Module - 1

Mechanical Behavior of
Engineering Materials
CouRSe Code: 21Ae32
 Introduction to Aircraft Materials
 General properties of materials
 Definition of terms
 Requirements of aircraft materials
 Testing of aircraft materials
 Inspection methods
 Application and trends in usage in aircraft
structures and engines
 Selection of materials for use in aircraft.
General Properties of Materials
1. Strength 6. Ductility
2. Hardness 7. Malleability
3. Toughness 8. Brittleness
4. Elasticity 9. Stiffness
5. Plasticity 10. Resilience
11. Creep
1. Strength : The ability of the material to resist the
external forces causing various types of stresses without
breaking or rupture.
2. Hardness : The resistance of the material to penetration
or permanent deformation.
3. Toughness : The ability of the material to absorb energy
before fracture takes place.
4. Elasticity : The ability of the material to regain its
original shape and size after the deformation, when the
external forces are removed.
5. Plasticity : The ability of the material to retain the
deformation produced under the load on a permanent
basis.
6. Ductility : The ability of the material to deform to a greater
extent before the sign of crack , when it is subjected to tensile
force.
7. Malleability : The ability of the material to deform to a grater
extent before the sign of crack, when subjected to compressive
force.
8. Brittleness : It is the property of the material which shows
negligible plastic deformation before fracture takes place.
9. Stiffness: It is the ability of the material to resist deformation
under the action of an external load.
10 Resilience : It is the ability of the material to absorb energy
when deformed elastically and to release this energy when
unloaded.
11. Creep : Whenever a member or part of a machine
subjected to a constant stress at high temperature for a
longer period of time, it will undergo a slow and
permanent deformation called creep.
12. Density : Density is the weight of a unit volume of
the material.
13. Fusibility : Fusibility is the property of being
liquefied by heat.
14. Conductivity : Conductivity is the property of
transmitting heat or electricity.
15. Contraction and Expansion : Contraction and
expansion are caused by the cooling or heating of
metals.
 Definition of terms
1. Annealing : Annealing is the process of heating steel above the
critical range, holding it at that temperature until it is uniformly
heated and the grain is refined, and then cooling it very slowly.
2. Normalizing : Normalizing is similar to annealing, but the steel
is allowed to cool in still air - a method that is somewhat faster
than annealing cooling. Normalizing applies only to steel.
3. Heat Treatment : Heat treatment consists of a series of
operations which have as their aim the improvement of the
physical properties of a material.
4. Hardening : Hardening of steel is done by heating the metal to a
temperature above the critical range and then quenching it.
5. Quenching: Quenching is the immersion of the heated
metal in a liquid, usually either oil or water, to accelerate
its cooling.
6. Tempering: Tempering is the reheating of hardened
steel to a temperature below the critical range, followed by
cooling as desired. Tempering is sometimes referred to as
“drawing”.
7. Carburizing: Carburizing is the addition of carbon to
steel by heating it at a high temperature while in contact
with a carbonaceous material in either solid, liquid, or
gaseous form.
8. Case-hardening: Casehardening consists of
carburizing, followed by suitable heal treatment to harden
the metal.
 Classification of materials
Engineering
Materials

Metals Non-Metals

Ferrous Non-Ferrous Organic Inorganic

Al, Cu, Mg, Plastic Minerals

Pb, Ti, Ni Wood Cement
Paper Glass
Rubber Ceramic
Steel Cast iron Leather Graphite
Petroleum

Low alloy High alloy

Stainless
Tool steel
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Metals and Non-metals
 Requirements of aircraft materials
1. Low density

2. High strength and rigidity

3. High specific properties

4. High fatigue strength

5. High toughness

6. Low rate of crack propagation

7. Resistance to stress corrosion cracking

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Requirements of aircraft materials

8. High corrossion resistance

9. High temperature resistance

10. High damage tolerance

11. High erosion resistance

12. Resistance to thermal shock and creep

13. Good technology properties (formability,

machinability, weldability)

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TESTING OF AIRCRAFT MATERIALS
(Different types of testing)
1. Tension testing
2. Hardness testing
3. Bending tests
4. Impact tests
5. Crushing tests
6. Hydrostatic test
7. Torsion test
8. Fatigue testing
 Different type of testing
Tension test

• It is the most commonly used method to identify the basic

properties of the material.

