Modeling Thermodynamic Systems and Optimizing Metallurgical Processes

Dear Colleagues,

Metals and metallic materials have long been used by human civilization and can be thought of as one broad category of important materials. Metals mostly occur in combined states in the form of ores and minerals as oxides, sulfides, silicates, titanate, phosphate, etc. Only a few precious metals are found in negative or uncombined forms. Therefore, the life cycle of metals and metallic materials contains metal extraction, refining, casting, foundry process, rolling, extrusion, heat treatment, recycling, etc. Thermodynamics and kinetics are recognized as crucial factors that must be considered in metal and material production processes. Linking fundamental material property databases with specific material software to simulate metallurgical or material processes is one type of future metallurgical and material design process. The success of this approach will bring further advancements for current metallurgical technology. These material properties include thermodynamic properties, mass transportation properties, reactivity, and so on. The development of physical models and databases for thermodynamic and thermophysical properties, as well as the development of effective models for metallurgical and material processes, will pave the way for this trend. This Special Issue focuses on the thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of inorganic substances and the optimization of current metallurgical and material processes.

In this Special Issue, articles that focus on the development of a database for thermodynamic and thermophysical properties, advanced methods for database development, applications of thermodynamics and/or kinetics in metallurgical, and material process design are highly sought after. Therefore, this Special Issue will cover, but is not limited to, the following fundamental and applied research topics:

• Thermodynamic modeling for metallic and oxide systems;
• Diffusion modeling for metallic and oxide systems;
• Viscosity modeling for slag and liquid metal;
• Machine learning on thermodynamic modeling;
• Phase diagram measurements;
• Diffusion measurements;
• Thermodynamic property measurements;
• Thermodynamic calculations;
• Solidification;
• Metal extraction;
• Metal refinement;
• Recycling;
• Metallurgical process simulation;
• Material process simulation;
• Material design;
• Corrosion.

Please submit your paper promptly if you wish to contribute, and thank you for your interest in this Special Issue of Metals: “Modeling Thermodynamic Systems and Optimizing Metallurgical Processes”.

Dr. Senlin Cui
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized 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.