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Multi-Material Thermoplastic Additive Manufacturing: Interfaces, Architectured Structures and Performance

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1305

Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Automotive and Transport Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Transilvania University of Brașov, 500036 Brașov, Romania
Interests: polymer composites; coatings; composite micromechanics; mechanical/thermal/dynamic-mechanical/electrical/optical properties
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Instituto Universitario de Investigación de Tecnología de los Materiales (IUITM), Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), 03801 Alcoy, Spain
Interests: additive printing; injection; polymer and polymer composites; material charactrization; FEM simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue is to gather cutting-edge research and critical reviews, with a particular emphasis on process–structure–interface–property–performance relationships and application-driven component design based on multi-material additive manufacturing (MM-AM) across polymers, metals, ceramics, and their combinations.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Interface formation and characterization;
  • Design, manufacture, and performance of multi-material structural and semi-structural components for various applications;
  • Process–structure–property–performance relationships in multi-material prints, including residual stresses, distortion, and dimensional stability.
  • Mechanical behavior of multi-material parts under monotonic, cyclic, impact, crash, and thermo-mechanical loading
  • Modelling and simulation of multi-material components, including interfacial mechanics, graded architecture, and multi-scale and multi-physics approaches.
  • Environmental durability, including thermal cycling, moisture, UV exposure, and aging of dissimilar-material joints.
  • Data-driven or digital twin approaches for MM-AM process and structure control.

Application domains of interest range from automotive and aerospace to energy, biomedical devices, wearables, and consumer devices. By integrating fundamental research and application-oriented demonstrations, this Special Issue aims to identify the next frontiers of multi-material additive manufacturing.

Prof. Dr. Dana Luca Motoc
Dr. Santiago Ferrándiz-Bou
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-anonymized 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

  • multi-material additive manufacturing (MM-AM)
  • architectured structures
  • process–structure–property relationships
  • interfaces
  • tailored properties: modeling and optimization of multi-material components
  • structural and functional applications

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3428 KB  
Article
Experimental and Numerical Investigations on Compressive Performance of Additively Manufactured PLA Structures with Various Infill Patterns
by Alexandra Llidó Barragán, Aritz Unamuno Garay, Santiago Ferrándiz-Bou, Dana Luca Motoc and Cristina Pavón
Polymers 2026, 18(15), 1845; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18151845 - 28 Jul 2026
Viewed by 305
Abstract
Additive manufacturing, particularly Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), has emerged as a promising technology for construction applications due to its ability to fabricate complex geometries, optimize material usage, and enable customized designs. This study investigates the effects of different infill patterns and densities on [...] Read more.
Additive manufacturing, particularly Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), has emerged as a promising technology for construction applications due to its ability to fabricate complex geometries, optimize material usage, and enable customized designs. This study investigates the effects of different infill patterns and densities on the compressive behavior of polylactic acid (PLA) specimens to identify suitable configurations for industrial applications. Cubic specimens (50 mm × 50 mm × 50 mm) were designed in SolidWorks, sliced with PrusaSlicer using various conventional and bio-inspired infill patterns, and manufactured using a Prusa i3 MK3S printer. Compression tests were conducted to evaluate stiffness, strength, toughness, and deformation capacity. In addition, finite element method (FEM) simulations were carried out to predict the mechanical response under compressive loading. The results showed that the honeycomb infill pattern provided the best overall performance, combining moderate stiffness with high deformation capacity, reaching strains of approximately 40% before failure, and exhibiting superior energy absorption. Among the tested configurations, an infill density of 20% offered the best balance between mechanical performance, material consumption, and printing time. These findings demonstrate that honeycomb-based structures with moderate infill densities are promising candidates for lightweight engineering applications requiring high energy dissipation and damage tolerance. Full article
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18 pages, 1529 KB  
Article
Sustainable and High-Performance Food-Packaging Films from Poly(butylene 2,5-furanoate) and Poly(pentamethylene 2,5-furanoate) Blends
by Arianna Palumbo, Michelina Soccio, Valentina Siracusa, Elisabetta Salatelli, Giulia Guidotti and Nadia Lotti
Polymers 2026, 18(11), 1372; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18111372 - 31 May 2026
Viewed by 585
Abstract
Present research is focused on the preparation and characterization of bio-based polymer blends intended for sustainable food-packaging applications, starting from poly(butylene 2,5-furanoate) (PBF), characterized by very good barrier performance but quite high mechanical rigidity. In order to further improve gas permeability and increase [...] Read more.
Present research is focused on the preparation and characterization of bio-based polymer blends intended for sustainable food-packaging applications, starting from poly(butylene 2,5-furanoate) (PBF), characterized by very good barrier performance but quite high mechanical rigidity. In order to further improve gas permeability and increase its ductility, binary blends were prepared, combining PBF with varying amounts of poly(pentamethylene furanoate) (PPeF), another furan-based polyester with outstanding mechanical flexibility and gas barrier properties. The resulting materials were processed into compression-molded films and investigated through molecular, morphological, structural, thermal, and mechanical analyses. Blending turned out to be the winning tool in order to keep the high thermal stability of the reference homopolymers, increasing, at the same time, mechanical ductility and further lowering the permeability to oxygen and carbon dioxide compared to those measured for neat PBF. All these results were achieved without the use of any compatibilizer. Lastly, in order to test the end of life of these materials, composting studies were carried out, revealing a higher degree of weight loss for the blends compared with PBF homopolymer. Full article
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