• Universal testing machine with extensometer dial gauge.

• Wire, strip or machined samples with either circular or

rectangular cross section.

• Test specimens can be screwed or gripped in the jaws.

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 Different type of testing
Tension test
Types of test specimens:

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 Different type of testing
Properties obtained using tension test
1. Tensile strength (Ultimate tensile strength)
2. Yield stress
3. Percentage increase in length
4. Percentage reduction in area
5. Breaking stress
6. Yield point determination
a. Divider method
b. Drop of beam method
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Movable
crosshead

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Department of Aeronautical Engineering,
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 Tension testing
Procedure for conducting tension test
1. Initial diameter and gauge length
2. Fix the specimen in the jaws
3. Load the specimen in steps – extensometer meter reading
4. Load at yield point – rapid movement of the indicator in
extensometer dial gauge
5. Maximum load and elongation – rupture
6. Final diameter of specimen
7. Graph is plotted by taking load on y axis and elongation
on x axis
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 Tension testing
Tensile strength:

Yield stress:

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 Tension testing
Percentage increase in length:

Percentage reduction in area:

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 Tension testing
Breaking stress:

Load at failure
BS=
Original cross sectional area

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 Tension testing
Yield point determination:

a. Divider method
• Divider is set to the exact distance between two gage
marks.
• Loaded - one arm of the dividers centred in one gage mark
and the other arm held free above the other gage mark.
• At the instant visible stretch - the load should be noted.
• The yield-point stress is computed from this load.

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 Tension testing
Yield point determination:

b. Drop of beam method

• The load is applied uniformly and the recording beam kept
balanced by the operator.
• At the yield-point load the beam will drop suddenly as the
elongation increases rapidly at this point without increase
in load.
• Testing machine – self indicating load measuring device,
the pointer will halt momentarily at the yield-point load.
• The yield-point stress is computed from this load.

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 Different type of testing
Compression test
• Universal testing machine.

Shape of the specimen:

a. Metals and certain plastics: Cylinder
b. Building materials (concrete or stone): Cube

Ductile Materials:
• Steel, Aluminum and copper: Similar stress – strain
curves as in tensile test.
• Proportional limits in compression test are very much
close to those in tension.

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 Compression test
Ductile Materials:
• Specimen bulges on sides and becomes barrel shaped.
• With increasing load, the specimen is flattened out, thus
offering increased resistance to further shortening

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 Compression test

Brittle Materials:
• Brittle materials fails suddenly by splitting or by cracking.
• In brittle fracture there is no appreciable plastic
deformation.

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 Hardness test
• Test specimen exhibits different properties than the
manufactured component.
• Hardness test is a comparative test to determine the
overall strength of a materials without destroying or
hammering the manufactured components.
Types of hardness test:
1. Brinell hardness test.
2. Rockwell hardness test.
3. Vickers hardness test.
4. Shore Scleroscope hardness test.

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 Hardness test

Sample preparation:
• Tested surface should be smooth and free from scratches,
ridges, scales, or other unevenness.
• Specimen must also be sufficiently thick so, that the
impression made by the testing apparatus does not bulge
the opposite side.

• Micro hardness test:

For very thin materials, the surface of the material must be
highly polished.

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Brinell hardness test:
• In this method, a hardened steel
ball is pressed into the flat surface of
a test piece for 10 -15 seconds using a
specified force.
• The ball is then removed and the
diameter of the resulting indentation
is measured using a microscope.
• Hardened steel ball : 2.5, 5 or 10 mm.
• Indenter hardness : 1.7 times than the
test specimen.
• Force:
Steel – 3000 kg
Aluminium – 500 kg

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 Brinell hardness test

=
[ − − ]

F = Load applied to the ball.

A = curved area of the indentation
D = diameter of the ball,
Di = the diameter of the indentation.
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 Rockwell hardness test

Indenter:
1. Steel ball: 1/16”, 1/8”
2. Spherical diamond tipped cone: 120°

Procedure:
1. Minor load of 10 kgf - indicator is set to zero.
2. After that the major load (60, 100 or 150 kgf) is applied.

