Lightweight Alloys

Dear Colleagues,

Lightweight alloys play a pivotal role in the pursuit of sustainable growth and a net-zero-carbon society by 2050, as they enable the design and manufacture of high-performance, low-weight structures essential for the aerospace, automotive, defense, and electronics industries. These alloys—primarily based on aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and other newly emerging high-entropy alloys—are engineered to provide excellent mechanical properties, a high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and thermal stability while keeping mass to a minimum. Reducing weight without sacrificing performance is critical in high-demand sectors. For example, in aerospace, every kilogram saved can result in significant fuel savings and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, the automotive industry is focusing on lightweight alloys to improve fuel efficiency and increase the range of electric vehicles (EVs). Lightweight alloys allow designers and engineers to maximize efficiency and minimize their environmental impact, aligning with the sustainability and performance goals in these sectors.

In addition to the development of new lightweight alloys, new manufacturing techniques such as counter-gravity casting, friction stir welding (FSW), severe plastic deformation, and high-speed machining are being refined for use on lightweight alloys, improving the manufacturability and mechanical properties of alloy components. Additive manufacturing advancements enable multi-material layering and gradual composition changes (i.e., functionally graded materials), allowing designers to tailor properties across a single part. Furthermore, advances in alloy recycling, where aluminum, titanium, and magnesium alloys can be reused with minimal degradation in performance and minimal consumption of energy and resources, aim to promote sustainable and circular processes to reduce their environmental impact. This Special Issue seeks research-based and applied contributions that cover the recent trends in the area of lightweight alloys.  

Dr. Konstantinos Georgarakis
Guest Editor

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. Alloys is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1000 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.