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Metals
Special Issues
Intermetallic Compounds and Their Composites Materials
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Intermetallic Compounds and Their Composites Materials

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2026) | Viewed by 1512

Editors

Prof. Dr. Meini Yuan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Mechatronics Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
Interests: intermetallic compounds; laminated composites; mechanical properties; first-principles calculations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Xuanming Cai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Aerospace Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan, China
Interests: aluminum alloy; titanium alloys; composites; mechanical properties; impact; damage; explosion; lattice structure
Prof. Dr. Xiaosheng Zhou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan, China
Interests: titanium alloys; Ni-based alloys; HSLA steels

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Owing to their long-range ordered crystal structures, intermetallic compounds uniquely integrate metallic and covalent bonding characteristics. This confers exceptional properties such as a superior strength-to-melting-point ratio, oxidation resistance, irradiation stability, and hydrogen–metal interaction performance—often an order of magnitude higher than those of conventional alloys. These attributes make intermetallics irreplaceable for critical applications, including high-temperature aero-engine blades, accident-tolerant nuclear fuel cladding, and solid-state hydrogen storage systems. challenges such as intrinsic room-temperature brittleness, sensitivity to processing defects, and complex damage mechanisms under multi-physics-field conditions continue to limit their large-scale engineering deployment, despite their excellent laboratory performance.

Intermetallic matrix composites (IMMCs) have emerged as next-generation strategic materials designed for “structure–function integration under extreme environments.” By employing ordered intermetallic phases as a structural skeleton and diverse reinforcements as toughening and functional units, IMMCs simultaneously achieve high temperature capability, specific strength, irradiation resistance, hydrogen embrittlement immunity, and structural designability within a single material system.

This Special Issue invites contributions that focus on advanced processing technologies, mechanical properties, microstructural characterization and mechanism analysis, first-principles calculations, multiscale mechanics, and dynamic responses, as well as extreme-service environments and engineering applications of intermetallic compounds and their composites.

Prof. Dr. Meini Yuan
Prof. Dr. Xuanming Cai
Prof. Dr. Xiaosheng Zhou
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-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.

Keywords

  • intermetallic compounds
  • laminated composites
  • mechanical properties
  • first-principles calculations
  • processing technologies
  • microstructure
  • dynamic mechanical properties
  • finite element analysis

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2433 KB  
Article
Multi-Objective Optimization of SMA-Based U-Shaped Honeycombs for Flexible Morphing Skins
by Tao Niu, Chun Wu, Zhihao Wang, Chu Chu, Xingrong Chu and Zhiwei Xu
Metals 2026, 16(5), 538; https://doi.org/10.3390/met16050538 - 16 May 2026
Viewed by 401
Abstract
Flexible honeycomb skins offer a promising route for achieving continuous shape adaptation in morphing aircraft. In practical service, however, the skin must simultaneously accommodate large in-plane deformation while maintaining sufficient out-of-plane load-bearing capacity, which poses a fundamental design challenge. To address this trade-off, [...] Read more.
Flexible honeycomb skins offer a promising route for achieving continuous shape adaptation in morphing aircraft. In practical service, however, the skin must simultaneously accommodate large in-plane deformation while maintaining sufficient out-of-plane load-bearing capacity, which poses a fundamental design challenge. To address this trade-off, this study investigates an SMA-based U-shaped honeycomb under combined tensile deformation and aerodynamic pressure. A parametric finite element model incorporating SMA superelasticity is established, and an automated Abaqus–modeFRONTIER framework is developed for multi-objective optimization under dual loading conditions. The curvature radius, parallel-segment length, and middle-beam length are selected as design variables. The optimization objectives are defined as minimizing the maximum local strain under a prescribed tensile displacement and reducing the Z-direction displacement under aerodynamic loading as an indicator of out-of-plane bending resistance. The resulting Pareto front reveals the trade-off between flexibility and load-bearing capacity, and the sensitivities of the key geometric parameters are analyzed. Compared with the initial design, a representative optimized solution reduces the maximum local strain by 58.5% and the Z-direction displacement by 61.3%. These results provide a numerical basis for the design of SMA-based flexible skins for morphing aircraft. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intermetallic Compounds and Their Composites Materials)
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18 pages, 5866 KB  
Article
Crystal Plasticity Simulation of the Effect of γ Lamellae on the Plastic Behavior of the Core–Shell-like Structured TiAl Alloy
by Zihe Xu, Meini Yuan, Yonghao Yu, Lezhang Yin, Judong Guo, Rui Wang and Meng Yuan
Metals 2026, 16(3), 244; https://doi.org/10.3390/met16030244 - 24 Feb 2026
Viewed by 507
Abstract
The preparation of the core–shell-like structured before hot working can significantly enhance the hot workability of the alloy. In order to research the properties of the alloy, the finite element method combined with the crystal plasticity constitutive theory was used to establish the [...] Read more.
The preparation of the core–shell-like structured before hot working can significantly enhance the hot workability of the alloy. In order to research the properties of the alloy, the finite element method combined with the crystal plasticity constitutive theory was used to establish the finite element model of the core–shell-like structured TiAl alloy with (α2 + γ) lamellae colonies as the core and α2 matrix as the shell. The research focuses on the influence of the length and number of γ lamellae on the stress–strain distribution and the contribution of slip systems in each phase to the plasticity of the alloy. The results show that when the γ lamella length increases from 12 μm to 16 μm, the overall stress decreases by 12.0%; when the number increases from 6 to 10, the stress decreases by 7.7%. The stress reduction is primarily influenced by the α2 phase. Increasing the volume fraction of γ lamellae facilitates stress distribution within the α2 phase and enhances the plasticity of the material. In the γ phase O4, S1 and S7 slip systems contribute the most to the plastic deformation of the γ phase. In the α2 phase, the B1 slip system is the main contributor to the plasticity of the α2 phase. And the B1 slip system contributes more significantly to the plastic deformation of the entire model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intermetallic Compounds and Their Composites Materials)
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