Introduction to Aerospace Materials

11

Steels for aircraft structures

11.1 Introduction

Steel is an alloy of iron containing carbon and one or more other alloying elements. Carbon steel is the most common material used in structural engineering, with applications in virtually every industry sector including automotive, marine, rail and infrastructure. The world-wide consumption of steel is around 100 times greater than aluminium, which is the second most-used structural metal. Figure 11.1 shows the production of steel, aluminium, magnesium and composites over the course of the 20th century, and the usage of steel amounts to more than 90% of all metal consumed. Although steel is used extensively in many sectors, its usage in aerospace is small in comparison to aluminium and composite ...