Recent Progress in Metal Additive Manufacturing and Post-Processing Techniques

Dear Colleagues,

Additive manufacturing comprises a large group of techniques that currently represent the forefront of manufacturing technologies. Thanks to additive manufacturing, we have opened up the door to the creation of new alloys, geometric structures that are beyond the reach of other processes, or near-net-shaped parts, enabling high levels of customization and freeing manufacturing from the use of molds.

However, additive manufacturing also presents new challenges that involve the use of novel post-processing techniques to enhance the manufactured parts. In this way, the surface modification of parts or the application of coatings become necessary elements to improve properties such as the corrosion resistance or wear resistance, among others, of metal parts produced by additive manufacturing. In other words, advancements in post-processing technologies are closely linked to advancements in additive manufacturing techniques, which can have significant importance in the biomedical, transport, and energy sectors. Therefore, our objective is to compile a collection of papers focused on metal additive manufacturing and the study of its surfaces

This Special Issue welcomes contributions focused on the following topics, as well as related areas:

Metal Additive Manufacturing:

• Fabrication and development of new alloys using additive manufacturing techniques.
• Fabrication of special materials like lattice structures, multimaterials, or functionally graded porous materials.
• Study of the influence of different manufacturing parameters in the final properties of the materials.
• Comparison between different metal additive manufacturing techniques.
• Manufacturing of metal parts by additive manufacturing for biomedical, transport, or energy applications.
• Theoretical and computational modeling of surfaces and interfaces of metals made by additive manufacturing.

Post-Processing Techniques:

• Influence of different conventional treatments on the final properties of additively manufactured metal parts: heat treatments, machining, polishing, galvanizing, etc.
• Influence of different novel treatments on the final properties of additively manufactured metal parts: laser treatments, shot peening, hot isostatic pressing (HIP), plasma treatments, etc.
• Application of coatings on additively manufactured metal parts using HVOF, PVD, CVD, sol–gel, etc.

Study of the properties of additive manufactured metals:

• Electrochemical corrosion, high-temperature oxidation, corrosion by molten salts, etc.
• Hardness, wear behavior, and other surface mechanical properties.
• Surface roughness, surface tension, surface microstructure, etc.
• Optical, magnetic, thermal, and electrical properties.

If these topics or similar ones are of interest to you, we would be delighted to receive your contribution. We welcome you to be a part of this Special Issue in generating knowledge that contributes to social progress.

Dr. Javier Bedmar
Dr. Sonia García Rodriguez
Dr. Najib Abu-Warda
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. Coatings 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
• surface
• coatings
• corrosion
• tribology