journal article·2026-04Open access

Transforming Grain‐Boundary Brittle Precipitates to Ductility Pathways in Complex Concentrated Alloy

Zhixin Li, Xiao‐Tong Li, Zhaoqi Chen, Yushan Geng, Hao Gong, Sijia Hu, Wenli Song, Wanshun Xia, Chuanzheng Li, Linfa Peng, Yue Fan, Pengfei Guan, Bo Zhang, Weihua Wang, Yong Yang

Advanced Science· Volume 13· Issue 19

Abstract

ABSTRACT Conventional wisdom holds that hard grain‐boundary (GB) precipitates embrittle structural alloys by acting as crack initiation sites. In this work, we overturn this paradigm through atomic‐scale interfacial engineering, transforming brittle GB phases into ductility pathways in a machine‐learning identified model complex concentrated alloy. By precisely tailoring thermomechanical processing, we fabricated compositionally and structurally graded interfaces (GIs) that enable sequential plasticity activation and coordinated deformation across GBs. This interfacial architecture converts an intrinsically brittle multi‐phase alloy into a ductile material, achieving an exceptional yield strength of ∼1.2 GPa with a total elongation of ∼20%. The achieved strength‐ductility synergy, realized via interfacial plasticity programming, establishes a generalizable materials design strategy to overcome the persistent challenge of GB embrittlement in precipitation‐strengthened alloys.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Microstructure and mechanical properties · Machine Learning in Materials Science · Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Steels

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Mechanical Engineering City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong P. R. China

Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory Dongguan Guangdong P. R. China

Advanced Interdisciplinary Science Research (AiR) Center Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering Chinese Academy of Sciences Ningbo P. R. China

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Marine Materials Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering Chinese Academy of Sciences Ningbo P. R. China

State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences Lanzhou P. R. China

Institute of High Energy Physics Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) Beijing P. R. China

Spallation Neutron Source Science Center Dongguan Guangdong P. R. China

Institute of Superalloys Science and Technology School of Materials Science and Engineering Zhejiang University Hangzhou Zhejiang P. R. China

State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai P. R. China

Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan USA

Beijing Computational Science Research Center Beijing P. R. China

Dongguan Institute of Materials Science and Technology Chinese Academy of Sciences Dongguan China

Department of Materials Science and Engineering City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong P. R. China

Funding

National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars · National Natural Science Foundation of China

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