Research

1. The Institute of Forming Technology & Equipment (IFTE)

The Institute of Forming Technology & Equipment (IFTE), formerly known as the Department of Plasticity Technology, SJTU, can be traced back to the Teaching & Research Section of Forging & Stamping established in early 1950s. It was merged together with the School of Materials Science and Engineering (SMSE) on April 8, 2011 and renamed to the Institute of Forming Technology & Equipment of SMSE.

IFTE holds three auxiliary national-level scientific research bases, viz., National Engineering Research Center of Die & Mold CAD, National Mold Mobilization Center, and National Digital Manufacturing Technology Center. Under the leadership of Acadmician Xueyu RUAN, IFTE has established a multidisciplinary and multi-level research team, which is currently made up of more than forty full-time staffs including 1 academician, 8 professors, and 19 senior scientists. They are dedicating on the education, scientific research, and engineering, and combine the cutting-edge plastic forming technologies and digital manufacturing technologies effectually. 

   Main research directions:

   1) Sheet metal forming, such as stamping of advanced materials, sheet metal forging, incremental forming, superplastic forming, and diffusion bonding;

   2) Cold, warm, and hot extrusion and forging of metals;

   3) Extreme forming and manufacturing, for instance, heavy forging, micro-forming;

   4) Forming of non-metallic materials, including injection molding and forming of carbon fiber composites;

   5) Mechanical models, multidisciplinary numerical simulation, and design optimization for metal forming;

   6) Intelligent design, automated design, and information integration of metal forming processes, dies and molds;

   7) Digital technology and interdisciplinary research of medical-engineering interdisciplinary.

2. Research Institute of Composite Materials

Great progress has been made by the institute in the fundamental research fields of metallic matrix composite materials, polymer matrix composite materials and advanced functional composite materials. For application research, important contribution has also been made in key area of national security and advanced technology. High-performance aluminum and titanium matrix has become the one of irreplaceable key materials in some important national areas, which has been employed as thousands of key components and materials in national key projects, and has won national and provincial awards several times. For novel functional composite materials, the institute has gained numerous advanced achievements in the field of morph-genetic materials, novel nanocomposite materials, environmental materials and polymer matrix composites. The institute has published hundreds of research papers in high impact international journals and received extensive attention and high praise from domestic and foreign counterparts. The research results above have been reported by many famous international medias including Discovery, the American famous science channel, for over 600 times. The advanced functional composite materials have been put into application in the area of environment and energy conversion.

    Main research directions: 

    1) Aluminum matrix composite materials; 

    2) Titanium matrix composite materials; 

    3) Morpho-genetic and biomimetic composite materials; 

    4) Polymer matrix composite materials; 

    5) Novel functional composite materials; 

    6) Nano and energy materials.

3. Institute of Light Alloys

Institute of Light Alloys is formerly known as Non-ferrous alloy and Foundry Institute. As early as the 1950s, the institute has been engaged in non-ferrous alloys related research. Based on the Institute of Light Alloy, in March 2000, the State Development and Reform Commission (formerly State Development Planning Commission) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University jointly established the National Engineering Research Center for Light Alloy Precision Forming. In September 2009, Shanghai Science and Technology Commission approved the establishment of Shanghai Magnesium Materials and Applied Engineering Technology Research Center. 

After more than ten years of development, Institute of Light Alloys has now become an important research center of Mg alloy, Al alloy materials and products in China and the world. The current director of the institute is Academician Wenjiang DING, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Currently, there are more than 30 full-time staffs, including 7 full professors, 4 associate professors and senior engineers, 16 lecturers and 6 postdocs. The entire research team is divided into two parts: one part is located in the Minhang campus of SJTU, specializing in Mg alloy, Al alloy related basic research, the other part is located in Songjiang Hi-Tech Park, mainly engaged in research on engineering applications.
    Main research directions:
    1)  Advanced Mg alloy, Al alloy design;
    2)  Mg alloy, Al alloy corrosion and protection
    3)  Mg alloy, Al alloy precision forming technology;
    4)  Mg-based energy materials;
    5)  Mg alloy, Al alloy melt treatment;
    6)  Mg-based biomaterials

4. Institute of Advance Materials and Solidification (IAMS)

IAMS opened in 1999 by Prof. Yaohe ZHOU, owns 15 stuffs, including 1 academician of CAS, 1 winner of China National Funds for Distiguished Young Scientist, 3 full professors, 7 associate professors and 4 lectures. IAMS dedicates in both fundamental research of  solidification behavior of advanced materials and technical development of advanced solidification methods. The institute is capable of performing profound solidification investigations and materials characterization. She cooperates with famous groups in the field and top class characterization team such as the teams of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The funding sources of IAMS include MOST, NSFC of China and a few famous enterprises. Her theoretical work on non-equilibrium solidification, the control of solidification structure, magnetostrictive materials and amorphous alloys are quite  pioneer in the field, which are leading to more than 300 publications on a series high impact journals as Acta Materialia, Applied Physics Letters and so on. One graduated students won nominated National Prize for Doctorial Dissertation, 3 won Shanghai Prize.

