Materials Characterization最新文献

{"title":"Microstructural evolution and interfacial behavior of joints brazed with Sn-modified low-silver Ag-Cu-Ge medium-temperature filler metals","authors":"Junhao Mao,&nbsp;Kai Xiong,&nbsp;Shunmeng Zhang,&nbsp;Zhilong Tan,&nbsp;Yingwu Wang,&nbsp;Lei Guo,&nbsp;Min Shang,&nbsp;Xiaoguang Tang,&nbsp;Haijun Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117149","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117149","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sn-modified low-silver Ag-Cu-Ge brazing fillers were developed to regulate phase evolution and interfacial microstructure during brazing. A series of Ag_{32-<em>x</em>}Cu₃₈Ge₃₀Sn_<em>x</em> (<em>x</em> = 0, 2, 4, 6 at.%) alloys were designed using CALPHAD calculations and systematically characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and SEM/EDS. All filler metals exhibited melting temperatures between 564 and 575 °C. With increasing Sn content, the Ag-rich constituent evolved from an FCC Ag-based solid solution toward HCP Ag<img>Sn phases, while the Cu₃Ge phase changed from fine needle-like and short rod-like morphologies to coarser elongated features. During brazing, pronounced elemental redistribution occurred within the braze seam and at the filler metal/Cu interfaces. Ge became enriched near the interfaces and was incorporated into Cu-Ge-rich reaction products, while Cu₃Ge remained the predominant Cu<img>Ge phase in the Sn₀ and Sn₂ joints and an additional Cu₅Ge phase was detected in the Sn₄ and Sn₆ joints. The interfacial diffusion-reaction layer increased in thickness from 5.30 to 18.65 μm. These microstructural and interfacial changes were accompanied by a decrease in wetting angle from 26.7° to 5.9° and an increase in average shear strength from 291 to 424 MPa. Moreover, the fracture location shifted from the braze seam in the Sn₀ joint to the Cu substrate in the Sn-containing joints. These results demonstrate that Sn addition governs the phase constitution, elemental redistribution, and interfacial microstructural development of low-silver Ag-Cu-Ge brazing filler metals, thereby strongly influencing their brazing behavior and joint performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117149"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Synergistic enhancement of strength and electrical conductivity in Cu–Ni–Si–Co–Ag–Mg alloys via tailored thermo-mechanical processing","authors":"Xiankang Pan,&nbsp;Jianchao Chen,&nbsp;Jing Xu,&nbsp;Qiuxiang Liu,&nbsp;Bo Guan,&nbsp;Donglei Liu,&nbsp;Zhi Hu,&nbsp;Qiang Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117128","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117128","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study systematically investigated the effects of thermomechanical processing parameters on the precipitation behavior, microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and electrical conductivity of a Cu-Ni-Si-Co-Ag-Mg alloy. The influence of the number of rolling-aging cycles on the microstructure and properties of the alloy was examined. With increasing cycles, both strength and electrical conductivity increased. After four cycles, the alloy achieved an ultimate tensile strength of 839 MPa, a yield strength of 815 MPa, and an electrical conductivity of 51.8% IACS. Compared to the single-cycle treatment, this represents an increase of 84 MPa in ultimate tensile strength, 76 MPa in yield strength, and a 67.6% improvement in electrical conductivity. Further microstructural analysis revealed that the number of cycles had no significant effect on the grain size of the alloy, while the dislocation density showed a decreasing trend with increasing cycles. Most importantly, as the number of cycles increased, the number of nanoscale precipitates in the alloy increased significantly and their distribution became more uniform. These high-density nanoscale precipitates effectively pinned dislocations and retarded grain recovery, thereby maintaining a relatively high dislocation density to some extent. Precipitation strengthening, work hardening, fine-grain strengthening, and solid-solution strengthening acted together to simultaneously improve strength and electrical conductivity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117128"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trace-level Ti refines Nb-based carbonitrides and modulates the high-temperature mechanical properties of 347H stainless steel","authors":"Yanjie Peng,&nbsp;Qingchun Zhu,&nbsp;Xiaoke Li,&nbsp;Yuzhe Zhao,&nbsp;Wenqing Liu,&nbsp;Jianping Liang","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117131","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117131","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nb-based carbonitrides play an important role in the high-temperature deformation of 347H stainless steel, but the effect of ppm-level Ti on their final state remains unclear. This study shows that Ti addition at 70 ppm, compared with the steel without intentional Ti addition, changes both the composition and size distribution of Nb-based carbonitrides. The mean particle diameter decreased from 0.36 to 0.18 μm, while the Ti fraction on the metallic sublattice increased from 4.47 ± 0.23% to 8.13 ± 0.46%. Thermodynamic calculations further showed that increasing Ti made the NbC reference