Mechanical Properties and Structures of High-Performance Polymer Composites and Metal Alloys Processed by Additive Manufacturing Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce this Special Issue on "Mechanical Properties and Structures of High-Performance Polymer Composites and Metal Alloys processed by Additive Manufacturing Technologies".

Currently, there is an increasing interest in introducing high-performance reinforced polymer-based composite materials for structural applications in key industry sectors, such as aerospace, military, automotive, robotics, and medical. The common feature of these applications is the lightweight design strategy, which provides reduced structural weight while preserving high mechanical performance, less fuel consumption directly related to less carbon emission, and increased design flexibility compared to traditional isotropic materials.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the most promising areas in the fabrication of components from prototypes to functional structures with complex geometries. Compared to conventional methods, AM technologies can shorten the design manufacturing cycle, reduce production costs, and increase competitiveness. Mechanical properties of polymer-based parts fabricated by conventional AM technologies are inherently poor because of the thermoplastic resin used. The development of polymer composites with enhanced mechanical properties addresses previous limitations with the addition of reinforcements, such as particles, fibers, or nanomaterials, into thermoplastic polymers, permitting the fabrication of polymer matrix composites that are characterized by high-performance and excellent functionality. Special attention is focussed on the development of polymer-based composites using engineering thermoplastics such as polycarbonate (PC), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), or polyetherimide (PEI).

This Special Issue is open for submissions and welcomes original research contributions and review articles highlighting recent advances and future directions in the field of Additive Manufacturing of Polymer-Based Composites and Metal alloys. In particular, it will publish cutting-edge original research and review papers on the latest advances in new composite systems based on polymeric (both thermoplastic and thermoset), such as novel resin systems, high-temperature thermoplastics, biopolymers, polymer blends or filled polymers, containing particles, nanomaterials, or short/continuous fiber reinforcement. The main scope of this Special Issue is to gather scientific expertise from all fields covering mainly mechanical properties and structural analysis of additively manufactured elements. The Special Issue is dedicated to a wide range of applications, including mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, civil engineering, materials engineering, manufacturing, nanotechnology, tribology, etc. New additive manufacturing technologies based on material extrusion, binder jetting, selective curing/sintering, multi-material printing, and in-situ and post-processing techniques to improve part strength and structure–property relationships are also covered. Contributions that also report on part characterization, the effect of process parameters on mechanical and geometric performance, the application of the produced parts, new developments in CAGD (computer-aided geometric design) to generate optimized trajectories of AM technologies with improved accuracy or post-processing techniques, such as surface finishing and quality assessment, are particularly welcome.

Dr. Miguel Ángel Caminero Torija
Dr. Jesús Miguel Chacón Muñoz
Dr. Pedro José Núñez López
Dr. Eustaquio García-Plaza
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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
• reinforced polymer composites
• metal alloys
• mechanical characterization
• process parameters
• geometric accuracy
• surface texture
• CAGD
• post-processing