Design Of Lightweight Structures Research Articles

Multi-parameter similarity model-based lightweight design of battery electric vehicle body-in-white

The bending stiffness, torsional stiffness, and low-order modal frequencies of the body-in-white (BIW) are crucial factors in structural lightweight design. This paper introduces a BIW optimization approach for electric vehicles (BEVs) that integrates comprehensive sensitivity analysis and multi-parameter similarity models. The aim is to efficiently balance the BIW’s stiffness performance with minimal weight, while also managing potential manufacturing cost increases from design modifications. Firstly, the validity of the computational model is demonstrated by the BIW bending and torsion stiffness test and modal test. On this basis, the integrated sensitivity evaluation indexes of the structural member thickness parameters to the stiffness, weight and low-order modal frequency response of the BIW were calculated. The sheet metal thickness parameters of 17 structural members were preferred as design variables, and a multi-parameter similarity prediction model for BIW weight reduction design was constructed. Minimum weight, maximum stiffness and higher modal frequency of the BIW are defined as the optimization objectives. The optimal solution was finally solved using a multi-objective optimization algorithm. The results indicate a 1.582% reduction in weight of the BIW compared to the pre-optimization BIW. This paper delves into the intricate interplay between the parameters of the BIW’s structural components using simulation optimization techniques alongside experimental validation. This study not only proposes a new idea for the problem of how to efficiently and accurately determine the best optimization object from a large number of structural components in the development of vehicle structural safety, but also provides a research basis for automobile manufacturers to implement further weight reduction and optimization work on the BIW at the later stage of BEV development.

State-of-the-Art Lightweight Implementation Methods in Electrical Machines

The demand for high-power density motors has been increasing due to their remarkable output capability and compact construction. To achieve a significant improvement in motor power density, lightweight design methods have been recognized as an effective enabler. Therefore, extensive investigations have been conducted to reduce motor mass and achieve lightweight configurations through the exploration of lightweight materials, structures and manufacturing techniques. This article provides a comprehensive review and summary of state-of-the-art lightweight implementation methods for electrical machines, including the utilization of lightweight materials, structural lightweight design, and incorporation of advanced manufacturing technologies, such as additive manufacturing techniques. The advantages and limitations of each approach are also discussed in this paper. Furthermore, some comments and forecasts on potential future methodologies for motor lightweighting are also provided.

On thermal and strain-rate dependences of polymethacrylimide (PMI) foam materials

Polymethacrylimide (PMI) foams exhibit great potentials in engineering applications thanks to its outstanding lightweight and superior mechanical properties. However, the temperature and loading rate can greatly affect its mechanical behaviors, which are the key factors in analysis and design of the PMI foam structures for practical applications. Unfortunately, there is lack of fundamental data and constitutive models available concerning the elastic-plastic properties of the PMI foam in various stress states at different ambient temperatures and different strain rates. Therefore, this study aims to fill this knowledge gap by generating basic experimental data and providing a generic modeling solution for PMI foam materials and structures. To better reflect the actual service conditions in practice, different stress states are considered under different temperatures and strain rates. The cyclic loads are applied to characterize the actual mechanical responses of the PMI foam where the initial and subsequent yield surfaces were calibrated and analyzed. Following the experimental results, the elasticity, plasticity, viscosity and damage of the PMI foam are investigated thoroughly, especially for the initial and subsequent yielding behaviors. Further, the thermal and strain rate dependent constitutive models are established and calibrated based on the in-house experimental data for finite element (FE) modeling. A novel damage model is proposed to replicate the phenomenon of the stiffness degradation in compression. It is found that accurate predictions on the mechanical responses of PMI foam can be achieved under different temperatures and strain rates. This study is anticipated to provide fundamental experimental data and effective constitutive models of PMI foam for real engineering applications, such as lightweight design of sandwich structures under some harsh conditions.