reaction more favorable during solidification, with a more negative Gibbs free-energy change and a higher calculated reaction amount. These results show that Ti microalloying changes the formation conditions and subsequent evolution of Nb-based carbonitrides, resulting in a final particle distribution shifted toward finer sizes. At 700°C, 70Ti showed higher yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation than 0Ti. At 800°C, it retained higher yield strength and elongation, while the ultimate tensile strength of the two steels were similar. Fracture observations showed denser fine dimples in 70Ti and a clearer association between relatively large irregular particles and local damage. These findings provide insight into how Ti microalloying modifies Nb-based carbonitrides and influences the high-temperature strength–ductility response of 347H steel.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117131"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A novel cryogenic thermomechanical treatment for refining second-phase particles in 6061 aluminum alloy to improve surface quality in ultra-precision diamond turning","authors":"Fei Dong,&nbsp;Jie Liu,&nbsp;Zixuan Wang,&nbsp;Shiquan Huang,&nbsp;Youping Yi,&nbsp;Jinlin Zhang,&nbsp;Hailin He","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117139","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117139","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Second-phase particle pull-out, embedding, and scratching are critical factors limiting the surface quality of 6061 aluminum alloy during single-point diamond turning (SPDT). In this study, a novel cryogenic thermomechanical treatment was proposed to regulate the fragmentation, dissolution, and subsequent precipitation behavior of second phases, thereby improving the ultra-precision machinability of 6061 aluminum alloy. Three processing routes, namely annealing–cryogenic deformation–solution treatment (ACS), solution treatment–cryogenic deformation–solution treatment (SCS), and annealing–cryogenic deformation–solution treatment–cryogenic deformation–solution treatment (ACSCS), were designed, and the evolution of second phases, precipitation behavior, and their effects on surface roughness were systematically investigated through microstructural characterization, composition analysis, hardness testing, and SPDT experiments. The results show that cryogenic deformation after annealing markedly promoted the mechanical fragmentation of coarse Mg₂Si and AlFeSi phases, which was attributed to dislocation pile-up and interfacial stress concentration caused by the suppression of dynamic recovery at 77 K. Solution treatment accelerated the dissolution of soluble Mg₂Si into the matrix, while the ACSCS route achieved the finest and most homogeneous second-phase distribution through the synergistic sequence of pre-fragmentation, accelerated dissolution, re-fragmentation, and re-solution treatment. During artificial aging, the ACSCS sample developed denser nanoscale precipitates owing to the higher supersaturation of Mg and Si atoms and abundant dislocation-assisted nucleation sites. Consequently, its peak hardness reached 142.6 HV at 175 °C, and the precipitate-free zone (PFZ) width decreased to 87 nm. After SPDT, the surface roughness Ra of the ACSCS sample was reduced to 3.4 nm, representing a 55.8% decrease compared with the conventional T6-tempered sample. This work provides an effective microstructural strategy for enhancing the surface quality of aluminum alloy optical components.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117139"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low-temperature aging treatment to optimize interface joining for dissimilar friction stir lap welded aluminum and titanium alloys","authors":"Zhihua Ren,&nbsp;Jian Miao,&nbsp;Yongxian Huang,&nbsp;Han Li,&nbsp;Huijie Zhang,&nbsp;Qi Cheng,&nbsp;Limao Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117154","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117154","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasing demand for high-strength and lightweight structural components has driven the development of reliable joining for aluminum and titanium alloys. However, defects and brittle intermetallic compounds at Al/Ti interface limit the mechanical performance of joint. To address this issue, the post-weld low-temperature aging (AG) for dissimilar friction stir lap welding of 6061-O aluminum alloy and Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy is systematically investigated. The results indicate that appropriate AG treatment effectively eliminates interface cracks and voids, smooths the sharp geometric features of hook region, and optimizes the thickness and continuity of interfacial reaction layer. After 8 h AG at 160°C, the joint exhibits a maximum lap shear strength of 470 N/mm, indicating a 26.4% increase over as-welded joint and corresponding to 98.7% of the load bearing capacity of aluminum base metal. Furthermore, the fracture mode of joint transforms to notably ductile pattern with fracture location shifting from the interface to aluminum base metal. Microstructural analysis reveals that the Gibbs-Thomson effect drives the dissolution of Ti fragments and Al/Ti mixtures during AG. The dissolved species diffuse toward larger particles, inducing Ostwald ripening and forming a more continuous and denser interface layer, thereby enhancing metallurgical bonding of both metals. However, the lap shear strength of joint drops to 370 N/mm when the AG time is further extended to 12 h, owing to the excessive interfacial-layer coarsening under over-AG condition and the induced lowering of interface's ability to accommodate deformation. This study provides an engineering-feasible post-weld treatment strategy for optimizing Al/Ti dissimilar joint.