    Research Interests:

    1)  Fundamental theory of solidification;

    2)  Solidification method for microstructural control

    3)  Magnetic functional materials;

    4)  Amorphous alloys;

    5)  Computational materials science;

    6)  Casting facility and processing development;

    7)  Welding metallurgy and weldability of advanced metal materials

5. Institute of Intelligent Welding and Precision Manufacturing

Institute of Intelligent Welding and Precision Manufacturing was founded in January 2015. It consists of three research laboratories, namely, Additive Manufacturing Restoration and Precision Finishing Laboratory, Virtual Welding Manufacturing Laboratory, and Intelligent Robotic Welding Laboratory; led by Chair Professor XiaoQi CHEN, Professor Hao LU, and Prof Shanben CHEN (Cheung Kong Scholar Program) respectively. The institute has three professors, two associate professor, three lecturers, several adjunct senior fellows, and a range of research collaborators.

The institute actively engages in the frontier research on advanced materials processing and intelligent manufacturing technologies to meet the stringent demands of precision surface finishing and structural integrity from aerospace, nuclear plants, shipbuilding and marine. Conduct scientific research on superalloy component restoration and re-manufacturing through additive manufacturing, 3D precision grinding/polishing, data fusion intelligent robotic welding, process condition monitoring and control, smart digital manufacturing, and virtual manufacturing and numerical simulation. Develop novel material processing technologies, and innovate smart manufacturing equipment.

    1)  Smart welding manufacturing

    2)  Welding numerical simulation & virtual manufacturing

    3)  Additive manufacturing restoration of complex surface

6. Welding and Laser Processing Institute

As one of the earliest research institutes that introduced welding discipline, the Welding and Laser Processing Institutes features a comprehensive research institute offering education, theoretical research, applied technology R&D and its engineering applications. The research fields, including materials joining, process control, system equipment and performance assessment, focus on meeting the requirement of ocean and ship, nuclear and thermal power, aerospace and other industries requiring large-scale equipment manufacturing. The institute, which was entitled as the International Science and Technology Cooperation Base by Ministry of Science and Technology, owns a laser processing laboratory (LPL) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) co-constructed by the China and Germany government and a Shanghai Key Laboratory of Materials Laser Processing and Modification. Also, it is Welding and Laser Processing Laboratory of Collaborative Innovation Center for High-tech Ships and Deep-sea Development Equipments. There are about 25 faculty and staff members and over 100 graduate students. 

In recent years, the institute has undertaken over 300 projects including, the National Key Project of Science and Technology, the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, international cooperation project, National Key Scientific and Technological Project and large enterprises project. It has won 28 prizes including the national, provincial and ministerial invention awards, and published more than 300 academic papers and 24 authorized invention patents. 

The Welding and Laser Processing Institute has become an important base for training high-tech personnel in the field of welding and laser processing with its motto of ‘Solid Theory, Practice, and Real One’. The achievements in the field of welding not only take a leading position in China but also receive the recognition of the international counterparts and have made prominent contributions in the national large engineering projects and national economy.
    Main research fields:
    1)  High-efficiency joining processes and quality monitoring;
    2)  Advanced surface modification and new materials development;
    3)  Welding intelligent control and system equipment;
    4)  Reliability assessment of welding joints and structures.

7. Institute of Solidification Science and Technology(ISST)

    1)  Aluminum melt purification

    2)  High-temperature alloy precision casting technology 

    3)  Metal solidification structure control

    4)  High pure metal electronic material preparation

8. The Institute of Materials Modification and Modeling (IMMM)

The Institute of Materials Modification and Modeling (IMMM) was established by Academician Jiansheng PAN, a member of Chinese Academy of Engineering. IMMM can be dated back to the teaching and research group of heat treatment of metallic materials, which was set up in the 1950s. 

With the key numerical simulation technology for coupling multiple fields applied in the complex heat treatment process (such as the temperature, phase transformation, stress/strain, chemical concentration, fluid, electromagnetism, etc.), IMMM focuses on the development of innovate heat treatment process, computer-aided designing of heat treatment equipment, intelligent control in heat treatment process. The research work in IMMM has been extended to multiscale simulation of the mechanical and phase transformational behavior of materials.

