{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,26]],"date-time":"2026-02-26T14:09:15Z","timestamp":1772114955628,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,8]],"date-time":"2025-05-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746662400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia of Portugal (FCT) and IDMEC via the project LAETA Base Funding","award":["10.54499\/UIDB\/50022\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["10.54499\/UIDB\/50022\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia of Portugal (FCT) and IDMEC via the project LAETA Base Funding","award":["C644876810-00000019"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C644876810-00000019"]}]},{"name":"Innovation Pact \u201cR2UTechnologies\u2014modular systems\u201d","award":["10.54499\/UIDB\/50022\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["10.54499\/UIDB\/50022\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Innovation Pact \u201cR2UTechnologies\u2014modular systems\u201d","award":["C644876810-00000019"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C644876810-00000019"]}]},{"name":"\u201cR2UTechnologies\u201d Consortium, co-financed by NextGeneration EU, through the Incentive System \u201cAgendas para a Inova\u00e7\u00e3o Empresarial\u201d (\u201cAgendas for Business Innovation\u201d)","award":["10.54499\/UIDB\/50022\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["10.54499\/UIDB\/50022\/2020"]}]},{"name":"\u201cR2UTechnologies\u201d Consortium, co-financed by NextGeneration EU, through the Incentive System \u201cAgendas para a Inova\u00e7\u00e3o Empresarial\u201d (\u201cAgendas for Business Innovation\u201d)","award":["C644876810-00000019"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C644876810-00000019"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sustainability"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper introduces a new methodology that enables the production of polymer\u2013metal parts through hybrid additive manufacturing. The approach combines fused filament fabrication (FFF) of polymers with adhesive bonding of metal inserts, applied during layer-by-layer construction. The work is based on unit cells designed and fabricated using eco-friendly materials\u2014polylactic acid (PLA) and aluminum\u2014which were subsequently analyzed for build quality and for mechanical performance under tensile lap-shear and three-point bending tests. The acquired knowledge in terms of optimal processing parameters for attaining strong polymer\u2013metal bonds was then applied for the fabrication and testing of prototypes representing modular corner connectors for framing applications. Results on build quality demonstrate that issues, such as lumps and warping, can be solved by finetuning the 3D printing stages of the proposed methodology. In terms of destructive testing, significant improvements in the mechanical performance of PLA can be achieved, demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed methodology in integrating the lightweight properties of polymers with the stiffness of metals. This enables the development of innovative, sustainable and eco-friendly solutions that align with the growing demand for eco-friendly materials and processes in manufacturing.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/su17104254","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,8]],"date-time":"2025-05-08T04:06:21Z","timestamp":1746677181000},"page":"4254","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["A New Methodology to Fabricate Polymer\u2013Metal Parts Through Hybrid Fused Filament Fabrication"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Sofia F.","family":"Silva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"IDMEC, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-7737-2627","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro M. S.","family":"Rosado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDMEC, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4067-0389","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui F. V.","family":"Sampaio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDMEC, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3599-7053","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o P. M.","family":"Pragana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDMEC, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5409-619X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ivo M. F.","family":"Bragan\u00e7a","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDMEC, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"CIMOSM, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Lisboa, 1549-020 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7698-8340","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eurico","family":"Assun\u00e7\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"FAN3D\u2014Favorit Answer Lda, 2740-119 Porto Salvo, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3837-5185","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos M. A.","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IDMEC, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rezvani Ghomi, E., Khosravi, F., Saedi Ardahaei, A., Dai, Y., Neisiany, R.E., Foroughi, F., Wu, M., Das, O., and Ramakrishna, S. (2021). 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