Search Results (590)

Friction Stir Processing (FSP) has emerged as an advanced solid-state surface engineering technique for tailoring high-performance surface architectures in metal matrix composites (MMCs). By combining localized thermo-mechanical deformation with controlled material flow, FSP enables grain refinement, homogeneous dispersion of reinforcement, and strong interfacial bonding without melting or altering bulk properties. This review critically examines the role of FSP in enhancing the mechanical, tribological, and corrosion performance of composites, with emphasis on process–structure–property relationships. Key strengthening mechanisms, including grain boundary strengthening, load transfer, particle pinning, and defect elimination, are systematically discussed, along with their implications for wear resistance, fatigue life, and durability. Special attention is given to corrosion and tribo-corrosion behavior, highlighting electrochemical mechanisms such as micro-galvanic interactions, passive film stability, and interfacial chemistry. Furthermore, the eco-efficiency, industrial viability, and sustainability advantages of FSP are evaluated in comparison with conventional surface modification techniques. The review concludes by identifying critical challenges and outlining future research directions for the scalable, multifunctional, and sustainable design of composite surfaces. Full article

This study focuses on the design, material selection, and wind-induced fatigue analysis of a dynamic movable sculpture atop the Welcome Tower at Yazhou Bay Bougainvillea Park in Sanya. The sculpture, consisting of eight movable leaves, is driven by a hydraulic system enabling it to assume five distinct shapes. Nickel-saving stainless steel (S22152/S32001) was chosen as the primary material due to its excellent corrosion resistance and strength, ensuring durability in the harsh coastal environment. The mechanical system is designed with a two-level lifting device, rotation system, and push-rod mechanism, allowing the leaves to perform functions such as rising, opening, closing, and rotating while minimizing mechanical load. Wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations were conducted to analyze the sculpture’s performance under wind loads. Using the rain-flow counting method and Miner’s linear fatigue accumulation theory, the study calculated stress amplitude and fatigue damage, finding that the most unfavorable fatigue life of the sculpture’s components is 380 years. This analysis demonstrates that the sculpture will not experience fatigue damage over its expected lifespan, providing valuable insights for the design of dynamic sculptures in coastal environments. The research integrates mechanical design, material selection, and fatigue analysis, ensuring the sculpture’s long-term stability and resistance to wind-induced fatigue. Full article

Floating offshore production systems play a critical role in offshore resource development, where the structural integrity and operational safety of risers, umbilical cables, and mooring cables are of paramount importance. Focusing on the failure risks of these key components under harsh marine environments, this paper systematically reviews the coupled mechanisms of wave-induced loading, electrochemical corrosion, and material fatigue. Unlike traditional reviews on offshore pipelines and cables, this study not only examines the mechanical performance of deepwater pipelines and cables along with representative research cases but also discusses corrosion mechanisms in marine environments and corresponding repair and mitigation strategies. In addition, recent advances in machine learning-based digital twin frameworks and real-time monitoring technologies are reviewed, with an analysis of representative application cases. The findings indicate that interdisciplinary material innovations combined with data-driven predictive models are essential for addressing maintenance challenges under extreme ocean conditions. Furthermore, this review identifies existing research gaps in data fusion for monitoring technologies and outlines clear directions for the intelligent operation and maintenance of future deep-sea infrastructure. Full article

Inconel 718 is widely utilized in critical engineering sectors, particularly aerospace, owing to its exceptional creep resistance, corrosion resistance, and retention of mechanical strength at elevated temperatures. However, its high hardness, low thermal conductivity, and strong work-hardening tendency make it extremely difficult to machine using conventional techniques. Ultrasonic Vibration-Assisted Machining (UVAM) has emerged as an effective strategy to overcome these limitations by superimposing high-frequency, low-amplitude vibrations onto the cutting process. Depending on the vibration direction, UVAM can significantly change chip formation, tool–workpiece interaction, and surface integrity. In this study, the influence of three UVAM modes—longitudinal (Z-UVAM), feed-directional (X-UVAM), and multi-axial (XZ-UVAM)—on the machining behavior of Inconel 718 was systematically investigated. The findings reveal that XZ-UVAM provides the most advantageous outcomes, primarily due to its intermittent cutting mechanism. Compared with Conventional Machining (CM), XZ-UVAM reduced cutting forces by up to 43% and areal surface roughness by 37%, while generating surfaces with more uniform topographies and smaller peak-to-valley variations. Furthermore, UVAM enhanced subsurface microhardness as a result of the surface hammering effect, which may improve fatigue performance. XZ-UVAM also effectively minimized burr formation, demonstrating its potential for high-quality, sustainable, and efficient machining of Inconel 718. Full article

Nickel superalloy Inconel 718 (IN718) is widely employed in harsh environments with prolonged cyclic stresses in the aerospace and energy sectors, due to its corrosion/oxidation resistance and mechanical strength obtained by precipitation hardening. This work investigates the mechanical behavior in fatigue of IN718 manufactured by Additive Manufacturing (AM), specifically by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB), and compares its results with the material produced by forging and rolling. Samples from both processes were subjected to heat treatments of solution and double aging to increase their mechanical strength. Then, tensile, microhardness, microstructural characterization, and uniaxial fatigue tests were performed (with loading ratio R = −1). The results showed that, although the IN718 produced by AM had higher microhardness and a higher tensile strength limit than the forged and rolled material, its fatigue performance was lower. The S–N curve (stress vs. number of cycles) for the material obtained by PBF-LB demonstrated shorter fatigue life, especially under low and medium stresses. The analysis of the fracture surfaces revealed differences in the regions where the crack initiated and propagated. The shorter fatigue life of the material obtained by PBF-LB was attributed to typical process defects and microstructural differences, such as the shape of the grains, which act as points of crack nucleation. Full article

Background: Postoperative infections remain a major complication in spinal surgeries involving intersomatic screws, often compromising osseointegration and long-term implant stability. Questions/Purposes: This study evaluated a nanotextured titanium oxide surface with nanopillar-like morphology designed to reduce bacterial colonization while preserving mechanical integrity and promoting bone integration. Methods: Ti₆Al₄V screws were studied in three batches: control, passivated with HCl and acid mixture treatment to obtain nanotopographies on the surfaces. To create the nanotopographies, the screws were treated with a 1:1 (v/v) sulfuric acid–hydrogen peroxide solution for 2 h. Surface morphology, roughness, wettability, and surface energy were analyzed by SEM, confocal microscopy, and contact angle measurements. Corrosion and ion release were assessed electrochemically and by ICP-MS, respectively. Mechanical behavior, cytocompatibility, mineralization, and antibacterial efficacy were evaluated in vitro. Osseointegration was analyzed in rabbit tibiae after 21 days by histology and bone–implant contact (BIC). Results: The treatment produced uniform nanopillars (Ra = 0.12 µm) with increased hydrophilicity (49° vs. 102° control) and higher surface energy. Mechanical properties and fatigue resistance (~600 N, 10 million cycles) were unaffected. Corrosion currents and Ti ion release remained low. Nanopillar surfaces enhanced osteoblast adhesion and mineralization and reduced bacterial viability by >60% for most strains. In vivo, Bone Index Contact (BIC) was higher for nanopillars (52.0%) than for HCl-treated (43.8%) and control (40.1%) screws, showing a positive osseointegration trend (p > 0.005). Conclusions: The proposed acid-etching process generates a stable, scalable nanotopography with promising antibacterial and osteogenic potential while maintaining the alloy’s mechanical and chemical integrity. Clinical relevance: This simple, scalable, and drug-free surface modification offers a promising approach to reduce postoperative infections and promote bone integration in spinal implants. Full article

The 6xxx-series Al alloys have been used for decades because of their favorable strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and fatigue performance. However, conventional welding techniques often induce localized weakening, as thermal effects modify the microstructure and compromise structural integrity. For nearly 70 years, AA4043 welding wire has been the primary choice for joining 6xxx-series Al alloys. Nevertheless, microstructural and mechanical property mismatches between the base metal and weld region remain key factors contributing to premature failure, while welding-induced defects further increase rupture susceptibility. Microalloying has emerged as an effective strategy for enhancing both the mechanical and thermal properties of aluminum alloys. In this study, rare-earth (RE) elements La and Ce were introduced into the AA4043 system to exploit their grain refining and mechanical strengthening capabilities. In addition, the effects of Sr modification were examined and compared with La-Ce addition. This work aims to elucidate the strengthening mechanisms associated with La-Ce-Ti microalloying in AA4043 welding wire, a topic that has rarely been systematically investigated. With 0.019Ti-0.02La-0.03Ce additions, the modified wire exhibited significant performance improvements, achieving an UTS of 204 MPa and a YS of 191 MPa—representing increases of 10.3% and 18.6%, respectively. Full article

