Aviation Composites

Over the years aircraft designers came up with the theoretical concept that they can not build because the materials they need are not yet present. The expression "unobtainium" is often used to classify resources that are being sought but not yet available. For example, a large aircraft such as the Space Shuttle is nearly impossible to construct without refractory tiles to protect them when they reenter the Earth 's atmosphere. Composite materials have become very useful and have been applied to aviation.

Since the use of aluminum in the 1920's, composite materials were the most important material in the aerospace industry. Wright et al. (2003) defines a composite material as "a line element of a material is combined with a matrix of another material". This means that the composite material is an artificial material made from two or more components having significantly different physical or chemical properties. Applications of composite materials can be traced back to the F - 15 (US Air Force) fighter of the 1940 's. The weight percent of the composite material used initially was 2%. Since then, the use of composite materials has been accelerating rapidly. In 1981, UK aerospace company McDonnell Douglas AV - 8 B Harrier skipped over 25% of the composite structure. This shows that composite materials are being introduced at a very high speed in the aerospace industry (Schmitt, 2008).

The aviation industry continues to produce new materials to make aircraft lightweight making it more attractive to airlines. Competition to manufacture composite materials that can be used for the entire aircraft is becoming increasingly intense. Other manufacturers are looking for slightly different ways to improve the currently available materials using shape memory alloys. Continued development of composite materials has resulted in the production of materials comprising aluminum and composites. Due to some of its properties, this material is very suitable for use on aircraft wings. It is almost completely resistant to metal fatigue mainly. Metal Fatigue due to Repeated Loading of Material This causes cracks in the parts, and as the size increases thereafter, the metal will be damaged.