Materialia最新文献

{"title":"Effect of powder composition on microstructure and wear resistance of laser-cladded coatings on U75V rail surface","authors":"Luhang Zhang,&nbsp;Yongfeng Li,&nbsp;Lixia Wang,&nbsp;Xuehong Huang,&nbsp;Ming Zhai,&nbsp;Jian Zhang,&nbsp;Hongtu Song,&nbsp;Zheng Li,&nbsp;Bolun An","doi":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102844","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102844","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Powder composition plays a critical role in determining the phase constitution and microstructural characteristics of coatings, thereby providing an effective approach for improving the wear resistance of rail materials. In this study, 15–5PH, Co21, and Ni35 alloy coatings were fabricated on U75V rail steel by laser cladding, and their phase constitution, microstructural evolution, and tribological performance were systematically investigated. The results indicate that the 15–5PH coating is primarily composed of martensite and retained austenite, exhibiting a mixed microstructure of equiaxed and columnar grains. The Co21 coating consists of γ-Co and ε-Co phases, with dense equiaxed grains dominating most regions and columnar grains appearing locally. The Ni35 coating is composed of a γ-(Fe, Ni) solid solution with Fe₃B and Ni₃B phases, and its microstructure is characterized by fine cellular crystals. In terms of wear behavior, the 15–5PH coating exhibits the best wear resistance due to work hardening and strain-induced martensitic transformation, with a wear loss of 0.88 × 10⁶ mm³, which is 42.5% lower than that of the U75V substrate (1.53 × 10⁶ mm³), and an average friction coefficient of 0.53. In contrast, the Co21 and Ni35 coatings show higher wear losses of 8.16 × 10⁶ mm³ and 16.32 × 10⁶ mm³, with average friction coefficients of 0.30 and 0.60, respectively. The Co21 coating shows the lowest friction coefficient. In contrast, the Ni35 coating displays the poorest wear resistance, as fragmentation of hard phases promotes combined abrasive and adhesive wear. These results demonstrate that powder composition plays a decisive role in governing microstructural stability and wear performance of laser-cladded rail coatings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102844"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148641300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Degradation of cathode collector bars in aluminium electrolysis cells - laboratory insights into diffusion and electrical conductivity","authors":"Sandra Kernebeck,&nbsp;Sabine Siebert,&nbsp;Sebastian Weber","doi":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102846","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102846","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This work examines the materials used in the cathode of an aluminium electrolysis cell. More specifically, it refers to the collector bar, consisting of a low-alloyed steel and cast iron within the graphite block. The collector bar is exposed to temperatures between 700 and 900 °C for up to 5 years during a typical operational cycle of a cell, depending on the cell temperature. During this period, the steel’s properties deteriorate, particularly its electrical conductivity, which is one of its most important properties. This work investigates the reasons for the degradation of the cathode, particularly the collector bar. To this end, diffusion pairs comprising steel, cast iron, and graphite were produced. These diffusion pairs were heat-treated at 935 °C for 10 days. The pairs were examined with respect to electrical conductivity, microstructure, and carbon diffusion. Light microscopy, SEM and EDS analysis were used to investigate the microstructure. Glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy was used to measure precise profiles of chemical composition particularly that of carbon. Electrical conductivity was measured from room temperature up to 950 °C. It was shown that the diffusion pairs could reproduce the chemical composition and electrical conductivity of the initial material. Due to isothermal ageing, the form of the graphite in the cast iron changed from lamellar to spherulitic. The electrical conductivity of the isothermally aged samples and the samples after service in the electrolysis cell is comparable.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102846"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148641114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Machine learning enabled predictions of deformation and dynamic recrystallization in alloy AZ31: Toward customized inverse design","authors":"Xiangbei Liu,&nbsp;Md. Zahidul Sarkar,&nbsp;Iftekhar A. Riyad,&nbsp;Marko Knezevic,&nbsp;Yan Li","doi":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102834","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102834","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents an innovative machine learning (ML) approach that can make rapid property predictions for AZ31 alloy based on temperature and deformation conditions in the defined range. Additionally, the approach can inversely suggest a set of processing parameters to achieve target properties. The training dataset is generated using a recently developed field fluctuations visco-plastic self-consistent (FF-VPSC) model capable of simulating anisotropic deformation in the dynamic recrystallization regime. The FF-VPSC model incorporates a temperature-sensitive dislocation density-based hardening law, an advanced composite grain model for handling primary and secondary twinning, a grain fragmentation model, and a recrystallization model. The model was validated to capture the evolution of thermo-mechanical response, including stress-strain relationship, texture, twin volume fraction, extent of recrystallization, grain size, and relative activities of slip and twinning modes, given an initial texture and an imposed deformation from room temperature to 200 °C. An artificial neural network (ANN) model is first shown to accurately reproduce the stress-strain curves and π-plane polycrystal yield surface (PCYS) projections for the alloy based on given processing parameters, including temperature, pre-strain levels, and pre-strain paths. A genetic algorithm (GA)-based inverse design methodology is then developed to find optimized processing parameters based on predefined mechanical responses. A detailed discussion is provided on the conditions leading to successful inverse design and the factors that may cause failure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102834"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148641197","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influence of Zn content and processing route on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of Al-Mg-Zn alloys","authors":"Zhixiong Fan,&nbsp;Liran Huang,&nbsp;Weilong Li,&nbsp;Bo Lin,&nbsp;Zhiqiang Fu","doi":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102858","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102858","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, Al-Mg alloys containing Zn ranging from 0.65 to 3.38 wt.