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The History of Aircraft Materials

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The History of Aircraft Materials

Questions to answer in this module…

– What is the brief history of the materials used to construct aircraft?

– Why were these materials adopted?– Why did some materials replace others?– What is the future for materials in aircraft?

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1843 - Rubber

Charles Goodyear – Vulcanization

– Tires– Seals and gaskets

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1903 - First flight - Wright Brothers

Aluminum engine block

Spruce & steel wire structure

Fabric skin

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1903 - Wright Brothers

Why wood and wire structure? Why fabric skin?

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1903 – Aluminum Engine Block

Most internal combustion engines of the time were of cast iron construction

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1907 – Plastic

Leo Hendrik Baekeland – refines plastic production to create bakelite

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1915 – All Metal Airplane

Hugo Junkers

Steel tubing

Sheet iron skin

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1916 - Stressed Skin Construction

LFG Roland C.II

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Stressed-Skin Construction

Why stressed-skin?

Skeleton-like space frame

construction used for

non-stressed skin aircraft.

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1926 - Semi-Monocoque Construction

Ford Tri-motor

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Semi-Monocoque Construction

Cutaway view

semi-monocoque

construction

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1930’s – Increased Aluminum Use

Duralumin and Alclad

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1931 - Stainless Steel Construction

Budd BB-1 Pioneer

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Steel/ Stainless Steel vs. Aluminum

So why not build all aircraft out of stainless steel?

Corrosion resistance

Weight

Cost

Buckling failure

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1936 - Plastics Use Expands

Plexiglas

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1942 - Composites- Fiberglass

Cockpit components for war effort

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1940’s – 1950’s Superalloys

Before World War II iron based alloys were developed for high temperture work.

The war increased demand of performance materials for turbochargers and jets.

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1950-1963 - Titanium

The A-12 precursor to the SR-71

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1969 - Carbon Fiber Composites

Rolls-Royce RB211 jet turbofan engine

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1970 – Boron Fiber Composites

F-14 Tomcat

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1981 - Ceramics

Space Shuttle Thermal Protection Tiles

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1998 - Aluminum-Lithium

Space Shuttle external fuel tank

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2005- GLARE

“GLAss-Reinforced” Fiber Metal Laminate (FML)

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2009 – Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Large scale composite use

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Future- Intelligent Materials

Inbedded sensors and monitoring systems

Materials change properties and configurations

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Future- Nanotechnology

Ultra-strength Composites

Locally tailored materials for

specific requirements

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Summary

What is the brief history of the materials used to construct aircraft?

Why were these materials adopted? What is the future for materials in aircraft?