| Scope |
Additive manufacturing (AM) offers unparalleled freedom to manipulate the microstructure, composition, and properties of metal alloys site-specifically through complex multi-variable, multi-physics, and multi-scale processes. Fusion-based AM technologies have dominated this field so far, enabling fine control of solidification microstructures at high spatial resolution by tailoring melt pool dynamics and thermal histories in 3D. Solid-state and hybrid AM processes further expand this capability by combining mechanical treatments and different forming strategies to directly impact microstructures and composition during fabrication. Emerging electrochemical processes open additional pathways for precision control of materials at the nano- to mesoscale with location-specific functionality.
The breadth of this processing space gives rise to a wide range of complex, non-equilibrium, and spatially heterogeneous microstructures that are unique to AM. This richness presents exciting opportunities to engineer materials with spatially tailored properties within a single component, achieving unparalleled performance for frontier engineering applications in energy, aerospace and defense, transportation, space, and nuclear fusion. However, these opportunities are accompanied by significant challenges. Predicting and designing optimal material behavior remains difficult due to limited understanding of microstructure formation and property development during far-from-equilibrium processing, particularly across spatial microstructural transitions, as well as microstructural stability during service under extreme thermomechanical and environmental conditions. The lack of transferable, physics-based processing–structure–property relationships that capture this complexity efficiently across length scales continues to hinder the design of these complex materials.
This symposium aims to bring together experts in materials processing, manufacturing, characterization, modeling, and design to address these challenges and identify pathways to harness the microstructural complexity enabled by AM. Emphasis will be placed on fundamental and applied studies that advance understanding of processing–structure–property linkages, microstructural stability, interface evolution, and data-driven or computationally assisted design strategies.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Compositional and microstructural control in metal AM, including site-specific, hierarchical, heterogeneous, and/or spatially graded microstructures
• Novel AM and hybrid processing strategies for microstructure and property gradient control
• Fundamental studies of processing–structure–property relationships in AM materials with spatial heterogeneity
• Accelerated design space mapping and rapid identification of process-structure-property relationships in materials with complex and spatially varying microstructures made by AM
• Stability and evolution of AM microstructures and interfaces during post-processing and service
• Mechanical behavior and environmental degradation of AM materials with complex and spatially varying microstructures under extreme conditions
• Computational, experimental, and data-driven approaches for computer-aided AM and accelerated design of complex tailored microstructures |