DelftX: AEASM1x Introduction to Aerospace Structures and Materials

This page will list a number of tables with relevant Material and Mechanical Properties for you to use in your design and calculations. Please let us know via the 'Add Material or Mechanical Properties' - section in the Discussion Board if you feel there are errors or that you would like to see certain data added. We will endeavour to comply with all requests where possible.

Table 1: Properties of metals and their alloys

Metal	Alloy	$E$	$G$	$\sigma_y$	$\sigma_{ult}$	$\sigma_{ult}/\rho$	$\epsilon$	$ν$	$\rho$	$L_{ult}$	$\sqrt{E}/\rho$
		[$GPa$]	[$GPa$]	[$MPa$]	[$MPa$]	[$MN \cdot mm^2/kg$]	[$\%$]	[$-$]	[$g/cm^3$]	[$km$]	[$10^6 \cdot mm^{7/3} N^{2/3}$]
Steel	AISI 301	193	71	965	1257	159	40	0.3	8.00	16.2	0.72
	AISI 4340	205	80	470	745		22	0.29	7.85
	D6AC	210	84	1724	1931	248	7	0.21	7.87	25.0	0.76
Aluminum	AA 2024-T3	72	27	345	483	174	18	0.33	2.78	17.7	1.50
	AA 7475-T761	70	27	448	517	184	12	0.33	2.81	18.7	1.47
Titanium	Ti6Al-4V (5)	114	44	880	950	214	14	0.34	4.43	21.8	1.09
Magnesium	AZ31B-H24	45	17	221	290	163	15	0.35	1.78	16.6	2.00

Table 2: Properties of various composites

Material	Fiber Orientation			$E_x$	$E_y$	$\sigma_{U \> x}$	$\sigma_{U \> y}$	Note
	$0^{\circ}$	$45^{\circ}$	$90^{\circ}$	[$kN/mm^2$]	[$kN/mm^2$]	[$N/mm^2$]	[$N/mm^2$]
E-Glass epoxy	100%	0%	0%	45	8	1020	40	Unidirectional
	0%	0%	100%	8	45	40	1020	Unidirectional
	50%	0%	50%	~26	~26	~530	~530	Cross-ply
	25%	50%	25%	~20	~20	~325	~325	Quasi-isotropic
High modulus carbon epoxy	100%	0%	0%	220	10	760	40	Unidirectional

Table 3: Coefficients of thermal expansion for various materials

Material	$\alpha_x$	$\alpha_y$
	[$1/ ^{\circ} C$]	[$1/ ^{\circ} C$]
Titanium Tu-6Al-4V (Grade 5)	$9.2 \cdot 10^{-6}$	$9.2 \cdot 10^{-6}$
Aluminum 2024-T3	$22 \cdot 10^{-6}$	$22 \cdot 10^{-6}$
Magnesium AZ31-H24	$26 \cdot 10^{-6}$	$26 \cdot 10^{-6}$
S2-glass epoxy UD-60%	$26.2 \cdot 10^{-6}$	$6.1 \cdot 10^{-6}$
Carbon epoxy UD-60%	$-0.4 \cdot 10^{-6}$	$27 \cdot 10^{-6}$

Table 4: Illustration of typical specific material properties (note: $\gamma = \rho g$)

Material	Specific modulus		Column stability		Sheet stability
	$E/ \gamma$	$\%$	$\sqrt{E}/\gamma$	$\%$	$\sqrt[3] {E} / \gamma$	$\%$
Aluminum	2500	108	9.5	62	1.5	52
Steel	2692	100	5.9	100	0.8	100
Spruce	2340	115	22.3	26	4.7	16
Birch	2538	106	19.8	30	3.9	19
Bone	1500	179	9.0	65	1.6	47
Titanium	2622	103	7.8	76	1.1	73
Isotropic carbon composite	3333	81	14.9	40	2.5	32
Isotropic E-glass fibre composite	536	50.2	4.1	116	1.1	73
Isotropic aramid fibre composite	1760	153	11.4	52	2.1	38

Table 5: Comparison of composites and aluminum based on relevant strength values

Material	Lay-up	$E$	$E/ \rho$	$\sigma_{max}$	$\sigma_{max} / \rho$	Comment
	$\% 0^{\circ}/ \pm 45^{\circ} / 90^{\circ}$	$[GPa]$	$[MPa \cdot m^3/kg]$	$[MPa]$	$[MPa \cdot m^3/kg]$
CFRP (T800S)	60 / 30 / 10	103	64	360	0.225	Tail plane shells
CFRP (T800S)	40 / 50 / 10	77	48	270	0.170
CFRP ( T800S)	20 / 70 / 10	50	31	175	0.110	Fuselage side shell
2xxx Al-alloy		72	26	440	0.160
7xxx Al-alloy		72	26	565	0.205
Al-Li alloy		77	29	515	0.195

Table 6: Comparison of critical cracks lengths of various aerospace alloys

Alloy	$\sigma_{0.2}$	$\sigma_{crit}$	$K_Ic$	$a_{crit}$
	[$MPa$ ]	[$MPa$]	[$MPa \sqrt{m}$]	[$mm$]
2024-T3	360	180	40	15.7
7075-T6	470	235	27	4.2
Ti-6Al-4V	1020	510	50	3.1
4340 steel	1600	830	58	1.55