Dynamic mechanical behaviors of load-bearing battery structure upon low-velocity impact loading in electric vehicles

As the electrification trend of vehicles continues, new energy vehicles such as electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are being equipped with new functional energy storage devices demanding a trade-off between electrical and mechanical property. Accordingly, composite-battery integrated structures which simultaneously carry mechanical resistance and energy-storage capacity, are being explored to offer great potential for the next generation of EVs or PHEVs. Herein, the dynamic responses and failure mechanisms of the integrated structure under the commonly occurring low-velocity impact events are studied both experimentally and numerically. A macro-scale finite element (FE) model was developed by implementing constitutive models of component materials, including lithium‐ion polymer (LiPo) battery cells, polymer foams, and carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP). The numerical method demonstrates good feasibility and accurately predicts impact behaviors, with the maximum error of the peak impact load not exceeding 8 %. The integrated structures are proven to reduce mechanical damage while maintaining mechanical and electrochemical performance within a range of impacts. The electrical and mechanical behaviors and their correlations were revealed. Sensitivity of the mechanical behaviors and electrical failure to battery arrangement were discussed as well as the structure design on energy absorption capacity. These results hold significant potential for the safety and lightweight design of energy storage composite structures incorporating lithium-ion batteries.

Multifunctional hybrid plate lattice structure with high energy absorption and excellent sound absorption

Lattice structures are featured by their extraordinary mechanical performances in specific stiffness, specific strength, energy absorption, and sound absorption, etc. The recent trend of multifunctionality in engineering applications has raised new requirements for the integration of their mechanical and acoustic properties. In this paper, a multifunctional hybrid plate lattice structure denoted as SBHP is proposed by hybridizing the traditional body-centered cubic plate (BCCP) and simple cubic plate (SCP) lattice structures, and its acoustic and energy absorption properties are investigated by theoretical modeling, simulation analysis and experimental verification. The effects of hole diameters and plate thicknesses on the sound absorption performance are investigated by impedance matching and system damping state analysis. The results show that the average sound absorption coefficient of SBHP-1 is increased by 24% and 62%, and the normalized half-absorption bandwidth is enlarged by 45% and 89% than those of BCCP and SCP, respectively. Heterogeneous lattice structures constructed by using the synergistic mechanism of strong and weak coupling have a more outstanding broadband sound absorption effect. This work provides an effective approach for the design of multifunctional lightweight structures with excellent broadband sound absorption and high energy absorption.

An intelligent body frame structure modeling and optimization system based on conceptual design

The conceptual design stage is an indispensable and important stage in the development of the modern body. However, due to the lack of sufficient body structure parameter support, the design defects generated at this time are difficult to make up for in the subsequent design stage. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a conceptual design software for body structure that integrates design, analysis, and optimization. This paper proposes an intelligent body frame structure modeling and optimization system based on conceptual design, S-iVCD (Intelligent System for Conceptual Design of Vehicle Body Structure). Based on deep learning methods and body design sketches, a conceptual model of body structure is quickly established. Based on the data parameters stored in the Excel table, the system is seamlessly connected to the domestic independent finite element software SIPESC to calculate the simulated working conditions. The body structure optimization module is driven by the MMA (method of moving asymptotes), and takes the body structure performance and total mass as the optimization goals or constraints of the mathematical model to achieve body structure performance improvement and lightweight design.

Research on the thermal response characteristics of lightweight insulation structure with various shaped lattice units

The study of heat transfer characteristics of various lattice structures is necessary for the lightweight design of lattice structures, which are basic units for integrated insulation-bearing structures in the hypersonic aircraft. In this work, the heat transfer characteristics of six representative volume elements based on single-cell are investigated by numerical and experimental methods. Two lightweight insulation structures are designed using the Gibson-Ashby and tetrakaidecahedron simple-cells, which exhibit superior insulation performance. The thermal response characteristics of two structures are comprehensively investigated. The end face area of the lattice unit significantly influences the insulation performance, with a small end face area leads to a good insulation performances. Compared to the tetrakaidecahedron configuration, the Gibson-Ashby configuration demonstrates a superior insulation performance. The inner wall temperature of the structure containing the Gibson-Ashby lattice unit is consistently lower than that of the structure containing the tetrakaidecahedron lattice unit. In the ground experiments, the maximum relative temperature difference between the inner wall surfaces of the tetrakaidecahedron lattice structure and the Gibson-Ashby lattice structure is 7.6 %, while in the flight experiments, it reaches 18 %. Through heat flux inversion, flight conditions were simulated, and the results show that the temperature on the inner wall surface, which is protected by the lightweight insulation structure, remained below 320 K while the outer wall temperature reaches a high value of 423.6 K. These conclusions provide important references for the lightweight design of aircraft insulation structures.

