Laboratory of Material Strength is one of the prestigious discipline in XJTU, and the discipline has a long history and is world leading in fundamental research and engineering applications. In the last decade, the Laboratory emphasizes more on the cutting-edge research topics as well as the researches for national major needs, and contributes a lot for the development of national economy and materials science. The Laboratory is comprised of two innovation groups: one is the “Innovation group of National Natural Science Foundation of China” led by Prof. Jun Sun, and the other is the “Innovation research team of ministry of education of China” led by Prof. Xiao-Bing Ren. The Laboratory is equipped with a wide range of facilities for materials synthesis, microstructure characterization and mechanical property measurements. The institute has close collaboration on the scientific research and post-graduates with top research institutes and universities worldwide, such as, Cambridge University, Aston University, National institute for Materials Science of Japan, The University of Toronto, McMaster University, Queen’s University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Ohio State University. Current research focuses of the center are:

(1)   The size effects of materials deformation and phase transformation: mainly investigating the influence of internal size (i.e. grain size, film thickness) and the geometric dimensions on the mechanical and phase transformation behaviors;

(2)   Novel smart materials with high performance: mainly investigating the phase transformation behaviors of ferroic materials and novel two-dimensional materials, and also tailoring the novel properties.

(3)   Developing new structural materials and characterizing the mechanical properties and service behaviors