Material And Process Design For Lightweight Structures

The use of lightweight structures across several industries has become inevitable in today’s world given the ever-rising demand for improved fuel economy and resource efficiency. In the automotive industry, composites, reinforced plastics, and lightweight materials, such as aluminum and magnesium are being adopted by many OEMs at increasing rates to reduce vehicle mass and develop efficient new lightweight designs. Automotive weight reduction with high-strength steel is also witnessing major ongoing efforts to design novel damage-controlled forming processes for a new generation of efficient, lightweight steel components. Although great progress has been made over the past decades in understanding the thermomechanical behavior of these materials, their extensive use as lightweight solutions is still limited due to numerous challenges that play a key role in cost competitiveness. Hence, significant research efforts are still required to fully understand the anisotropic material behavior, failure mechanisms, and, most importantly, the interplay between industrial processing, microstructure development, and the resulting properties. This Special Issue reprint book features concise reports on the current status in the field. The topics discussed herein include areas of manufacturing and processing technologies of materials for lightweight applications, innovative microstructure and process design concepts, and advanced characterization techniques combined with modeling of material’s behavior.

Research into the manufacture of lightweight automobiles is driven by the need to reduce fuel consumption to preserve dwindling hydrocarbon resources without compromising other attributes such as safety, performance, recyclability and cost. Materials, design and manufacturing for lightweight vehicles will make it easier for engineers to not only learn about the materials being considered for lightweight automobiles, but also to compare their characteristics and properties.Part one discusses materials for lightweight automotive structures with chapters on advanced steels for lightweight automotive structures, aluminium alloys, magnesium alloys for lightweight powertrains and automotive structures, thermoplastics and thermoplastic matrix composites and thermoset matrix composites for lightweight automotive structures. Part two reviews manufacturing and design of lightweight automotive structures covering topics such as manufacturing processes for light alloys, joining for lightweight vehicles, recycling and lifecycle issues and crashworthiness design for lightweight vehicles.With its distinguished editor and renowned team of contributors, Materials, design and manufacturing for lightweight vehicles is a standard reference for practicing engineers involved in the design and material selection for motor vehicle bodies and components as well as material scientists, environmental scientists, policy makers, car companies and automotive component manufacturers. Provides a comprehensive analysis of the materials being used for the manufacture of lightweight vehicles whilst comparing characteristics and properties Examines crashworthiness design issues for lightweight vehicles and further emphasises the development of lightweight vehicles without compromising safety considerations and performance Explores the manufacturing process for light alloys including metal forming processes for automotive applications

The use of lightweight structures across several industries has become inevitable in today's world given the ever-rising demand for improved fuel economy and resource efficiency. In the automotive industry, composites, reinforced plastics, and lightweight materials, such as aluminum and magnesium are being adopted by many OEMs at increasing rates to reduce vehicle mass and develop efficient new lightweight designs. Automotive weight reduction with high-strength steel is also witnessing major ongoing efforts to design novel damage-controlled forming processes for a new generation of efficient, lightweight steel components. Although great progress has been made over the past decades in understanding the thermomechanical behavior of these materials, their extensive use as lightweight solutions is still limited due to numerous challenges that play a key role in cost competitiveness. Hence, significant research efforts are still required to fully understand the anisotropic material behavior, failure mechanisms, and, most importantly, the interplay between industrial processing, microstructure development, and the resulting properties. This Special Issue reprint book features concise reports on the current status in the field. The topics discussed herein include areas of manufacturing and processing technologies of materials for lightweight applications, innovative microstructure and process design concepts, and advanced characterization techniques combined with modeling of material's behavior.

This book comprises the proceedings of the conference “Future Production of Hybrid Structures 2020”, which took place in Wolfsburg. The conference focused on hybrid lightweight design, which is characterized by the combination of different materials with the aim of improving properties and reducing weight. In particular, production technologies for hybrid lightweight design were discussed, new evaluation methods for the ecological assessment of hybrid components were presented and future-oriented approaches motivated by nature for the development of components, assemblies and systems were introduced. Lightweight design is a key technology for the development of sustainable and resource-efficient mobility concepts. Vehicle manufacturers operate in an area of conflict between customer requirements, competition and legislation. Material hybrid structures, which combine the advantages of different materials, have a high potential for reducing weight, while simultaneously expanding component functionality. The future, efficient use of function-integrated hybrid structures in vehicle design requires innovations and constant developments in vehicle and production technology. There is a great demand, especially with regard to new methods and technologies, for "affordable" lightweight construction in large-scale production, taking into account the increasing requirements with regard to variant diversity, safety and quality.

