With the unique and combined mechanical

physical and chemical properties of copper and steel

the copper–steel functional materials are widely used in aerospace

power industries

biomedical and other fields. However

the applications of copper–steel functional materials are restricted due to the limitations in producing parts with complex structural design and easy macro segregation at the copper–steel composite interface via traditional methods such as melting and casting. Different from the traditional methods

metal additive manufacturing technology has more advantages in manufacturing copper–steel functional material parts

including capability of complex structure formation and effective alleviation of segregation and other defects at the copper–steel interface attributed to the relatively rapid cooling and solidification process

resulting in the enhancement of interface bonding strength. Based on the recent research progress in the preparation of copper–steel functional materials by various additive manufacturing technologies

the key problems of defects derivation and forming quality of copper–steel functional materials additive manufacturing are analyzed

the practical application scenarios are summarized

and its development trend is prospected.