Dear Colleagues,

The trade-off between strength and ductility has been a long-standing challenge for the development of high-performance structural materials, where the improvement of strength is usually accompanied by a loss of ductility. In recent years, microstructure design to control and engineer deformation mechanisms at the microscale has opened new pathways towards the fabrication of materials that exhibit synergy between strength and ductility. A common feature of these developments is the creation of spatially modulated or graded microstructures by processes such as surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT), surface mechanical grinding treatment (SMGT), ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM), laser shock peening (LSP), and accumulative roll bonding (ARB). By controlling the scale and geometry of microstructural components (grain size and texture, twin boundary spacing, size of precipitates or second-phase particles, etc.), the ensuing heterogeneous microstructures (e.g., gradient nanostructured materials, multilayer heterostructures or hierarchical microstructures) can be engineered to provide excellent overall mechanical properties, including strength–ductility synergy and improved fatigue/fracture resistance. Furthermore, controlling local composition and microstructure geometry makes it possible to manipulate deformation mechanisms and control the simultaneous or sequential activation of multiple deformation mechanisms such as dislocation slip, twinning or martensitic transformation. This allows the tailoring of the local and global strain-hardening behavior. Moreover, high-entropy alloys (HEAs) or more generally speaking compositionally complex alloys have significantly extended the material design space by mixing equal or relatively large proportions of multiple elements so that new alloys with excellent mechanical properties can be produced. Materials with high strength and high ductility are a key factor for technological progress in aerospace, high-speed railway, and other areas of industry since they can enhance the strength-to-weight ratio of components, thus lowering carbon emissions while ensuring the safe service of engineering structures. Therefore, the current Special Issue aims to elucidate the state-of-the-art in the development of materials with high strength–ductility synergy from both fundamental and application perspectives. We welcome experimental, theoretical and simulation works on understanding the synergetic operation of deformation mechanisms, establishing structure-property connections, exploring new strategies for microstructure optimization, and developing new fabrication methods that allow for the production of materials with tailored microstructures.

Prof. Dr. Xu Zhang
Prof. Dr. Michael Zaiser
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.

• heterogeneous microstructures
• hierarchical microstructures
• compositionally complex alloys
• gradient nanostructured material
• nanolaminated composites
• strength
• ductility
• microstructure
• deformation mechanisms
• simulation and modeling