Advances in Development of Composites, Metals, and Alloys for Additive Manufacturing Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

Additive manufacturing (AM) processes represent an alternative to the conventional subtractive manufacturing processes, providing a higher level of design flexibility and a more sustainable production method. AM processes minimize waste and material losses, allowing the reuse of raw materials and enabling fewer environmental impacts overall. Moreover, the possibility of producing parts immediately after receiving orders from the end-user ensures that all storage costs for finite products can be eliminated.

The development of new materials for AM is essential because it further enhances design freedom, performance, and sustainability across various industries. Innovative composites, metals, and alloys tailored for AM allow for the creation of complex geometries and lightweight components that meet demanding mechanical and environmental requirements, especially in aerospace, biomedical, and automotive fields.

This Special Issue aims to highlight the cutting-edge progress in material innovation specifically tailored for AM technologies. Its scope encompasses the design, characterization, and optimization of advanced composites, metallic systems, and engineered alloys, focusing on how these materials influence and enhance surface properties, microstructure, and tribological behavior.

Improvements in surface quality contribute significantly to fatigue resistance, wear protection, and corrosion control, often achieved through post-processing techniques or by engineering functional surface properties like texture or embedded sensors. At the microstructural level, controlling grain size, orientation, and phase transformations during printing allows for fine-tuning of mechanical strength, ductility, and reliability, while minimizing defects such as porosity and microcracks. Tribological enhancements (focusing on friction, wear, and lubrication) are particularly critical for moving components, where optimized material pairings, embedded lubricants, and surface treatments can substantially boost efficiency, lifespan, and performance under stress. Altogether, the continuous advancement in materials and their properties propels additive manufacturing from a prototyping tool into a full-scale production technology with transformative potential.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

• Development of new composite, metals, and alloys for AM processes;
• Development of AM processes for new tipologies of metals, alloys, and composite materials;
• Thermo-mechanical, electrical, and tribological characterization of composite, metals, and alloys used in AM processes;
• Surface finishing to enhance thermo-mechanical properties of the AM-produced parts;
• Surface and heat treatments to enhance the mechanical properties and microstructure of the AM-produced parts;
• Coatings of the AM-produced substrates for improving corrosion resistance, mechanical, electrical, and tribological behavior;
• FEA simulations of the thermo-mechanical behavior of composites, metals, and alloys for AM processes.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Emanuele Mingione
Dr. Gianluca Rubino
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.

• additive manufacturing
• composite materials
• metal alloys
• coatings
• thermo-mechanical characterization
• surface finishing
• surface treatments
• tribology
• microstructure
• corrosion resistance