Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) is an international journal which presents compact reports of significant, original and timely research reflecting progress in metallurgy, materials science and engineering, including materials physics, physical metallurgy, and process metallurgy. Coverage extends to the fields of mining and ore dressing, production metallurgy, foundry, metal working, testing methods, powder metallurgy, composites, welding and joining, oxidation and corrosion. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) is sponsored by the Chinese Society for Metals, and managed by the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences.