REWIND THE HISTORY OF MATERIALS
Integration of experiments, FEM, and synchrotron X-ray CT.
Tracing the origins of deformation and fracture in structural materials.
We train a U-Net on finite-element simulations of virtual metallic microstructures. Given a real microstructure observed after deformation or fracture, the model reconstructs the stress and plastic-strain fields immediately before fracture directly on the observed image.
Tensile tests with in-situ geometry measurement are coupled with FEM to identify flow stress and ductile-fracture conditions up to the onset of fracture. This reveals material weakening under high stress triaxiality.
Simulations are calibrated against measured cut-edge profiles to map residual stress, ductile-fracture conditions, and resistance to delayed fracture at high resolution.
At SPring-8, internal damage, cracks, and hydrogen embrittlement are observed nondestructively in three dimensions and over time, revealing where and how fracture begins.
ISIJ International 66 (2026) →Our work builds on eleven years of industrial R&D experience and addresses complex deformation and fracture through both experiments and numerical analysis. We now integrate these approaches with AI in image-based inverse analysis, carrying projects from collaboration through publication.
A student-led paper, with Matsuno as corresponding author, integrating observed cut-edge profiles and FEM through a quasi-nonparametric ductile-fracture trajectory.
FEM data from representative volume elements are used to construct a pseudo-inverse analysis for real microstructural images.
A post-mortem framework combining microstructural observation with mesoscale FEM.
Large-deformation flow-stress curves are identified for 980 MPa- and 1.5 GPa-class steel sheets.
Peer-reviewed original research articles
Led as first or corresponding author2021–2025: 14 papers, including 5 in Q1 journals
Including 24 as lead inventor
Including indirect costsJPY 122M over the last 5 years (2022–2026)
Using synchrotron X-ray CT and 3D/4D image analysis, Shimizu studies hydrogen embrittlement and ductile fracture in aluminum alloys and develops strategies to prevent them. His work combines nanoscale characterization, first-principles calculations, and data science, extending from structural materials to hydrogen-permeable membranes.
Synchrotron 3D/4D imaging and hydrogen-distribution analysis established prevention strategies based on hydrogen trapping by Mn-bearing particles and T-phase precipitation.
Synchrotron nano-CT at SPring-8, combined with data science, visualizes the initiation and growth of nanovoids and precipitate-interface decohesion.
Dynamic TEM revealed how P and Cu additions control nucleation and growth, leading to a heat-treatment method that suppresses self-heating during nanocrystallization.
Synchrotron X-ray CT is applied to aluminum alloys, carbon materials, and cast iron to analyze ductile fracture and fatigue-crack growth in three dimensions over time.
Peer-reviewed original research articles
Led as first or corresponding author2021–2025: 9 papers, including 5 in Q1 journals
Registered patent
Born in 1979
Investigates plastic deformation and ductile fracture in metallic materials through experiments and simulation. His current focus is CAE informatics: AI-assisted, image-based inverse analysis that reconstructs mechanical fields from observed microstructures.
Born in 1984
Uses synchrotron X-ray CT to observe internal damage, cracks, and hydrogen embrittlement nondestructively in three dimensions. The work extends to time-resolved 4D damage analysis in high-strength aluminum alloys, hydrogen-permeable materials, and steels.
The Matsuno and Shimizu groups work as one laboratory. Students move between mechanical testing, microscopy, and numerical analysis according to the problem they are tackling.
Our 21 current students come from nine prefectures across Japan.
Students have received awards in six consecutive years from 2021 to 2026, including society awards, student encouragement awards, presentation awards, and NIMS Awards.
We publish the career destinations of every graduate student from 2018 through 2026. Alumni have moved into mobility, materials, heavy industry, and electronics.
After completing his master’s degree, Matsuno spent 11 years at the predecessor of today’s Nippon Steel Corporation and has served as a university faculty member since 2016. His industrial background gives him a practical understanding of industry challenges, which he seeks to develop into academic research. He also brings extensive experience in collaborative research from both the corporate and university sides. Please feel free to contact us, even about immediate, practical issues.
Matsuno was invited to speak at “Frontiers in Material Constitutive Laws and Forming Simulation for Sheet Metals — A Symposium Honoring Professor Toshihiko Kuwabara,” held at Denkoku no Mori in Yonezawa, where he presented “Identification of Local Work-Hardening Properties Using a Diameter-Measuring Round-Bar Tensile Test.” Unable to take a selfie, he instead photographed this figure in Noh costume displayed in front of the venue’s Noh stage.
Mr. Kimura and Mr. Ishii from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries visited our laboratory for a tour.
We redesigned our website!
A special issue of Plastos titled “Revolutionary CAE Informatics: Transforming the Manufacturing,” organized by Matsuno, was published. Matsuno also contributed a review article.
DOI ↗
We had the opportunity to tour Toyota Motor Corporation’s headquarters plant with three laboratory students. Our alumni Matsubara and Fukuda joined us for the dinner and the after-party.
Matsuno was invited to speak at a technical forum organized by the Kyushu Branch of the Japan Society for Technology of Plasticity.
We attended the 75th Annual Meeting of the Society of Materials Science, Japan, at the Ishikawa Industrial Promotion Center for the first time. Takeda, a first-year master’s student, presented “Visualization of Internal Heterogeneous Deformation and Damage in DP Steel Using Synchrotron CT” in Organized Session 3 on materials-strength evaluation by X-rays and neutrons. We forgot to take a photograph at the venue, so this entry instead records the kitokito set meal we had inside Kanazawa Station.
Eguchi, who graduated in March 2026, and Ueda received Student Encouragement Awards from the Japan Society for Technology of Plasticity.
Faculty site ↗
We held a welcome party for the laboratory’s new members.
Takeda, a first-year master’s student, and Matsuno conducted three-dimensional EBSD measurements at the Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University.
A paper by Associate Professor Shimizu received an award from the Japan Institute of Metals and Materials.
Award list ↗A paper led by Eguchi, who graduated in academic year 2025, was published from our collaborative research with JFE Steel.
DOI ↗We started keeping a log of laboratory activities. We will do our best to keep it updated. — Matsuno
