This article highlights that design of Al alloys for laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) can lead to fundamental change in the microstructure evolution, proposed alloy design strategies lead to synergy between and printability and performance, hierarchical and heterogeneous microstructures have potential to overcome the strength-ductility tradeoff, and alloy design incorporating the specific attributes of an AM technology is crucial to maximizing its potential.

This article investigates the short- and medium-range structural features of sodium aluminosilicate glasses with various P₂O₅ (0–7 mol%) content and Al/Na ratios ranging from 0.667 to 2.000 by using molecular dynamics simulations. Based on the simulated structural information, a modified random network model for P₂O₅-bearing sodium aluminosilicate glass has been proposed, which could be useful to optimize the mobility of sodium ions and design novel functional glass compositions.