engineering

Lightening holes

Lightening holes is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lightening holes rather than just read about it. In short: Lightening holes are holes in structural components of machines and buildings used by a variety of engineering disciplines to make structures lighter. The edges of the hole may be flanged to increase the rigidity and strength of the component.

Key takeaways

Lightening holes belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lightening holes to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lightening holes from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lightening holes are holes in structural components of machines and buildings used by a variety of engineering disciplines to make structures lighter. The edges of the hole may be flanged to increase the rigidity and strength of the component. The holes can be circular, triangular, elliptical, or rectangular and should have rounded edges, but they should never have sharp corners, to avoid the risk of stress risers, and they must not be too close to the edge of a structural component.

Usage

Aviation

Lightening holes are often used in the aviation industry. This allows an aircraft to be as lightweight as possible, retaining the durability and airworthiness of the aircraft structure.

Maritime Lightening holes have also been used in marine engineering to increase seaworthiness of the vessel.

Motorsports

Lightening holes became a prominent feature of motor racing in the 1920s and 1930s. Chassis members, suspension components, engine housings and even connecting rods were drilled with a range of holes, of sizes almost as large as the component.

"[The] wisdom of the day was to make everything along the lines of a brick shithouse [...] and then drill holes in the bits to lighten them."

Military Lightening holes have been used in various military vehicles, aircraft, equipment and weaponry platforms. This allows equipment to be lighter in weight as well as increase the ruggedness and durability. They are usually made by drilling holes, pressed stamping or machining and can also save strategic materials and cost during wartime production.

Architecture

Lightening holes have been used on various architecture designs. During the 1980s and early 1990s, lightening holes were fashionable and somewhat seen as futuristic and were used in the likes of industrial units, car showrooms, shopping precincts, sports centres etc. Parsons House in London is a notable building that uses lightening holes since its renovation in 1988. Ringwood Health & Leisure Centre in Hampshire is another notable example.

See also Honeycomb structure Hollow structural section Isogrid Truss Fuller (groove)

References

External links

Tests Of Beams Having Webs With Large Circular Lightening Holes Archived 2020-10-27 at the Wayback Machine, by L. Ross Levin, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The Strength And Stiffness Of Shear Webs With And Without Lightening Holes, by Paul Kuhn, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics The Strength And Stiffness Of Shear Webs With Round Lightening Holes Having 45° Flanges Archived 2022-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, by Paul Kuhn, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lightening holes

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lightening holes claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lightening holes before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lightening holes ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lightening holes

In research: Lightening holes appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lightening holes in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lightening holes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aerospace engineering, Civil engineering, Marine engineering, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lightening holes outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Lightening holes” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Lightening holes in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lightening holes means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lightening holes out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lightening holes in simple terms?

Why does Lightening holes matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lightening holes?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lightening holes.