Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing: Materials, Processes, and Structures

Dear Colleagues,

Additive manufacturing enables complex structures, such as porous materials, including foam structures, honeycomb structures and lattice structures, to be manufactured, which can be customized with different mechanical properties according to different applications. Powder bed fusion (PBF) is the representative AM technology to fabricate complex structures with highly controllable geometries. It involves selective laser melting (SLM), selective laser sintering (SLS) and electron beam melting (EBM), depending on the heat sources and the raw materials. The influences of material types, topological types, geometric characteristics and process parameters on the mechanical properties of PBF structures are essential. It is of great research significance to reduce internal defects (porosity, cracks, etc.) and optimize the microstructure to improve mechanical properties. Furthermore, most of the acoustic/optical/mechanical metamaterials obtained by topology optimization can be realized by PBF samples, the related design principles and implementation schemes. In addition, the reliability, which is mainly related to the long-term service performance, of complex parts manufactured by PBF is critical for the actual application. All the above mentioned, as well as other relevant contents of  PBF, will be the topic of the proposed Special Issue. Contributions of analytical, numerical and experimental techniques for the study of PBF are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Lei Yang
Prof. Dr. Mingkang Zhang
Guest Editors

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