This Special Issue aims to consolidate the latest advancements in Multi-Material Additive Manufacturing (MMAM), focusing on the multiplicity across processes, materials, and applications. MMAM is poised to address the evolving demands of modern industries by enabling the fabrication of functionally graded, bi-metallic, and multi-material components that were previously unattainable through conventional manufacturing techniques.
The goal of this issue is to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in MMAM, emphasizing how diverse additive manufacturing processes can be adapted, optimized, and hybridized to integrate multiple materials. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of material compatibility, interfacial bonding, and scale-specific challenges in achieving high-performance, multifunctional components.
Key Themes
Multiplicity in Processes
- Adaptation and hybridization of standard AM techniques (e.g., Directed Energy Deposition, Powder Bed Fusion, Material Jetting) for multi-material integration.
- Process-specific challenges, including interfacial bonding, thermal management, and structural integrity.
- Hybrid Additive Manufacturing (HAM) combining additive and subtractive techniques to enhance surface quality and dimensional precision.
Materials and Material Combinations
- Development and optimization of multi-material combinations, including metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites.
- Exploration of novel material systems, such as in-situ alloyed, functionally graded materials (FGMs), and compositionally graded materials (CGMs).
- Interface engineering and strategies to overcome challenges in bonding dissimilar materials.
- Structural multiplicity in MMAM, including multi-scale architectures and topology optimization.
- Advances in multi-material modeling, including FEM and CFD simulations.
- Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) frameworks tailored to multi-material systems.
- Integration of CAD and AI-driven optimization for MMAM applications.
Applications and Industrial Adoption
- Case studies demonstrating MMAM in industries such as aerospace, automotive, biomedical, and electronics.
- New functions enabled by MMAM
- 4D printing enabled by MMAM
This Special Issue seeks to advance the field of multi-material additive manufacturing (MMAM) by soliciting original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and case studies that offer novel insights into process optimization, the development of innovative material systems, and their translation into practical applications. By promoting interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering, materials science, and manufacturing domains, this collection aims to contribute in the evolution of next-generation additive manufacturing technologies, facilitating breakthroughs in both fundamental research and industrial implementation.