B scale: 0-100 kg, red dial ; C scale: 20-150 kg, black dial
53 HRC
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 Vickers hardness test

• Vickers Hardness method is similar to the Brinell method.

• Indenter is a 136° square-based diamond pyramid.
• Impression is clearer than Brinell indenter, hence more accurate.
• Load: 1 - 120 kg, is usually applied for 30 seconds

1.854  F
HV 
D2
36
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 Bending test

• Aircraft metals must pass a bending test.

• It involves cold bending through an angle of 180°, over a pin equal
to the diameter or thickness of the test specimen, without cracking.
• Metal is ductile and not inclined to brittleness.
• Universal Testing Machine : Compression mode
• Bend radius is a function of the thickness of the material hence results
are expressed as 1T, 2T,3T,etc.
Sample preparation
• 1 inch wide by 6 inches long and the full thickness of the material.
• Edges should be rounded to remove rough spots.
• For heavy shapes : specimen with rectangular cross-section is used.
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 Impact Test
• Notch impact tests are widely used in industry as acceptance
checks.

• Simple and are easy and rapid to conduct.

• The general principle is that a test specimen, containing a milled

notch is struck by a fast moving hammer and the energy that is
absorbed in fracturing the test-piece is measured

• Another major use of notch impact testing is to determine

whether heat treatments have been carried out successfully.

• Izod and Charpy test

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 Izod Test

• Notched specimen is clamped in heavy jaws, with the

notch at the top of the jaws and facing a heavy pendulum.
• When the pendulum is released from a fixed height; it
swings down and hits the specimen at the lowest point of
its path. Breaking the specimen retards the pendulum and
reduces its upswing.
• The height of the reduced upswing is measured using a
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 Charpy Test

• In Charpy test: specimen is mounted as a simply

supported beam and the impact blow occurs at mid-span
directly behind the notch.
• V-notch or U-notch
• Notch impact properties at temperatures other than
ambient.
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 TORSION TEST
• Wire is always subjected to a torsion test.
• For wire over 0.033 inch in diameter the test specimen must be at least 10 inches
long.
• It is held by two clamps 8 inches apart.
• One of these clamps is fixed and the other is rotatable.
• The movable clamp is rotated until the wire splits, at a uniform speed not
exceeding 60 revolutions per minute or slower, if necessary, to prevent undue
heating of the wire.
• The wire is under sufficient tension to prevent it from kinking during the test.
• For wire over 0.033 inch in diameter the test specimen must be at least 10 inches
long must be used.
• The centre of this length of wire is passed round a hook held in the movable
clamp.
• The movable head is then rotated as for the heavier wire and the number of
revolutions are counted before the wire splits.
 FATIGUE TESTING
• The fatigue stress is defined as that stress which the material will endure without
failure no matter how many times the stress be repeated.
• For hard steels a 20,00,000 cycle test is necessary to definitely establish fatigue
stress; for soft steels 1,00,00,000 cycles are necessary; for aluminium and
magnesium alloys 50,00,00,000 cycles of completely reversed stress are required.
• The most common fatigue testing apparatus are rotating-beam or rotating-
cantilever tests.
• These rotating tests give a completely reversed stress in which the maximum unit
tensile and compressive stresses in the surface of the specimen are equal.
• The speed of rotation varies in different machines but is usually of the order of
2000 rpm or in high-speed work 12,000 rpm.
• Fatigue test specimens are usually rolled- or forged-bar stock 1 inch in diameter.
• It must be remembered that these smooth, cylindrical test rods are free from holes,
notches, or abrupt changes of cross-section and give maximum test results.
• The fatigue limit of a material is half its fatigue range.
• Heat-treated materials have higher tensile strengths and fatigue limits than
annealed materials.
Inspection Methods/Non-destructive testing
• Defects, such as cracks, porosity and inclusions may be
introduced into components during manufacture, and other
defects, such as fatigue cracks, may be generated during service.
• It is necessary to detect and identify such defects and to know
their position and size.
• Different type of inspection methods used are
1. Visual Inspection
2. Liquid penetrant test
3. Magnetic particle test
4. Eddy current inspection
5. Ultrasonic testing
6. Radiography
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Inspection Methods/Non-destructive testing

