IJSDIP | International Journal of System Design & Info Processing

3D Printing of Lightweight Composite Structures for Aerospace Applications: Analyzing strength-to-weight ratio improvements in additive manufacturing

Paper ID:

IJSDIP_2025_VOLUME 13_ISSUE 4_94-101

Author's Name:

Dr.N.Nandakumar, Dr .Ch. Tirumala Rao, Niranjan Babu Bethi, Dr. Muthu Selvakumar N

Volume:

Issue:

Issue 4

Year:

2025

Pages:

94-101

Abstract

The aerospace sector is always in need of the new materials and production methods that can be used to decrease the weight of the structure without decreasing or weakening the mechanical integrity. The solution has taken a new form in additive manufacturing (AM) specifically 3D printing composite materials. In the current paper, the formation of lightweight composite structures with the polymer-based and metal-matrix composites by the fused deposition modeling (FDM) and the selective laser melting (SLM) methods are investigated. The importance is attached to the study of the strength to weight ratio, mechanical performance and effects of anisotropy of printed composites in simulated conditions of aerospace loading. The experimental data show strengthening of up to 35 percent in the strength to weight ratio compared to the conventionally machined components of aluminum. But, interlayer bonding irregularities, rough surface and restriction of scalability continue to be imposed. The experiment comes to a conclusion that mechanical reliability can be greatly improved with the help of incorporating optimal process parameters, in-situ measuring, and hybrid material deposition. The onward development must be on multifunctional composite architecture to incorporate embedded sensors and predictive modelling architectures in the development of adaptive and weight efficient aerospace components.

Keywords

3D printing, additive manufacturing, lightweight composites, aerospace engineering, strength-to-weight ratio, polymer-matrix composites, metal-matrix composites, fused deposition modeling (FDM), selective laser melting (SLM).

References

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.64971/j.cph.ijsdip.v13.i4.14.2025