Recent Advances in Powder-Based Additive Manufacturing of Metals

Dear Colleagues,

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has rapidly evolved in the industrial field, enabling the fabrication of complex, high-performance components with design freedom and material flexibility. As the field advances, the focus is shifting toward optimization, particularly in tailoring microstructure, improving mechanical properties, and developing post-processing strategies such as heat treatment to ensure enhanced performance. Understanding the intricate relationships between processing parameters, microstructural evolution, heat treatment effects, and final part properties remains a key challenge.

Laser-based and electron-based powder bed techniques are central to this progress. Their ability to precisely control energy input and achieve rapid solidification enables the design of unique microstructures and strength. Heat treatment, in particular, plays a crucial role in relieving residual stresses, refining microstructures, and enhancing mechanical behavior, thereby unlocking the full potential of additively manufactured metal alloys in various applications such as aerospace, automotive, energy, and biomedical engineering.

This Special Issue aims to showcase recent advances in powder-based metal additive manufacturing and laser processing, with a strong emphasis on microstructure–property relationships and/or heat treatment optimization. Contributions are invited that explore fundamental mechanisms, novel processing strategies, and application-driven studies.

We warmly invite submission of full research papers, short communications, and reviews.

Dr. Emanuele Ghio
Prof. Dr. Emanuela Cerri
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Metals 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.