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 Visual Inspection

• First stage: Examination by naked eye will only reveal

relatively large defects.
• Effectiveness of the process can be improved
a. External surfaces: Hand lens or stereoscopic microscope.
b. Internal surfaces: Optical inspection probes.
• Practically all the components are subjected to some
visual inspection

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 Liquid penetrant test
• Liquid penetrant inspection is one of the simple NDT which can
applied to detect surface defects.
• It is an important industrial method and it can be used to
indicate the presence of defects such as cracks, porosity,
inclusions, etc., in a wide variety of components.
• The method is applicable to almost any component, whether it
be large or small, of simple or complex configuration.
• Different steps in the penetrant inspection method are
1. Surface preparation
2. Application of penetrant
3. Removal of excess penetrant
4. Development
5. Observation and inspection.
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 Liquid penetrant test
Surface preparation
• Important step: Surface must be free from oil, water, grease or
other contaminants.
• Uncleaned surfaces may inhibit the penetrant from entering
the crack.
• Solvents: Acetone, isopropyl alcohol, methylene chloride, etc
• Vaporized
Application of penetrant
• Penetrant: Fluorescent dye – Dipping, pouring, spraying,
brushing
• Penetrant: High fluidity, low viscosity, high wettability
• Sufficient time
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 Liquid penetrant test
Removal of excess penetrant:
Development:
• Developer absorbs the penetrant from defects and makes
discontinuities readily visible.
• Developer is usually a very fine chalk powder.
• Calcium Carbonate

Inspection:
• The part is inspected in dark enclosure under UV or black light.
• Fluorescent particle will illuminate under UV light revealing the
size and shape of the defect.

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Liquid penetrant test

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 Magnetic particle test
• Sensitive method of locating surface and some sub-surface
defects in ferromagnetic components.
Principle:

• Metal is magnetized, magnetic flux are generated at right angles

to the flow of current.
• Magnetic flux intersects with defects, magnetic poles are
induced on either side of defect.
• Leakage of flux and can be detected by magnetic powder which
gets attracted and piles up around the defect.
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 Eddy current inspection

• Electromagnetism principle
• AC coil : Circular currents (Eddy current)
• Impedance (resistance) of AC coil
• Impedance : CRT type displays
• Defects : Changes coil impedance/magnetic field
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 Ultrasonic testing
• Frequencies : 20,000 Hz
• NDT: 1 to 15 MHz

Principle:
• Piezoelectric Effect: Electric energy to mechanical energy which
leads to generation of ultrasonic waves.
• High frequency AC is impressed on faces of Piezoelectric
material.
• Crystal expands in first half & contracts when current is
reversed resulting mechanical vibrations.
• These waves can pass through a solid object with little
absorption.
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 Ultrasonic testing
Testing Procedure:

Specimen

• Specimen must be cleaned and made smooth.

• Transducer is placed on the surface.
• Couplant is used between workpiece and transducer – medium
to transfer sound vibrations.

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 Radiography

• This method uses X-rays or gamma rays for locating

cracks.
• X-rays are light rays having wavelengths of the order of
10-6 to 10-9 centimetres.
• X-rays: up to 3 inch
• Gamma-rays are light rays having wavelengths of about 10-11
centimetres.
• Gamma-rays: up to 8 inch.

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 X-ray Radiography

• X-rays: High energy electrons collide with nucleus of atom.

• Intensity of X-ray depends on No. of electrons freed from filament.
• Absorption of X-ray depends on density and thickness of material.
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 X-ray Radiography

• Cracks, slags inclusions, porosity, etc.

