The global automotive industry is facing challenges in several key areas, including energy, emissions, safety, and affordability. Lightweighting is one of the key strategies used to address these challenges. Maximizing the weight reduction (i.e., minimizing vehicle weight) requires a systems-engineering design optimization and iteration process that combines material properties and manufacturing processes to meet product requirements at the lowest mass and/or cost. Advanced high-strength steels, aluminum and magnesium alloys, and carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers have emerged as important materials for automotive lightweighting. In aerospace, the move towards composite airframe structures has encouraged an increased use of formable titanium alloys.

In steel research, there are also major ongoing efforts to design novel damage-controlled forming processes for a new generation of efficient and reliable lightweight steel components. All of these materials, and more, constitute today’s research mission for lightweight structures. Lightweight design is often associated with the application of lightweight materials. They provide a burgeoning materials science research field aiming to achieve a better understanding of the interplay between industrial processing, microstructure development, and the resulting material properties.

Given the extensive scientific and technological importance of this timely subject, this Special Issue aims to collect articles relevant to lightweight materials researchers, engineers, and manufacturers in academia and in industry. Original research and review articles are welcome.

This Conference Issue is being run in partnership with the 3rd International Conference on Manufacturing, Material Science and Engineering, held in CMR Institute of Technology, India, from 13th – 14th August (https://www.icmmse.in/). Whilst submissions are invited from all researchers, we particularly welcome full length articles both from attendees and those that have submitted abstracts and posters for consideration at this conference.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Processing techniques for lightweight materials, including light alloys and composite materials
• Process design for lightweight material structures
• Structural and chemical characterization of lightweight materials
• Advanced experimental techniques used in the characterization of lightweight materials
• Theoretical and numerical models of structural and chemical characterization properties
• Non-conventional machining techniques
• Smart lightweight material structures
• Friction stir welding in lightweight material structures
• Design of manufacturing systems to develop lightweight materials and components
• Applications of lightweight materials in industries