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Nambu Lab
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The lab creates strong, ductile metallic materials by controlling material microstructure across multiple length scales.
AboutAbout the lab
Controlling microstructure to achieve both strength and ductility.
The Nambu Lab studies the properties of metallic materials, including steels, and their fine internal structure (microstructure).
The properties of a material depend not only on the elements it contains but also, to a large extent, on its microstructure.
The lab controls microstructure across multiple length scales, and layers and combines materials, to create new metallic materials that achieve both strength and ductility.
The lab also studies new joining methods that can bond dissimilar materials together, as well as separate them.
Key terms
- Microstructure
- The fine internal structure of a metal, such as the arrangement of crystal grains and phases. It determines the properties of the material.
- Ductility
- The ability of a material to be stretched or bent without breaking.
- Martensite
- A microstructure formed, for example, when steel is cooled rapidly. It is key to strengthening steel.
NewsLab news
A master's student received the Outstanding Master's Thesis Award in Materials Engineering
Associate Professor Nambu received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Japan Institute of Metals and Materials
A master's student received a Poster Encouragement Award at the annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan and the Japan Institute of Metals and Materials
A master's student received a Poster Excellence Award at the annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan and the Japan Institute of Metals and Materials
A doctoral student received the Research Presentation Encouragement Award and the Excellence Award from the Japan Heat Treatment Association
ResearchResearch themes
The lab aims to create new materials with greatly enhanced performance by controlling the microstructure of metallic materials, including steels, at nano, micro, and macro scales, and by repeatedly applying compositing, multilayering, and refinement. To this end, the lab works on understanding and controlling the mechanisms by which microstructures form, and on understanding and controlling the interfaces between different phases and between different materials.
*Illustrative imageHigh-strength, high-ductility multilayer metallic materials
The lab combines high-strength regions with layers that deform easily, achieving very high strength and ductility at the same time. By controlling the fabrication process, microstructure, and thermodynamic properties, the lab investigates deformation behavior.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms of phase transformations in steel
The lab aims to clarify the transformation mechanisms that produce martensite and bainite, microstructures that are key to strengthening steel, and to use this understanding to control microstructure.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms of joining dissimilar materials
High-strength steels and dissimilar materials have long been very difficult to weld. The lab develops new joining technologies that bond materials at low temperatures and in short times, and investigates the mechanisms by which the joint (interface) forms.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Nambu Lab include faculty, administrative staff, postdoctoral researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorShoichi NambuPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “EBSD orientation map of ferrous lath martensite” Tiberio / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- High-strength, high-ductility multilayer metallic materials: “Katana - showing alternating layers” Zaereth / Public domain (cropped)
- Mechanisms of phase transformations in steel: “Martensite” Scm83x / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Mechanisms of joining dissimilar materials: “JALBpuntlas1” JALB Specials, Geraldo van den Heuij
（オランダ語版ウィキペディア） / Public domain (cropped) - Related lab (Edagawa Lab (Strength and Physical Properties of Materials)): “Icosahedrite Diffraction Pattern” Paul Steinhardt / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yamabe-Mitarai Lab): “Turbine blades ( )” Håkan Dahlström from Malmö, Sweden / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Inoue Lab(Physical Metallurgy Lab／Steels and Structural Materials)): “BrutTrempe316L” Q2Q7 / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Yoshida-Masuda Lab): “Silicon nitride Si3N4 bearing balls 1–20 mm” Lucasbosch / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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