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117154"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimization of the laminated structure and mechanical properties of Cu/Ti composites via hard plate accumulative roll bonding","authors":"Zhiqiang Lei,&nbsp;Bing Zhang,&nbsp;Zhaolin Wang,&nbsp;Shancheng Zhan,&nbsp;Peng Xiao,&nbsp;Xiaomin Li,&nbsp;Jun Cai,&nbsp;Kuaishe Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117115","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117115","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A major challenge in traditional accumulative roll bonding of Cu/Ti laminated composites is the formation of shear bands and fracture of the Ti layer, which disrupt layer continuity and deteriorate the mechanical properties. In this study, Cu/Ti laminated composites were fabricated using hard plate accumulative roll bonding (HP-ARB). The evolution of the laminated structure, microstructure, texture, and mechanical properties was systematically investigated after HP-ARB0–3 cycles. The results showed that HP-ARB significantly improved the deformation coordination between the constituent layers, inhibited shear band formation and Ti layer rupture, and still maintained layer continuity after the 3rd HP-ARB cycle. With increasing HP-ARB cycles, the number of Cu/Ti heterogeneous interfaces increased significantly, accompanied by continuous grain refinement. The Cu and Ti layers predominantly underwent partial dynamic recrystallization and dynamic recovery, respectively. Meanwhile, the Cu texture evolved from a strong Brass texture to a strong S texture and finally to a nearly random texture, while the Ti texture gradually transformed from a strong basal and prismatic textures to a random texture with low anisotropy. Under the combined effects of grain refinement, work hardening and heterogeneous deformation induced (HDI) strengthening, the composites achieved high strength (518.5 MPa) and high elongation (18.7%). Among them, the HDI effect was reinforced with the increasing heterogeneous interfaces. These findings can provide theoretical and experimental support for the microstructure design of high-performance laminated composites.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117115"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revealing orientation-dependent deformation banding and recrystallization in Goss-oriented FeSi single crystals for ultrathin grain-oriented silicon steel processing","authors":"Siqi Li,&nbsp;Guoqing Zu,&nbsp;Peng Li,&nbsp;Yufan Wang,&nbsp;Weiwei Zhu,&nbsp;Liang Gao,&nbsp;Yupeng Li,&nbsp;Han Ying,&nbsp;Xu Ran,&nbsp;Yu Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117116","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117116","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Further cold rolling of finished grain-oriented silicon steel is an effective route for producing 0.1 mm ultrathin sheets, but the stability of pre-existing Goss-oriented grains during severe thinning is critical for texture inheritance and recrystallization control. In this study, Goss-oriented Fe<img>Si single-crystal samples were extracted from a finished sheet and cold rolled from 0.27 mm to 0.10 mm, corresponding to a reduction of approximately 63.0%. The angle between the imposed rolling direction and the crystal &lt;001&gt; direction was controlled at 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90°. XRD-based macrotexture measurement and EBSD characterization were used to reveal orientation-dependent deformation banding, stored-energy heterogeneity, and recrystallization behavior. After cold rolling, RD-30 showed the strongest texture inheritance, forming a concentrated {112}&lt;461&gt; deformation texture with limited band subdivision and weak local misorientation heterogeneity. RD-60 exhibited pronounced texture redistribution and alternating deformation bands, whereas RD-90 exhibited stronger local orientation heterogeneity and more densely distributed deformation bands. Short-time annealing at 750 °C showed that RD-30 remained recovery dominated, while RD-60 and RD-90 underwent more evident recrystallization with texture weakening and nucleation along deformation bands. These results indicate that deformation-band morphology, stored-energy redistribution, and effective nucleation-site distribution govern the recrystallization behavior of Goss-oriented grains during ultrathin silicon steel processing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117116"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"4D synchrotron X-ray tomography revealing the anisotropic low-cycle fatigue failure mechanisms in L-PBF AlSi10Mg alloy","authors":"Zhengkai Wu,&nbsp;Jianguang Bao,&nbsp;Rihan Da,&nbsp;Xiaoyan Xue,&nbsp;Tianyu Qin,&nbsp;Weijian Qian,&nbsp;Han Zhang,&nbsp;Jiang Dong,&nbsp;Runsheng Li,&nbsp;Shengchuan Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117132","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117132","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Processing defects and melt pool boundaries (MPBs) are intrinsic to laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) AlSi10Mg, yet their coupled role in anisotropic low-cycle fatigue (LCF) remains unresolved. Here, time-lapse synchrotron radiation X-ray microtomography, scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction and finite-element modelling (FEM) were correlated to compare LCF failure behaviour under cyclic loading perpendicular (H-LCF) and parallel (V-LCF) to the build direction. Despite comparable initial porosity, H-LCF specimens achieved a median life of 3274 cycles, 2.4 times the V-LCF value. 