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Strength

Manufacturability
Metals
(Alloys) Stiffness
Raw
Ceramics Cost
Processing
Composites Density
(Carbon Fibre)
Polymers Corrosion resistance
(Plastics) Toughness

What is the GOAL when

selecting aircraft materials ?

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Low Weight
Less fuel Performance
Efficiency

Damage tolerance
Lifetime
Fatigue tolerance

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Why Aluminium ?
 Steel is used extensively in automotive
engineering :
•Cheap
•Weldable
•Strong
•Good specific strength and stiffness
Why not in aircraft?

Material selection

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Material selection

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Why Aluminium ?
Aluminium is LESS DENSE than steel, even
though specific strength and specific stiffness
are about the same
 the strength skin is THICKER when
made from aluminium than when made
from steel
Therfore the aluminium has HIGHER
LOCAL BENDING STIFFNESS and is LESS
PRONE TO BUCKLING

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Why Aluminium ?
Aluminium acheives much of its strength
from heat treatment
After heat treatment, the normal aircraft
materials are extremely formable, and are
set in position while hot
After aging, the material regains significant
strength
As temperature changes the properties so
dramatically, it is not very weldebale,
especially in high preformance situations.

Ageing

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What happens to engineering

materials with time?

Fatigue

Corrosion

Wear

Creep

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Conditions for Fatigue

Tensile stress (at least for some of the
loading cycle)
Local stress must reach plastic range (even
if it is only microscopically)
Stress must vary cyclically

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Stress (S)

Number (N)

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S-n Curves

S-n Curves

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Example
Determine the number of cycles to failure
for a small Aluminium-2024 part with an
alternating stress of 150 Mpa. Assume that
the matrial has a scatter factor of 3

S-n Curves

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Stress Ratio
Fatigue behaviour depends not just on the
alternating stress but also the stress ratio, R

Amplitude ratio :

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Endurance Limit

Flight Loads
Stress

Time

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Miner’s Theorem
Assume that the load can be broken down
into discrete oscillating components with
their own , et
Work out the cycles to failure for each
term (N)
Fatigue damage initiates when

Δσ n/f N
Taxiing 100 20
Pressure 150 1
Man1 120 50
Man2 150 10
Turb1 120 100
Turb2 150 20
Landing 110 1

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Δσ n/f N
Taxiing 100 20 3.10^6
Pressure 150 1 4.10^5
Man1 120 50 1,2.10^6
Man2 150 10 4.10^5
Turb1 120 100 1,2.10^6
Turb2 150 20 4.10^5
Landing 110 1 2.10^6
∑ = 8,6.10^6

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What about non-catasrophic

cracking?
How do we predict growth?

Crack Growth Behaviour

Phase 1 : initiation
Microscopic defects due to material slippage
along shear planes
Ductile behaviour
Cracks at 45° to tensile stress direction
Phase 2 : Growth
Macroscopic crack growth
Brittle behaviour
Cracks perpendicular to tensile stress direction
Growth rate increases as crack length increases

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Crack Growth Behaviour

Phase 3 : unstable Growth
Growth rate tends to infinity
Crack grows catastrophically at the speed of
sound

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Beachmarks and Striations

Beachmarks and Striations

Once a crack is present engineers can
predict the rate at which the crack will grow.
The rate at which a crack will grow is given
by :

where

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Beachmarks and Striations

The number of cycles for the crack to grow
from length to is :

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Example
A crack has grown from a scratch mark on a
cutout in the fuselage frame of an aircraft.
The crack growth is defined by the relations :

Où

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Corrosion

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Corrosion
Corrosion is the natural disingtegration of
material as it is attached by one or more
substances in its environment

Forms of Corrosion
Two broad categories
Chemical
Direct chemical attack involves the reaction
between a metal structure and some chemical
agent.
Electrochemical
Formation of a battery.
Anode, cathode, electrolyse, conductive path
Electron flow and Ion production

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Uniform Attack
Some corrosion occurs over entire surfaces
and attacks all components of the metallic
structure
Usually occurs because of direct chemical
attack

Uniform Attack
Primary oxidising reagents are :
Oxygen
Chlorine
Sulfur compounds (note the CORRECT spelling
of sulfur)
Oxide layer may resist further corrosion if
volume is similar to parent material

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Selective Attack
Selective attack occurs when one material,
alloying component, microstructural
component, etc is attached a much faster
rate than the others
Examples
Interganular corrosion
Exfoliation
Galvanic corrosion
Stress corrosion.

