Aerospace materials past, present, and future

Constant pressure for greater fuel efficiency is forcing aerospace manufacturers to find ways to
incorporate new and existing materials that had once been considered impractical to machine.
Forty years ago, aluminum dominated the aerospace industry. As the new kid on the block, it was
considered to be lightweight, inexpensive, and state-of-the-art. In fact, as much as 70% of an aircraft was
once made of aluminum. Other new materials such as composites and alloys were also used, including
titanium, graphite, and fiberglass, but only in very small quantities 3% here and 7% there. Readily
available, aluminum was used everywhere from the fuselage to main engine components.
Times have changed. A typical jet built today is as little as 20% pure aluminum. Most of the non-critical
structural material paneling and aesthetic interiors now consist of even lighter-weight carbon fiber
reinforced polymers (CFRPs) and honeycomb materials. Meanwhile, for engine parts and critical
components, there is a simultaneous push for lower weight and higher temperature resistance for better
fuel efficiency, bringing new or previously impractical-to-machine metals into the aerospace material
mix.
Aerospace unique among industries
Aerospace manufacturing is unique among other volume manufacturing sectors, and this is especially true
of aerospace engine manufacturing. The engine is the most complex element of an aircraft, houses the
most individual components, and ultimately determines fuel efficiency. The advent of lean-burn engines,
with temperature potentials as high as 3,800F (2,100C), has helped drive demand for these new
materials. Considering that the melting point of current super alloys is around 3,360F (1,850C), the
challenge becomes finding materials that will withstand hotter temperatures.
To meet these temperature demands, heat-resistant super alloys (HRSAs), including titanium alloys,
nickel alloys, and some nonmetal composite materials such as ceramics, are now being brought into the
material equation. These materials tend to be more difficult to machine than traditional aluminum,
historically meaning shorter tool life and less process security.
Theres also a high process risk in machining aerospace parts. Because margins for error are non-existent
at 35,000ft cruising altitude, tolerances in aerospace are more precise than almost any other industry. This
level of precision takes time. Longer machining times are required for each component, and more time
per part makes scrap relatively expensive, when factoring in time investment. Also, compared to other
industries, aerospace component orders often consist of short run quantities and long lead times,
rendering scheduling for productivity, throughput, and profitability difficult.
Unlike any other industry but oil and gas, which also has high temperature, pressure, and corrosion
requirements, aerospace materials themselves impact component design. Design for manufacturability
(DFM) is the engineering art of designing components with a balanced approach, taking into
consideration both component function and its manufacturing requirements. This approach is being
applied more and more in aerospace component design because its components have to accomplish
certain loads and temperature resistances, and some materials can only accommodate so much. Material
and component designs truly drive one another, as opposed to one following the other. This give-and-take
relationship between material and design is a particular consideration when investigating next-generation
materials. Aerospace manufacturers are a breed apart for all of these reasons. Its not surprising that their
assortment of materials is unique.
New material landscape

Standard aerospace aluminums 6061, 7050, and 7075 and traditional aerospace metals nickel 718,
titanium 6Al4V, and stainless 15-5PH still have applications in aerospace. These metals, however, are
currently ceding territory to new alloys designed to improve cost and performance. To be clear, these new
metals arent always new, some having been available for decades. Rather, they are new to practical
production application, as machine tools, tooling technology, and insert coatings have sufficiently
advanced to tackle difficult-to-machine alloys.
Even though the amount of aluminum is declining in aircraft, its use is not completely disappearing. In
fact, aluminum is coming back, especially in cases where the move to CFRP has been cost prohibitive or
unsuccessful. But the reappearing aluminum is not your fathers aluminum. Titanium aluminide (TiAl)
and aluminum lithium (Al-Li), for example, which have been around since the 1970s, have only been
gaining traction in aerospace since the turn of the century.
Similar to nickel alloy in its heat-resisting properties, TiAl retains strength and corrosion resistance in
temperatures up to 1,112F (600C). But TiAl is more easily machined, exhibiting similar machinability
characteristics to alpha-beta titanium, such as Ti6Al4V. Perhaps more importantly, TiAl has the potential
to improve the thrust-to-weight ratio in aircraft engines because its only half the weight of nickel alloys.
Case in point, both low-pressure turbine blades and high-pressure compressor blades, traditionally made
of dense Ni-based super alloys are now being machined from TiAl-based alloys. General Electric was a
pioneer in this development and uses TiAl low-pressure turbine blades on its GEnx engine, the first largescale use of this material on a commercial jet engine in this case in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Another re-introduction of aluminum to aerospace is found in weight-saving Al-Li, specifically designed
to improve properties of 7050 and 7075 aluminum. Overall, the addition of lithium strengthens aluminum
at a lower density and weight, two catalysts of the aerospace material evolution. Al-Li alloys high
strength, low density, high stiffness, damage tolerance, corrosion resistance, and weld-friendly nature
make it a better choice than traditional aluminums in commercial jetliner airframes. Airbus is currently
using AA2050. Meanwhile, Alcoa is using AA2090 T83 and 2099 T8E67. The alloy can also be found in
the fuel and oxidizer tanks in the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle, and is used extensively in NASA
rocket and shuttle projects.
Titanium 5553 (Ti-5553) is another metal that is reasonably new to aerospace, exhibiting high strength,
light weight, and good corrosion resistance. Major structural components that need to be stronger and
lighter than the previously used stainless steel alloys are perfect application points for this titanium alloy.
Nicknamed triple 5-3, this has been a notoriously difficult material to machine until recently. Extensive
research and development has been devoted to making the metal practical to machine, and triple 5-3 has
recently proven to be very predictable with machining consistency similar to more traditional titanium
alloys like the aforementioned Ti6Al4V. The variances in the two materials require the use of different
cutting data to obtain similar tool life. But once an operator has proper parameters set, triple 5-3 machines
predictably. The key with triple 5-3 is to run a bit slower and optimize the tool path and coolant system to
achieve a good balance of tool life and tool security.
Some structural pieces, like fasteners, landing gear, and actuators, require raw strength, with lightweight
properties being less of a priority. In such cases, Carpenter Technology Ferrium S53 steel alloy has
provided mechanical properties equal to or better than conventional ultra-high-strength steels, such as
300M and SAE 4340, with the added benefit of general corrosion resistance. This can eliminate the need
for cadmium coating and the subsequent related processing.
Composites hit their stride
Composite materials also represent a growing piece of the aerospace material pie. They reduce weight and
increase fuel efficiency while being easy to handle, design, shape, and repair. Once only considered for

