Graded Metal Matrix Composites: Additive Manufacturing, Properties and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Graded materials (GMs) are a new generation of composite materials characterized by continuously varying properties—such as composition, morphology, and crystal structure—resulting from a permanent change in microstructure details from one surface of the material to the other. The concept of functional GM is to take advantage of certain desirable features of each of the constituent phases (such as metal, ceramic, polymer, fiber, and pore) and to optimize the distribution of material properties (such as strength, hardness, thermal resistance, etc.) so that the desired responses to a given mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic, or biochemical resistance are achieved. GMs can be used to improve fracture toughness of machine tools, as thermal or flow gradient structures, and to modify the wear and corrosion (oxidation) resistance of high-temperature aerospace, automotive, or chemical industry components. An additive manufacturing (AM) approach is very attractive in such engineering applications, and involves the joining of structural components and electromechanical or biochemical devices.

The metal and polymer matrix composite (M&PMC) approaches in AM can be extended for FGM design. It could be possible to fabricate FGS throughout separate structural blocks (particles, grains, domains) that correspond more to the material design at the mesolevel.

The proposed Special Issue will cover all areas related to theory and methodology, properties, and applications of GM via M&PMC. Hot topics to be covered by the Special Issue:

• How effectively could the reinforced alloying elements and/or ceramic additives be mixed in the melt bath during AM?
• Is it possible to effectively manage properties via reinforcement of matrix structure distribution?
• How effective is the solubility and wettability of the introduced components within the metal and/or polymer matrix in the solidified and remelted states?
• Is it possible to obtain a eutectic equilibrium and/or uniform solid solutions with a gradient stratified by the crystallized volume?
• Determining the optimum spatial dependence for material properties;
• Predicting the characteristic of an FGM for a given property profile;
• The necessity to develop testing methods for determining possible processes and failure conditions which allow for prediction of the performance of FGM in industrial applications.

Prof. Igor V. Shishkovsky
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. Materials 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 2600 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.