Key Laboratory of Microstructure Design and Control of Metallic Materials, Liaoning Province

Lioaning key laboratory of microstructure design and control of metallic materials, which was approved in 2005, is based on the national key discipline of materials science in Northeastern University and provides master program, Ph. D. program and postdoctoral mobile stations. To meet the needs of Liaoning's regional economic development, the laboratory pays close attention to the technologies of metal materials in the equipment manufacturing industry and focuses on the development of new materials and the improvement of traditional materials as well as the application of new materials in the equipment manufacturing industry. The laboratory achieves a series of first-class scientific research, and is becoming a high-class scientific research base at home and abroad, talent training base, innovation base for advanced materials and technoloy, and academic exchange base, which is providing technical support for the sustainable development of materials and equipment manufacturing in Liaoning Province.

Currently, the laboratory has 34 full professors (including 30 Ph.D. supervisors), 31 associate professors and 9 lecturers, in which 93.2% staff own Ph.D. degree and 24 staffs have oversea studying or working expereince. The laboratory is an innovation research group which is active in the field of international academic arena. Among the researchers, 6 staff were awarded of the National Science Founds for Distinguished Young Scholars (including 1 for the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars), 3 staff were awarded of the Scholars for State Project of "Hundred, Thousand, and Ten Thousand Talents"(hundred people level),1 staff was awarded of the National High-level Personnel of Special Support Program, 1 staff was selected for Yong top-notch talent. 15 were awarded of the title of New Century Excellent Talent, 1 was selected as Shenyang Outstanding Science and Technology researcher. The director of the laboratory is Professor Zuo Liang.

The main research fields of the laboratory include: high performance metal structure materials, advanced metal functional materials, high technology ceramics and powder metallurgy materials, processing technology of advanced materials, and material characterization and design technology.

1. High-performance metal structure materials

The resaerch focuses on microstructure design and control of new generation of high strength ultra deep punch IF steel, high purity ferritic stainless steel, titanium alloy for aerospace appplication, high-strength/high-toughness aluminum alloy, and high performance metal matrix composites. The relationship between composition, microstructure design, processing, modification and protection of steel materials is systmatically studied. The theory, method and technology for the design and control of composition and microstructure of advanced light alloy materials, such as advanced aluminum alloy and magnesium alloy, are developed to support local and national industrial development.

2. Advanced metal functional materials

We mainly explore the theory and processing technology of metal functional materials, including: Material functional effects,such as electricity, light, sound, heat, force and the physical nature of conversion effects; The relationships among composition, function and microstructure of fucnction materials and devices; Crystalline, nanocrystalline and amorphous soft magnetic materials; Metals, rare earths, nanocrystalline composite; Permanent magnets, giant magnetostrictive materials, magnetic impedance materials, special elastic alloys; Special functional materials for swelling, catalysis and hydrogen storage application. For new nano magnetic materials, high-performance rare earth permanent magnets, large magnetostrictive materials and high-quality silicon steel,we focus on the development of high-performance, low-cost functional materials and their applications in electronic instrumentation, computer, automatic control devices, power equipment for energy storage and conversion, information receiving and processing, recording and transmission components.

3. High performance ceramics and powder metallurgy materials

We mainly studies the relationship among the preparation process, microstructure and properties of advanced ceramics and powder metallurgy materials, including: chemical synthesis of various high performance nano oxide powders (Al2O3, YAG, Y2O3, PZT, PLZT, etc.), laser chemical synthesis SiC , Si3N4 nanoscale powders, dispersing technology of nanoscale powders, large batch and low cost preparation technology, preparation technology of transparent ceramic Al2O3, YAG, Y2O3 and other nano-ceramic, low cost preparation technology of high temperature structure ceramics (Al2O3, SiC, B4C, Si3N4).

4. Advanced materials processing

The researches are concentrated on laser application technology, electromagnetic processing technique, surface protection technology, welding and heat treatment’technology and equipment，including: Laser transformation hardening and alloying, remelting and coating, cutting and welding; Laser chemical synthesis of nanomaterials and energy materials; Influence of electric field, magnetic field and electromagnetic coupling field on the process of solid phase transition and recrystallization, and the control method and technology of microstructure; Thermal spraying and functionally graded coatings, hot-dip aluminized, low-temperature electroplating and electroless plating, vacuum physical vapor deposition, solid lubrication coating, water-based coatings and coating, test technology of coating and gas shielded argon arc welding, resistance welding and diffusion welding, new metal connection technology; Heat treatment of large pressure vessel after welding, chemical and vacuum heat treatment, welding and heat treatment automation.

5. Material characterization and design technology

The main research is materials texture, characterization of grain boundaries, alloy phase diagram and material design, includeing: The texture of polycrystalline materials, the quantitative analysis of grain boundary characteristics; The formation theory of deformation and recrystallization textures; The relationship between texture, grain boundary feature distribution and performance; The texture control and optimization of polycrystalline materials; Thermodynamic calculation of alloy phase diagrams; The design of microstructure and composition of IF steel, silicon steel, aluminum alloy, Ti-Al intermetallic compound, shape memory alloy, nano-structural duplex alloy, magnetic material and other high-performance materials in order to provide theoretical guidance for new materials development and traditional material improvement.

High-performance materials and advanced processing technology are developed in laboratory to service national demands in the filed of metallurgy, machinery, chemical engineering, transportation, national defense Under the support of national “973” Plan, national “863” plan, National Science and Technology Research plan, National Natural Science Fund, Defense Military project and a great number of industrial projects.

The building area of the laboratory ia up to 5600 square meters. The laboratory has a state-of-the-art resaerch equipment, such as transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope equipped with EBSD, X-ray diffractometer, high-precision asymmetrical roller, vacuum heat treatment system with strong magnetic field, medium-frequency vacuum melting furnace, vacuum high-temperature electric pulse sintering furnace, high-power Nd-YAG solid-state laser, intermediate frequency heat treatment system, general sheet forming performance tester, multifunctional vacuum coating machine, digital metallographic microscope, stereo microscope, micro-hardness tester, digital Vickers hardness tester, laser particle size analyzer, thermal analyzer, differential scanning calorimeter, thermal expansion analyzer, universal material testing machine, electronic tensile testing machine, friction/wear tester, AC/DC magnetic measuring instrument.

The laboratory pays attention to the students’innovative practice education and puts emphasis on cultivating the compound talents. Attending of frontier basic scientific research and national science and technology projects will help the students to understand the international science frontier and national development needs, to strengthen the sense of responsibility and mission. Through the use and mastery of modern scientific instruments and equipments, we should cultivate the students’ scientific research skills. The spirit of scientific cooperation will be cultivated by the participation of scientific and technological innovation teams.

The laboratory has international scientific and technological cooperation and exchange programs with many international renowned universities and research institutions, such as the University of Los Alamos, the University of Oxford, Queen Mary College of London, Tohoku University, Toyohashi Technical University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Western Australian University, Florida Atlantic University.