Technical Note on Lightweight Aircraft Materials

The lightweight materials are characterized by low density and an increase in strength-to-weight ratio. In addition, the lightweighting operation entails the use of high-end materials and new and efficient engineering technologies to certify the mechanical part to reserve and develop their practical and real-life functions by use of a reduced mass of raw material. Generally, typical applications of lightweight materials used are the optimal composite of high-performance formulations, that is, composites, and the optimization of structures with computational manufacturing schemes, and structures are manufactured with the aid of the most recent engineering techniques, like additive manufacturing, hot forming, and foam metals. Lightweight design is primarily important in ultralight aviation, where it can enable long flights. The fundamental principle of lightweight strategy is to reduce the use of materials and guarantee the absence of differences and even greater technical performance. Throughout this chapter, the author gives a close analysis of some of the lightweight materials that are currently being utilized in the production of aircraft parts.