Aerospace materials

Aerospace materials are materials, frequently metal alloys, that have either been developed for, or have come to prominence through, their use for aerospace purposes.

These uses often require exceptional performance, strength or heat resistance, even at the cost of considerable expense in their production or machining. Others are chosen for their long-term reliability in this safety-conscious field, particularly for their resistance to fatigue.

The field of materials engineering is an important one within aerospace engineering. Its practice is defined by the international standards bodies who maintain standards for the materials and processes involved. Engineers in this field may often have studied for degrees or post-graduate qualifications in it as a speciality.

The first aerospace materials were those long-established and often naturally occurring materials used to construct the first aircraft. These included such mundane materials as timber for wing structures and fabric and dope to cover them. Their quality was of utmost importance and so the timber would be of carefully selected sitka spruce and the covering of irish linen. Standards were required for the selection, manufacture, and use of these materials. These standards were developed informally by manufacturers or government groups such as HM Balloon Factory, later to become RAE Farnborough, often with the assistance of university engineering departments.

The next stage in the development of aerospace materials was to adopt newly developed materials, such as Duralumin the first age hardening aluminium alloy. These offered attributes not previously available. Many of these new materials also required study to determine the extent of these new properties, their behaviour and how to make the best use of them. This work was often carried out through the new government-funded national laboratories, such as the (German Imperial Institute) or the British National Physical Laboratory (NPL).

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