4D imaging showed that pancake-like lack-of-fusion defects in V-LCF specimens presented large projected areas normal to the loading axis, expanded laterally and rapidly coalesced into surface or near-surface cracks. In H-LCF specimens, the defects were closer to an edge-on configuration, elongated mainly along the loading axis and coalesced later, enabling greater necking and ductile cup-and-cone fracture. Microstructure characterization showed that defects and mechanically weak MPBs promoted crack bridging, with V-LCF cracks following more continuous MPB paths than in H-LCF specimens. FEM results further revealed overlapping strain localisation at defect tips and MPBs in the V-LCF orientation, whereas the corresponding fields were weaker and more discrete in H-LCF. These multiscale characterizations reveal that anisotropic LCF failure in L-PBF AlSi10Mg alloy is governed by the coupled effects of defect orientation, defect growth mode and MPBs, rather than by porosity alone.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117132"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-destructive 3D analysis of the structure and interfaces of a monolithic solid oxide cell stack","authors":"Elisabeth Mariegaard Schnügger,&nbsp;Federico Capotondo,&nbsp;Salvatore De Angelis,&nbsp;Anke Hagen,&nbsp;Søren Bredmose Simonsen","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117143","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117143","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Solid oxide cells (SOC) will play an important role in green energy conversion. This work focuses on a novel monolithic SOC stack design that optimizes the use of raw materials and boosts the power density. The monolithic stack is sintered as one unit and cannot be disassembled without it being destroyed. X-ray μCT was used for non-destructive 3D characterization of the internal structure. Visualization of the entire monolith was used for studying the gas channels. Internal scans at higher spatial resolution revealed the structure of the individual cell layers and the micropore structure of the support layers. 3D X-ray imaging was found useful for analyzing the gas transport properties including pore size distribution, tortuosity and connectivity as well as contact areas between the layers. In addition, the method is useful for quality control, particularly for the identification of microcracks and delaminations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117143"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unexpected precipitation hardening from interdendritic chemical-structural heterogeneity in laser powder bed fusion austenitic stainless steels","authors":"Decheng Kong,&nbsp;Daixiu Wei,&nbsp;Yang Chen,&nbsp;Xuexu Xu,&nbsp;Yucheng Ji,&nbsp;Xiaoqing Ni,&nbsp;Liang Zhang,&nbsp;Wu Gong,&nbsp;Wenqi Mao,&nbsp;Stefanus Harjo,&nbsp;Chaofang Dong","doi":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117129","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.matchar.2026.117129","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Interdendritic chemical-structural heterogeneity (elemental segregation and dislocation aggregation) is a universal feature of additively manufactured metals and alloys arising from the thermal cycling inherent to layer-by-layer printing. Here we show that this mesoscale heterogeneity, rather than being merely a printing artefact, can unexpectedly trigger a precipitation phenomenon during conventional annealing of austenitic stainless steels, converting them from solid-solution-strengthened to precipitation-hardening materials. Mo/Si-rich precipitates nucleate preferentially at periodically arranged dislocation cell boundaries, especially at triple junctions where Mo and Cr segregate most strongly. In heat-treated samples, these submicron precipitates hinder dislocation motion during plastic deformation, while concurrently promoting stacking faults and, at larger strains, high-density nano-twins. As a result, the additively manufactured steels exhibit simultaneous gains in strength, ductility and strain-hardening capability. Our findings challenge the conventional view that printing-induced heterogeneities are detrimental, suggesting instead that they can be harnessed to design superior heat treatments for additively manufactured alloys.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18727,"journal":{"name":"Materials Characterization","volume":"240 ","pages":"Article 117129"},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149199180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}