The materials used in manufacturing of aircraft have changed significantly from the

construction of the first aircraft. With its objective of flying using air support while, resisting
gravitational forces, the materials used for construction of aircraft must have a small weight,
high specific strength, heat resistant, fatigue load resistant, crack resistant and corrosion
resistant. Back in the days, aircrafts were constructed using wood and fabrics. But aircrafts
that are made up of wood and fabric were subject to rapid deterioration and high
maintenance. Thus, the search for better materials began. Now, aluminium, steel, titanium
and composite materials are preferred in the construction of aerospace structures.

Materials used in manufacturing of aircrafts

Aluminium is used due to its low density (2.7 g/cm3), high strength properties, good thermal
and electric conductivity, technological effectiveness and high corrosion resistance. But
because aluminium loses its strength at high temperatures, it is not used in the skin surface of
an aircraft.

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon and can be three times stronger and heavier than
aluminium. It is usually used in a landing gear due to its strength and hardness as well as in
the skin surface of aircrafts due to its high heat resistance.

Titanium and its alloys are commonly used in the construction of aircraft due to its high
strength properties, high temperature resistance and high corrosion resistance compared to
steel and aluminium. Despite being expensive, titanium is used in aircraft construction due to
its excellent material properties. It is used in panel and swivel wing assemblies, hydraulic
systems and other parts.
Product manufacturing company also favors composite materials in the production of
aircrafts due to their high tensile strength, high compression resistance, low weight and high
resistance to corrosion. Composite materials are composed by a base material and resin that
strengthens the material as a whole. Composite materials improve fuel efficiency and
performance of the aircraft as well as lessen direct operating costs of aircrafts. The most
common composite material used is fiberglass that is made up of glass fibers as the base
material and a resin matrix. The disadvantages of using composite materials, however,
include high cost and immediate repair are needed in case of damage. It is also important to
avoid fire when using composite materials because the resin used weakens and causes release
of toxic fumes.

Future materials for aircraft building

Magnesium had been gaining popularity again due to new developments regarding its corrosion and
flammability properties. Magnesium is a lightweight metal but was banned in aircraft construction
because it easily catches fire. Now, various research studies made progress in developing
magnesium alloys that can meet aerospace corrosion and flammability requirements and succeeded
in lifting the ban of magnesium usage. Due to its low weight property, high strength and ductility,
magnesium alloys improve efficiency of the aircraft.
Nano Adaptive Hybrid Fabric (NAHF-X) or fuzzy fibers have good structural, electrical and thermal
properties. Once incorporated into resin products, it will have the ability to be produced in continuous
sheets to desired sizes like other fabrics. Fuzzy fibers can be used in small Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs) where weight will be reduced when the conductive “skin” of fuzzy fiber serves for the
aircraft’s power, sensor systems and communications.
Fiber metal laminates (FML) have high strength, low density and high elasticity modulus with
improved toughness, corrosion resistance, good fire resistance and fatigue properties. Furthermore,
fiber metal laminates have low weight compared to other metallic structures. Lesser amounts of FML
is needed to build a component compared to other materials. With these properties, cost is
dramatically reduced in the construction and maintenance of aircrafts.

Other materials that can improve the performance and reduce cost of aircraft manufacturing are
CentrAl reinforced aluminum (CentrAl) and ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). CentrAl has 25%
more tensile strength than high-strength aluminum alloys, high fatigue resistance and highly damage-
tolerance. It also has a lighter weight compared to aluminum alloys that will decrease the weight of
the aircraft and lower the fuel consumption. CMCs have high resistance to temperatures that exceed
the properties of other materials. Its utilization in CFM LEAP high-bypass turbofan engine has
reduced fuel consumption by 16%.
Various studies are still being implemented in order to find materials that will be highly suitable with
the requirements needed for materials used in the construction of aircraft and will reduce overall costs
while improving the efficiency of the aircraft.

