All of 7000 Series Aluminum Alloy in Aircraft Component Application
7000 series aluminum grade is typical used in Aircraft Component, In this guide, you knows the 7000 series aluminum grade used in different part of Aircraft and why they are used in these part.
If you want to know the differences in characteristics between different grades of 7000 series aluminum, read this guide to the end.
Classification of 7000 Series Aluminum Alloys
The main alloying elements of the 7xxx series aluminum alloys (Al-Zn-Mg series alloys) are zinc, usually with a certain amount of copper and magnesium. These alloys have the highest strength among all forging alloys due to the addition of zinc, and can even exceed some steels. This is why these 7xxx series alloys are frequently used in the aircraft industry. Although the addition of zinc reduces the workability, its excellent strength compensates for these drawbacks.
The Al-Zn-Mg series aluminum alloys can be roughly divided into welding materials and high-strength alloy materials.
Welding component materials (Al-Zn-Mg series)
These alloys have the following three characteristics:
- Better heat treatability than 5083 alloy, making it easier to manufacture extruded profiles, and having good processability and corrosion resistance. High strength can be obtained by age hardening.
- Even with natural aging, it can achieve relatively high strength and has low sensitivity to cracking.
- During welding, the strength of the weld joint can be restored in subsequent natural aging due to solubilization during heating. This type of alloy is widely used in the production of welding components.
In addition, this series of alloys have the following two characteristics in terms of weldability and stress corrosion resistance:
- Adding trace amounts of manganese, chromium, zirconium, titanium, and other elements can achieve a strong strengthening effect.
- Adjusting the process conditions, including heat treatment, can obtain materials with good usability.
High-strength alloy materials (Al-Zn-Mg-Cu series).
This series of alloys is used for aircraft materials, with super hard aluminum alloy 7075 as the representative. In recent years, sports equipment such as ski poles and golf clubs have also started using 7075 alloy for manufacturing. 7075 aluminum alloy has become the ideal choice for high-stress parts due to its excellent strength-to-weight ratio. The preferred heat treatment for 7075 is T651, which can uniformly distribute residual stresses in T6 treated materials through stretching correction to prevent distortion during processing. If 7075 is treated with T73, it will reduce the mechanical properties but can mitigate the effects of stress corrosion susceptibility.
7000 series aluminum alloys used in various aircraft models
Large, complex, and overall special aluminum extrusion profiles have become essential structural materials in the aerospace industry. Each Airbus aircraft uses tens of tons of thick aluminum plates and profiles, while the majority of Boeing’s air-launched cruise missile casings are made with high-quality aluminum alloy profiles and forgings. As shown in the table below, Types, states and typical uses of 7xxx-series aluminum alloys in aircraft
| Alloy | Variety | State | Typical Applications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7005 | Extruded tubes, rods, profiles, wires, and thick plates | T53, T6, T63, T6351 | Extrusion material used for the production of welded structures and brazed structures that require both high strength and high fracture toughness, such as trusses, rods, and containers for transportation vehicles; large heat exchangers; and components that cannot undergo solution treatment after welding; can also be used to manufacture sports equipment such as tennis rackets and baseball bats |
| 7039 | Sheets and thick plates | T6, T651 | Cryogenic containers, low-temperature instruments and storage boxes, fire pressure equipment, military equipment, armor, missile devices |
| 7049 | Forgings, extruded profiles, thin plates, and thick plates | F, T6, T652, T73, T7352, T73511, T76511, T73 | Used to manufacture parts that require the same static strength as 7079-T6 alloy and high resistance to stress corrosion cracking, such as aircraft and missile parts, landing gear, gearboxes, hydraulic cylinders, and extrusions. The fatigue performance of the parts is roughly equivalent to that of 7075-T6 alloy, but with slightly higher toughness |
| 7050 | Thick plates, extruded rods, profiles, wires, cold-worked bars, wires, rivet wires, forgings, and clad sheets | T7451, T7651, T73510, T73511, T74510, T74511, T76510, T76511, H13, T73, F, T74, T7452, T76 | Medium-thick plates used for aircraft structural components, extrusions, free forgings, and die forgings. The requirements for manufacturing these parts are high resistance to peel corrosion, stress corrosion cracking, high fracture toughness, and fatigue performance. They are used in aircraft body frames, wing skins, cabin walls, beams, stiffeners, ribs, brackets, landing gear support components, seat rails, and rivets |
