Design and Manufacturing for Lightweight Components and Structures

A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Manufacturing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 3937

Special Issue Editors

Department of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410000, China
Interests: lightweight of automobile; materials processing; dissimilar material joining; material characterization
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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing Technology for Vehicle, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Interests: lightweight design and manufacturing; dissimilar material joining; magnetic pulse welding/crimping; manufacturing process; fiber reinforced composites; quality inspection/detection techniques

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nowadays, in an era of rapid technological progress and growing environmental awareness, the quest for lightweight components and structures has become a top priority in various industries. The manufacture of automotive and aerospace components, precision assemblies, and bioengineered implants relies heavily on machine tools as a production factor. However, today's machine tools and manufacturing methods are not what they used to be, thanks to considerable advances in additive manufacturing technology, fiber-reinforced composites, structural optimization, and quality inspection/detection techniques. Additive manufacturing technologies enable the fabrication of complex-shaped parts by stacking materials layer by layer while reducing material waste. Still, they also face challenges such as uncertain material properties, processing defects, and cost control. Fiber-reinforced composites combine lightweight fibers and high-performance resins to provide excellent strength and stiffness, but the manufacturing process is complex and costly. Structural optimization technology minimizes the use of materials. It achieves lightweight design through mathematical modeling and computational analysis but also faces problems such as computational complexity and difficulty in manufacturing optimization results. Quality inspection/detection technology ensures the quality of the manufacturing process and the final product. Still, traditional methods face the complexity of lightweight materials and structures, and testing accuracy and efficiency need to be improved. In addition, metal joining technology is crucial in lightweight design and manufacturing. Traditional welding and bolting are gradually replaced by new bonding, welding, and riveting methods, which reduce the weight and improve the joining's strength and durability. However, they also face problems of unstable bonding strength and complex processes. Solving these problems requires the development of new joining materials and methods, the optimization of joining design, and the investigation of joining interfaces.

The theme of this Special Issue is "Design and Manufacturing for Lightweight Components and Structures." It is intended to provide a platform for scholars and investigators to share their latest theoretical and technological achievements, and original ideas are expected to be presented in the papers submitted. The topics to be investigated include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Advanced lightweight materials;
  • Structural optimization and design;
  • Simulation and computational modeling;
  • Composite materials and processing technology;
  • Dissimilar material joining;
  • New metal joining technology;
  • Quality inspection/detection technology;
  • Lightweight design for automotive, aerospace, marine, and consumer electronics;
  • Additive manufacturing technologies for lightweight components;
  • High performance manufacturing tools;
  • Sustainable manufacturing;
  • Energy efficiency and environmental protection.

Dr. Hao Jiang
Dr. Shaoluo Wang
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Machines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2400 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 design and manufacturing
  • dissimilar material joining
  • electromagnetic forming
  • manufacturing process
  • fiber-reinforced composites
  • structural optimization
  • mechanical properties
  • failure mechanism
  • quality inspection/detection techniques

