Transport Aircraft
Transport aircraft of the types operated by commercial airlines, by corporations for
executive travel, and by the military, including Concorde craft, are generally of
semi-monocoque and sheet-stringer aluminum construction.
The alloys primarily utilized today are 2024-T4 and the alloys having still higher
strength (2014-T6, 7075-T6, 7079-T6 and 7178-T6). Where sheet is used, the alclad form
is preferred. The upper skins and spar caps of wings often are of 7075-T6 and 7178-T6,
because the critical requirement is high compressive strength, and the structure
generally is not critical in tension loading or fatigue.
For wing tension members, shear webs, and ribs, alloys 2014-T6, 2024-T4, and 7075-T6
are used extensively. For these applications, fatigue performance and fracture toughness,
combined with high strength, are the alloy characteristics of chief concern. Although
7075-T6 is stronger than 2024-T3 or 2024-T4, it is more sensitive to notches and has
a higher fatigue-crack propagation rate. However, structures designed and fabricated
in 7075-T6 have somewhat less weight than is possible in a 2024-T3 or 2024-T4 structure
for equivalent performance.
Rolled sheet and plate 0.040 to approximately 0.375 in. thick are employed for wing
skins by other manufacturers who prefer as wide and as few pieces as possible. Fail-safe
design in this type of construction is achieved by many separate stiffeners, formed
from sheet or milled from standard extrusions, or machined from stepped extrusions
to accommodate integral end fittings.
Alclad sheet and plate are preferred for wing skins to obtain good corrosion resistance.
Roll-tapered alclad sheet and plate provide skins that are structurally efficient without
extensive machining. Also, optimum spacing and design of stiffeners are practicable
with this approach. Adhesive bonding, instead of riveting, is employed by some
designers for attaching doublers and stiffeners to the skin sheet.
Fuselages on virtually all modern airline transports and executive aircraft are
pressurized. The pressurization cycles and safety requirements dictate the design
parameters of high-load, fatigue-resistant and fracture-resistant structures for this
application. Although the design is the most important consideration in achieving a
desired performance, the fracture toughness of the alloy probably has the most influence
on the weight of the structure. Alloys and tempers with good combinations of static
strength, fracture toughness, and corrosion resistance are the best for this application.
Alclad sheet 0.040 to 0.187 in. thick in 2014-T6, 2024-T3, 7075-T6, and 7079-T6 is utilized.
Alclad 2219-T81 and 2219-T87 have good fracture toughness, but their tensile strengths at
room temperature are lower than those of the other alloys.
Thin skins are required for such components as trim tabs, servo tabs, control surfaces,
flaps, and non-load-carrying access doors; they are applied in both skin-rib and
sandwich-type construction. Alclad 2024-T3, alclad 7075-T6, and alloy 6061-T6 are the
primary selections. Aluminum honeycomb core generally is made from 3003-H19, 5052-H19,
or 5356-H19 foil. Foil of 2024-T81 is produced and used advantageously for core for
long service at high temperatures.
Landing gear structural parts for heavy airplanes are often produced as aluminum alloy
forgings. The main cylinders are made on hydraulic presses as conventional closed-die
forgings, with the parting plane at the center of the cylinder. In the past, alloy
2014-T6 was employed extensively, but in recent years alloy 7079-T6 or T611 has been
used. Alloy 7075 in the new T73 temper and alloy X7080-T7 also should be considered,
because of their good resistance to stress-corrosion cracking, and in the case of
X7080-T7, its good properties and low quenching stresses in thick (over 3 in.)
sections. Other landing gear members, attached to the main cylinders, also are
produced as aluminum forgings, including structural forgings in the fuselage and
wings, which distribute the landing gear loads into other structures, and forged
parts for the retracting mechanism.
Wheels for heavy civilian or military airplanes generally are designed on a
safe-life basis. They are replaced at regular intervals during the life of an airplane,
allowing use of lighter-weight designs than are required for long-time fatigue
resistance.
High-Performance Aircraft
High-performance aircraft required by the military services are designed to withstand 9
to 12g loads (9 to 12 times greater than those imposed by unaccelerated flight).
The maximum loads are infrequent, and on some aircraft may never be encountered.
Since the l-g stresses prevalent during most of a flight period are low, and the life of
the aircraft in terms of flying hours is also generally low, high-cycle fatigue is not a
major problem. However, the high stresses that occasionally may be imposed in maneuvers
demand consideration of the high-stress fatigue characteristics of the structure material.
Another characteristic of this type of aircraft is high wing loadings, which dictate thick
wing skins, typically 0.5 to 1.5 in. at the root. Design requirements resulting from
aerodynamic heating at high speeds are discussed subsequently, under supersonic
aircraft.