Intergranular Corrosion
Grain boundaries often are rich in small
particles of dissimilar alloying metals
Less corrosion resistant than the grains
themselves

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Exfoliation
Intergranular corrosion in rolled metals can
cause the material to delaminate
Very dangerous form of corrosion because
it is often not visible from de surface

Galvanic Corrosion
When two dissimilar metals are in contact

Aluminium plates

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Stress Corrosion
Material with stored strain energy is more
likely to corrode because the energy barrier
is lower
Location of residual stress and strain are
difficult to detect

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Corrosion Control
Varies between different types of corrosion
Common factors involve :
Choice of materials
Isolation of reactive materials
Cleaning
Inspection
Repair
Differences focus on the anodic material,
cathodic material, electrolyte and conductive
path combination.

Material Selection
Choose less reactive materials where
possible
7000 series aluminium is more susceptible
to stress corrosion than 2000 series
Composites are less reactive than metals in
general
Don’t mix materials is good general rule,
espacially if the contact area is complex

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Material Isolation
Isolate materials from the environment,
electrolytes, dissimilar metals
Common techniques :
Cladding
Anodizing
Painting
Metallic primers (zinc chromate)
Organic coatings

Electrolyte Control
All electrolytic corrosion requires moisture
to form the electrolyte and transport
corrosion agents
Control of moisture is paramount :
Seal all joints
Regular cleaning to remove dirt
(moisture) accumulators
Clever geometry to avoid water trap
locations

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Inspection and repair

Corrosion growth is often of exponential or
accelerating
Catching and repairing the initial corrosion
is very important to minimise the damage to
the parent structure

CORROSION PRONE AREAS

Base of Bulkheads Galleys
Battery compartments Joints in external skin
Battery vent openings Landing gear
Bilge areas Lavatories
Cooling air vents Loose rivets/fasteners
Engine/APU Exhaust areas Water entrapment areas
External hinges Wheel wells

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MOST ANODIC
Pure Magnesium
AZ31A Magnesium
Zinc
7075-T Clad Aluminium
5056 Aluminium
Pure Aluminium
Cadmium
2024 Clad Aluminium
Steel
Iron
Lead
Chromium
Brass & Bronze
Copper
Stainless Steel
Titanium
Monel
Silver
Nickel
Inconel
Cabon
Gold
MOST CATHODIC

Wear

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Wear
The slow removal of material from the
surface of a component by mechanical action

Wear
A few main categories
Abrasive

Adhesive

Chafing/Fretting/False brinelling

Erosive

Contact stress Fatigue

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Abrasive Wear
Small abrasive particles (contaminants) cut
into and remove material from the surfaces
of the two components, which are held
together while moving

Adhesive Wear
The microscopic projections of the surfaces
of the two components, which are sliding
across each other, make contact, weld
together and break-off

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Wear of linkages
A common component in aircraft, which
needs regular maintenance due to wear, is
the rod-ends in mechanical linkages

Wear of linkages
Wear between the ball and the housing
gradually leads to looseness or lack of fit,
which develops.
The rod components must be replaced
when the free-play in the linkage exceeds
acceptable limits.
Failure to maintain these components can
lead to vibration of the structure and flutter :
Vibration will cause rapid deterioration due to
fatigue.
Flutter can be a direct cause of structural
failure.

