The introduction of new FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) regulations for the design and manufacture of civil aircrafts has increased drastically the importance of the so called “damage tolerance properties” of aluminum alloys. This has led to the development of high damage tolerance variants of the well know AA2024. First generations of those new alloys are flying today in B777 and Airbus A340-500/600 aircrafts.

However, this development of damage tolerance properties is certainly not at the end so that current aluminum manufacturers are, in close cooperation with Airbus, developing even better alloys with especially tailored material properties. Those new alloys may combine damage tolerance with increased strength, improved manufacturability or corrosion resistance. A summary of the current developments, with a concentration on sheet alloys for fuselage applications, is given in the presentation.