Much of the development of practical metallic materials has been involved dealing with non-equilibrium or metastable 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.