Application of topology optimization to production-ready passenger seat components design

Lightweighting of components has become a key challenge in the development of modern transportation systems. The overall mass of a vehicle has a significant impact on its fuel efficiency and manufacturing cost. Therefore, the lightweight design of vehicle components is crucial in the industrial field. Topology optimization (TO) is a computational design approach aimed at achieving lightweight design. However, most existing studies focus on simplified academic models, with limited demonstration in real-world applications. This paper presents a practical implementation of TO in the design of three structural components in the real-world aerospace field: seatback frame, seat fuselage mount, and seat spreader. The optimization process incorporates realistic loading conditions and boundary constraints, followed by necessary adjustments to ensure manufacturability and ergonomic compatibility, providing production-ready designs. In addition, strategies for improving stress distribution in the TO-derived geometry are discussed. The resulting designs are evaluated using both explicit static and implicit analyses to ensure all design requirements are satisfied. Comparative results show that the designs produced by the presented TO-involved design method achieve weight reduction of 30%, 25%, and 20% for the seatback frame, seat fuselage mount and seat spreader compared to the baseline designs. These findings demonstrate that TO can deliver material-efficient solutions without compromising structural performance. The study highlights the potential of integrating TO into conventional design workflows to support performance-driven development of complex industrial components.