light structural pieces or cabin components, composites aerospace application range now reaches into
true functional components wing and fuselage skins, engines, and landing gear.
Also important, composite components can be formed into complex shapes that, for metallic parts, would
require machining and create joints. Pre-formed composite components arent just lightweight and strong,
they reduce the number of heavy fasteners and joints which are potential failure points within the
aircraft. In doing so, composite materials are helping to drive an industry-wide trend of fewer components
in overall assemblies, using one-piece designs wherever possible.
While CFRPs represent the lions share of composite material in both cabin and functional components,
and honeycomb materials provide effective and lightweight internal structural components, nextgeneration materials include ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs), which are emerging in practical use
after decades of testing. CMCs are comprised of a ceramic matrix reinforced by a refractory fiber, such as
silicon carbide (SiC) fiber. They offer low density/weight, high hardness, and most importantly, superior
thermal and chemical resistance. Like CFRPs, they can be molded to certain shapes without any extra
machining, making them ideal for internal aerospace engine components, exhaust systems, and other
hot-zone structures even replacing the latest in HRSA metals listed earlier.

New materials address a new aerospace reality

Metallic and composite materials alike continue to be developed and improved to offer ever-increasing
performance, whether thats lighter weight, greater strength, or better heat and corrosion resistance.
Accelerating this evolution of new materials, advancements in machining and cutting technology give
manufacturers unprecedented access to materials previously deemed impractical or too difficult to
machine. New material adoption is happening exceptionally quickly in aerospace, requiring DFM-minded
interaction between material characteristics and component design. The two must be in balance, and one
cant really exist outside of the context of the other.
Meanwhile, one-piece designs are continuing to reduce the number of components in overall assemblies.
In general, this bodes well for composites in aerospace, which can be formed instead of machined. A
variation of this trend exists in metallic structures, as more components are conditioned in forgings to get
to near-net shape, reducing the amount of machining. Elephant skins, roughed-in shapes, and thin floor
sections all reduce material costs and the total number of components, but setup and fixturing continue to
be challenges. Some manufacturers are turning to waterjet and other technologies to reduce or eliminate
raw stock materials in need of removal. Still, difficulties exist in workholding, surface finish, and CAM
tool paths. But designers, machinists, engineers, and machine tool/cutting tool partners are developing
new solutions to keep the evolution churning forward.
The mix of materials in aerospace will continue to change in coming years with composites, freshly
machineable metals, and new metals increasingly occupying the space of traditional materials. The
industry continues to march toward components of lighter weights, increased strengths, and greater heat
and corrosion resistance. Component counts will decrease in favor of stronger, near-net shapes, and
design will continue its close collaboration with material characteristics. Machine tools builders and
cutting tool manufacturers will continue to develop tools to make currently unviable materials
machineable, and even practical. And its all done in the name of reducing the cost of aerospace
manufacture, improving fuel economy through efficiency and lightweighting, and making air travel a
more cost-effective means of transportation.