Additive Manufacturing of Advanced Composites

Advanced composites, e.g., continuous, or discontinuous fiber-reinforced composites, nanocomposites, etc., are attracting increasing attention in industrial applications due to excellent performance, i.e., high mechanical properties in terms of stiffness- and strength-to-weight ratios, when compared to their counterparts. As such, the development of advanced composites can fulfil many special but important engineering missions, such as safety improvement, weight reduction, energy-absorption enhancement, and so forth.. Meanwhile, additive manufacturing or 3D printing has undergone massive development, opening new horizons for manufacturing small-scale and complex composite structural parts that cannot be appropriately made using conventional techniques. In recent years, big advances have been witnessed in the additive manufacture of advanced composites with novel design, fabrication, and analysis methods, indicating a huge potential and a promising future for 3D-printed advanced composites. With these significant aims, this Special Issue is dedicated to the field of novel and engineering solutions in the additive manufacturing of advanced composite materials and structures. Briefly, the Special Issue has a particular, but not limited, focus on 3D-printed composites with respect to advanced design, manufacturing, and characterization for high-performance composite products by 3D printing