Lightweighting and Generative Design

Lightweighting is in great demand to save material, reduce costs and comply with regulations. To help us understand how lightweighting is incorporated into design work in the field, we surveyed nearly three hundred designers, engineers and managers who lightweight designs.

Lightweighting is in great demand to save material, reduce costs and comply with regulations. Aircraft parts must be as light as possible. Automotive part manufacturers are also under pressure to lightweight. The methods to lighten a part include hollowing, changing material, shape and size using design sense and intuition. Generative design has emerged as a possible method to change shape and size automatically.

To help us understand how lightweighting is incorporated into design work in the field, we surveyed nearly three hundred designers, engineers, managers and educators who lightweight designs. Do they use generative design when lightweighting? What is keeping them from using generative design more often? What are their perceptions of generative design? What obstacles have they encountered?

We share the survey results in this research report, where you will learn:

  • The key obstacles to lightweighting
  • What users want in their lightweighting software
  • How designs are typically optimized, and how long it takes to create a detailed design
  • Why is generative design not more widely applied for lightweighting?
  • Who are the leading generative design vendors?
  • And much more

Your download is sponsored by Dassault Systèmes.