Failure mechanisms and process defects of 3D-printed continuous carbon fiber-reinforced composite circular honeycomb structures with different stacking directions

3D printing of continuous carbon fiber-reinforced composites relieves molds in composite manufacturing and gives flexibility to the design of lightweight and robust circular honeycomb structures. Nevertheless, how process defects affect the failure mechanisms of 3D-printed continuous carbon fiber-reinforced honeycomb structures remains undisclosed. To advance this research area, it requires a comprehensive investigation of the failure mechanisms and process defects of 3D-printed continuous carbon fiber-reinforced composite circular honeycomb structures (CCFRCCHSs), with particular attention to the influence of stacking orientations. In this study, 3D printing has been introduced to fabricate CCFRCCHSs using the identical composite material and geometry but different stacking orientations. Both in-plane and out-of-plane quasi-static compression experiments were carried out on these CCFRCCHSs. The mechanical properties and failure mechanisms were investigated through experimental analysis and cross-section observation, from which the microscopic voids and weak interfaces were identified as the dominating factors influencing the failure modes of CCFRCCHSs. This study provides insights into the association between process defects and failure mechanisms of 3D-printed CCFRCCHSs with different stacking directions, which offers guidance for the design of lightweight and robust composite circular honeycomb structures.

Elastic-plastic response for the foam-filled sandwich circular tube under internal blast loading

The dynamic response and the blast resistance of an aluminum foam-filled sandwich circular tube under internal blast loading was investigated theoretically. The deformation of the structure is decoupled into three phases corresponding to blast loading interacting with the internal tube, foam core crushing and external tube deformation. During the process, the theoretical model includes both the circumferential membrane forces and the axial moment components and considers an elastic-plastic strengthening model for internal/external tubes. The proposed model is tested against the experimental results for the mid-point deflection of the external/internal tubes. The influence of the physical and geometrical parameters of the structure on their deformation is investigated. It is shown that the dimensionless mid-point deflection of the external tube decreases as the tangent modulus of the internal/external tube increases, while the tangent modulus of the internal tube has a larger effect on the mid-point deflection of the external tube. The minimum mass of a sandwich circular tube can be found when the deformation of the external tube is specified. The research results can provide theoretical basis for lightweight structure design.

Vibro-acoustic response and sound transmission loss of sandwich plates with tunable Poisson's ratio core in a hygrothermal environment

In this study, vibro-acoustic response and sound transmission loss of sandwich plates with tunable Poisson's ratio (TPR) core in a hygrothermal environment are investigated. The sandwich plate is taken as a moderately thick plate and various plate theories are used to examine the vibroacoustic behavior. First, the equations of motion of a sandwich plate in the hygrothermal environment are derived based on Hamilton's principle. Then, the solution to free vibration for a simply supported sandwich plate is presented. Next, we obtain the sound power level (SPL) for the point harmonic force exerted on the surface of the sandwich plate using the Rayleigh integral and the sound transmission loss (STL) as the harmonic sound wave is incident on the plate surface. Finally, numerical examples are conducted and discussed. The effects of the core-to-thickness ratio, plate theories, parameters of the TPR core, hygrothermal environment, and incident elevation angle on the SPL and STL of the sandwich plate are analyzed. This study will contribute to the design and manufacturing of lightweight structures in the aviation industry.

Characterizing the Digital Twin in Structural Mechanics

The Digital Twin is one of the major technology trends of the last decade. During the course of its rapid expansion into various fields of application, many definitions of the Digital Twin emerged, tailored to its respective applications. Taxonomies can cluster the diversity and define application-specific archetypes. This paper presents a systematic characterization of the Digital Twin in the context of structural mechanics and lightweight design. While the importance of a shared understanding and the development of holistic solutions for implementing Digital Twins in various application areas is widely recognized, a general framework for implementing Digital Twins in structural mechanics has not yet been established. In this paper, we systematically characterize Digital Twins and develop a framework for their application in structural mechanics, enabling the digital design and monitoring of structures for improved performance and maintenance strategies. The key contributions include collecting and clustering design and operational requirements and deriving two central archetypes: structure-designing and structure-monitoring Digital Twins. The primary goal is to reduce the complexity of conceptualizing Digital Twins of structures by providing a preliminary framework and reconsidering the Digital Twins of structures as a holistic system throughout the product life cycle. Overall, in this paper, we take a systematic approach to enhancing the conceptualization and implementation of Digital Twins in structural mechanics.

