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Additive Manufacturing of Metallic Structures: Process and Applications

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Metals and Alloys".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 7 July 2025 | Viewed by 4483

Special Issue Editors

Department of Engineering, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", 81031 Aversa, Italy
Interests: additive manufacturing; aeronautical structures; composite materials; additive manufacturing of aerospace structures; finite element models

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The additive manufacturing of metals enables the development of complex structures through the sintering of powder, layer by layer, following a CAD-defined design. This technology has grown rapidly in recent years due to the significant benefits that it can bring to high-performance industrial sectors such as aerospace and mechanical engineering. For example, the use of additive technologies can significantly reduce component costs and lead times, provide engineering solutions for unique designs and materials, and significantly reduce the mass of components due to their extraordinary geometric manufacturing capabilities. Full exploitation of the advantages of this new technology requires radical revision of the design phase of parts, including unconventional structures. This Special Issue aims to highlight the latest advances in the field of metal structures designed for additive manufacturing and their applications in various sectors.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to: New testing and evaluation methods for component performance from metal additive manufacturing:

  • The design and manufacture of lightweight metallic structures in additive manufacturing;
  • Hybrid structures designed for additive manufacturing;
  • Lattice structures;
  • Energy-absorbing structures;
  • Finite element analysis of structures designed for additive manufacturing;
  • Recent advances in the application of metal additive manufacturing.

Dr. Valerio Acanfora
Dr. Andrea Sellitto
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. 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.

Keywords

  • lattice structures
  • additive manufacturing
  • finite element analysis
  • lightweight structures
  • sandwich structures
  • hybrid structures