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 14492 KiB  
Article
Structural Parameter Design of Magnetic Pulse Welding Coil for Dissimilar Metal Joints: Numerical Simulation, Parameter Optimization, and Experiments
by Yangfan Qin, Changhui Ji, Hao Jiang, Yuefan Jiang, Junjia Cui and Guangyao Li
Machines 2025, 13(1), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines13010028 - 6 Jan 2025
Viewed by 717
Abstract
As a main component of the magnetic pulse welding (MPW) system, the working coil exerts a great influence on the electromagnetic force and its distribution, which, in turn, affects the quality of the MPW joints. This study proposes a structural parameter optimization of [...] Read more.
As a main component of the magnetic pulse welding (MPW) system, the working coil exerts a great influence on the electromagnetic force and its distribution, which, in turn, affects the quality of the MPW joints. This study proposes a structural parameter optimization of the MPW coil, with the objective of achieving a higher induced current density on the flyer plate. The optimal Latin hypercube sampling technique (OLHS), Kriging approximate model, and the Non-Linear Programming by Quadratic Lagrangian (NLPQL) algorithm were employed in the optimization procedure, based on the finite element model built in LS-DYNA. The results of the sensitivity analysis indicated that all the selected parameters of the coil had a specific influence on the induced current density in the flyer plate. The optimized coil structure serves to refine the pulse current flowing path within the coil, effectively reducing the current loss within the coil. Additionally, the structure reduces the adverse effect of the current within the coil on the induced current within the flyer plate. Numerical results show the peak-induced current of the flyer plate increasing by 25.72% and the maximum Lorentz force rising by 58.10% at 25 kJ with the optimized coil structure. The experimental results show that with the same 25 kJ discharge energy, the optimized coil could increase the collision velocity from 359.92 m/s to 458.93 m/s. Moreover, 30 kJ of discharge energy should be needed to achieve the failure mode of base material failure with the original coil, while only 15 kJ should be applied to the optimized coil. These findings verify the optimization model and give some outline for coil design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Manufacturing for Lightweight Components and Structures)
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18 pages, 14328 KiB  
Article
Optimization of the Femtosecond Laser Machining Process for Single Crystal Diamond Using Response Surface Methodology
by Jiu Yin, Chuanbo Ming, Guangfu Zhang, Chang Chen, Qi Zeng and Yuan Li
Machines 2024, 12(9), 614; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12090614 - 3 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1232
Abstract
Femtosecond laser machining offers high precision and minimal thermal impact, making it a promising technique for processing hard and brittle materials like single-crystal diamonds (SCDs). In this study, the femtosecond laser machining process for SCD material was systematically optimized to improve both machining [...] Read more.
Femtosecond laser machining offers high precision and minimal thermal impact, making it a promising technique for processing hard and brittle materials like single-crystal diamonds (SCDs). In this study, the femtosecond laser machining process for SCD material was systematically optimized to improve both machining efficiency and quality. Initial single-factor experiments were conducted to explore the effects of key process parameters—laser power, scanning speed, and number of scans—on machining performance. Subsequently, response surface methodology (RSM)-based experiments designed using the Box–Behnken method were employed to comprehensively refine the process. A regression model was developed to analyze the data, and the interaction effects of the parameters were thoroughly evaluated. The validated model identified an optimal set of parameters, resulting in a significant improvement in machining performance. This research provides a comprehensive framework for optimizing femtosecond laser machining processes, offering valuable insights critical for the production of advanced lightweight components in industries such as aerospace, optical instruments, and high-performance electronics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Manufacturing for Lightweight Components and Structures)
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17 pages, 8370 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Cycloid Gear Wear on the Transmission Accuracy of the RV Reducer
by Yourui Tao, Huishan Liu, Miaojie Wu, Nanxian Zheng and Jiaxing Pei
Machines 2024, 12(8), 511; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12080511 - 29 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1311
Abstract
The cycloid gear wear of RV reducers leads to the degradation of the industrial robots’ transmission accuracy, but the degradation law with respect to the wear volume is still unclear. In this paper, a method for determining transmission error (TE) through a combination [...] Read more.
The cycloid gear wear of RV reducers leads to the degradation of the industrial robots’ transmission accuracy, but the degradation law with respect to the wear volume is still unclear. In this paper, a method for determining transmission error (TE) through a combination of numerical and simulation analysis is proposed. The wear model of cycloid gear was ascertained based on the theory of Archard. Then, the full rigid body and rigid–flexible coupling model of RV reducers were established using the multibody dynamics theory. Finally, the static transmission error (STE) and dynamic transmission error (DTE) were investigated. The results show that as working hours increase, the cycloid gear wear volume increases, and transmission accuracy deteriorates, but the rate tends to slow down. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design and Manufacturing for Lightweight Components and Structures)
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