AIRCRAFT MATERIALS

AND PROCESSES

HOLY ANGEL UNIVERSITY ENGR. AMORSOLO T. CHUA

Properties of Materials

Properties of Material
Hardness
- refers to the ability of a material to resist abrasion,
penetration, cutting action, or permanent distortion.

Strength
- one of the most important properties of a material is
strength. Strength is the ability of a material to resist
deformation. Strength is also the ability of a material to resist
stress without breaking.

 Density
- Is the materials mass per unit volume.

Malleability
- is the ability to be bent or molded into different forms.

Ductility
- Is the ability to be drawn out into a thin wire form.

 Elasticity
- is the property that enables a metal to return to its
original size and shape when the force which causes the change
of shape is removed.
Toughness
-a material which possesses toughness will withstand
tearing or shearing and breaking.
Brittleness
- describes a material's tendency to break or shatter when exposed
to stress.

 Fusibility
- is the ability of a metal to become liquid by the
application of heat.
Conductivity
- is the property which enables a metal to carry heat or
electricity.
Thermal Expansion
- refers to contraction and expansion that are reactions
produced in metals as the result of heating or cooling.

Classifications of Metal

Non-Ferrous Metal
Much of the metal used on today's aircraft contains no iron.
Aluminum, copper, titanium, and magnesium are some of the
most common nonferrous metals used in aircraft construction
and repair.

Aluminum alloys

* For 1xxx series, the last two digits indicates hundredths above 1 percent of pure
aluminum.

List of most generally used alloy types

for aircraft structural aluminum:
Alloy 1100
-Is a low strength, commercially pure aluminum that can
be only be used in non-structural applications where strength is
not important.

Alloy 2024
- Is the most popular structural aluminum alloy. Its
strength is equivalent to the mild steel, but its susceptible to
corrosion.

 Alloy 3003
- It is similar to 1100 and is used for the same types of
applications. It is nonheat treatable but it can be hardened by
cold working.
Alloy 5052
- Is used for welded applications such as fuel tanks and
for rigid fluid lines.
Alloy 6061
- Used in applications where heat treatability, ease
forming, medium strength, and good corrosion resistance are
needed.

 Alloy 7075
- Used for high strength structural requirements.
Clad Aluminum
- An aluminum alloy sheet that has a coating of pure aluminum
rolled onto its surface.

- The pure aluminum cladding protects the core alloy sheet from
corrosion.

Other alloys
Magnesium and Magnesium Alloy
- Is the lightest structural metal, weighing only about two
thirds as much as aluminum.

Copper and Copper Alloy

- high electrical and heat conductivity.

 Titanium and Titanium Alloy

- Has high structural strength which it retains to high
temperature. It is used in turbine engines, and for aircraft skins
in areas where the temperature is high.
Titanium Designation
1. A (alpha) - all around performance, good weldability
2. B (beta) bendable, excellent bend ductility
3. C ( alpha beta) combination of alpha and beta.

Ferrous Metal
Any alloy containing iron as its chief constituent is called a
ferrous metal.

The most common ferrous metal in aircraft structures is steel.

SAE Classification of Steels

SAE Four-digit System

First Digit: basic alloying element
Second Digit: the percentage of the basic element in the alloy
Third and Fourth: percentage of carbon in the alloy in
hundredths of a percent

1xxx Carbon Steel

The greater the carbon content, the more receptive steel is to
heat treatment and, therefore, the higher its tensile strength
and hardness.
Types of Carbon Steel:
1. Low-carbon Steel containing 0.10% and 0.30% carbon.
2. Medium-carbon Steel containing 0.30% and 0.50% carbon.

3. High-carbon Steel containing 0.50% and 1.05% carbon.

2xxx Nickel Steel

Adds strength and hardness to steel
SAE 2330 steel is used for aircraft bolts, cable terminals, keys,
clevises, and pins.

3xxx Nickel chromium Steel

Nickel gives toughness to steel, and chromium hardens it.
SAE 3130 and 3250 are used for forged and machined parts

4xxx Chrome-molybdenum Steel

This alloy combines toughness and high strength with ease of
welding and machining.

SAE 4130 is used extensively for welded steel structure such

as fuselage frames, landing gear, and engine mounts.

