3D-Printed Machine Elements and Mechanical Devices

Dear Colleagues,

Machine elements are key components for the development of mechanical devices in numerous fields of engineering, which today face stringent design challenges to meet the demand for increased system performance, customization, aesthetics, and light weight with cost-effective solutions. Additive manufacturing and 3D printing technologies are rapidly changing machinery engineering as we classically know it, allowing for greater creativity and freedom in machine design innovation and maintenance. The effective benefits of far-reaching design freedom in terms of geometry and materials open up answers to many new complex technical questions and scientific uncertainties that go beyond basic design and functional knowledge and require engineering skills and scientific analysis.

This Special Issue aims to bring together theoretical studies or applied work on the integrated use of state-of-the-art software tools for digital machine design, engineering, and manufacturing used to design and manufacture advanced 3D-printed machine elements and mechanical devices that exploit spatial design freedom, advanced materials, and unconventional manufacturing processes. Submissions should make a visible contribution to the state of the art and may include advances in fundamental theories, computational techniques, additive manufacturing materials and techniques, specialized 3D printing hardware, experimental testing (material, element, and system level), and engineering use case studies. The technologies developed can be used to replace or redesign conventional machine elements in maintenance engineering, or to develop entirely new monolithic mechanical design concepts for critical subsystems or devices that require less assembly and component integration. Topics include but are not limited to the following research themes on 3D printing technologies:

• 3D digital scanning and modeling;
• Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing;
• Complex shapes and lattice designs;
• Topology and shape optimization;
• 3D printing pre-processing and workflow;
• Design for manufacturing and assembly;
• Printing materials and printing systems;
• Simulation of additive manufacturing processes;
• Printing of metal or carbon-fiber composites;
• Multimaterial printing;
• Multiscale and multiphysics material models;
• Nonlinear material and geometric behavior;
• Viscoelasticity and damping;
• Sensing, multifunctionality, and 4D printing;
• Noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH);
• Thermomechanical analysis;
• Fatigue and concentrated stresses;
• Tribological behavior;
• Power losses and machine heating;
• Print quality, material properties, and post-processing;
• Ecodesign and sustainability issues.

Dr. César M. A. Vasques
Dr. Adélio M. S. Cavadas
Dr. Fernando A. V. Figueiredo
Dr. Tarsis P. Barbosa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Machines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• additive manufacturing
• digital 3D models
• print materials
• 3D printing equipment
• mechanical design
• engineering analysis
• design for manufacturing
• additive manufacturing simulation
• machine elements
• mechanical devices