Use of Metals in Aircrafts

When it was incepted, aircrafts used completely different components and compositions.  The first airplane built by the Wright brothers heavily used wooden apparatuses. As air travel grew in its early days and in-flight safety wasn’t a great deal as today, the seating consisted of wooden chairs. Over the years, aircraft designers, engineers, and manufacturers have taken in account multiple factors – from usability, functional requirements, maintenance costs, to sustainability, and made use of composite metals for building an efficient aircraft. 

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Let’s see how and which metals are used in aircrafts;

Aluminium 

Due to its low density and high strength, Aluminium is a highly dependable metal in aerodynamics. Engine of the first aircraft featured a 30-pound aluminium block. Since then, it has been used in mass-productions of commercial aircrafts. https://transport.world-aluminium.org/modes/aircraft/

Due to nature of its operation, high strength aluminium alloys are ideal to be used in airplane construction. To strengthen the body, alloy 7075 is used. It consists of copper, magnesium, and zinc. It is also resistant to corrosion, thereby reducing maintenance costs. 

https://www.experimentalaircraft.info/articles/aircraft-aluminum.php

Steel

Steel is up to three times stronger than aluminium. Since aluminium cannot be used on the skin surface of the aircraft due to its low resistance to heat, Steel is ideal for the same. The landing gear is also made of steel. In fact, steel comprises 11-13 percent of the aircraft. https://www.stainless-steel-world.net/mobile/blogs/273/high-strength-cra-ideal-for-landing-gear.html

Titanium

Titanium is an expensive metal with robust qualities and high endurance. It has excellent qualities like high temperature and corrosion resistance. Titanium can be found in the wings, landing gear, housing, fan blades, and pumps within the engine. 

Nickel Alloys

Nickel alloys can resist high temperatures and corrosion. They are also structurally tough having excellent creep resistance properties. These alloys are often used to make the turbines of the aircraft engines due to the immense heat the engine is exposed to. Nickel alloys retain their strength at raised temperatures and hence, they are perfect for this function. They are also found in exhaust valves, thermostat rods, tanks, and piping for liquefied gas storage. 

The United Arab Emirates economy is fueled by tourism. One of the biggest contributors is the thriving aviation. 

The country holds immense potential in aircraft metal recycling. As discussed above, aluminium is used in huge proportion in aircrafts. Metal scrap companies in Dubai are equipped to efficiently recycle and reuse the same. Lucky Recycling, part of Lucky group is the leading metal recycling companies in Dubai that deploys energy efficient recycling methods to recycle variety of metals found in an aircraft. Not only does it step-up in making the planet greener, but also contribute towards the country’s constant demand for recycled metal. 

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