In September 2026, five papers co-authored by lecturers of Department No. 9 were published. Click on a paper title to open its description.
1. Review of amorphous ribbon brazing filler metals (Materials)
A. Ivannikov, S. Terekhova, A. Suchkov, I. Fedotov, N. Popov, I. Klyushin, P. Morokhov, O. Sevryukov. Amorphous Ribbon Brazing Filler Metals: Selection Criteria, Glass Formation, and Transient Liquid Phase Bonding. Materials, 2026, 19(19), 4123. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma19194123
Amorphous ribbon filler metals are produced by rapid melt quenching and form a distinct class of high-temperature brazing materials. The review systematizes four industrial families of such fillers (copper–phosphorus, titanium, zirconium and nickel based) together with the closely related iron-based fillers. The authors formulate five criteria that an alloy must meet at the same time to become a commercial filler metal: brazing temperature, glass formation, compatibility with the base material, ribbon manufacturability, and cost and safety. The criteria are combined into a single checklist with quantitative thresholds and applied to compare the families and to select a filler metal for a specific task. Transient liquid phase bonding runs through the review as a unifying thread. The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project 25-19-00778).
2. 3D printing of a Zr-based bulk metallic glass (Next Materials)
E. A. Bazdnikina, A. N. Suchkov, K. A. Popova, J. V. Bondareva, D. G. Firsov, B. S. Voloskov, N. E. Fedyanin, V. V. Mikhalchik, A. A. Bazhenov, S. A. Evlashin, I. V. Kozlov, O. N. Sevryukov. Laser powder bed fusion of Zr-based bulk metallic glass using flake-shaped crystalline powder: Printability, microstructure, and performance. Next Materials, 2026, 13, 103533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nxmate.2026.103533
The paper deals with producing bulk amorphous material from the Zr35Ti30Be27.5Cu7.5 alloy by laser powder bed fusion. Following successful results with spherical powder, the study tests flake-shaped crystalline powder, which is cheaper to produce. Optimized printing parameters gave X-ray amorphous samples with crystalline inclusions smaller than 1 µm. At a laser power of 60 W and a scanning speed of 900 mm/s the compressive strength reached 1612 ± 90 MPa, comparable to samples from spherical powder, so this mode suits both powder types. The work was carried out jointly with Skoltech and is open access.
3. Chromium coatings on the inner surface of fuel cladding (Nuclear Engineering and Design)
R. Sh. Isayev, G. N. Elmanov, P. S. Dzhumaev, I. A. Naumenko, V. I. Polskij, A. V. Markin. Microstructure and hydrogen content of electrodeposited chromium coating on the inner surface of EP823-SH steel cladding. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 2026, 459, 115211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2026.115211
A chromium coating on the inner surface is proposed to improve the corrosion resistance of fuel cladding made of EP823-SH ferritic-martensitic steel. The study examines the microstructure and hydrogen content of chromium electrodeposited inside cladding tubes with an inner diameter of 8.7 mm. An electrolyte temperature of 30–35 °C and a current density of up to 0.2 A/cm² give a crack-free coating with an equiaxed structure, while a hotter electrolyte produces a columnar structure. The coating takes up about 2 at.% hydrogen, but annealing at 420 °C removes it completely, so chromium plating does not degrade the original properties of the cladding.
4. Cr2AlC MAX-phase coatings on 316L steel (Surface and Coatings Technology)
E. S. Chubieva, P. S. Dzhumaev, E. L. Korenevski. Interfacial diffusion and high-temperature oxidation mechanisms of Cr2AlC MAX-phase coatings on 316L stainless steel: Role of a Cr3C2 diffusion barrier. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2026, 539, 133933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2026.133933
Cr2AlC MAX-phase coatings are promising for high-temperature corrosion protection, but their service life is limited by interfacial diffusion and structural degradation on heating. The authors deposited Cr2AlC coatings on 316L steel by magnetron sputtering and compared the oxidation of a single-layer coating and a duplex Cr3C2/Cr2AlC coating in air at 900 and 1000 °C. In the single-layer coating, aluminum diffuses outward, the coating intermixes with the steel and the MAX phase decomposes. A Cr3C2 interlayer suppresses this mass transport: the coating/steel interface stays sharp up to 900 °C, and iron penetration at 1000 °C is reduced by about a factor of three.
5. Residual lifetime of VVER-440 reactor pressure vessel steels (Journal of Nuclear Materials)
E. A. Kuleshova, E. D. Malinovskiy, S. V. Fedotova. Microstructure-informed computational and experimental evaluation of the residual lifetime of VVER-440 reactor pressure vessel steels under irradiation after the third recovery annealing. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2026, 633, 157049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2026.157049
First-generation VVER-440 reactor pressure vessels were designed for 30 years, and recovery annealing has already extended their service life to 60 years. The paper assesses whether it can be extended once more after a third annealing. The base metal and weld metal were studied by transmission and scanning electron microscopy and Auger spectroscopy, radiation hardening was predicted with machine learning, and phosphorus grain boundary segregation was calculated by kinetic modeling. After repeated annealing, the rates of hardening and phosphorus accumulation drop noticeably, and according to the authors the vessels can be safely operated for at least another 10–15 years.