• All metals can be tested.
• Slow and expensive process; radiation hazards.
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 Aircraft Metal Alloys
 Aluminium alloys
 Magnesium alloys
 Titanium alloys
 Plain carbon and Low carbon Steels
 Corrosion and Heat resistant steels
 Maraging steels
 Copper alloy
 Producibility and Surface treatments aspects for
each of the above
 Aluminium alloys
• Aluminium became an important structural material, especially after A.
Wilm had discovered the age hardening capability of AI-Cu alloys in 1906.
• Nowadays high strength aluminium alloys are still the most important
structural materials for aircraft.
• Pure aluminium is a very soft metal which cannot be used for structural
applications.
• When alloyed with certain other elements, it gains strength by solid
solution hardening, but the most effective strengthening mechanism is age
or precipitation hardening.
• Commercial high strength aluminium alloys mostly contain two or more
primary alloying elements (copper, zinc, magnesium, lithium), at least one
minor alloying element (manganese, chromium, zirconium), plus various
impurities (iron, silicon).
• Aluminium alloys rapidly form a protective oxide layer of alumina on
their surface, making them quite corrosion resistant.
• The Aluminium Association (AA) of the United States has introduced a four-
digit numerical system for designating wrought aluminium and aluminium
alloys.
• This system has been accepted by most countries and is now called the
International Alloy Designation System (lADS).
• The first of the four digits indicates the alloy group.
• The last two digits are arbitrary numbers identifying the specific alloy in the
alloy group, except group for I XXX where they indicate the aluminium purity.
• The second digit indicates modifications of the original alloy, e.g. 2124 and
7475 are higher purity versions of 2024 and 7075, respectively.
• Alloys which are still experimental have the letter X preceding their designation
number.
• The high strength age-hardenable aluminium alloys are found in the following
alloy groups:
a. The AI-Cu and AI-Cu-Mg alloys in the 2XXX group
b. A few AI-Mg-Si alloys in the 6XXX group
c. The AI-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys in the 7XXX group
d. Lithium containing alloys with lithium as the major alloying element in the
8XXX group
• In order to specify the mechanical properties of an alloy, an
Aluminium Association temper designation system is used.
• The temper designation system for heat-treatable aluminium
products employs the letter T followed by a number from 1 to 10
for the basic alloy conditions.
• Often additional digits are added to the basic designation in order
to give a more detailed description of the respective condition.
Design
Description
ation.
• Indicates that a product is solution heat treated, cold worked and naturally aged.
T3 • It applies to alloys which achieve a stable condition during natural aging and
whose strength is improved by cold deformation.

• Designates a product that is solution heat treated and naturally aged.

T4 • It applies to products which achieve a stable condition during natural aging and
which are not (or cannot) be cold worked after solution heat treatment.

T6 Designates a product that is solution heat treated and artificially aged.

• Means that a product is solution heat treated and stabilized.

T7 • It applies to products that are over-aged during artificially aging to provide
specific characteristics such as improved resistance to stress corrosion.

T8 Indicates that a product is solution heat treated, cold worked and artificially aged.
• 2024-T3 - It has high ductility, excellent fatigue crack
propagation resistance, and high fracture toughness
 Magnesium alloys
• Magnesium is the lightest of the structural metals available for aircraft
construction.
• Pure magnesium weighs only 65% as much as aluminium.
• It is a silvery white metal that is relatively soft, and does not have the strength or
other properties required for structural use.
• Pure magnesium has the following properties:

• Magnesium is commonly alloyed with aluminium, zinc, and manganese, to create

usable structural materials.
• The light weight and relatively high strength of magnesium alloys results in a
strength/weight ratio that is very attractive in aircraft design.
• There are many places in aircraft construction, such as fairings,
ducts, doors, brackets, bulkheads and partitions, and similar
locations, where strength is secondary and a minimum thickness of
material is all that is necessary.
• Magnesium alloys are non-sparking and nonmagnetic.
• These alloys are very poor as regards toughness and notch sensitivity
in fatigue, and some alloys are susceptible to stress-corrosion
cracking.
• Suitable heat treatment, good design, and the proper choice of alloy
for a given application will minimize these disadvantages.
• The common impurities found in magnesium alloys are iron, nickel,
and copper.
• These impurities affect the corrosion resistance of the alloy and must
be held to a minimum.
 Titanium alloys
• Titanium the so-called wonder
metal.
• Titanium is extremely active at
elevated temperatures and will
combine with practically
anything it comes into contact
with.
• Alpha titanium: hexagonal close-
packed crystal structure
• Beta titanium: body-centered
cubic crystal structure.
• The physical properties of pure
titanium is as given in the table:
 Advantages Disadvantages
All-Alpha
• Useful strength to almost 1200°F. • Sheet bend ductility not as good as
• Resistant to air contamination to 2000°F, alpha-beta alloys, considerably poorer
permitting higher forging temperature. than beta alloys.
• No embrittling heat treatment response. • Requires more power than alpha-beta
• Weld ductility and strength comparable to alloys for hot working.
that of base metal.
• Tough at low temperatures.

