Eliminating cracks is a big challenge for the selective laser melting (SLM) process of low-weldable Nickel-based superalloy. In this work, three scanning strategies of the snake, stripe partition, and chessboard partition were utilized to prepare René 104 Ni-based superalloy, of which the cracking behavior and the residual stress were investigated. The results showed that the scanning strategies had significant effects on the cracking, residual stress, and relative density of the SLMed René 104 superalloy. The scanning strategies with more partitions boosted the emergence of cracks, as high-density cracks occurred in these samples. The overlapping zone (OZ) of the scanning partition was also susceptible to cracking, which increased the size, number, and density of the cracks. The cracking performance was relatively moderate in the snake-scanned samples, while that in the chessboard-partition-scanned samples was the most severe. It is concluded that the partition scanning strategies induced more cracks in the SLMed René 104 superalloy, of which the residual stress was apparently reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to design scanning strategies with optimized scanning partitions and overlaps to avoid cracking and acquire a high-quality, near fully dense, low-weldable Nickel-based superalloy using SLM.

Achieving a good match between strength and conductivity is a challenge of the development of the high-performance Cu-Cr-Nb alloy for aerospace and fusion energy. The effect of heat treatment on Cr₂Nb phase, strength and conductivity of spark plasma sintered (SPSed) Cu-2Cr-1Nb (at%) alloy was investigated. The results illustrated that Cr₂Nb phase of Cu-2Cr-1Nb alloy can be regulated by heat treatment, multi-scale Cr₂Nb phase with sizes of 0.10–0.50 μm, 30–100 nm and less than 30 nm was obtained, and the strength and conductivity were significantly increased after heat treatment at 500 °C for 2 h, the room temperature tensile strength and conductivity were 332 MPa and 86.7% IACS, 2.5% and 34.8% higher than those of as-SPSed alloy; the tensile strength at 700 °C was 76 MPa. Increasing heat treatment temperature and time, the tensile strength of the alloy was reduced by 1.5%, 4.3% and 12.3% after heat treatment at 500 °C, 700 °C and 950 °C for 72 h. The good match between strength and conductivity of Cu-Cr-Nb alloy was obtained by reducing the content of alloying elements (Cr and Nb) and microstructure regulation. This approach can be used to prepare structural/functional materials with excellent strength and conductivity.

Engineering the surface orientation of face-centered cubic (fcc) metals to the close-packed {111} plane can significantly enhance their oxidation resistance. However, owing to the synergetic effect of surface energy density ($\dot{\gamma }$) and strain energy density ($\omega$), such close-packed surface orientation can currently only be achieved by atomic-level thin film epitaxy or monocrystallization of polycrystalline metals. In this study, we characterized the microstructures of pure copper (Cu) foil and two types of graphene-coated Cu (Gr/Cu) foils and observed a 12~14 nm thick reconstructed surface layer with the {111} orientation in the high-temperature deposited Gr/{001} Cu surface. Combining the statistical results with thermodynamic analysis, we proposed a surface melting-solidification mechanism for the reconstruction of the Cu surface from {001} orientation to {111} orientation. This process is dominated by Gr/Cu interfacial energy and is particularly promoted by high-temperature surface melting. We also validated such a mechanism by examining Cu surfaces coated by h-BN (hexagonal boron nitride) and amorphous carbon. Our findings suggest a possible strategy to enhance the surface properties of fcc metals via engineering surface crystallography.