Polymeric coatings play a pivotal role in enhancing the durability, functionality, and sustainability of structural materials exposed to harsh environmental conditions. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed the development, optimization, and evaluation of these coatings by enabling data-driven material discovery, predictive performance modeling, and autonomous inspection. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview on AI-driven polymeric coating strategies for structural applications, emphasizing the integration of machine learning, computer vision, and multi-physics simulations into traditional materials engineering frameworks. The discussion encompasses AI-assisted material selection methods for polymers, fillers, and surface modifiers; predictive models for corrosion, fatigue, and degradation; and intelligent evaluation systems using digital imaging, sensor fusion, and data analytics. Case studies highlight emerging trends such as self-healing, smart, and sustainable coatings that leverage AI to balance mechanical performance, environmental resistance, and carbon footprint. The review concludes with identifying current challenges—including data scarcity, model interpretability, and cross-domain integration—and proposes future research directions toward explainable, autonomous, and circular coating design pipelines. Full article

Pipeline steels under cyclic loading in corrosive environments are prone to wear and corrosion–wear synergy. Low-dilution, high-reliability Ni-based Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) overlays are therefore required to ensure structural integrity. In this work, three overlay architectures were deposited on L415QS pipeline steel: a single-layer ERNiFeCr-1 coating, a double-layer ERNiFeCr-1/ERNiFeCr-1 coating, and an ERNiCrMo-3 interlayer plus ERNiFeCr-1 working layer. The microstructure, interfacial composition gradients, and dry sliding wear behavior were systematically characterized to clarify the role of interlayer design. The single-layer ERNiFeCr-1 coating shows a graded transition from epitaxial columnar grains to cellular/dendritic and fine equiaxed grains, with smooth Fe dilution, Ni–Cr enrichment, and a high fraction of high-angle grain boundaries, resulting in sound metallurgical bonding and good crack resistance. The double-layer ERNiFeCr-1 coating contains coarse, strongly textured columnar grains and pronounced interdendritic segregation in the upper layer, which promotes adhesive fatigue and brittle spalling and degrades wear resistance and friction stability. The ERNiCrMo-3 interlayer introduces continuous Fe-decreasing and Ni-Cr/Mo-increasing gradients, refines grains, suppresses continuous brittle phases, and generates dispersed second phases that assist crack deflection and load redistribution. Under dry sliding, the tribological performance ranks as follows: interlayer + overlay > single-layer > double-layer. The ERNiCrMo-3 interlayer system maintains the lowest and most stable friction coefficient due to the formation of a dense tribo-oxidative glaze layer. These results demonstrate an effective hierarchical alloy-process design strategy for optimizing Ni-based CMT overlays on pipeline steels. Full article

TC4 alloy coatings were fabricated on a titanium alloy substrate using laser cladding. The influence of laser power ranging from 1000 W to 2200 W on the microhardness, wear resistance, and electrochemical corrosion behavior in 3.5% NaCl solution was systematically investigated. Results demonstrate that the TC4 coating exhibited a 35.17% enhancement in microhardness compared to the substrate, with an average value reaching 500 HV. As the laser power increased from 1000 W to 2200 W, the maximum wear depth progressively decreased, indicating significantly improved wear resistance, with fatigue wear being identified as the dominant mechanism. The coating prepared at 1400 W showed the best corrosion performance, displaying the highest self-corrosion potential of −0.110 V, the lowest corrosion current density of 0.125 μA·cm⁻², and the largest polarization resistance of 2.057 × 10⁶ Ω·cm². The charge transfer resistance initially increased and then decreased with increasing laser power. Numerical simulations revealed that when exposed to seawater, galvanic couples formed between the α and β phases on the TC4 titanium alloy surface, resulting in preferential dissolution of the β-phase. Full article

This paper is the first to reveal that the conventionally built aluminium alloy (AA) 7085-T7452 has mechanical properties, viz: a yield stress, ultimate strength, and an elongation to failure, that are similar to that of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) built Scalmalloy^®. Following this observation, the growth of cracks that nucleated from corrosion pits in AA7085-T7452 specimens that had been exposed to a 5 wt% NaCl salt fog environment at 35 °C according to ASTM B117-19 standard for fourteen days is then studied. The specimen geometries were chosen to be identical to those associated with a similar study on Boeing Space, Intelligence, and Weapon Systems (BSI&WS) LPBF built Scalmalloy^®. This level of prior exposure led to pits in AA7085-T7452 that were approximately 0.5 mm deep with a surface width/diameter of up to approximately 1.5 mm. These pit sizes are broadly consistent with those leading to fatigue crack growth (FCG) in AA 7050-T7451 structural parts on the RAAF F/A-18 Classic Hornet fleet operating in a highly corrosive environment. Fatigue tests on these AA7085-T7452 specimens, under the same spectrum as used in the BSI&WS LPBF Scalmalloy^® study, reveals that AA7085-T7452 and Scalmalloy^® have similar crack growth histories. This, in turn, leads to the discovery that the growth of naturally occurring three-dimensional (3D) cracks in AA 7085-T7452 could be predicted using the crack growth equation developed for BSI&WS LPBF Scalmalloy^®, albeit with allowance made for their different fracture toughness’s. These findings suggest that Scalmalloy^® may be suitable for printing parts for both current and future attritable aircraft. Full article

