Introduction to Aerospace Materials

8

Aluminium alloys for aircraft structures

8.1 Introduction

Aluminium has been an important aerospace structural material in the development of weight-efficient airframes for aircraft since the 1930s. The development of aircraft capable of flying at high speeds and high altitudes would have been difficult without the use of high-strength aluminium alloys in major airframe components such as the fuselage and wings. Compared with other major aerospace materials, such as magnesium, titanium, steel and fibre-reinforced polymer composite, aluminium is used in greater quantities in the majority of aircraft. Aluminium accounts for 60–80% of the airframe weight of most modern aircraft, helicopters and space vehicles. Aluminium is likely to remain an ...