In recent years, a great effort has been devoted to developing a new generation of materials for aeronautic applications. The driving force behind this effort is the reduction of costs, by extending the service life of aircraft parts (structural and engine components) and increasing fuel efficiency, load capacity and flight range. The present paper examines the most important classes of metallic materials including Al alloys, Ti alloys, Mg alloys, steels, Ni superalloys and metal matrix composites (MMC), with the scope to provide an overview of recent advancements and to highlight current problems and perspectives related to metals for aeronautics.

In aeronautics, additive manufacturing (AM) leads to specific benefits, mainly connected to topological optimization for weight reduction, the decrease in “buy-to-fly” ratio, and the operations of maintenance, repair, and overhaul. Al alloys processed by AM technologies are extensively investigated and play an increasing role in the production of aircraft structural parts. Based on the recent literature and research activity of the authors, this work examines advantages and drawbacks involved in the printing of Al alloys. Defects, microstructure, mechanical properties, development of new alloys, and postprocess treatments are described and critically discussed by focusing the attention on the effects of the specific alloy composition, AM process, and process parameters.

An experiment was performed using the PALS laser to study laser-target coupling and laser-plasma interaction in an intensity regime ≤10¹⁶ W/cm², relevant for the “shock ignition” approach to Inertial Confinement Fusion. A first beam at low intensity was used to create an extended preformed plasma, and a second one to create a strong shock. Pressures up to 90 Megabars were inferred. Our results show the importance of the details of energy transport in the overdense region.

Mechanical and architectural features play an important role in designing biomedical devices. The use of materials (i.e., Ti6Al4V) with Young’s modulus higher than those of natural tissues generally cause stress shielding effects, bone atrophy, and implant loosening. However, porous devices may be designed to reduce the implant stiffness and, consequently, to improve its stability by promoting tissue ingrowth. If porosity increases, mass transport properties, which are crucial for cell behavior and tissue ingrowth, increase, whereas mechanical properties decrease. As reported in the literature, it is always possible to tailor mass transport and mechanical properties of additively manufactured structures by varying the architectural features, as well as pore shape and size. Even though many studies have already been made on different porous structures with controlled morphology, the aim of current study was to provide only a further analysis on Ti6Al4V lattice structures manufactured by selective laser melting. Experimental and theoretical analyses also demonstrated the possibility to vary the architectural features, pore size, and geometry, without dramatically altering the mechanical performance of the structure.