism; strengthening mechanism; fracture toughness; phase transformation
Prof. Dr. Elena Pereloma

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Interests: physical metallurgy; steels; phase transformations; Ti alloys; atom probe tomography; mechanical behaviour; recrystallization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, titlted "Metallic Materials Behaviour Under Applied Load", focuses on how metals respond to external forces. When a load is applied, metallic materials can exhibit different behaviors. Elastic deformation occurs initially, where the material stretches or compresses and then returns to its original shape once the load is removed. However, as the load increases, plastic deformation may take place, resulting in permanent changes in shape. The accommodation mechanisms of plastic deformation (slip, twinning, phase transformations), which are determined by alloy composition and crystal structure, affect the properties of metals and alloys, such as tensile strength, yield strength, and ductility. External factors (for example, temperature and strain rate) also influence how metals respond to the applied loads. Studying this topic is essential for engineering applications to ensure the reliability and safety of structures made of metallic materials.

Dr. Zhiping Xiong
Prof. Dr. Elena Pereloma
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. 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

  • deformation
  • strengthening mechanism
  • TRIP effect
  • TWIP effect
  • fracture mechanism
  • toughness
  • ductility
  • heterogeneous microstructure
  • brittle fracture
  • phase transformation

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

22 pages, 11106 KB  
Article
Differences in Yield Behavior in the Thickness Direction of TMCP-Processed HSLA Thick Steel Plates and the Evolution of Microstructure Property Gradients
by Chuxiao Qu, Wenliang Lu, Han Su and Mengqi Zhu
Metals 2025, 15(11), 1229; https://doi.org/10.3390/met15111229 - 7 Nov 2025
Viewed by 343
Abstract
Thick steel plates in bridges exhibit mechanical property gradients along their thickness, yet the underlying micro-mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigates an 80 mm thick 420 MPa-grade HSLA steel plate, and also quantitatively investigates the mechanism of its mechanical gradient behavior in the [...] Read more.
Thick steel plates in bridges exhibit mechanical property gradients along their thickness, yet the underlying micro-mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigates an 80 mm thick 420 MPa-grade HSLA steel plate, and also quantitatively investigates the mechanism of its mechanical gradient behavior in the thickness direction through layered tensile tests combined with multi-scale microstructural characterization. The unique contribution of this work lies in establishing a quantitative correlation between the gradient in the dislocation density and the transition in yielding behavior. The results show that the surface layer area of the tested steel exhibited continuous yield characteristics, while all core layers exhibited pronounced discontinuous yielding. The mechanical properties showed a gradient distribution along the thickness direction, with the yield strength and tensile strength decreasing from 512.4 MPa and 545.9 MPa at the surface to 419.5 MPa and 520.4 MPa at the center (1/2t). Microstructural analysis shows that the full-thickness structure was composed of granular bainite (GB) and polygonal ferrite (PF). With respect to increases with depth, the average grain size increased from 6.86 µm at the surface to 11.57 µm at the center. Moreover, the surface region exhibited a broader grain size distribution range and higher size dispersity. The second-phase precipitates in the full thickness were mainly of two types, namely, Fe3C and (Nb, Ti) (C, N) composite precipitates, and the precipitates in the surface layer had smaller sizes and higher distribution densities. Crucially, the dislocation density decreased sharply from the surface to 1/8t, then stabilized. While quantitatively elucidating the contributions of various strengthening mechanisms to the strength gradient, the mechanistic analysis also reveals a dislocation microstructure synergistic mechanism underlying the yield behavior differences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metallic Materials Behaviour Under Applied Load)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

16 pages, 8731 KB  
Article
Effect of Tempering Temperature on Carbide Evolution and Mechanical Response of Deep Cryogenically Treated Martensitic Stainless Steel
by Muhammad Rizqi Ramadhan Fatih, Hou-Jen Chen, Kun-Ming Lin and Hsin-Chih Lin
Metals 2025, 15(10), 1152; https://doi.org/10.3390/met15101152 - 17 Oct 2025
Viewed by 461
Abstract
Deep cryogenic treatment (DC) is widely applied to martensitic stainless steels to suppress the presence of metastable retained austenite (RA), which may otherwise transform into brittle martensite under deformation and degrade mechanical performance. In this study, a low-carbon 13Cr-2Ni-2Mo martensitic stainless steel was [...] Read more.
Deep cryogenic treatment (DC) is widely applied to martensitic stainless steels to suppress the presence of metastable retained austenite (RA), which may otherwise transform into brittle martensite under deformation and degrade mechanical performance. In this study, a low-carbon 13Cr-2Ni-2Mo martensitic stainless steel was subjected to deep cryogenic treatment for 2 h, followed by tempering at 200–600 °C to investigate carbide evolution and its correlation with mechanical response. At 200 °C, undissolved M23C6 was observed, accompanied by an RA volume fraction of 8.43% which exhibited a hardness of 543.3 ± 5.1 Hv. When tempered at 400 °C, M3C became predominant, corresponding to a hardness of 524.5 ± 5.1 Hv. At 500 °C, the simultaneous precipitation of M3C, M7C3, and M23C6 carbides induced pronounced secondary hardening, which promoted the peak hardness of 559 ± 5.6 Hv. Further tempering at 600 °C resulted in carbide spheroidization M23C6, which resulted in a hardness reduction to 392.2 ± 3.9 Hv while enhancing ductility. These findings reveal that the tempering temperature plays a decisive role in controlling the carbide precipitation sequence and the stability of retained austenite, thereby enabling the design of an optimal strength–ductility balance in deep cryogenically treated martensitic stainless steels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metallic Materials Behaviour Under Applied Load)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 5025 KB  
Article
Impact of High Contact Stress on the Wear Behavior of U75VH Heat-Treated Rail Steels Applied for Turnouts
by Ruimin Wang, Guanghui Chen, Nuoteng Xu, Linyu Sun, Junhui Wu and Guang Xu
Metals 2025, 15(6), 676; https://doi.org/10.3390/met15060676 - 18 Jun 2025
Viewed by 601
Abstract
Considering the greater contact stress of turnout rails during wear and the development of heavy-haul railways, twin-disc sliding–rolling wear tests were performed on U75VH heat-treated rail steels applied for turnouts under high contact stress ranging from 1980 MPa to 2270 MPa. The microstructure [...] Read more.
Considering the greater contact stress of turnout rails during wear and the development of heavy-haul railways, twin-disc sliding–rolling wear tests were performed on U75VH heat-treated rail steels applied for turnouts under high contact stress ranging from 1980 MPa to 2270 MPa. The microstructure of the worn surfaces was analyzed using optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), 3D microscope, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and hardness tests. The results indicated that after 10 h of wear, the weight loss was 63 mg at a contact stress of 1980 MPa, while it reached 95 mg at a contact stress of 2270 MPa. At a given contact stress, the wear rate increased with increasing wear time, while a nearly linear increase in wear rate was observed with increasing contact stress. As wear time and contact stress increased, the worn surface showed more pronounced wear morphology, leading to greater surface roughness. Crack length significantly increased with wear time, and higher contact stress facilitated crack propagation, resulting in longer, deeper cracks. After 10 h of wear under a contact stress of 2270 MPa, large-scale cracks with a maximum length of 128.29 μm and a maximum depth of 31.10 μm were formed, indicating severe fatigue wear. Additionally, the thickness of the plastic deformation layer increased with the wear time and contact stress. The surface hardness was dependent on the thickness of this layer. After 10 h of wear under the minimum and maximum contact stresses, hardening rates of 0.39 and 0.48 were achieved, respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metallic Materials Behaviour Under Applied Load)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop