Researchers from the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMR, CAS), have published an invited perspective article to Nature Materials, presenting strategic insights to address the persistent challenge of fatigue failure in metallic materials.

The article, titled "Fatigue in metals and alloys" and authored by Profs. PAN Qingsong and LU Lei, systematically reviews the theoretical framework and historical development of fatigue research in metals. It proposes a series of strategies to address fatigue failures in extreme environments and provides key guidance for design future fatigue-resistant materials.

Fatigue failure, often described as the "silent killer" of engineering materials, poses a severe and persistent threat to the safety and reliability of critical sectors like aerospace and energy infrastructure. Despite nearly two centuries of stufy, it remains a formidable challenge in materials science, especially under the complex cyclic loads encountered in extreme environments such as deep space, the deep sea, and nuclear reactors.

The article advocates a dual-path strategy to break through current research bottlenecks: fundamental studies should focus on fatigue damage mechanisms, while technological innovation should integrate material design, processing, characterization, and simulation across the entire development chain.