Since about 1945, all high-performance aircraft have been manufactured of the
highest-strength aluminum alloys approved by the military services. Alloy 7075-T6 has
been the workhorse, complemented in specialized applications by 2014-T6, 2024 in both
naturally and artificially aged tempers, 7079-T6, and 7178-T6. In one large Navy carrier
aircraft, 2020-T651 plate is used for wing and tail surfaces to obtain the advantages of
its low density and high modulus of elasticity (11.4 million psi). The notch sensitivity
of 2020-T6 requires care in design and fabrication to minimize stress concentrations and
to realize the full structural capabilities of the alloy.
Extrusions 1 to 5 in. thick in alloys 7075-T6 or 7079-T6 are utilized as machining
stock for spar caps, which in some designs are continuous from one side of a wing to
the other. Appreciable sweepback and dihedral angles present forming problems for
continuous spars; therefore, in some swept-wing aircraft, stepped extrusions are
employed as machining blanks for spar caps with integral attachment fittings. These
are attached to carry-through members, machined from thick plate, hand forgings, or
die forgings. Alloys 7075-T6, 7075-T73 and 7079-T6 predominate.
The primary disadvantage of the machined-plate skin is its elimination of the use
of an alclad exterior surface for greater corrosion resistance, thus requiring effective
coating systems for adequate corrosion protection.
In general, the military services approve systems involving a conversion coating, one
or two coats of zinc chromate primer, and one or two coats of high-quality organic
coating. If the coating fails or is damaged, aircraft operating in very severe and
tropical salt atmospheres may encounter exfoliation corrosion on top surfaces of
7075-T6 and 7178-T6. Alloy 7075-T73 and the artificially aged tempers of the 2xxx
series alloys do not exfoliate, but they have lower yield strengths than the 7xxx
series alloys in the T6 temper. A more recent development is 7178-T76, which approaches
the structural capability of 7075-T6 and the exfoliation resistance of 7075-T73.
Premium-strength aluminum alloy castings are used in some high-performance airplanes.
They are employed in structural components such as canopy supports and frames, fuselage
members, and heavily loaded pylons that support external loads. Alloys 354-T6 and A357-T6
are usually specified for these premium-strength castings. New alloys of the 2xxx series,
not yet in production, show a capability of 20% increase in mechanical properties for
simple shapes.
Supersonic Aircraft
Supersonic aircraft, designed to withstand aerodynamic heating to 250°F for over
100 hr (the time in service is accumulated in small increments), generally utilize the
2xxx series alloys in artificially aged tempers for skin sheet.
Alloys 2024-T81 and T86 are the most extensively employed; 2014-T6 and 2024-T62 or
T81 are used for extruded members. Alloys 2014-T6 and 2618-T61 are employed for forged
products located in heat-affected areas; alloy 2024, which can be forged, also can be
considered for parts of this type. Alloy 2219 has had limited application in engine
pods as sheet, rivets, and forgings.
The designers of one supersonic bomber have made extensive use of honeycomb core
sandwich construction for wing panels, to achieve a stiff structure that does not buckle
when stressed in compression near the yield strength of the material. The honeycomb in
these sandwich panels is 5052 aluminum foil, except where fiber glass is applied to
further insulate the fuel from aerodynamic heating.
Honeycomb panel frames are predominantly 7075-T6, machined from plate to eliminate
corner joints. Aluminum honeycomb is also used in the beaded areas of skin doublers, to
help stiffen the fuselage skin. At elevated temperatures, 2024-T81 foil provides higher
strength than is obtained in work hardened alloys, such as 5052-H39 and 5056-H39.
The supersonic transport being developed by British and French interests makes general
use of alclad and bare 2618-T6 for the structure. This alloy, which has served many years
in forged engine parts, is available also in other wrought forms. Alloy 2219-T81 or T87
has approximately the same tensile strength for design purposes as 2618-T6; however,
limited data show 2618-T6 has higher creep strength.
Helicopters
Helicopters have critical structural requirements for rotor blades. Alloys 2014-T6,
2024-T3, and 6061-T6, in extruded or drawn hollow shapes, are utilized extensively for
the main spar member.
The blade skins, typically 0.020 to 0.040 in. thick, are primarily alclad 2024-T3 and
6061-T6.
Some blades have alloy 3003-H19 or 5052-H39 honeycomb core; others depend on ribs and
stringers spaced 5 to 12 in. apart to prevent excessive buckling or canning of the thin
trailing edge skins. Adhesive bonding is the most common joining method.
The cabin and fuselage structures of helicopters generally are of conventional aircraft
design, utilizing formed sheet bulkheads, extruded or rolled sheet stringers, and doubled
or chemically milled skins.