% were fabricated via hot rolling (HR) and hot extrusion (HE) to investigate the influence of Zn content and processing route on their microstructural evolution and mechanical responses. The results revealed that the volume fraction of the τ phase rose while the area fraction of the precipitate-free zone (PFZ) narrowed in both alloy series as Zn concentration increased. At identical Zn additions, extruded samples exhibited more substantial grain refinement and possessed higher densities of dislocations and low-angle grain boundaries compared with their rolled counterparts. As Zn content increased from 0.65 wt.% to 3.38 wt.%, both wrought alloy variants exhibited substantial strength improvement. Regarding ductility, however, the HR alloys showed an initial slight increase in elongation (from 22.6% to 24.6% at 2.46 wt.% Zn) followed by a decrease to 19.5% at the highest Zn content, while the HE alloys exhibited a continuous decrease from 19.8% to 14.8%. The observed strength increment stemmed from the combined contributions of grain boundary strengthening, dislocation strengthening and Orowan precipitation strengthening. Furthermore, varying Zn concentrations induced markedly different the Portevin-Le Chatelier (PLC) behaviors between the two material states: the density of PLC serrations declined in hot-rolled alloys yet climbed in hot-extruded counterparts. Such divergent PLC characteristics are suggested to originated from processing-dependent disparities in Mg solid solubility and dislocation density within the matrix.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102858"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148657107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Additively manufactured refractory high-entropy alloys with superior radiation resistance","authors":"Hyosim Kim,&nbsp;Eda Aydogan,&nbsp;Skye Supakul,&nbsp;Shalini Tripathi,&nbsp;Miguel Pena,&nbsp;Caleb Hatler,&nbsp;Nathan Curtis,&nbsp;Matthew Chancey,&nbsp;Bochuan Sun,&nbsp;Pengcheng Zhu,&nbsp;Winson Kuo,&nbsp;Enrique Martinez,&nbsp;Adrien Couet,&nbsp;Yongqiang Wang,&nbsp;Dan J. Thoma,&nbsp;Osman El Atwani","doi":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102831","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102831","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) are promising candidates for next-generation nuclear and high-temperature applications. Among many approaches to manufacture RHEAs, additive manufacturing (AM) represents the most recent and advanced metal manufacturing method which allows near-net-shape manufacturing to reduce material waste and post-processing time. However, performance of AM RHEAs under complex irradiation conditions remains largely unexplored. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time the response of directed energy deposition (DED) AM quaternary RHEAs (HfTaVW, CrTaVW) subjected to sequential dual-beam ion irradiation, consisting of helium pre-implantation followed by high-dose heavy ion bombardment. Compositions of DED AM RHEAs were selected using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations based on a cluster expansion (CE) Hamiltonian parameterized by density functional theory (DFT). Post-irradiation microstructural characterization revealed that the AM RHEA maintained remarkable stability, with suppressed helium bubble growth and reduced defect accumulation compared to conventional alloys. Even at high doses (∼100 dpa), the alloy exhibited no void swelling, a low density of dislocation loops, and no evidence of severe degradation. These results highlight the intrinsic ability of AM-derived microstructures and multicomponent chemistry to synergistically mitigate irradiation effects. Our findings establish AM RHEAs as a class of materials with superior resistance to radiation damage under conditions relevant to advanced fusion and fission environments and demonstrate the importance of sequential ion beam studies in evaluating their long-term performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102831"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148641298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heterogeneity driven progressive yielding and back stress hardening in Ti–5Cu alloy","authors":"Junhong Zhang,&nbsp;Yongdong He,&nbsp;Xu Yue,&nbsp;Jingjing Lu,&nbsp;Zijiang Xiao","doi":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102840","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102840","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To achieve synergistic optimization of strength and ductility in Ti-Cu alloys, this study investigates Ti-5Cu alloy. By introducing high strain energy storage through 60% cold rolling and performing recrystallization annealing within the 600–750 °C range, the effects of annealing temperature on phase composition, microstructural evolution, and mechanical properties are systematically examined. Results indicate that increasing annealing temperature significantly enhances recrystallization fraction while progressively reducing dislocation density and intra-grain orientation gradient. Concurrently, alloy strength and hardness gradually decrease, whereas plasticity markedly improves, reaching optimal values at 700 °C. Notably, A700 and A750 specimens exhibit a nonlinear stress-strain curve deflection during initial tensile loading, characterized by a decrease followed by a rebound in slope. Multiscale microscopic analysis and molecular dynamics simulations indicate that this behavior stems from a progressive yielding process induced by a heterogeneous structure in which recrystallized soft regions coexist with residual hard regions; dislocation accumulation at the interface and the development of back stress significantly enhance the work-hardening capacity. Accumulation of dislocations at interfaces and the establishment of back stresses significantly enhanced work-hardening capacity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102840"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148641184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A phenomenological