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 8622 KiB  
Article
Design and Numerical Analysis of an Inside-Beam Powder Feeding Nozzle for Wide-Band Laser Cladding
by Lin Lu, Tuo Shi, Gang Li, Chao Wei and Geyan Fu
Materials 2024, 17(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17010012 - 19 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 623
Abstract
Wide-band laser cladding technology has emerged as a solution to the limitations of traditional cladding techniques, which are small single-path dimensions and low processing efficiency. The existing wide-band cladding technology presents challenges related to the high precision required for the laser–powder coupling and [...] Read more.
Wide-band laser cladding technology has emerged as a solution to the limitations of traditional cladding techniques, which are small single-path dimensions and low processing efficiency. The existing wide-band cladding technology presents challenges related to the high precision required for the laser–powder coupling and the significant powder-divergence phenomenon. Based on the inside-beam powder-feeding technology, a wide-band powder-feeding nozzle was designed using the multi-channel powder flow shaping method. The size of the powder spot obtained at the processing location can reach 40 mm × 3 mm. A computational fluid dynamics analysis using the FLUENT software was conducted to investigate the impact of the nozzle’s structural parameters on the powder distribution. It was determined that the optimal configuration was achieved when the powder-feeding channel was 8, and the transverse and longitudinal dimensions for the collimating gas outlet were 0.5 mm and 1 mm, respectively. Among the process parameters, an increase in the carrier gas flow rate was found to effectively enhance the stability of powder transportation. However, the powder feed rate had minimal impact on the powder concentration distribution, and the collimating gas flow rate appeared to have a minimal effect on the divergence angle of the powder stream. Wide-band laser cladding experiments were conducted using the designed powder-feeding nozzle, and a single-path cladding with a width of 39.96 mm was finally obtained. Full article
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16 pages, 5069 KiB  
Article
Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing: A Study of Process Parameters Using Multiphysics Simulations
by You Sung Han
Materials 2023, 16(23), 7267; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16237267 - 22 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 697
Abstract
In this work, analyses focus on understanding the effects of the scanning pattern and speed on the thermal profile, phase transformation, and residual stress generation in the WAAM deposition. An FE numerical model is constructed that takes into account the phase evolution and [...] Read more.
In this work, analyses focus on understanding the effects of the scanning pattern and speed on the thermal profile, phase transformation, and residual stress generation in the WAAM deposition. An FE numerical model is constructed that takes into account the phase evolution and transformation plasticity using the ABAQUS user subroutine, UMAT. The results show that the scanning pattern significantly affects the heat accumulation and the cooling rate during the AM deposition, and, eventually, the generation of residual stresses. According to the simulation results, the highest residual stress is generated in the case of the out–in scanning, while the alternate pattern leads to the lowest residual stress. The influence of the scanning speed on the thermal profiles and residual stress are also examined. The analyses show that an increase in the scan speed leads to a decrease in the peak temperature and an increase in the cooling rate, which result in an increase in the martensite volume fraction of the deposition. Full article
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13 pages, 3552 KiB  
Article
Study on Boiling Heat Transfer Characteristics of Composite Porous Structure Fabricated by Selective Laser Melting
by Houli Liu, Zhonghao Gu and Jun Liang
Materials 2023, 16(19), 6391; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16196391 - 25 Sep 2023
Viewed by 773
Abstract
Surface porosity is an important means of enhancing boiling heat transfer. In this paper, two kinds of composite porous structures of surface micropore + square channel and framework micropore + square channel were prepared by selective laser melting technology using AlSi10Mg as the [...] Read more.
Surface porosity is an important means of enhancing boiling heat transfer. In this paper, two kinds of composite porous structures of surface micropore + square channel and framework micropore + square channel were prepared by selective laser melting technology using AlSi10Mg as the powder material. The effect of composites with different pore forms on boiling heat transfer was investigated in pool boiling experiments. It was found that controlling the thickness of the powder layer manufactured by selective laser melting can change the surface roughness of the sample, and the sandblasting treatment reduced the surface roughness of the samples. The average heat transfer coefficient of the rough surface composite porous structure sample was increased by 40% compared to the sandblasted sample. The micropores on the surface of the sample and inside the framework significantly enhanced the heat transfer coefficient of the composite porous structure. The presence of surface micropores increased the heat transfer area and the vaporization core density of the composite porous structure and exhibited excellent heat transfer coefficient improvement in the low heat flux region. The framework microporous composite porous structure can form effective gas–liquid diversion at high heat flux and obtain higher heat transfer performance. The large channel in the composite porous structure is the key control factor of the critical heat flux. Full article
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21 pages, 11524 KiB  
Article
Mechanical Properties and Energy Absorption Abilities of Diamond TPMS Cylindrical Structures Fabricated by Selective Laser Melting with 316L Stainless Steel
by Dorota Laskowska, Tomasz Szatkiewicz, Błażej Bałasz and Katarzyna Mitura
Materials 2023, 16(8), 3196; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16083196 - 18 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1745
Abstract
Triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) are structures inspired by nature with unique properties. Numerous studies confirm the possibility of using TPMS structures for heat dissipation, mass transport, and biomedical and energy absorption applications. In this study, the compressive behavior, overall deformation mode, mechanical [...] Read more.
Triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) are structures inspired by nature with unique properties. Numerous studies confirm the possibility of using TPMS structures for heat dissipation, mass transport, and biomedical and energy absorption applications. In this study, the compressive behavior, overall deformation mode, mechanical properties, and energy absorption ability of Diamond TPMS cylindrical structures produced by selective laser melting of 316L stainless steel powder were investigated. Based on the experimental studies, it was found that tested structures exhibited different cell strut deformation mechanisms (bending-dominated and stretch-dominated) and overall deformation modes (uniform and “layer-by-layer”) depending on structural parameters. Consequently, the structural parameters had an impact on the mechanical properties and the energy absorption ability. The evaluation of basic absorption parameters shows the advantage of bending-dominated Diamond TPMS cylindrical structures in comparison with stretch-dominated Diamond TPMS cylindrical structures. However, their elastic modulus and yield strength were lower. Comparative analysis with the author’s previous work showed a slight advantage for bending-dominated Diamond TPMS cylindrical structures in comparison with Gyroid TPMS cylindrical structures. The results of this research can be used to design and manufacture more efficient, lightweight components for energy absorption applications in the fields of healthcare, transportation, and aerospace. Full article
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