IMMM has 1 member of Chinese Academy of Engineering, 4 full/associate professors, 4 assistant professors/engineers, 3 postdocs, 15 PhD. candidates and 6 master’s degree candidates.
    Main research interests:
    1)  Multiple-fields coupled numerical simulation of heat treatment process;
    2)  Modeling of microstructure–property relationships of materials;
    3)  Designing and optimization of heat treatment process and equipment;
    4)  Multiscale simulation of microstructure and mechanical behavior of materials;
    5)  R&D of advanced steels;
    6)  Additive manufacturing of advanced alloys.

9. Institute of Special Materials (ISM)

Institute of Special Materials (ISM) mainly consists of 18 research fellows. Prof. Yaohe ZHOU, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, acts as the adviser, and Haowei WANG, Cheung Kong Scholar Chair Professor, is the leader. 

The research subjects of ISM are mainly focused on the forming and processing of special materials. In recent years, some dramatic breakthroughs have been achieved, specialized in the fields of in-situ synthesis technology, interface and performance, as well as forming and processing, which provide a new magnificently meaningful methodology to the developing and application of metal matrix composites (MMCs). These research achievements have been applied to national defense, electronics, aerospace and aviation, serving as the critical materials for some components and have been identified as the international advanced level by the Ministry of Education, contributing to the gain of the First Prize of Technological Invention awarded by Ministry of Education in 2013. The ISM has undertaken more than 30 major projects including Key Research Projects, National Natural Science Foundation of China and International Cooperation Projects and the total research funding of ISM is more than 150 million Yuan. The ISM has published more than 100 research papers, and been awarded more than 60 Chinese invention patents.

   Major projects:

   Core research projects-- In-situ synthesized Aluminum matrix composites, cast Aluminum matrix composites, Deformed Aluminum matrix composites. 

   Advanced characteristic projects-- Functional composite materials, high damping composite material, zero expansion composites, high thermal conductive composites, 3D forming of composite materials.

10. Institute of Phase Transformation and Microstructure Design

The Institute is composed of two research teams, Advanced Steel Research Institute and frontier research center for materials structure.  

The research team of "advanced steel and material" was established on the basis of the research group "Theory of Phase Transformation and Its Applications ", which was assembled by Academician Zuyao XU in 1998. Currently there are 3 professors / researchers, 2 associate professors, 3 lecturers, 2 assistant researchers, 1 senior engineer and 2 engineers. In the past three years, more than 80 SCI papers were published in the journal of Acta Mater. and other international mainstream journals. The institute led the 13th Five-Year key R & D project "Research and Development of Special Steel Based on Rational Design for High-end Equipment" and was responsible for the National Natural Science Key Fund, focusing on research and development of the third generation of Automobile steels, nickel-based low-temperature steels and wear-resistant steels. The institute owns more than 40 invention patents on a new heat treatment quenching-partitioning-tempering (QPT) process, room temperature mercury-free liquid alloy, wear-resistant pure jewelry gold, processing and preparation of electric pulse materials and so on.             

The frontier research center for materials structure (FRCMS) was established in 2014. The FRCMS team focuses on microstructure and properties of advanced materials and development of advanced functional materials recent years. Currently, the FRCMS includes 2 professors (1 tenure professors), 4 associate professors (2 tenure track associate professors) and 1 senior engineer. The research group has made pioneering contributions to materials research - including microstructure and properties of bulk metallic glasses, three-dimensional nanoporous metals, deformation behaviors of nanostructured metals, superhardness ceramics, and published more than 30 papers in high impact journals such as Science, Nature Nanotech, PRL , Nat. Commun., Adv Mater, JACS, Ang. Chem. Int. Ed., Acta Mater, etc.

    Main areas of research: 

    1)  Design and development of advanced steels and light metal materials and their microstructural design;  

    2)  Metallic materials with intelligent phase transformations;   

    3)  The mechanism of the correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties of materials;

    4)  Processing of electric pulse materials and its mechanism;

    5)  Microscopic analysis on the structure of advanced materials 

    6)  Non-equilibrium and nanostructured materials

11. High Performance Metallic Materials Research Center

High Performance Metallic Materials Research Center(HPMM) is mainly focused on research in high temperature heat-resistant materials and metallic function materials. In response to the growing demand for large aircraft in China , HPMM has conducted research on the design theory and processing technology of single crystal high temperature alloy blade and deformed high-temperature alloy turbine disk. In response to the development in supercritical steam turbine generator set and nuclear power unit, HPMM has conducted research on the strengthening mechanism and structure stability of advanced heat-resistant steel. In response to the development of new energy vehicles and wind power, HPMM has conducted research on high performance rare earth permanent magnet materials to reduce the use of rare earth resources. Using theoretical simulation and microstructure analysis, HPMM has analyzed the material composition and structure of high performance alloys and compounds and explored the new high temperature strengthening mechanism and low cost, high performance means from the perspective of control of crystal structure and lattice defects, in order to find a way to realize efficient energy transformation from the physical nature.

