Introduction

Much of the development of practical metallic materials has been involved dealing withnon-equilibriuormetastable states. The growing demand for optimized materials stimulates the development of novel microstructures owning to attractive properties. The microstructural magnifications of the departures from equilibrium can be achieved by diverse processing routes, such as increased defect concentrations, microstructural refinement, metallic glasses, extended solid solution and metastable phases. With non-equilibrium state, the relaxation of the constraint of being in equilibrium gives access to a wider range of structures. It provides an opportunity to tailor the microstructures, some of which can be expected to show superior properties. These materials may be of interest as the final product or as an intermediate on the way to the final product. The research projects in this division deal with the analysis and control of the microstructure of new non-equilibrium materials (often alloys). These investigations should supplement the knowledge of the microstructure-property relationship, which is essential in order to design new materials with high performance beyond present limitations.

Research Groups

1. Synthesis and Properties of Bulk Nanostructured Materials (Leader: Prof. Ke LU)
2. Amorphous Metallic Materials (Leader: Prof. Jian XU)
3. Amorphous Metallic Coatings (Leader: Prof. Jian-qiang WANG)
4. Preparation and Application of Bulk Amorphous Alloys and Composites (Leader: Prof. Hai-feng ZHANG)
5. Friction Stir Welding and Processing (Leader: Prof. Zong-yi MA)

Research Areas

1. Thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the formation of non-equilibrium states in metals and alloys.
2. Computer simulation of the formation and evolution of non-equilibrium states in metals and alloys.
3. Stability of non-equilibrium metallic materials under temperature, pressure and applied electrical or magnetic fields.
4. Microstructure characterization and phase transformation in non-equilibrium metallic materials.
5. Mechanical, magnetic, thermal and corrosion-resistant behavior of non-equilibrium metallic materials.
6. Synthesis and processing of non-equilibrium metallic materials.
7. Processability of non-equilibrium metallic materials.
8. Exploration of non-equilibrium metallic materials in engineering application.