5xxx Chromium Steel

Increase the hardness of steel.

6xxx Chrome-vanadium Steel

Used extensively for wrenches and other hand tools where
extremely high strength and hardness are essential.

Metal Working Processes

 Wrought objects - are those formed by physically working the

metal into shape.

Cast items - are formed by pouring molten metal into molds.

Three methods commonly used
Hot working
Cold working
Extruding

Hot Working
Forging - is typically used to form intricate shapes and is
accomplished through either pressing or hammering.
1. Pressing - It is used to form large and heavy parts. This affects
the interior grain structure resulting in the best possible
structurethroughout.
2. Drop Forging - It is a hammering process whereby a hot ingot
is placed between a pair of formed dies in a machine called a
drop hammer and a weight of several tons is dropped on the
upper die.

3. Hammering/Smith forging - A type of forging that is usually

used on small parts because it requires a metalworker to
physically hammer a piece of metal into its finished shape.

Cold Working
Cold-working strain hardens the worked metal, increasing its
strength and hardness but decreasing ductility.
1. Cold Rolling - Usually refers to the rolling of metal at room
temperature to its approximate size.

2. Cold Drawing - It is used in making seamless tubing, wire,

streamlined tie rods, and other forms of stock.

Extrusion
The process of forcing metal through a die which imparts a
required cross-section to the metal.

Heat Treatment

Heat Treatment
A process of heating a metal to improves the metal properties
such as hardness, ductility, toughness and others.
It may also remove some internal and external stresses and
strain to reduce metal failure.
Critical Temperature of a Metal - the temperature at which the
internal structure of a metal takes on a crystalline form.

Ferrous Metal Heat Treatment

1.)Hardening
- The metal is heated at the furnace with a temperature
above its critical temperature, quench it at this
temperature, and allow cooling at room temperature.
Quenching Medium:
1. Brine fastest quench that produces the hardest steel.
2. Water produces slightly less hardness.
3. Oil slowest quench.

2.) Normalizing
- The metal is heated to a temperature above its critical
temperature and allowed to cool in still air.
3.) Annealing
- Also called softening.
- Annealing produces a fine-grain, soft, ductile metal
without internal stresses or strains.
- By heating the steel metal to just above the upper
critical point.

4.) Tempering
- A form of heat treatment in which brittleness is
removed from the metal but it may also reduces some
hardness.
5.) Case Hardening
a.) Nitriding- A method of case hardening steel by
heating it in an atmosphere of ammonia.
b.) Carburizing - A case hardening process in which
additional carbon is infused into the surface of lowcarbon steel.

Non-ferrous Metal Heat Treatment

1.Solution Heat Treatment

- Also called natural aging
- For maximum strength the metal must be quenched
immediately after it is taken from the oven so it will have
the smallest grain size possible.
Intergranular Corrosion corrosion that forms along the grain
boundaries in a piece of metal.

2.) Precipitation Heat Treatment

- Also called artificial aging
- Artificial aging greatly increases the strength and
hardness of the metal, but it decreases the ductility; the
metal becomes more difficult to bend and form.
3.) Annealing
- A form of heat treatment in which a metal is made soft.

Temper Designations
Basic Temper Designation
F As fabricated
O Annealed
H Strain hardened (Non heat treatable products only)
Temper Designation for Non Heat Treatable Alloys
H1 Strain hardened produced by cold working the metal to the
desired dimension.
H2 Strain hardened, then partially annealed to remove some of the
hardness.
H3 Strain hardened, then stabilized.
The degree of hardening is indicated by a second digit following one

of the above designations:

2
1/4 hard
4
1/2 hard
6
3/4 hard
8
full hard
9
extra hard

Temper Designation for Heat Treatable Alloy

T1 Solution Heat Treated
T2 Annealed
T3 Solution heat treated and cold worked.
T4 Solution heat treated and naturally aged.
T5 Cooled from an elevated temperature shaping process
and artificially aged
T6 Solution heat treated and artificially aged.
T7 Solution heat treated and stabilized
T8 Solution heat treated, cold worked, and artificially aged
T9 Solution heat treated, artificially aged, and cold worked
T10 Artificially aged then cold worked