Selected Papers from the 4th International Conference on Light Materials LightMAT 2021

Dear Colleagues,

Since the beginning of industrial production in the late eighteenth century, the demand for light metals has increased steadily. The rapid technological development has led simultaneously to today’s alloys and production processes. Currently, light metals are spread throughout nearly all technical applications of human life. The present means of transportation would have been inconceivable without light metals.

Metallic light materials, such as aluminum, and magnesium alloys as well as titanium alloys, provide an excellent impact toughness, a good wear, and thermal resistance, as well as a high life cycle fatigue along with moderate materials and processing costs and, furthermore, an outstanding recyclability. However, owing to the ongoing need for weight reduction, effective weight reduction calls for advanced material solutions. This necessitates a multidisciplinary approach that combines materials science and production technology with designing and dimensioning.

Taking up these aspects, the 4^th International Conference on Light Materials LightMAT 2021 (https://dgm.de/lightmat/) gives a comprehensive overview and new insight into the three most important light metals: aluminium, magnesium and titanium, and their combinations. In addition, the conference will focus on eco-efficiency in materials and processes. In this context, we address the question:

What are the innovative research business models, for materials and material processes shearing with industrial needs, for contributing to accelerated material circularity, sustainability, and also to the dematerialization of our economy related to less dependency on primary materials?

The materials are viewed individually, intended to provide comparison and cross-fertilization, giving a comprehensive overview of individual advances, challenges, and highlights, covering:

• Conventional and advanced lightweight applications and products in automotive, aerospace, and other relevant transport and applications;
• Fundamental aspects of the three metallic lightweight materials and their alloys, their processing and (physical) metallurgy issues involved;
• Microstructure evolution, related properties, and advanced simulation;
• Industrial fabrication, processing, joining, and corrosion protection issues;
• Additive manufacturing of metallic structures enabling novel lightweight designs;
• Formability and advanced forming of light alloys to shape complex parts.

This Special Issue on light materials is set to publish selected works presented at this event, in order to share recent progress and new achievements in this emerging field with broader scientific and industrial communities.

Dr. Blanka Lenczowski
Prof. Dr. Ida Westermann
Prof. Dr. Axel von Hehl
Guest Editors

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