Dual-material optimization framework for aerospace structural components: integrating performance, cost-effectiveness, and manufacturability

Abstract

Aerospace structural design attempts are based mainly on single-material optimization techniques, so that one misses the potential benefit of complementary properties from the second material, resulting in cost-performance disadvantages. Hence, all existing stress-based assessment criteria lack provisions for material distribution uniformity and manufacturing constraints, thus leading to a wide divide between theoretical optimization and aerospace practical component design. In the paper, a dual-material optimization framework is proposed for aerospace structural components in which Ti–6Al–4V and aluminum AlSi10Mg are used as high-performance and low-cost materials, respectively. The approach presents a strain-based assessment approach instead of the traditional stress-based evaluation, thereby accomplishing material distribution uniformity alongside adequate structural performance. In this establishment of the framework, surface continuity optimization takes place with manufacturing constraints from the preliminary design phase, strategically allocating titanium alloy in the critical load-bearing regions and aluminum in non-critical. FEA, driven numerical validation indicates that the cost of materials is reduced by 30 %, the cost of manufacturing by 37.5 %, and, lastly, the cost of assembly is cut by 66.7 %. In that case, the total cost of production which is drastically dropped from 6,500 to 4,000 per component and the inherent structural performance were both maintained thus ensuring the 35.38 % return on investment. In this way, the dual-material optimization method singles out the largest difference between theoretical solutions and practical implementation of aerospace design and thus paves the way for structural designs in AI, possessing the capacity to change the entire mode of manufacturing of aerospace components for a less expensive version in different applications.