Advances in Aluminum: Present and Future Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

Since the last decades of the 20th century, aluminum has proven to be one of the most versatile metallic materials in those applications where weight reduction plays a fundamental role. The possibility of recycling aluminum alloys an indefinite number of times is another of its great attractions. Currently, the development of new alloys that improve mechanical properties and corrosion resistance while maintaining a light weight is one of the important lines of research and development work. At the same time, new processes are being developed to manufacture better-performing aluminum-based components, overcoming difficulties in casting, the poor ductility of aluminum alloys at room temperature, and its challenging weldability. Among these processes, solid phase processing, semi-solid processing, the liquid die forging process, powder metallurgy, sheet hydroforming, incremental forming, additive manufacturing and friction stir welding and its variants allow for dissimilar joints.

Many of the advances produced in the design and processing of alloys have been obtained thanks to modeling and simulation techniques. These techniques make it possible to describe everything from phase diagrams of new compositions based on thermodynamic calculations to the flow of material during the deformation and forming processes. To face the future challenges in the aluminum sector, it is necessary to improve knowledge of the micro- and mesoscopic mechanisms that explain the mechanical behavior of aluminum alloys. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms is necessary both in components in real use, and during the manufacturing processes. Additionally, the correlation between aluminum alloy properties and their microstructure must be considered in a unified way to explain the mechanical behavior in volume and surface and against corrosion.

In this Special Issue, we openly invite contributions from researchers working on all the different aspects of this ever-challenging material.

Prof. Dr. Gloria María Pena Uris
Dr. Ricardo Fernández Serrano
Guest Editors

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