Design and material issues for light weight structures

( Abhishek, Roll No.-190204001,M.Tech Ist yr)

1. Introduction
Light weight structures mainly consider on design and material, from which they are being fabricated
and structured. As structures are fabricated as per the need, as whether it is going to apply. It may be in
automotive, aerospace or in advance machineries. For making structures light weight in design point of
view we opt for structural optimization and elimination of extra material and make it lighter by
analyzing high stresses hotspot regions (hollow pipes instead of solid). And in material point of view,
selection of appropriate material with less weight with good mechanical strengthening properties can
leads to better structures as per desire (use of CFRP, alloys, etc.). Light-weighting involves the use of
advanced materials and engineering methods to enable structural elements to deliver the same, or
enhanced, technical performance while using less material.

2. Material issues for light weight structures

Structures which are having optimized design are done the on basis of dynamic and geometrical
concept. As per the load on the component, particular stress and strains are developed on particular
region of the component and rest can be eliminated. Hence there is no bearing on material, as it totally
depends on the design. Constitutive law is used to have relation between stress and strain.
Stress (σ) = Elastic modulus (E) * Strain (ε)
Here Elastic modulus is material property.
Structures are also designed on basis of mode of loading (Optimum Strength and Optimum strength).
For example:
(a) Tensile loading for tie rod.
(b) Bending for beam.
(c) Transverse + bending for plate.

For the material point of view, there different types of materials with various mechanical strength and
elastic modulus like Wood, Al-Alloys, Mild steel, concrete, CFRP, Composites.

S.No. Materials Properties

1. Metal High stiffness, toughness, melting point, good ductility, high density
poor hardness, fatigue strength and corrosion resistance
2. Ceramics Very high stiffness, yield strength, hardness and melting point, good
corrosion resistance and moderate density, very low toughness and
formability (powder methods)
3. Polymers Adequate strength, good corrosion resistance and low density , low
Stiffness and fracture toughness.
4. Composites Good stiffness, strength and fracture toughness, low density, good
Fatigue and corrosion resistance, high cost and difficult formability.

Material Selection is based on Cost, weight, quality and ease in handling.

 3. Design issues for light weight structures
There are three mainly aspects: Functional, Fabrication and Economic considerations
Other considerations: Environmental, Societal/legal, Ergonomical, Aesthetics.
Case Study:
 For material consideration -
In the case study our objective is to maximize strength and minimize mass so that there is appropriate
selection of light and strong material for shaft. Performance index is the expression came by
considering torque and shaft of length L and Mass M.
τ f 2/ 3
Performance index P =
ρ

Then various performance index resulted for different material (CFRP, GFRP, Al-Alloys, Ti-Alloys)
because PI depends on Strength (MPa) and Density (mg/m 3).By that CFRP should be preferred on the
basis of strength. But on the basis of cost, 4340 steel should be preferred.
 For Design consideration -

As per the design of the beam or component we can optimize by taking different cross sections
according to their torsional and bending rigidity comparing by their respective performance index.
From the case it concludes that I section is best to use for bending as well as twisting.
Design consideration also includes rigidity and strength for optimum:

Based on strength (for beam) -

Vσ = 3PL2/ (2σd) (optimum volume to take care of stress)

Based on rigidity (for shaft) –

Vδ = P * (L^2/d) 2 / (4 E δ)
Graph-Comparison of optimum design for strength and
rigidity for mild steel and cast iron. Graph shows that up
to volume for strength for cast iron(7) and mild steel(1)
dominates upto critical point and then volume for
rigidity overtakes after the critical point (ratio of Vσ & Vδ)
Comparison on design for hollow and solid shaft:
For the same torque is to be transmitted and both shafts are
of same material but one is solid(dia=d) and other is
hollow (di=(2/3)do).
So, the ratio of weight of hollow to solid shaft is 0.6432, which means that here design get optimized
by taking hollow part to make it lighter.
For design consideration is also helpful according to need places where circular and non-circular
shafts are used. Rather to use circular we can opt to rectangular, diamond shape, square shape shafts.

Honeycomb structure is also used under design consideration, in which a sandwich structure is
constructed by laminating a honeycomb thick sheet between the two face sheets with the help of
adhesives. As increase in thickness of honeycomb sheet, relative stiffness, relative strength, and
relative weight also increases. By this structure the compressive strength increases instead of
increase of weight.
For different applications (eg: Aviation, high grade energy conversion machines and automobile,
etc.), we need different light weight structure in consideration of relative cost and relative
performances. This means for most durable and reliable component, we need to adopt appropriate
material as well as good design structure. Carbon honeycomb, fiberglass honeycomb comes at the
top of the chart and PVC, PU foam, paper honeycomb comes at the bottom as per cost and
performance.
Advantages of honeycomb and sandwich panels are: High strength to weight ratio, High stiffness
(rigidity) to weight ratio, Better impact and damage resistance, Fatigue resistance, durability.

In future application, automobile industries are grasping more use of parts of light weight structures
as compare to aviation industries. Today light weight components are more costly in setup cost but it
would be more significant for long running use, because it saves fuel and make it more efficient.

In coming years these expensive composites and sandwiches are going to be cost effective because
manufacturing technology up to 2030 can reduce the fabrication cost of composite honeycomb
structures. By then every industry can used light weight structures. And also the cost between
aluminum alloys and carbon fiber is going to shrink, because now a time as we are going to reduce
weight, automatically the cost increases, which will unlike in future.