Combined Alpha-Beta
• Double the strength of unalloyed titanium • Poorer weld ductility than alpha.
and about as strong below 600°F, as all- • Temperature ceiling for useful strength
alpha and all-beta. about 800°F.
• Good ductility, including bend.
• Forging, rolling and forming easier than
alpha and beta alloys (beta has better bend
ductility).
• Relatively simple to produce in quality.
• Heat-treatable to high strengths.
 Advantages Disadvantages
Heat Treatable Beta
• Quenchable to give medium strength with • Embrittled by 24 to 96 hr. at 350 to
high ductility. 800°F.
• Can be heat-treated to higher strength • Control of composition critical.
(with some loss in ductility) after little • Restricted to parts that can be heat
fabrication. treated after fabrication or require little
• Elevated-temperature properties similar to forming after heat-treating.
alpha-beta alloys. • Requires relatively high content of
strategic alloying materials.
Non-Heat Treatable Beta
• Excellent ductility, particularly bend. • Greater spring back in forming.
• High strength useful to approx. 1000°F. • Uses higher content of strategic
• Does not require heat treatment for high alloying materials than unstable beta.
strength. • Relatively high density.
• Good weldability with some composition.
 Steel and its alloys
• The basis of all steel is iron which, when combined with carbon and
other elements in varying amounts, gives a wide range of physical
properties.
• Exact control of the alloying elements is essential to obtain a high-
grade steel for aircraft use.
• Due to the large number of elements that will combine with iron, an
infinite number of steels is obtainable.
• In order to classify the better-grade steels used in automotive and
aircraft work, the Society of Automotive Engineers has formulated
a numerical index system which is generally used.
 Effect of individual elements
1. Carbon: Carbon is by far the most important constituent of steel. It
combines readily with iron to form iron carbide, which is a compound
known as cementite. It is largely due to the quantity and behaviour of this
compound that steels can be heat-treated to various degrees of strength and
toughness.
2. Manganese: Its primary purpose is to deoxidize and desulfurize the steel
to produce a clean, tough metal.. This excess magnitude exists as
manganese carbide which has characteristics in hardening and toughening
the steel.
3. Silicon: A small amount of silicon improves the ductility of the metal. Its
main purpose, however, is to produce a sound metal
4. Sulfur: The presence of sulfur renders steel brittle at rolling or forging
temperatures.
5. Phosphorus: Phosphorus is believed responsible for "cold shortness" or
brittleness when the metal is cold.
6. Nickel: . The addition of nickel to steels increases the strength, yield point, and
hardness without materially affecting the ductility.
7. Chromium: Chromium imparts hardness, strength, wear resistance, and corrosion
resistance to steel. It also improves the magnetic qualities to such an extent that
chromium steel is used for magnets.
8. Molybdenum: It improves the homogeneity of the metal and reduces the grain
size. It also increases the elastic limit, the impact value, wear resistance, and
fatigue strength.
9. Vanadium: Improves the grain structure and fatigue strength. Vanadium also
increases the ultimate strength, yield point, toughness, and resistance to impact,
vibration, and stress reversal.
10. Tungsten: "High-speed steel" is a tungsten-chromium steel used for tools which
will retain their cutting edge even when heated to dull redness by working.
11. Titanium: Titanium is often added in small quantities to corrosion resisting steel
to reduce the embrittlement at the operating temperatures of exhaust stacks and
collectors.
 Plain carbon Steels
• The classification of iron and steel is based on the percentage of carbon present.

• The generally accepted classification is as follows:

