Additive Manufacturing of Fiber Composite Structures

Dear Colleagues,

Additive manufacturing (AM) of fiber-reinforced composites is rapidly emerging as a transformative approach for producing lightweight, high-performance structures across industries such as aerospace, automotive, construction, medical, and beyond. By enabling tailored fiber orientations, complex geometries, and mold-free fabrication, AM overcomes the limitations of conventional composite manufacturing. At the same time, it raises new challenges in process control, computational design, structural performance, reliability, and sustainability. Integrating novel materials, holistic design tools, advanced manufacturing strategies, and customized evaluation methods is, therefore, crucial to unlock the full potential of AM in fiber composites.

This Special Issue will provide a forum for applied research on the additive manufacturing of long- or continuous-fiber composite lightweight structures, bridging experimental, computational, and theoretical advances. I particularly encourage contributions that propose and validate novel approaches in the suggested research areas, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Material systems, such as technical/natural fibers with thermoset/thermoplastic matrix systems and hybrids;
• Computational design including aspects such as process simulation, topology optimization, path planning, product development, feedback-driven workflows, and the process–structure–property relationship;
• Process extensions and equipment enhancements and AM-specific manufacturing phenomena;
• Evaluation studies addressing aspects such as digital characterization, monitoring of structures and processes, experimental structural/material testing on various scales, and comparative sustainability assessments.

Aligning with the applied and interdisciplinary scope of Applied Sciences, this Special Issue will gather original research and reviews that expand knowledge at the interface of materials, design, manufacturing, and evaluation for additively manufactured fiber composites in structural applications.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Pascal Mindermann
Guest Editor

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