Metal Additive Manufacturing for Space: Processes, Properties and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting submissions to the Special Issue on Metal Additive Manufacturing for Space: Processes, Properties and Applications.

Additive manufacturing (AM) has revolutionized the building process in different aresa of our society. The range of application spans from medicine to aerospace. In the field of space applications, AM is a strategic technology with particular relevance in the building of metallic parts. Products such as satellite systems represent, indeed, a challenging category from an engineering design perspective, and at the same time, they are produced in small batches. AM allows for weight and material volume minimization, which are ideal drivers in costly products to be produced in low production volumes. At the same time, from a design perspective, AM represents a radically new way of manufacturing. This geometrical freedom in design can be utilized to improve the functionality of series products by substituting conventional assembled parts with AM non-assembled ones. In this framework, the microwave/antenna community has shown increasing interest in the last decade in the application of this technology for the manufacturing of high-performance microwave devices. It is worth noting that the enhancement of the quality of the final product realized by AM depends on the starting material. This, then, has pushed the research of new materials specifically developed for metallic AM technologies, such as laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), due to the extreme rapid melting and subsequent cooling of the alloys during the process. An example of new high strength aluminum alloys designed for AM and patented recently are Scalmalloy® by APWORKS (Airbus) and A20X™, by Aluminium Materials Technologies (ALTANA Group). The final surface roughness of metallic AM components represents an open issue for specific application, such as antenna components. Different postprocess treatments can be considered to be used with complex shapes and internal channels, such as micro shot peening, abrasive flow machining, and electropolishing. Therefore, assessment of different metal AM approaches has already started and will consider the whole process, from the design to the material supply, characterization, processing, and postprocessing.

In this Special Issue, we invite submissions exploring cutting-edge research and recent advances in the fields of the metal additive manufacturing process, material properties and applications for space including microwave components, and mechanical structures. Both theoretical and experimental studies are welcome, as well as comprehensive review and survey papers.

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Addamo
Prof. Dr. Flaviana Calignano
Prof. Dr. Diego Manfredi
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. Applied Sciences 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 2400 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.

• metal additive manufacturing
• space application
• lightweight
• non assembly components
• laser powder bed fusion
• rapid solidification
• aluminum alloys
• Scalmalloy®
• A20X™
• titanium alloys
• surface finishing
• micro shot peening
• abrasive flow machining
• electropolishing
• feed chain microwave component
• 3D printing metal antenna parts