• The addition of a metallic alloying element to plain carbon steels results in the
formation of a new alloy steel with wholly different properties.
• The carbon content of alloy steels is of prime importance but varying properties
can be obtained by adding an alloy.
• The metals commonly used as alloys in steel are nickel, chromium, molybdenum,
vanadium, and tungsten.
 Corrosion resisting steels
• Corrosion resisting steels are not fully resistant to all
corrosive agents.
• Their corrosion resistance depends upon their own
physical state as well as the temperature and
concentration of the particular corrosive agent.
• In aircraft design the most severe corrosive agent to be
guarded against is salt water.
• Specimens are rated A, B, C, or D-A representing the
best resistance and D an unacceptable condition.
 Copper alloy
• COPPER, brass, and bronze have a limited use in aircraft
construction.
• They do have important specialized applications, however, such as
bearings and fuel and oil lines.
• Copper wire is used throughout the electrical system.
• In general these metals are corrosion resistant, nonmagnetic, fairly
strong, and good conductors of electricity.
Copper Tubing
• Copper tubing is very generally used for fuel and oil lines.
• The copper used in the manufacture of this tubing must contain at least 99.90%
copper.
• The tubing is purchased in the soft annealed condition and it is seamless drawn.
• In the purchased condition or after annealing it has the following physical
properties:

Copper-Silicon-Bronze Tubing
• This tubing is considerably stronger than pure copper tubing and has
largely superseded it for fuel, oil, water, and air lines.
• This tubing can be annealed at a temperature of 1000-1000°F, if required
after severe forming and bending.
Copper Wire
A soft copper wire is used as a locking wire in aircraft
construction. It is drawn from pure copper and has a
tensile strength approaching 40,000 PSI and an elongation
of 25%.

Beryllium copper
This material is a high-strength, heat-treatable non-
magnetic alloy available as bar, rod, sheet, strip, and wire.
 BRASS
• Brass is a copper alloy consisting of a solid solution of zinc in copper.
• In addition to zinc and copper, brasses sometimes contain a small amount
of aluminium, iron, lead, manganese, magnesium, nickel, phosphorus, or
tin.
• Brass with a zinc content of 30% to 35% is very ductile, and with 45%
zinc content it has a relatively high strength.
• Brasses with a zinc content up to 37% are in so-called "alpha solution,"
while above that percentage a "beta solution" condition exists.
• It is the difference between these two conditions that accounts for the
ductility of the low-zinc brass and the strength of the high-zinc brass.
• Alpha-solution brass can only be annealed, but beta-solution brass can be
increased in strength by heat treatment.
 Selection of Aerospace Material:

• Selecting the best material is an important task for the

aerospace engineer.
• The success or failure of any new aircraft is partly
dependent on using the most suitable materials.
• Cost, flight performance, safety, operating life and
environmental impact from engine emissions are
dependent on the types of materials.
• The selection of materials is performed during the early
design phase of aircraft, and has a lasting influence which
remains until the aircraft is retired from service.

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 Selection of Aerospace Material:
• Key requirements and factors in the selection of materials
are
1. Costs
2. Availability
3. Manufacturing
4. Density
5. Mechanical properties
6. Fatigue durability
7. Damage tolerance
8. Environmental durability
9. Thermal properties
10. Electrical and magnetic properties
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 Selection of Aerospace Material:
Cost:
1. Purchase cost
2. Processing costs, including machining, forming,
shaping
3. Heat treatment costs
4. In-service maintenance costs, including inspection
and repair costs
5. Recycling and disposal costs
The cost of aerospace materials must be acceptable to the
aircraft operator, and obviously should be kept as low as
possible.
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 Selection of Aerospace Material:
Availability:
There must be a plentiful, reliable and consistent source of
materials to avoid delays in aircraft production and large
fluctuations in purchase cost.
Manufacturing:
It must be possible to process, shape, machine and join the
materials into aircraft components using cost-effective and
time-efficient manufacturing methods.
Density:
Materials must be lightweight for aircraft to have good
manoeuvrability, range and speed together with low fuel
consumption.
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 Selection of Aerospace Material:
Mechanical properties:
High stiffness, strength and fracture toughness to ensure
that structures can withstand the aircraft loads without
deforming excessively (changing shape) or breaking.
Fatigue durability:
Aerospace materials must resist cracking, damage and
failure when subjected to fluctuating (fatigue) loads during
flight.
Damage tolerance:
Aerospace materials should not break after being damaged
(cracks, delaminations, corrosion) from bird strike, lightning
strike and the many other damaging events experienced
during routine operations.
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 Selection of Aerospace Material:
Environmental durability:
• Aerospace materials must be durable and resistant to
degradation in the aviation environment.
• This includes resistance against corrosion, oxidation,
wear, moisture absorption and other types of damage
caused by the environment which can degrade the
performance, functionality and safety of the material.
Thermal properties:
• Aerospace materials must have thermal, dimensional and
mechanical stability for high temperature applications,
such as jet engines and heat shields.
• Materials must also have low flammability in the event of
aircraft fire. Department of Aeronautical Engineering,
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 Selection of Aerospace Material:

Electrical and magnetic properties:

• Aerospace materials must be electrically conductive to
dissipate the charge in the event of lightning strike.
• Aerospace materials must have low electromagnetic
properties to avoid interfering with the electronic devices
used to control and navigate the aircraft.
• Materials used in the skin of stealth military aircraft must
have the ability to absorb radar waves to avoid detection.

