Materials considerations for aerospace applications
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Introduction Modern aircraft comprise three major components: airframe, propulsion, and systems. This article discusses materials and key design and manufacturing considerations for airframe and engine structures. The systems component, which provides power, control, and utilities, will not be addressed. Airframe materials have seen remarkable evolution from the Wright brothers’ first powered-flight airplane, which was made primarily of wood and fabric, to modern engineered alloys, primarily aluminum and carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. Selection of materials for airframes is a complex process that must be accomplished quickly across a large number of interconnected components that meet the design requirements at the lowest possible manufacturing and maintenance costs. Manufacturing must be done with minimal environmental impact from both incorporated materials and flyaway materials, such as cadmium, as well as minimal use of rare materials, such as rhenium. Historically, weight reduction has been a primary motivator of innovation in the aerospace industry, driven by safety, performance, fuel efficiency, and range. Although these factors are important, engine and airframe efficiencies might already
be adequate for the near future. The next 20–30 years of advancements in aerospace structures and engines will be driven more by both manufacturing and life cycle cost pressure. This is especially true for polymer matrix composites, which have yet to benefit from the full potential of automation and often rely on significant hand labor during manufacturing. Composites provide significant advantages with regard to weight and resistance to fatigue and corrosion that should translate into significantly reduced maintenance costs. However, they also face some performance-related challenges, such as relatively low interlaminar strength and toughness, poor durability under hot-wet (hygrothermal cycling) and other environmental conditions, and embrittlement due to ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. Design concepts must be coordinated with manufacturing engineering, tooling, and vendors to confirm their concurrence with the product definition to help ensure fabricability. As a method of controlling cost and aiding operators with fleets that include multiple airplane models, designs should strive for commonality across models. Similarly, the design of turbine engines emphasizes low operating costs, placing a premium on increasing fuel efficiency and extending the time that an engine can remain
R.R. Boyer, RBTi Consulting, USA; [email protected] J.D. Cotton, Boeing Research and Technology, The Boeing Company, USA; [email protected] M. Mohaghegh, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, The Boeing Company, USA; [email protected] R.E. Schafrik, Materials and Process Engineering, GE Aviation, USA; [email protected] DOI: 10.1557/mrs.2015.278
© 2015 Materials Research Society
MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 40 • DECEMBER 2015 • www.mrs.org/bulletin
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MATERIALS CONSIDERATIONS FOR AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS M
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