Aluminum alloys require improved surface performance to satisfy the demands of today’s aerospace, automotive, marine, and structural applications. This paper compares three key surface hardening methods: diffusion-assisted microalloying, thermomechanical deformation-based treatments, and composite/hybrid reinforcing procedures. Diffusion-assisted Zn/Mg enrichment allows for localized precipitation hardening but is limited by the native Al₂O₃ barrier, slow solute mobility, alloy-dependent solubility, and shallow hardened depths. In contrast, thermomechanical techniques such as shot peening, surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT), and laser shock peening produce ultrafine/nanocrystalline layers, high dislocation densities, and deep compressive residual stresses, allowing for predictable increases in hardness, fatigue resistance, and corrosion performance. Composite and hybrid reinforcement systems, such as SiC, B₄C, graphene, and graphite-based aluminum matrix composites (AMCs), use load transfer, Orowan looping, interfacial strengthening, and solid lubrication effects to enhance wear resistance and through-thickness strengthening. Comparative evaluations show that, while diffusion-assisted procedures are still labor-intensive and solute-sensitive, thermomechanical treatments are more industrially established and scalable. Composite and hybrid systems provide the best tribological and load-bearing performance but necessitate more sophisticated processing approaches. Recent corrosion studies show that interfacial chemistry, precipitate distribution, and galvanic coupling all have a significant impact on pitting and stress corrosion cracking (SCC). These findings highlight the importance of treating corrosion as a fundamental design variable in all surface hardening techniques. This work uses unified tables and drawings to provide a thorough examination of strengthening mechanisms, corrosion and fatigue behavior, hardening depth, alloy suitability, and industrial feasibility. Future research focuses on overcoming diffusion barriers, establishing next-generation gradient topologies and hybrid processing approaches, improving strength ductility corrosion trade-offs, and utilizing machine-learning-guided alloy design. This research presents the first comprehensive framework for selecting multifunctional aluminum surfaces in demanding aerospace, automotive, and marine applications by seeing composite reinforcements as supplements rather than strict alternatives to diffusion-assisted and thermomechanical approaches. Full article

Accurately predicting the fatigue life of long-distance natural gas pipelines with internal corrosion defects is essential to ensure structural integrity and operational safety. While data-driven models offer potential in this regard, many lack interpretability. To address this, we propose a novel, interpretable machine learning framework that combines an Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost, v3.0.3) model, optimized via Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), with SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) based post hoc interpretation. A dataset of 510 samples was generated through FE simulations, incorporating realistic pipe geometry, material properties, and statistically representative corrosion defect parameters. The optimized PSO-XGBoost model demonstrated exceptional predictive performance on the test set, with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.9921, and a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 2.7491 years, significantly outperforming benchmark models. Crucially, the SHAP analysis provided global and local interpretations, revealing that the defect width coefficient (k₃) and pipe diameter (D) are the most influential features, while operational pressure (P) had a minimized impact due to multicollinearity handling. The research findings can provide a basis for pipeline risk assessment and integrity management. Full article

Owing to their lightness, high strength, flexibility, and design adaptability, cables have been extensively employed in architectural engineering. As cables are primary load-bearing components in long-span spatial structures, a profound understanding of their mechanical behavior is essential for structural design and safety evaluation. This paper presents a systematic review of the physical and mechanical properties of cables commonly used in building structures, offering reference data for key performance indicators. The mechanical responses and influencing factors pertaining to major types of cables—such as semi-parallel wire strand (SPWS), Galfan-coated steel strand (GSS), and full-locked coil wire rope (LCR)—are thoroughly examined. This review covers five critical aspects: fundamental cable characteristics, stress relaxation and creep, mechanical performance under high temperatures, corrosion-induced degradation, and post-fracture behavior after fatigue-induced wire breaks. It identifies key mechanical parameters, including elastic modulus, axial stiffness, bending stiffness, and the coefficient of thermal expansion. The degradation behavior of cables under high-temperature and corrosive conditions is examined, highlighting the superior corrosion resistance of LCR and GSS. Furthermore, the redistribution of stress and residual capacity after the rupturing of steel wires is elucidated. Based on recent studies, prospective directions are suggested to address current knowledge gaps and advance design strategies focused on durability and performance for forthcoming cable-supported structures. Full article