For more than 100 years since the world’s first all-metal monoplane made of aluminum was developed in 1912, there has been no change that aircraft aluminum alloy has played a leading role in aircraft body materials.
Since the aircraft aluminium sheet is of high specific strength, good forming and processing properties, they are widely used in the manufacturing of wings, fuselage skins, upper and lower wing beams,seat slides, keel beams, vertical stabilizer, horizontal stabilizer,etc.
A380-800 Airbus aluminum alloy material accounts for the largest proportion, reaching 61%, A350-900XWB Airbus aluminum alloy material accounts for 20%, and Boeing 787-8 Airbus aluminum alloy material accounts for 15%- 20%.
The main kinds of aircraft aluminum sheets used in large aircraft structures worldwide are 2xxx aircraft aluminum(2024, 2224, 2324,2424, 2524) and 7xxx aircraft aluminum(7055, 7075, 7085,etc.).
2xxxx aluminum ally, Al-Cu alloy is the most widely used structural aluminum alloy. Its main alloys and chemical elements are listed in the table.
The tensile strength of 2××× series aluminum alloy is 400~500 MPa, which is lower than the room temperature strength of 7××× series aluminum alloy, but the heat resistance, fatigue characteristics, especially fatigue crack growth resistance are all higher than 7×× × aircraft aluminum.
7xxx aluminum alloy, Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy, has high specific strength and hardness, good corrosion resistance, high toughness, and excellent processing performance.
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The aircraft aluminum sheet has high technical requirements. The aircraft aluminum sheet manufacturer is not so much as that of the common aluminum alloy products. The foreign manufacturers have Alcoa, Alcan, Aleris,etc. In China, Haomei Aluminum is one of the aircraft aluminum suppliers. 2024 aluminum sheet and 7075 aluminum are are both its best selling products.