Metallics

Metallic alloys continue to be used for more than 75 percent of most

airframe and propulsion systems by weight. They constitute relatively
mature and reasonably well-understood classes of materials ranging
from aluminum alloys for airframe structures to nickel alloys for hot
sections of turbine engines. Continued research into metallics is
strongly recommended, emphasizing tailoring of alloy systems
to provide significant advances in such traditional areas as
weight reduction and environmental resistance. Aluminum-lithium
(Al-Li) alloy systems, for example, promise evolutionary benefits in
higher stiffness and lower density, with no reduction in structural life.
Continued research efforts are required, however, to ensure that Al-Li
alloys will be endowed with the balanced strength, corrosion
resistance, and toughness properties necessary for cost-effective
airframe structural applications. Powder metallurgy technology is
another area in which continued research efforts are warranted.
Aluminum powder and rapid solidification techniques offer a wider
range of chemical composition and processing options, which in turn
promise alloys of improved strength, toughness, and corrosion
resistance, compared to ingot metallurgy processes. Powder
metallurgy also has the potential of producing aluminum base alloys
with capabilities to 900ºF that could make them competitive with more
costly materials, such as titanium, in both airframe and engine
applications. Improved titanium alloys also have great potential. Alloys
capable of superplastic forming continue to promise both economic
fabrication of parts with complex curvature or integral stiffeners and
weight savings through reduction of stress concentrations where there
would otherwise be mechanical fasteners. Research is needed to
increase allowable strain rates and, thereby, part output; to reduce
cavitation flaws; and to broaden the classes of superplastically
formable alloys available to structural designers. Beyond more
conventional metallic systems, research efforts in ordered alloys of
the TiA1, Fe3A1, and Ni3A1 types should be substantially increased.
Emphasis should be on increasing fundamental understanding of the
structure-property relations in these systems and on alloy additions to
enhance strength and toughness. Both airframe and propulsion
systems could benefit substantially from the high strength-to-weight
potential of these more unusual alloy systems.

Composite Materials

Significant research investments are required to develop the full

potential of composite materials for both airframe and engine
applications. This class of materials is, in general, very large; it
includes polymer matrix, metal matrix, and ceramic matrix composites
(CMCs), as well as continuous and discontinuous fibers. Various
combinations offer differing advantages, depending, for example, on
the thermal environment (Figure 9-1). Fibers can be entirely of one
constituent material or used in combination. Some of the more
traditional potential advantages of these materials are, by now, well
understood. They include higher specific (relative to material mass
density) strength, and stiffness, and better fatigue and fracture
resistance compared to metallic alloys. Hybrid materials such as those
having combinations of glass and graphite reinforcements show
significant improvement in tensile fracture properties versus solely
graphite-reinforced laminates. This is especially important for
application to fuselage structure for penetration damage containment.
Damage tolerance of these materials—particularly hybrids—is not as
well understood and is an area of high potential payoff.

Polymer matrix composites research appropriately deals with both the

constituent materials and the way they are combined to form
composites. It should emphasize tougher matrix resins for use up to
700ºF as well as novel forms of thermosets, thermoplastic, and
crystalline polymers with improved processing characteristics and
properties. Improvements in carbon fiber reinforcements for polymer
matrix composites are expected to continue, based on the efforts of
various suppliers; government research programs in this area are not
likely to be required. Understanding of the fiber matrix interface
characteristics required for tougher composites, however, needs to be
improved, as does knowledge of how to apply textile technology, such
as stitching and weaving, successfully to improve interlaminar
strength. It should be recognized that a polymer matrix structure will
require appropriate adhesives, sealants, and finishes.

Metal matrix composites (MMC), with either continuous or

discontinuous reinforcement, have significant potential for use in both
airframe and propulsion systems, particularly when operating
temperatures fall in the range of 225–2000°F. Research by NASA
emphasizing composites with discontinuous reinforcements is
recommended, based on the belief that such materials are likely
to simplify fabrication. Both aluminum and titanium matrix
composites with silicon carbide type reinforcements (particulate, fiber,
ribbon), for example,
FIGURE 9-1 Tensile strength per unit mass as a function of operating
temperature for several composite materials.

warrant substantial continuing research and development. Technology

expansion of MMCs should be directed toward tailored matrix
chemistry/fiber properties for achieving consistency in high-
strength/high-stiffness properties, along with practical levels of
ductility, toughness, and cost. Fabrication technology, particularly for
tailored structures, should be emphasized to fully exploit the
advantages of MMCs and prevent cost from becoming an
insurmountable barrier. Hybrid systems involving metal sheets
interleaved with various types of reinforcements also show promise as
structural materials.

CMCs constitute one of the highest-risk research opportunities in the

materials and structures discipline. However, the magnitude of the
potential benefits from these materials for higher-temperature
applications, such as uncooled turbine engine components, justifies
major research efforts. Both ceramic matrix and ceramic fiber
technologies need to be pursued, along with an emphasis on
improving fabrication technology. Achieving reproducibility in fiber
quality, matrix features, and composite behavior is essential before
these promising materials can be considered to have reached a state
of technology readiness. It appears that ceramic materials of the
silicon nitride and silicon carbide families should receive the greatest
attention.