Advanced Lightweight Composite Materials: Design, Structure and Mechanical Properties
A Special Issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944) belonging to the section "Advanced Composites".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2027 | Viewed by 982
Editors
Interests: mechanics of lightweight composite materials and structure; including composite materials; cellular materials; porous materials; biomaterials; sandwich panels; lightweight structures; multi-functional structures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Lightweight composite materials have become a cornerstone of modern engineering, driven by the urgent global demand for energy efficiency, emission reduction, and high-performance structural solutions. Across sectors such as the aerospace, automotive, marine, and renewable energy sectors, the pursuit of materials with superior strength-to-weight ratios, durability, and multifunctionality is reshaping design paradigms. Advanced composites, including fiber-reinforced polymers, textile-based composites, and architected metamaterials, offer unprecedented opportunities to tailor mechanical properties through microstructural and topological design. At the same time, gradually emerging challenges, such as complex service environments, multi-field coupling effects, damage evolution, and long-term reliability, necessitate deeper scientific understanding and innovative design strategies. With the integration of AI-assisted computational modeling, advanced manufacturing, and intelligent sensing technologies, the field is rapidly evolving toward more predictive, adaptive, and sustainable material systems.
This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate the most recent advances in the design, structural optimization, and mechanical performance of advanced lightweight composite materials. We welcome original research articles and comprehensive reviews that address fundamental mechanisms, novel material architectures, and engineering applications. Contributions focusing on the interplay between structure and properties, multiscale modeling, and experimental validation are particularly encouraged.
Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:
[Topic 1] Design and optimization of lightweight composite structures, including textile and architected metamaterials.
[Topic 2] Multiscale modeling and simulation of composite materials.
[Topic 3] Advanced manufacturing techniques for composite materials.
[Topic 4] High-performance composites for extreme environments (e.g., deep sea, aerospace).
[Topic 5] Functional and intelligent composite structures (sensing, adaptive response, energy harvesting, self-monitoring).
[Topic 6] Sustainable and recyclable composite materials.
Prof. Dr. Jian Xiong
Guest Editor
Dr. Junli Chen
Guest Editor Assistant
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- lightweight composites
- structural design and optimization
- mechanical properties
- multiscale modeling
- advanced manufacturing
- metamaterials
- multi-functional materials and structures
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