| 7072 | Radiator blanks | 0, H14, H18, H19, H23, H24, H241, H25, JH11, HI13, H211 | Air conditioner aluminum foil and ultra-thin strips; coating layers for 2219, 3003, 3004, 5050, 5052, 5154, 6061, 7075, 7475, 7178 alloy sheets and pipes |
| 7075 | Sheets, thick plates, stretched tubes, extruded tubes, rods, profiles, wires, rolled or cold-worked bars, cold-worked wires, rivet wires, forgings | 0, T6, T73, T76, T651, T7351, T7651, 0, T6, T73, 0, T6, T6510, T6511, T73, T73510, T73511, T76, T76510, T76510HI3, T6, T51, T73, T73510, H13, T6, T73, T6, T73, F, T6, J652, T76, T73532 | Used to manufacture aircraft structures and other high-strength, high-corrosion-resistant high-stress structural components, such as upper and lower wing panels, beams, ribs, and fuselage walls. It has good plasticity after solution treatment, excellent heat treatment strengthening effect, high strength below 150 degrees, and excellent low-temperature strength. It has poor welding performance and tends to stress corrosion cracking. Dual-stage aging can improve SCC resistance |
| 7175 | Silver parts, extruded parts | 74747142.754.↓76, T74, 16511 | High-strength parts for aircraft manufacturing, such as aircraft wing outer wing beams and main rings. High strength, good corrosion resistance (peel corrosion), and brittleness sensitivity |
| 7178 | Sheets, thick plates, extruded tubes, rods, profiles, wires, cold-worked bars, wires, rivet wires | 0, 16, T76, 0, T651, T7651, 006T615, 1651T76T76510, T76511, 0, H13, T6 | High-strength parts for manufacturing aerospace equipment |
| 7475 | Sheets, thick plates, rolled or cold-worked bars | O, T61, T761, 0, T651, T7351, T7651, 0 | Parts with high strength and fracture toughness, such as aircraft wing skins, central wing structural components, beams, cabin walls, T-39 bulkheads, helicopter cabin doors, and bullet shells |
| 7A04 | Sheets, thick plates, stretched tubes, extruded tubes, rods, profiles, wires, rolled or cold-worked bars, cold-worked wires, rivet wires, forgings | 0, T6, T73, T76, 0, T651, T7351, T7651, 0, T6, T73, 0, T6, T6510, T6511, JT73, T73510, T73511, T76, T76510, T76511, 0, H13, T6, T651, T73, T7351, 0, H13, T6, T73, T6, T73, F, T6, J652, T76, T73532 | Used for aircraft skins, screws, and force-bearing structural components such as beams, trusses, ribs, and landing gear |
| 7150 | Thick plates, extruded parts, forgings | T651, T7751, T6511, 177511, T77 | Major aircraft upper wing structures, wing panel edges, upper wing main beam, fuselage components, keel beams, seat rails. It has good strength, corrosion resistance (peel corrosion), and is an improved alloy. In the T651 state, its strength is 10%-15% higher than that of 7075 alloy, and the fracture toughness is 10%. The basic anti-disease |
| 7055 | Thick plates, extruded parts, forgings | T651, T7751, T77511, T77 | Large aircraft upper wing skins, horizontal stabilizers, keel beams, seat tracks, cargo slide tracks. It has 10% higher compressive and tensile strength than 7150, similar fracture toughness, and corrosion resistance |
| 7075 | Sheets, thick plates, stretched tubes, extruded tubes, rods, profiles, wires, rolled or cold-worked bars, cold-worked wires, rivet wires, forgings | 0, T6, T73, T76, T651, T7351, T7651 | For the manufacture of aircraft structures and other high-strength components with strong corrosion resistance, such as upper and lower wing panels, stringers, and frames. |
The specific alloys used for the components of each aircraft model
The Table of Examples of aluminium alloy materials used in civil aircraft applications
| Model | Fuselage | Wing | Tail | ||||
| Skin | Stringer | Location | Skin | Stringer | Vertical Tail Skin | Horizontal Tail Skin | |
| L-1011 | 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 | Upper Lower | 7075-T76 7075-T6 | 7075-T6 7075-T6 | 7075-T6 | 7075-T76 |
| DC-3-80 | 2024-T73 | 7075-T6 | Upper Lower | 7075-T6 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 2024-T6 | 7075-T6 | 7075-T73 |
| DC-10 | 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 | Upper Lower | 7075-T6 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 7178-T6 | 7075-T6 | 7075-T6 |
| B-737 | 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 | Upper Lower | 7178-T6 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 | 7075-T6 |
| B-727 | 2024-T3 | 7075-T76 | Upper Lower | 7075-T6 2024-T3 | 7075-T76 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 | 7075-T6 |
| B-747 | 2024-T73 | 7075-T76 | Upper Lower | 7075-T76 2024-T73 | 7150-T76 2024-T3 | 7075-T76 | 7075-T76 |
| B-757 | 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 | Upper Lower | 7150-T6 2324-T39 | 7150-T6 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 | 2324-T3(Upper) 7075-T6(Down) |
| B-767 | 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 | Upper Lower | 7150-T6 2324-T39 | 7150-T6 2224-T3 2324-T39 | 7075-T6 | 7075-T6 |
| A300 | 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 | Upper Lower | 7150-T6 2324-T39 | 7150-T6 2024-T3 | 2024-T3 | 7075-T6 |
About Delin Aluminum
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