This book explains how lightweight materials and structures can be deployed in buildings to meet high environmental and aesthetic standards and emphasizes how the concept of lightness in building technology and design dovetails with the desire to enhance landscape. The first part of the book, on lightweight construction, aims to foster the use of membranes within the specific climatic context and in particular considers how lightweight materials and innovative technologies can enrich the quality of temporary spaces. The second part focuses exclusively on landscape, presenting novel approaches in the search for visual lightness and the quest to improve urban spaces. Particular attention is paid to the Italian experience, where the traditional appreciation of brick and stone has limited the scope for use of lightweight structures and membrane materials, often relegating them to a secondary or inappropriate role. The reader will come to appreciate how this attitude demeans a very advanced productive sector and neglects the ancient tradition of temporary architecture.

"This book of contributed chapters will provide the resources necessary for processing, characterization and manufacturing using lightweight materials across the globe, offering recent advances in the field of light weight material usage and its recent developments"--

Tensile surface structures are the visual expression of an intensive rethinking of the topic of building envelopes by designers. Advances in design methods, materials, construction elements and assembly and erection planning in the field of lightweight construction are enabling ever more exacting applications of tensile structures with envelope and structural functions, especially in roofing over large clear spans without internal support. However, the particular mechanical characteristics of the materials used in the construction of textile structures demand consideration of the question of "buildability". This book provides answers by discussing the fundamental influence of material manufacture and assembly in deciding the most suitable type of building or structure and its detailing in the design process. The fundamentals of material composition, manufacturing process, patterning and the behaviour of flexible structural systems are all explained here, as well as their use as structural and connection elements, and special attention is given to the erection of wide-span lightweight structures. The erection equipment is described, as well as the lifting and tensioning process and the construction methods used to erect the characteristic types of tensile structures, illustrated with a selection of example projects. Forword by Werner Sobek.

The author of this book presents a general, robust, and easy-to-use method that can handle many design parameters efficiently. Following an introduction, Chapter 1 presents the general concepts of truss layout optimization, starting from topology optimization where structural component sizes and system connectivity are simultaneously optimized. To fully realize the potential of truss layout optimization for the design of lightweight structures, the consideration of geometrical variables is then introduced. Chapter 2 addresses truss geometry and topology optimization by combining mathematical programming and structural mechanics: the structural properties of the optimal solution are used for devising the novel formulation. To avoid singularities arising in optimal configurations, this approach disaggregates the equilibrium equations and fully integrates their basic elements within the optimization formulation. The resulting tool incorporates elastic and plastic design, stress and displacement constraints, as well as self-weight and multiple loading. The inherent slenderness of lightweight structures requires the study of stability issues. As a remedy, Chapter 3 proposes a conceptually simple but efficient method to include local and nodal stability constraints in the formulation. Several numerical examples illustrate the impact of stability considerations on the optimal design. Finally, the investigation on realistic design problems in Chapter 4 confirms the practical applicability of the proposed method. It is shown how we can generate a range of optimal designs by varying design settings.

"This book of contributed chapters will provide the resources necessary for processing, characterization and manufacturing using lightweight materials across the globe, offering recent advances in the field of light weight material usage and its recent developments"--

This book offers a unique guide to the three-dimensional (3D) printing of metals. It covers various aspects of additive, subtractive, and joining processes used to form three-dimensional parts with applications ranging from prototyping to production. Examining a variety of manufacturing technologies and their ability to produce both prototypes and functional production-quality parts, the individual chapters address metal components and discuss some of the important research challenges associated with the use of these technologies. As well as exploring the latest technologies currently under development, the book features unique sections on electron beam melting technology, material lifting, and the importance this science has in the engineering context. Presenting unique real-life case studies from industry, this book is also the first to offer the perspective of engineers who work in the field of aerospace and transportation systems, and who design components and manufacturing networks. Written by the leading experts in this field at universities and in industry, it provides a comprehensive textbook for students and an invaluable guide for practitioners