Recently, XJTU doctoral candidates Gao Yihan, Yang Chong and young teacher Zhang Jinyu of the State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, under the guidance of professor Liu Gang and professor Sun Jun, cooperated with professor Evan Ma from Johns Hopkins University and professor Cao Lingfei from Chongqing University, achieving a breakthrough in the research and development of novel Al-Cu alloys with creep resistance at high temperature. Based on the microstructural design of atom segregation at nanoprecipitate interfaces, they analyzed the interaction of different solutes at the atom level. Using thermodynamic and dynamical analysis, they selected common Al-Cu alloys in combination with Sc-microalloying mechanism. With carefully designed heat treatment, they realized Sc atoms’high-concentration segregation at strengthening Al2Cu precipitate interfaces, like a coat of strengthening Al2Cu precipitates, which remarkably suppresses the coarsening of the precipitates at high temperatures.

Partial research results were published in Materials Research Letters7(2019)18-25. Currently, this material has drawn close attention from the industry. The Aviation Industry Corporation of China and the State Grid Corporation of China expressed hope in promoting the industrial application of the material.