Topology optimization of multi-material active structures to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint

A multi-material active structure is a mechanical system made of passive and active materials with the ability to alter its configuration, form, or properties in response to changes in the environment. Active structures have been investigated to design lightweight structures and structures with the ability to “smartly” alter their shapes and/or internal forces. Recently, the potential of active structures to reduce environmental impact, i.e., reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has been investigated. It has been verified that, compared to passive structures, active structures can not only use less material but also consume less energy and cause less GHG emissions during their service life, and thus have a significant potential to be applied as environment-friendly mechanical structures. This study aims to develop a general topology optimization (TO) approach to design novel multi-material active structural systems to reduce environmental impact. The approach is based on the density-based TO scheme. Passive and active materials are considered in the TO process and are required to be optimally distributed according to the optimization objective and constraints. The energy consumption or GHG emissions caused by the structure during its service life are treated as the objective function to be minimized under multiple displacement requirements. Typical examples are carried out to verify the developed approach. Results show that the topology optimized active structures may not only achieve significant weight savings but also less energy consumption and GHG emissions compared to equivalent topology optimized passive structures, which indicates that the developed approach has the potential to be applied to design novel structural systems with lighter weight, larger span, and with less environmental impact compared to conventional passive structural systems.

Flutter and divergence zones of perovskite solar cell-based panels of aircraft wings in subsonic airflow

Solar-powered aircraft have advantages such as quite long flight time and resource conservation. In recent years, with the improvements in solar cell efficiency, lightweight structural design, microelectronics, and automation control technology, more and more countries and organizations have conducted research on solar-powered aircraft. Solar cells are an important component of solar-powered aircraft systems. Perovskite solar cells have the advantages of high flexibility, lightweight, and high specific power, making them the ideal material for solar-powered aircraft wings. To receive as much sunlight radiation as possible and improve the lift-to-drag ratio of the entire aircraft, solar-powered aircraft have a high aspect ratio, making them more sensitive to changes in airflow. Therefore, the stability zones and vibration of perovskite solar cell (PSC) panels in subsonic airflow were studied for the first time. Additionally, to enhance the novelty of the paper and present more comprehensive results, the effect of the nanomaterial properties of one-layered perovskite solar cell substrates reinforced by carbon nanotubes and graphene platelets on the flutter and divergence phenomenon was investigated. To accurately simulate the displacement field after the composite perovskite panel is bent, Reddy's high-order shear deformation theory was adopted. The PSC panel's aerodynamic-elastic coupling motion equations were established by combining Hamilton's principle with the linear potential flow theory and the Bernoulli equation. The dynamic equations were discretized using a meshless numerical method to obtain the generalized multi-parameter characteristic equations. The obtained natural frequencies and critical divergence speeds were compared with published literature to validate the correctness of the aerodynamic model and laminated board model. The divergence instability and flutter instability of the PSC nanocomposite panel were investigated for changing the thickness, nano-fillers, porosity, laying angle, and aspect ratio of the substrate. We showed, that the PSC panel has a divergence instability state first, and then flutter instability appears. Additionally, the substrate nanomaterial parameters of the PSC panel significantly affect shifting divergence and flutter zones. Interestingly, the corresponding natural frequency increases when flutter occurs with an increase in the porosity volume.

