Advance Aircraft material: - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... But the breakthroughs in the technology as well as material science, modern aircrafts can be considered as manufacturing marvel. The research in the field of aircraft material begun with aluminum in 1920s and the metallurgists are now hovering around the composite materials while doing any further research with aluminum alloys. Aircraft structures designed with aluminum based composite materials have given improved results. These materials have helped in developing airframes which are much lesser in weight and at the same time have shown improved strengths. Lighter aircrafts has its own advantages and making a one of this type provides corresponding advantages in terms of maintenance and fuel efficiency. It has its environmental benefits. To achieve best efficiency level in the new design models the material needed for the development of the same should be both strongest and lightest among all substitutes currently available to the technology sector. The research being conducted has the purpose of developing lighter aircrafts through the composite materials with the employment of cheap and high quality manufacturing technologies. Structures can also be developed through the use of conventional aluminum alloys and cheaper to produce but the composite materials despite being costlier both in terms of cost of raw material and development technology are better and are the future of the aircraft engineering (Day).

Various components of Boeing made up composite materials
Advance aircraft materials are supposed bring further reduction in overall weight of the complete structure and improving the strength with ultimate aim being the increase of the service life of various components of the structure against continuous fatigue and cyclic usage. Materials like fiberglass have got wide spread usage in different components of the aircraft (Quilter). This most common composite material in current scenario was used for the first time in Boeing aircrafts in 1950s. It was developed through embedding process of glass fibers in resin matrix. But with the beginning of 1960s the use of composite materials came under widespread usage with one material acting as a matrix while the others are being embedded in that matrix and serves as reinforcements and holds everything together and intact and with overall effect being greater strength with reduced weight (Quilter). The current researches processes are delving into the development of composite materials with common matrix material under use are epoxy, bismaleimide, or polyimide and glass fiber, boron fiber, carbon fiber and others as reinforcing materials (Day). Taking an airframe developed under the Airbus umbrella, the structure is made up of carbon fiber reinforced plastic and aluminum lithium alloys and sole objective being weight saving structures with best performance in areas where instances of corrosion and fatigue are the most with ease of repair (Day).
Manufacturing of composite structures while taking composite material as the raw material begins with the laying out of composite material and then is being put in mold under heat and pressure. The matrix material gets solidified after the removal of heat and then forms various shapes. The strength is increased manifold through the winding of the fibers. Composite materials provide lots of feature through its capability of getting layered. The layering process can help in getting each layer being stretched in different directions so that winding process can achieve ...Download file to see next pagesRead More