Advancements and applications of lightweight structures: a comprehensive review

Abstract

Lightweight structures comprise of actual pieces or segments that give the crucial ability to function while weighing less than other possibilities as well. The aerospace industry invented this particular branch of expertise, which is sometimes referred to as lightweight engineering or lightweight construction. This paper focuses on how lightweight structures are developed and applied in the field of structural engineering which is essential to achieving the high standards and breakthroughs of modern science. Comparison is made depending on different types of lightweight materials such as titanium alloys, shape memory alloys, magnesium, aluminum alloys, and wood composites, benefits, and applications of each type of material are discussed. Recent technologies and innovations in the field of lightweight design are performed including deployable and morphing structures, 3D printing, embedded sensors and actuators, and advanced joining technologies. Moreover, research is also being done on these structure types of evolution, uses, and significance, as well as their design techniques and innovations. Truss, tensegrity, pantographic, cable, origami, and sandwich structures are identified by explaining their properties and working mechanisms. The usage of several lightweight structures in the fields of aerospace, robotics, civil engineering, architecture, automotive, and biomedicine is examined in this paper. Additionally, the comparison is made between the application of tensegrity, truss, pantographic, and sandwich structures in aircraft applications in detail, while the importance of shape morphing and deploying of pantographic and origami structures is explained in the field of aerospace and robotics. In addition, different types of bridge structures and architecture are mentioned according to applications of suspension cables, stayed cables truss structures, and tensegrity techniques. Furthermore, the paper covers the improvement of computational and numerical techniques in the analysis and design of lightweight structures including the force method, dynamic relaxation method, and finite element method (FEM), trends in optimization techniques and their applications are included mentioned sequential quadratic programming (SQP) and interior point optimization, with applications on different types of lightweight structures. Also, perspectives and future directions of lightweight design through sustainability and smart construction are taken into account, importance of lightweight design in the form of environment and innovation is clearly supported.