Multi-objective optimization for snap-through response of spherical shell panels

Composite spherical shell panels are commonly used for the lightweight design of thin-walled structures in the structure, architecture, aerospace engineering. Depending on the shell panel length, thickness, curvature, and stacking sequence, the load-deflection response under lateral load can be either a completely stable equilibrium path or an unstable snap-through path. In this work, the response of simply supported cross-ply composite spherical shell panels subjected to lateral static loads is studied and optimized. The spherical shell exhibiting snap-through response is optimized to (a) maximize the load required to initiate snap-through and (b) minimize the unstable region. Meanwhile, the spherical shell exhibiting continuous response is optimized to (a) maximize the softening-hardening load and (b) minimize the shell weight. The decision variables for both constraint multi-objective optimization (CMOO) problems include layup sequence, thickness, and the radius of curvature to side length ratio. The nonlinear governing equations are derived based on Kirchhoff–Love hypotheses for thin shells and Hamilton's principle. A novel semi-analytical method is presented based on Bernstein polynomials combined with a fast iterative approach to compute the objective features of the responses. Benefiting from the high efficiency and robustness of the proposed approach, the CMOO problems are solved by the metaheuristic Multi-Objective Artificial Hummingbird Algorithm (MOAHA). Composite spherical shell panels with various geometry and lamination configurations are considered to validate the performance of the proposed method. The optimization of geometric parameters (shell curvature and thickness) in addition to the staking sequence provide a high degree of tailoring of the shell performance to meet various objectives. These parameters are taken as design variables that must be optimized to achieve some objectives and satisfy arbitrary nonlinear constraints.

Flexural behavior evaluation of a foam core curved sandwich beam

In this study, curved sandwich beams (CSBs) with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foam core were initially fabricated. Experiments in three-point bending were then performed to understand the flexural behaviors including failure modes, load-bearing capacities, and load–displacement curves. The effects of various geometrical parameters including facesheets and core thicknesses, two different types of cores, and curvature radius were clarified. It was found that the utilization of PET foam in CSBs resulted in a prevention of core shearing failure and a gradual decrease in load–displacement response. Moreover, the results showed that the ultimate load-bearing capacity and stiffness of the CSBs decreased by 17.7 % and 61.8 %, with a curvature decreased from 1500 to 300 mm, respectively. An analytical model was performed to accurately estimate the experimental failure modes and load-bearing capacities of CSBs. Failure maps were also developed to investigate the various failure modes caused by different geometric parameters of curved sandwich beams. The failure maps offer valuable guidance for the design of lightweight structures.

Design and analysis of buckling-induced honeycombs with tailorable out-of-plane crushing performance

Novel honeycombs with buckling-induced features and tailorable properties have been designed and fabricated using the fused deposition modeling (FDM) method. Quasi-static out-of-plane compression tests were carried out to investigate the topological dependence of the crushing behavior of the buckling-induced honeycombs (BIHs). The results demonstrated that the crushing performance of BIHs can be artificially controlled by altering their shape parameters. In particular, the initial peak force (IPF) and the undulation of the mechanical response of BIH can be effectively reduced by increasing the layer number or arranging the asymmetric layers. A finite element model validated against experimental results was also utilized to reveal the underlying deformation mechanism and study the corresponding displacement-crushing force responses for BIHs with different topological parameters. It was uncovered that the buckling-induced mechanism is beneficial for tuning the stiffness and mitigating local buckling resistance through the pre-determined collapse behavior of cell walls. Further, a multi-objective optimization process of BIH was performed to seek the optimal design solution for energy-absorbing structures in specific scenarios. The findings of this study provide a theoretical basis for the development of new ideas and optimization solutions for the design of lightweight and performance-tailored energy-absorbing structures.

Feasibility of textile envelope integrated flexible photovoltaic in Europe: Carbon footprint assessment and life cycle cost analysis

Textile envelope integrated flexible photovoltaic (TE-FPV) systems gain more attentions in recent years because of their lightweight structure and innovative design. Three types of TE-FPV systems are designed as a sunshade for a teaching building in Politecnico di Milano to replace the current PV glazing sunshade. The environmental and economic feasibility of TE-FPV systems is investigated by applying life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) in a cradle-to-cradle approach. LCA provides carbon footprint of systems to quantify the environmental performance. LCCA study considers the contribution of life cycle cost, building owner income, and social and environmental benefits. The results are compared with the PV glazing sunshade. From the results, all TE-FPV systems can achieve the economic benefits for the whole society while producing renewable and clean energy. Building owner can even earn benefits from the TE-FPV systems in Norway. The proved success of economically feasible TE-FPV systems in Bergen, Norway serves as compelling evidence for the broad applicability of such systems across the most areas within Europe.