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Wear of linkages
Models, which predict the rate of wear,
take the simple form

Où

These terms can vary with time leading to

accelerating wear rates

Creep

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Creep
Creep (sometimes refered to as stress
rupture) is the slow, gradual, plastic
deformation of materials exposed to long-
term loads
Even when structures are loaded below
their elastic limit

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Creep
High temperatures will increase the rate of
plastic strain and allow failures at lower
stress levels and in a shorter period of time.
Creep-caused structural failure is not a
common reason dor structural failure
Although creep of high speed rotating components in
jet engine turbine sections was relatively frequent cause
for engine failures but creep failure of modern jet
engines is rare.
The military suffered a rash of non-catastrophic failures
when some older engines were asked to go the extra
mile during the Persian Gulf War

Matching Materials to
Applications

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Operational Phases
Ground
Take-off
Cruise/operational
landing

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Light Aircraft
Initial cost important
Steel frame (maybe)
Alimunium skins

Engines
Piston.
Turboprop.

Business Jets
Initial cost less important
Higher performance materials
Composite (carbon fibre)

Engines
Turboprops.

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Civil Transport
Weight important but cost a consideration
Aluminium and composite structures

Engines
Turbofans.

Military
Performance is critical
Extensive use of composites in air frames

Engines
Turbojets.

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Fatigue
Civil Transport
Take-off most demanding

Military
Operational phase also demanding

Life
Civil
50 000 – 100 000 hours

Military
5000 – 10 000 hours

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Aluminium Alloys Used

2xxx – (Al-Cu / Al-Cu-Mg)
7xxx – (Al-Zn-Mg-Cu)

ALLOY COMPOSITION

2xxx-Al-Cu(-Mg)
6xxx-Al-Mg-Si
7xxx-Al-Zn-Mg(-Cu)
6xxx-Other

ALLOY TEMPER

T1 T3 T5 T7 T9
Anneal & Solution, cold work Anneal & Solution & Solution, artificial
natural ageing & natural ageing artificial ageing overageing ageing & cold work

T2 T4 T6 T8
Anneal, cold work Solution & Solution & Solution, cold work
& natural ageing natural ageing artificial ageing & artificial ageing

T_51 T_52 T_53 T_54

Stress releved by Stress releved by Stress releved by Stress releved by
stretching compression thermally cold forgin

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2xxx Alloys
2024
2224
2324
2524 Clad
Cladding 99.34% pure aluminium
Cladding improves corrosion resistance
All T3 (cold worked and artificially aged)
2xxx alloys have better fatigue properties
(lower ∂a/∂N) than 7xxx alloys hence used
on the lower wings and fuselage

7xxx Alloys
7055
(Al-8.0%Zn-2.0%Mg-2.3%Cu)
7150
(Al-6.2%Zn-2.3%Mg-2.3%Cu)
All T7 Overaged
Overaging reduces the susceptibility to
exfoliation corrosion and stress corrosion
cracking (SCC)

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NDI (if time permits…)

Why NDI?

The critical safety requirement of aircraft

components means that they must be
regularly tested for flaws.

To avoid damaging the components during

testing specialised non-destructive tessting
(NDT) techniques are used.

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Dye Penetrant
Low viscosity fluorenscent dye is added to
part surface
Surface dye is removed
Developer material added which draws dye
from cracks and defects and makes them
visible
Pros and Cons?

Dye Penetrant

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Magnetic Particle Inspection

Ultrasonic Inspection
Ultrasound sent into part
Reflected sound waves monitored
Pros and cons?

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Radiography
Like traditional X-ray
Can use X-ray,
Gamma ray and
Neutron beam
Pros and cons?

Tube to film distance

Exposed film

Eddy Current Testing

Using current generated by magnitic fields
Pros and cons?

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Acoustic Emission
Listen for cracks with sensitive
microphones and signal analysers
Pros and cons?

Thermography
Heat flow around defect will be differnet
Apply heat change to component and
observe temperature increase
Pros and cons?

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Comparative vacuum Monitoring

A system developed by structural
Monitoring Systems PLC in Perth.
A film with two arrays of connected tubes is
secured on the surface. A vacuum is applied
to one line and the other is open to the air.
If a crack is present air leaks to the vacuum.
The quality of vacuum is easy to monitor.
The system will fail safe- if a leakage occurs
it will give a false reading that a crack is
present.

Comparative vacuum Monitoring

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