Light, strong alloy may alter design of aircraft

[cirr]

I am certain that this new wonder material can find use in fighter jets like J-20 and the upcoming stealth bomber H-20.

Light, strong alloy may alter design of aircraft

2017-08-07 08:44

China DailyEditor: Mo Hong'e

A new kind of nano material developed by domestic researchers is expected to become the next-generation aviation material and boost the development of the country's homegrown large passenger aircraft.

The nano ceramic aluminum alloy was developed by the research team from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Light in weight, such new material has the characteristics of high rigidity, high strength, fatigue resistance, low expansion and high temperature resistance.

Instead of the traditional physical method of mixing the ceramic and aluminum alloy, researchers put the nano ceramic particles into aluminum alloy through an innovative chemical process. During the process, the size, shape, and distribution of the particles were controlled.

This helped improve the rigidity and strength of the new material. At the same time, the processing and manufacturing performance of aluminum alloy remains, said Professor Wang Haowei, who led the project.

"The nano ceramic aluminum alloy material helps break the bottleneck of large-scale application in engineering," Wang said.

The university's scientists started the basic research in the field in the early 1990s, Wang said, and they have made a lot of experiments in developing the new material over the years.

"Compared with titanium alloy and high-temperature alloy, the performance of aluminum alloy with 3D printing technology is much lower. The 3D printing components made of nano ceramic aluminum alloy can achieve the performance of forgings," Wang said.

So far, the new material has already been used in the Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space labs, quantum satellites and meteorological satellites. It also has been used in key components of automotive internal-combustion engines, which not only reduces weight efficiency, but also saves energy, reduces emissions and improves safety.

Wang said researchers are stepping up their cooperation with Commercial Aircraft Corp of China to promote the use of such new materials in large aircraft.

"The advances in aviation development are closely connected to the progress of materials, and we are closely watching the development and performance of the new material," said Wu Guanghui, vice-president of COMAC, the general designer of C919, the first homegrown large passenger aircraft

Wu said the nano ceramic aluminum alloy material is still being tested, and is expected to be used in the C919 aircraft, replacing some of current components, which were imported.

A new material innovation center was established at the university last week, which aims to further boost the industrialization of the nano ceramic aluminum alloy material. Based on Wang's research team, the center was jointly established by the Huaibei government of Anhui province, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai JuneYao Group and Anhui Xiangbang Composite Material Co.

In 2013, the Huaibei government established a midterm test and manufacturing base with an annual production capacity of more than 1,000 metric tons, and it also founded the Anhui Xiangbang Composite Material Co. The production of such material aims to meet large-scale applications in aerospace, aviation and auto industries.

Capacity expansion under way - 50 fold

http://www.ecns.cn/2017/08-07/268273.shtml

 

[JSCh]

Composite helps to reduce weight of planes
Yang Meiping
01:00 UTC+8, 2017-08-07

CERAMICS is easy to break and aluminum is easy to bend — or so many people believe.

But a team at Shanghai Jiao Tong University announced yesterday that after nearly 30 years of research they had blended the two materials together to create a new substance with a strength and rigidity that is even stronger than titanium alloy.

The composite called “alumics?” is now being tested in C919 jets and Geely automobiles, and is expected to help industries like aviation, automobile and high-speed rail develop into a new era of lighter and more energy-saving products.

Aluminum is one of the most commonly used light metals because of its tenacity and aluminum alloy has been incorporated into handsets and computers to make them light and portable.

But aluminum is easily bent. To make it stiffer, researchers have tried adding ceramics.

“Ceramics is fragile in many people’s mind, but its rigidity is actually even better than steel,” said Wang Haowei, a professor at Jiao Tong’s School of Material Science and Engineering who leads the alumics team.

A method commonly across the world is to make particles or fibers out of ceramics and then add them into the aluminum alloy.

This does add strength and rigidity to the materials, but the particles are large and the blended materials show difficulty in molding, low strength, poor plasticity and unstable quality, which keep them away from industrial application, according to Wang.

“Since it’s not a feasible way, we thought up a new method — growing ceramics in aluminum to create a nanometer material,” he said.

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Dong Jun / SHINE
A researcher looks at car steering knuckles and pistons of internal combustion engine, which were made of alumics and iron respectively.

Their work follows a method initiated 25 years ago by Wu Renjie, founder of the university’s State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites.

“In metal metallurgy, nonmetal things are usually treated as impurities and should be get rid of,” said Wang. “But we found in our researches that they can also play favorable roles if we control the sizes, shapes and distribution of these particles by controlling chemical reaction process.”

Synthesized by a melt reaction composition, the aluminum-ceramics composites causes the ceramics particles to be reduced to a nanometer level to break through the bottlenecks of poor plasticity and processing difficulty.

The new composites are light, strong, rigid, heat-resistant and anti-corrosive. Their strength and rigidness has proved to be better than titanium alloy.

The new material has been used in military and aerospace industries in recent years.

Wang said the material can help, for example, to reduce the weight of planes, cars, trains and bikes.

The team is cooperating with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China and AECC Commercial Aircraft Engine Co to apply alumics on China’s domestically made planes, according to Wang.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University / Ti Gong
Professor Wang Haowei and his team test the material with a stretcher.

Wu Guanghui, chief designer of China’s self-developed jet C919 and deputy general manager of COMAC, said his company had found effective results in tests of sections made from alumics.

Wu, who helped name the new material, said aviation technology has developed as material development improved.

“Alumics is very suitable in making narrow-body jets like C919, while carbon fiber composites are more suitable for wide-body planes,” said Wu.

On Friday, Jiao Tong signed a contract with the government of Huaibei City of Anhui Province, Shanghai Junyao (Group) Co and the Anhui Xiangbang Composite Co to establish an alumics innovation center to promote civil use of the material.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University / Ti Gong
Wang and his team analyze the microstructure of the new material with scanning electron microscope.

Some powder of alumics for 3D printing

 

[ZeEa5KPul]

Great to see China developing next-generation materials. This will have tremendous economic and national security benefits.