Flexural behaviors of 3D printed lightweight engineered cementitious composites (ECC) slab with hollow sections

3D concrete printing (3DCP) is a form-free construction method that offers the potential to construct load-efficient structures with unique shapes. However, 3DCP currently lacks a compatible reinforcement method. This paper aims to print self-reinforced lightweight slabs using engineered cementitious composites (ECC). By introducing honeycomb-like (HS) and rectangular hollow sections (RS) into printed ECC slabs, the self-weight of HS and RS slabs is reduced by over 30.5% and 35.7%, respectively, compared to that of a solid slab. The flexural behaviors of the printed slabs were investigated via four-point bending test and finite element modeling. Experimental results show that the printed ECC slabs exhibit typical ductile failure even in the absence of steel reinforcement. The maximum flexural strength-to-mass ratio of HS and RS slabs approaches 0.049 MPa/kg, which almost equals to the value of solid slab. The numerical models were validated using the experimental results. Furthermore, parametric analysis reveals that bond strength higher than 1.5 MPa can achieve a stable flexural behavior for HS slab. The findings lay the groundwork for load-efficient and lightweight structural design by using ECC in 3DCP.

Model development for numerical analysis of the bonding strength for friction welded lightweight structures

The rotary friction welding (RFW) is a robust, precise, productive and economical joining process that is used in many areas of mechanical engineering to produce lightweight structures consisting of combinations of ferrous and non-ferrous materials, for instance aluminium alloy and steel. Crucial for the design of such lightweight structures is the knowledge about the bonding strength. The bonding strength is the result of the bond formation depending on the present transient kinematic, kinetic and thermal states during the welding process being directly determined by the welding process parameters. Despite several years of empirical research, no reliable numerical modelling approach exists for the RFW process to analyse the bonding strength based on these transient state variables. For this reason, an improvement of the bond formation and therefore an increase in the bonding strength can only be tested experimentally. The main motivation of this paper is to develop an appropriate modelling approach for the estimation of the bonding strength for friction welded lightweight structures manufactured of an aluminium alloy and a structural steel. Therefore, a couple of aluminium alloy and steel welding experiments with different process parameters were performed and subsequently analysed concerning to the resulting bonding strength. Moreover, all the welding experiments were simulated in regard to the corresponding welding process in order to determine the present kinematic, kinetic and thermal state variables, like the strain rate, the stress and the temperature. Thus, a model for the characterization of the bond formation can be developed, which allows a correlation between the bond formation and the resulting bond strength based on the chosen welding process parameters. Finally, the model will be examined and discussed in terms of its plausibility and applicability.

On the crashworthiness of aperiodic chiral mechanical metamaterials: design and modeling method

Chiral mechanical metamaterial has become topical in energy absorption for the unusual compression-to-twist deformation determined by the asymmetric chirality geometry of their microstructures. However, the insufficient research on the dynamic crash behavior with high nonlinearity and the lack of efficient design and modeling method have blocked the development of chiral mechanical metamaterials considering crashworthiness. In this work, the structure-property relationship of chiral mechanical metamaterials under medium-strain-rate impact was systematically investigated. We proposed an aperiodic framework considering additive manufacturing which enabled both the ordered and disordered chiral mechanical metamaterials utilizing a screw-theory-based assembly rule. The strut components had variable cross-sections and the joints were fillet-enhanced in order to improve the compressive performance. Meanwhile, the corresponding efficient modeling method for finite element analysis (FEA) was introduced. The constitutive relation, damage criteria, and damage revolution of the 316L stainless steel were established considering strain rate effect. Finally, the deformation mechanisms and energy absorbing capabilities of the proposed chiral mechanical metamaterials were demonstrated and discussed based on the mechanical behaviors and the proposed chirality indexes. The numerical results indicated that the proposed design and modeling method provided an effective paradigm for the crashworthiness design of light-weight materials and structures, facilitating the further applications in fields of automobile, civil engineering, aerospace, etc.