Amazing Aluminum-Lithium Alloys: Part One
Commercial aluminum-lithium alloys are targeted as advanced materials for aerospace technology primarily because of their low density, high specific modulus, and excellent fatigue and cryogenic toughness properties. The principal disadvantages of peak-strength aluminum-lithium alloys are reduced ductility and fracture toughness in the short transverse direction, anisotropy of in-plane properties, the need for cold work to attain peak properties, and accelerated fatigue crack extension rates when cracks are micro structurally small.