Alloys Development for High Strength Structure and High-Temperature Application

Dear Colleagues,

The development of advanced metal alloys for high-strength structural and high-temperature applications is a rapidly expanding research field whose core advances are increasingly governed by phenomena occurring at the micro and nanoscale. Modern alloy systems including high-entropy alloys and lightweight Al and Mg-based alloys derive their exceptional mechanical strength, thermal stability, oxidation resistance, and damage tolerance from carefully engineered microstructures such as phase distributions, grain and sub-grain architectures, interfaces, and nanoscale precipitates. Understanding and controlling these features is therefore central to translating alloy chemistry into reliable macroscopic performance.

This Special Issue specifically focuses on how microscale engineering principles including microstructural design, interface control, defect manipulation, and deformation mechanisms govern structure–property relationships in advanced metallic systems. Recent progress demonstrates that alloy performance in extreme environments is dictated not only by composition, but by microscale phenomena such as phase stability, diffusion pathways, dislocation interactions, and microstructural evolution under coupled thermal–mechanical loading. Consequently, integrating advanced characterization, processing science, and predictive modeling at relevant length scales has become essential for next-generation alloy development.

Research in this area increasingly combines high-resolution experimental techniques with computational and data-driven approaches to establish quantitative links between processing, microstructure, and properties. Advanced manufacturing routes, solidification pathway control, and thermomechanical treatments are now designed to tailor hierarchical microstructures, while multiscale simulations, CALPHAD-based thermodynamics, phase-field modeling, and machine learning enable prediction of microstructural evolution and performance before experimental validation. These approaches significantly reduce empirical trial-and-error and support accelerated, microscale-informed alloy design.

The insights generated are critical for demanding applications in aerospace, energy systems, transportation, and power generation, where materials must sustain complex stresses, aggressive environments, and long service lifetimes. Emphasis is also placed on sustainability through microstructure-enabled performance optimization, resource-efficient alloying, and reduced experimental burden via integrated computational–experimental frameworks.

Focus of the Special Issue

(i) Microscale-Driven Design and Performance of Advanced Alloys

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Microstructural design strategies in high-entropy and compositionally complex alloys
• Grain-scale and nanoscale mechanisms governing strength, ductility, and creep resistance
• Phase stability, precipitation behavior, and interface engineering in extreme environments
• Microstructure–property relationships in refractory alloys for ultra-high-temperature service
• Lightweight Al- and Mg-based alloys: deformation pathways, texture evolution, and damage mechanisms
• Oxidation, corrosion, and environmental degradation governed by microscale transport and reactions
• In situ and high-resolution characterization of microstructural evolution during processing and service

(ii) Modeling, Characterization, and Data-Driven Approaches for Advanced materials

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Solidification pathway control and micro segregation modeling
• Phase-field, crystal plasticity, and mesoscale simulations of microstructural evolution
• CALPHAD-guided prediction of phase formation and stability across length scales
• Multiscale linking of atomistic, microscale, and continuum models
• Machine learning for microstructure prediction, feature extraction, and alloy optimization
• Prediction of phase formation, mechanical properties, density behaviour etc. of advanced materials using machine learning approach
• Advanced microscopy, diffraction, and correlative techniques for quantitative microstructural analysis
• Integrated computational–experimental frameworks for accelerated microscale-informed alloy discovery

Greeting Message to Contributors and Readers

We cordially invite researchers from academia and industry to submit their original research articles, review papers, and short communications to this Special Issue. This Special Issue seeks to highlight state-of-the-art developments and emerging methodologies in advanced alloy design for high-strength and high-temperature applications. We hope that this collection will stimulate scientific discussion, foster collaboration, and serve as a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners in the field of materials science and engineering.

Dr. Sandeep Jain
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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Micro is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1200 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.

• microscale engineering
• high-entropy alloys
• refractory alloys
• Al- and Mg-based alloys
• high-temperature materials
• alloy design
• microstructure–property relationships
• CALPHAD
• machine learning
• materials informatics
• extreme environments