HPMM has long undertaken important research projects of local governments and worked closely with famous enterprises both at home and abroad, such as Baosteel, Shanghai Electric, Hitachi Metals, TOYOTA, Huaneng Group and so on. HPMM has accumulated rich experience and achieved corresponding results in nickel base alloy and advanced steel materials. HPMM was honored with the first prize in science and technology of the department for education, second prize in progress, third prize in invention of Shanghai science and technology.
    Major research direction:
    1)  Nickel base superalloy, heat-resistant steel;high temperature strengthening and the composition,processing and organization of the alloy.
    2)  Rare earth permanent magnetic material: grain boundary diffusion on magnets, hot-deformed nanocrystalline permanent magnets, single crystal magnets.
    3)  Friction stir welding.

12. Institute of Electronic Materials and Technology (IEMT)

Institute of Electronic Materials and Technology (IEMT), which is affiliated to School of Materials Science and Engineering (SMSE) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), was established in 2003 by the former dean Prof. Dali MAO and distinguished prof. Xiangfu ZONG. IEMT’s excellence is ensured by its eminent innovative team, which consists of two professors (Prof. Liancheng ZHAO, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering; Prof. Ming LI, the director of the institute), five associate professors and more than 50 graduate students. The laboratory of IEMT now covers an area of 500 m2, including a 200m2 clean room, which is fully equipped with a wide range of advanced facilities for fabrication and characterization of electronic materials.

In recent five years, IEMT has undertaken more than 50 research projects, including National Science and Technology Major Project, International Cooperation Fund from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the key projects of the National Natural Science Fund, and some cooperation fund with international and domestic and enterprise. IEMT has acquired a series of achievements in the area of TSV copper interconnect materials and technology, materials and reliability of the lead frame, the technology of high-density and low-temperature solid-state bonding, and nano-array materials, which attract extensive attention from the academia at home and abroad.

IEMT has established long-term collaborations with many famous universities and companies, including University of Tokyo (Japan), Waseda University (Japan), Hong Kong Institute of Applied Science and Technology, the Siemens, Sandisk, Air Liquide, Infineon, SMIC, Huawei technologies Co. Ltd., Shanghai Sinyang Semiconductor Materials Co., Ltd., and Huafeng Aluminum Industrial Co., Ltd. and etc.

13. Institute of Frontier Materials

Institute of Frontier Materials consist of four groups, which are the high-temperature coating materials, solar conversion materials, advanced powder metallurgy materials and technology, and energy and environment materials. Now there are 13 faculty members.

Main research interests

    Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs):

    1)  Synthesis and characterization of plasma spraying (PS) and electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) TBCs.  

    2)  Design and application of high-performance bond coats.

    3)  Investigation on next-generation fuel in high-temperature gas cooled reactor.

    4)  Failure mechanism and life prediction for engines.

    5)  Research on the fuel cladding materials for the safety and protection of nuclear reactor.

    Powder metallurgy:

    1)  New-type high temperature metal matrix ultrafine structural materials and the powder metallurgy manufacturing and the precision forming technology. 

    2)  Metal recycling low-energy powder metallurgical solid regeneration technology.

    3)  Nano and ultrafine metal matrix bulk materials and the powder metallurgy manufacturing.

    4)  New-type metal materials (such as high entropy alloys).

    Energy and environment materials： 

    1)  Heterogeneous catalysis materials and photoelectrocatalysis materials.

    2)  Energy storage materials.

    3)  High conductivity and high catalytic activity graphene matrix composite materials.

    4)  Perovskite Solar Cells

    5)  Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

14. Lab management centre

Based on the National Key Discipline of materials science and engineering, and supported by the  Project 211 and Project 985 from Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Lab management center serves as a laboratory platform for teaching, interdisciplinary research and public with its advantages in equipment, talents and service.

Lab Management Center, consisting of Testing and Analysis Center and Teaching Lab, has state of art instruments and equipments of 27 sets formaterial microstructure analysis, qualitative and quantitative analysis, material performance measurement and material quality comprehensive assessment work in physics, chemitry, materials, nano electronics, energy, environment, etc.

Testing and Analysis Center are composed of electron microscope laboratory and mechanics laboratory, and are equipped withJEM2100F high resolution FETEM, JEM2100 LaB6 TEM, JSM7600F FESEM, JSM6460 Z20/Z50/Z100 low temperature electronic universal testing machine, W+B dynamic fatigue test machine, FISHION and GATAN sample preparation equipment, and nondestructive testing equipment.

Teaching Center undertakes materials laboratory teching work for  undergraduates mainly. It also carries out part of the laboratory teaching for graduate students. It has desktop SEMs, static mechanical equipments, physical performance equipments, metallographic sample preparation and optical imaging system, heat treatment equipments and welding robot equipments. Laboratories for polymer materials biological materials, polymer and metal 3D printing are under buliding.