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Engineering and Medical Polymer Additive Manufacturing: Current and Future Trends

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A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 278

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rui F. Martins

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, NOVA School of Science & Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Interests: fatigue; fracture; structural integrity; failure analysis; mechanical behaviour of materials
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Dr. Ricardo Branco

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: fatigue behavior; additive manufacturing; multiaxial fatigue; damage accumulation; notch effect; low-cycle fatigue
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer additive manufacturing (AM) is transforming the engineering and medical industries by enabling rapid prototyping, product customisation, and the production of very complex geometries. Therefore, current trends focus on enhancing material properties, scalability, automation, recycling, sustainability, biocompatibility, and multi-material printing, to name a few, driving advancements in aerospace, aeronautical, automotive, and biomedical applications.

In engineering, for instance, high-performance polymers are currently being designed to improve strength, thermal resistance, and chemical stability to fit specific environmental conditions. Meanwhile, medical AM is revolutionising patient care with 3D-printed implants, prosthetics, and bio-printed tissues, utilising biopolymers and hydrogels for better integration and functionality. These scientific and technological improvements are sure to challenge quality and safety, demanding new regulations and standardisation.

As a result, polymer AM is no longer just an emerging technology but a consolidated field with a broader range of ongoing improvements and applications. Therefore, the Guest Editors of this Special Issue are thrilled to invite researchers, entrepreneurs, and specialists, either academic or from industry and services, to contribute to the advancement of this field.

Dr. Rui F. Martins
Dr. Ricardo Branco
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. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.

Keywords

additive manufacturing
polymers
engineering and medical applications
quality and safety
sustainability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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28 pages, 15740 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing Mechanical Energy Absorption of Honeycomb and Triply Periodic Minimal Surface Lattice Structures Produced by Fused Deposition Modelling in Reusable Polymers

by Alin Bustihan, Ioan Botiz, Ricardo Branco and Rui F. Martins

Polymers 2025, 17(8), 1111; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17081111 - 19 Apr 2025

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Abstract

This study investigated the mechanical energy absorption properties of polymeric lattice structures fabricated using additive manufacturing. Existing studies have primarily focused on rigid or single-use materials, with limited attention given to flexible polymers and their behaviour under repeated compressive loading. Addressing this gap, the structures investigated in this study are manufactured using three flexible polymers—polyether block amide, thermoplastic polyurethane, and thermoplastic copolyester elastomer—to enhance the reusability performance. Two high-performance designs were analysed, namely honeycomb structures (inspired by pomelo peel and simply hexagonal arrangements) and 3D triply periodic minimal surface structure of the type FRD. The primary objective was to evaluate their energy absorption capacity and reusability using three repeated compression tests. These tests revealed that thermoplastic copolyester elastomer exhibited the highest energy absorption in initial impact conditions, but lower values for the following compressions. However, polyether block amide demonstrated superior reusability, maintaining a consistent energy absorption efficiency of 56.1% over multiple compression cycles. The study confirms that modifying triply periodic minimal surface structures along the z-axis enhances their absorption efficiency, with even-numbered z-parameter structures outperforming odd-numbered ones due to their complete cell structure. These findings highlight the critical role of structural geometry and material selection to optimise polymeric lattice structures for lightweight reusable energy absorption applications, such as automotive safety and impact protection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Engineering and Medical Polymer Additive Manufacturing: Current and Future Trends)

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