Dear Colleagues,

Interest in metal additive manufacturing (AM) has increased steeply over the last twenty years. This is due to the great advantages offered by metal AM technologies such as laser–powder bed fusion (L-PBF), electron beam–powder bed fusion (E-PBF) and laser-engineered net shaping (LENS): these include high design freedom, waste reduction, parts performance optimization and strong tuning of material properties.

In this context, light alloys such as aluminum-, titanium- and magnesium-based alloys represent one of the most investigated class of metal alloys due to their intriguing properties such as high strength-to-weight ratios, high corrosion resistance and wide possibilities of properties enhancing through alloying. When these advantages are combined with the ones provided by AM, it is clear that the interest in this field is huge from both academia and industry.

As witnessed over the last years by a large number of published papers, the field of the AM of light alloys represent a very hot topic, with direct industrial implications for several fields and especially for the ones with strict requirements of performance with a contained parts weight (i.e., aerospace, automotive, etc.).

With this premise, this Special Issue of Metals represents a will to contribute to the growth of the know-how in the field of processing light alloys by means of AM technologies, mostly intended as powder-based ones. The contribution may involve any aspect concerning the subject matter, including process–properties relationships, more sustainable and effective processing approaches, improvements in the pre and post-process handling steps and so on. Your contribution to this 2022 account is highly valuable and appreciated. We therefore invite you to contribute with original research work concerning the AM of light alloys.

The topics covered by this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

• The study of powder spreading in additive layer manufacturing;
• The modeling of additive manufacturing processes;
• New technologies;
• The development of processes for new alloys and new mixtures;
• Surface finishing;
• The sustainability of additive processes;
• Characterization techniques;
• Microstructure and mechanical properties.

Dr. Antonello Astarita
Dr. Andrea El Hassanin
Dr. Alessia Teresa Silvestri
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. Metals 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 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.

• metal additive manufacturing
• light alloys
• aluminum
• titanium
• magnesium
• lightweight structures
• characterization
• sustainability
• modeling