approach for multiphase-field modelling of solute-drag driven anisotropic grain growth","authors":"P.G. Kubendran Amos","doi":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102843","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102843","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Solute drag is widely recognized as an important kinetic mechanism influencing grain boundary migration during microstructural evolution. However, in multiphase-field simulations of polycrystalline grain growth, solute segregation is often either suppressed as a diffuse-interface artifact or represented through static anisotropy in mobility or interfacial energy. Here, we introduce a computationally efficient phenomenological formulation that couples dynamic, misorientation-gated solute segregation with grain boundary migration kinetics within the Fan–Chen multiphase-field framework. Segregation propensity is modulated by Read–Shockley scaling with misorientation, and the resulting interfacial inventory reduces local mobility through a Cahn-inspired drag response. The construction preserves the original phase-field free-energy functional and equilibrium interface profile while enabling heterogeneous, time-dependent mobility reduction to arise from evolving interfacial coverage rather than being imposed as a fixed boundary property. Simulations on a polycrystalline system of 300 grains reveal that, although near-parabolic grain-growth kinetics is retained despite segregation, the fitted growth-rate constant decreases from &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;mrow&gt;&lt;mi&gt;K&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mo&gt;=&lt;/mo&gt;&lt;mn&gt;0.1406&lt;/mn&gt;&lt;/mrow&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt; in the pure case to &lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;mrow&gt;&lt;mi&gt;K&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mo&gt;=&lt;/mo&gt;&lt;mn&gt;0.0835&lt;/mn&gt;&lt;/mrow&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt;, corresponding to an approximately 40.6% reduction under the present parametric condition. At the end of the simulation, while the pure system coarsens to 71 grains, the segregation-coupled system retains 102 grains, demonstrating delayed grain elimination and a finer retained grain population. The segregation field is heterogeneous and boundary-localized, with high-angle boundaries occupying the saturated uptake branch of the Read–Shockley scaling and therefore developing stronger inventory-dependent mobility reduction. A static–dynamic mobility comparison further shows that imposing an equilibrium misorientation-dependent drag state from the start gives a lower fitted growth-rate constant (&lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;mrow&gt;&lt;mi&gt;K&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mo&gt;=&lt;/mo&gt;&lt;mn&gt;0.0425&lt;/mn&gt;&lt;/mrow&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt;) than the dynamic inventory-mediated model (&lt;span&gt;&lt;math&gt;&lt;mrow&gt;&lt;mi&gt;K&lt;/mi&gt;&lt;mo&gt;=&lt;/mo&gt;&lt;mn&gt;0.0706&lt;/mn&gt;&lt;/mrow&gt;&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/span&gt;) in matched 100-grain simulations, quantitatively demonstrating the significance of transient buildup of boundary inventory. Furthermore, the present parameters yields a quasi-parabolic response indicating a fast-segregation/slow-growth regime in which the local Langmuir relaxation time is much shorter than the curvature-driven grain-growth timescale. The characteristic interfacial inventory introduced in the present formulation is described as a nondimensional diffuse-interface storage variable rather than as a calibrated Gibbs surface excess, and it does not represent the velocity- and diffusivity-dependent asymmetry emerging from the solute-accumulation physics of classica","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102843"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148641194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of different bending angles on the microstructure and texture evolution of AZ31 magnesium alloy at high temperature","authors":"Pengchong Zhang,&nbsp;Pengcheng Ji,&nbsp;Can Chen,&nbsp;Rongjun Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102848","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102848","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To investigate the microstructure and texture evolution of AZ31 magnesium alloy at high temperature under different bending angles, OM and EBSD were used to analyze the inner and outer regions at bending angles of 150°, 120°, and 90° The results show that twinning on the inner side is more pronounced at high temperature. As the bending angle decreases, the number of DRX grains increases and their distribution becomes more uniform. Texture evolution is asymmetric: inner orientations rotate toward RD and weaken with decreasing angle, whereas the outer side maintains a strong basal texture along ND, slightly weakening only at 90°Grain evolution proceeds from the coexistence of initial equiaxed grains and early DRX to extensive subgrain formation and finally to full DRX. The outer side stores more deformation energy through dislocation pile-up and subgrain formation, whereas the inner side more readily transforms LAGBs into HAGBs via DRX and twinning, leading to more pronounced local strain inhomogeneity and hardening on the outer side. The evolution of grain orientation keeps basal slip dominant; with decreasing bending angle, prismatic slip on the inner side becomes more favorable, while the favorability of pyramidal slip slightly decreases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102848"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148641201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editors for Materialia","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/S2589-1529(26)00216-4","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S2589-1529(26)00216-4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102866"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148735654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Recipients of the 2026 Acta Materialia, Inc. student awards","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102819","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mtla.2026.102819","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47623,"journal":{"name":"Materialia","volume":"48 ","pages":"Article 102819"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148735655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}