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Metals
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Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: “Welding and Joining” (2nd Edition)
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Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: “Welding and Joining” (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Welding and Joining".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1440

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Guido Di Bella

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Messina, Contrada di Dio 1, 98166 Messina, Italy
Interests: additive manufacturing; joining; friction stir welding; dissimilar materials; composites; FEA
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. António Pereira

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation, University of Aveiro, Campus Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: adhesive joints; adhesive strength; mechanical testing; manufacturing processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, “Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: “Welding and Joining” (2nd Edition)”, aims to gather cutting-edge research and innovative developments in the field of welding and joining technologies. This collection includes diverse studies conducted by leading experts, providing an overview of the latest techniques and applications in the field. Topics covered include advanced welding techniques, such as friction stir welding, explosion welding, and clinching, as well as bonding with structural adhesives. This Special Issue also addresses critical challenges, such as fracture mechanisms, mechanical resistance in aggressive environments, and methodologies for defect detection and prevention.

Particular attention is paid to process optimization and material characterization, focusing on the assessment of mechanical properties and the long-term reliability of joints. Another highly relevant topic is numerical modeling using finite element analysis software, which enables the accurate simulation of welding and joining processes, predicting the structural behavior and performance of joints under various operating conditions.

By exploring both theoretical and practical approaches, this collection represents an indispensable resource for researchers, engineers, and professionals in the field, facilitating the understanding of current dynamics and future directions in material joining technologies. The importance of these technologies is highlighted in various industrial applications, including aerospace, automotive, construction, and manufacturing, emphasizing the crucial role of mechanical resistance and joint durability in severe operating conditions.

Dr. Guido Di Bella
Prof. Dr. António Pereira
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 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-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

  • advanced welding techniques
  • welding
  • structural bonding
  • mechanical joining
  • fracture mechanisms
  • finite element modeling
  • resistance in aggressive environments

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1000 KB  
Article
Online Classification for Resistance Spot Weld Quality Using Dual-Interval Mean Discretization and Gradient-Boosting Models
by Pengyu Gao, Yali Huang, Hong Xiao, Xindu Chen, Yanxi Zhang and Xiangdong Gao
Metals 2026, 16(5), 503; https://doi.org/10.3390/met16050503 - 5 May 2026
Viewed by 347
Abstract
Accurate and interpretable weld-quality assessment is essential for ensuring the reliability of resistance spot welding in industrial production. This study develops a data-efficient classification framework that integrates dual-interval mean discretization (DIMD) of dynamic-resistance signals with gradient-boosting models. The proposed DIMD method applies fine [...] Read more.
Accurate and interpretable weld-quality assessment is essential for ensuring the reliability of resistance spot welding in industrial production. This study develops a data-efficient classification framework that integrates dual-interval mean discretization (DIMD) of dynamic-resistance signals with gradient-boosting models. The proposed DIMD method applies fine discretization during the rapid heating–melting and coarse discretization during the subsequent slow-evolving period, effectively preserving the peak–valley morphology of resistance curves while reducing feature dimensionality. Using these compact features, XGBoost and CatBoost classifiers were trained on a dataset of DC01 low-carbon steel, covering five weld conditions. CatBoost achieved the highest accuracy of 98.9%, attributed to its ordered-boosting mechanism and symmetric-tree structure. Validation on an independent 198-sample dataset confirmed the generalization capability of the proposed approach. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP)-based interpretability analysis further revealed that resistance-peak characteristics and energy-related descriptors dominate model decisions, aligning with the physical process of nugget formation and expulsion. Experimental results demonstrate that the DIMD–CatBoost framework provides a physically consistent, interpretable, and high-accuracy solution for intelligent weld-quality inspection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: “Welding and Joining” (2nd Edition))
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15 pages, 5165 KB  
Article
Intelligent Defect Identification in Girth Welds of Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing Images Using Median Filtering, Spatial Enrichment, and YOLOv8
by Mingzhe Bu, Shengyuan Niu, Xueda Li and Bin Han
Metals 2026, 16(5), 458; https://doi.org/10.3390/met16050458 - 22 Apr 2026
Viewed by 380
Abstract
Girth welds are susceptible to defects under high internal pressure and stress. While phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) is widely used for non-destructive evaluation, manual inspection remains inefficient and highly dependent on expertise. Furthermore, existing deep learning models often struggle with low accuracy [...] Read more.
Girth welds are susceptible to defects under high internal pressure and stress. While phased array ultrasonic testing (PAUT) is widely used for non-destructive evaluation, manual inspection remains inefficient and highly dependent on expertise. Furthermore, existing deep learning models often struggle with low accuracy and high complexity. This paper proposes a PAUT defect classification method based on YOLOv8. First, median filtering is employed for denoising, and the results show that noise is effectively reduced while preserving key features, achieving PSNR values of 35.132, 35.938, and 36.138 for slag inclusion, pores, and lack of fusion (LOF), respectively. Subsequently, the spatial enrichment algorithm (SEA) is applied to enhance image details without amplifying noise, yielding a PSNR of 33.71 and an SSIM of 0.96. Finally, the YOLOv8 model is implemented for defect recognition. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach achieves a superior balance between precision and recall with high reliability. This method offers a robust and efficient solution for automated PAUT evaluation in practical engineering applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: “Welding and Joining” (2nd Edition))
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13 pages, 6820 KB  
Article
Effect of Base Metal Microstructure on Softening Behavior of the Heat-Affected Zone of X80 GMAW Girth Weld
by Xueda Li, Zhangyi She, Xunyun Lv, Zeyang Zhang, Liying Li and Bin Han
Metals 2026, 16(3), 247; https://doi.org/10.3390/met16030247 - 25 Feb 2026
Viewed by 420
Abstract
Softening in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of high-strength pipeline welds compromises its service safety but the corresponding softening mechanism is not well-understood. Softening behavior in the HAZ of two X80 pipeline girth welds with different base metal microstructures, i.e., acicular ferrite (AF)-dominated (X80-AF) [...] Read more.
Softening in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of high-strength pipeline welds compromises its service safety but the corresponding softening mechanism is not well-understood. Softening behavior in the HAZ of two X80 pipeline girth welds with different base metal microstructures, i.e., acicular ferrite (AF)-dominated (X80-AF) and granular bainite (GB)-dominated (X80-GB), were investigated through microhardness tests and detailed microstructure characterization. The results showed that softening in the HAZ of two girth welds primarily occurred in the fine-grained (FG) HAZ, while hardening was found in the coarse-grained (CG) HAZ. X80-AF showed higher softening resistance than X80-GB, with softening ratios of 3.44% vs. 12.46%, and softened zone widths of 2.1 mm vs. 3.9 mm, respectively. Due to its high dislocation density and refined interlocking structure, AF could effectively inhibit phase transformation and grain coarsening during reheating, which resulted in smaller grains and a lower fraction of polygonal ferrite (PF) in the FGHAZ (28%). In contrast, coarse GB was more prone to grain coarsening and hence engendered higher PF proportion (68%). Therefore, for the microstructural design of high-strength pipeline steels, increasing the proportion of refined AF is beneficial to the softening resistance and thereby elevates the service safety of pipelines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: “Welding and Joining” (2nd Edition))
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