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 Materials used in aircraft engines:
Engine structure (turbofan):

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GCEM
 Materials used in aircraft engines:
Fan:

This typically does not get very hot (<150 °C) so aluminum, titanium, or
stainless steel are all suitable for the fan blades. Most engines use
titanium because it has a high strength-to-weight ratio, is corrosion and
fatigue resistant, and would be able to withstand the impact of a bird
strike. Department of Aeronautical Engineering,
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 Materials used in aircraft engines:
Compressor section:
• The pressure of the air can be raised up to 30 times and
the temperature, depending on the number of stages in
the compressor, can rise to 1000 °C.
• Here the materials must have high strength at high
temperatures; must resist fatigue, cracking, and oxidation;
and also must resist “creep.”
• Very high- temperature alloys are called super alloys and
are generally nickel, cobalt, or iron-based alloys.
• Aluminium and/or titanium are added for strength, and
chromium, as well as rare earth elements like yttrium, are
added to improve corrosion resistance.
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 Materials used in aircraft engines:
Combustion chamber:
• Temperatures can exceed 1800 °C and again super alloys are used, but
without the titanium or aluminium.
• Instead, refractory metals such as tungsten, molybdenum, niobium,
tantalum, and rhenium are often added to a super alloy - high
resistance to heat, corrosion, and wear.
• Ceramics and ceramic-metal mixes are also used here because of their
high heat resistance.
• They have very high melting points and don’t require the cooling
systems like those needed to keep metals from melting so they make
for lighter, less complicated engine parts.
• Disadvantage is that they tend to fracture under stress, so trend is to
create new ceramics composites that incorporate other materials to
improve properties.
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 Materials used in aircraft engines:

Turbine:
• The first set of turbine blades are in the highest pressure,
hottest part of the gas flow and are generally made of
nickel-based super alloy or ceramic blades.
• Unheated outside air is circulated through channels inside
of the turbine blades to keep them from melting in this
extreme environment.
• The blades lower pressure turbine are made of iron-based
super alloy or even stainless steel.

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 Materials used in aircraft engines:
Exhaust:
• Inconel and stainless steel alloys. The Inconel [nickel-
chromium-iron] alloys are frequently used in turbine engines
because of their ability to maintain their strength and corrosion
resistance under extremely high temperature conditions.

Casing:
• Although it need not withstand high temperatures like the core
of the turbine, the materials here need to be strong enough that
if a blade were to break off it would be contained within the
casing and not enter the wing or cabin of the aircraft and cause
further damage.
• Aluminum or some polymer matrix materials are used as
engine casings. Department of Aeronautical Engineering,
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 Materials used in aircraft structures:
Boeing 787:

Department of Aeronautical Engineering,

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 Materials used in aircraft structures:
Boeing 787:
• Jets made of composites require far fewer parts, so there's less
to bolt together.
• Since these plastics weigh less than aluminium, the planes
should burn less fuel - together with improved engines, 20%
drop in fuel costs.
• Improve passenger comfort - superior strength of the composite
fuselage will allow the passenger cabin to withstand higher
pressurization.
• It's easier to control cabin temperature, humidity, and
ventilation.
• Maintenance costs will be 30% lower than for aluminium
planes - corrosion and fatigue benefits are going to be
astounding. Department of Aeronautical Engineering,
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 Bauschinger's effect
The Bauschinger effect refers to a property of materials where
the material's stress/strain characteristics change as a result of
the microscopic stress distribution of the material. For example,
an increase in tensile yield strength occurs at the expense of
compressive yield strength. The effect is named after German
engineer Johann Bauschinger.

Department of Aeronautical Engineering,

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