Aircraft joint structure lightweight design

Purpose The purpose of this article is to carry out a lightweight design of the joint structure according to the service condition of the joint. Design/methodology/approach The finite element analysis techniques are used along with the variable density structure topology optimization method, the multi-island genetic algorithm for structural dimension optimization and the fatigue life analysis method. Findings Utilizing the topology optimization method and size optimization method, the mass of the optimized model for the A100 material model is 9.67 kg. Compared to the pre-optimized model, the mass decreases by 8.23 kg, representing a weight reduction of 46.0% in the optimized model; the fatigue life of the aircraft joint is predicted to be a maximum of 1,460,017 cycles. Originality/value The originality of this study is that it provides new design ideas for the lightweight design of aircraft load-bearing structures.