KaiserSelect® Aerospace Product Update Focusing on Thick Plate Product AA7097

Kaiser Aluminum continues to evolve its portfolio of new products in the aerospace field with innovative developments in the plate, extrusion, sheet, tubing and forge stock markets.  These products are aimed at current, derivative, and future aircraft where increased performance is desired in terms of higher material capability as well as increased economic part fabrication.

This presentation will focus on recent Kaiser developments with an emphasis on Kaiser’s next generation thick plate 7xxx product, 7097-T7651.  This product is currently being offered in the 3.00-8.00 [76-203mm] inch gauge range with the intended aerospace applications being wing ribs, wing spars, fuselage frames, fuselage floor structures as well as heavy gauge fittings and doubler structures.  7097-T7651 was developed using the KaiserSelect^® methodology with a focus on both product performance for lightweighting of primary structure as well as a reduced part fabrication cost.  Increased strength and damage tolerance over conventional 7xxx aerospace alloys contribute to the ability to lightweight individual components while lower overall part manufacturing costs are achieved thru the inherent KaiserSelect^® characteristics of increased plate flatness, lot to lot consistency, and low internal residual stress.  Kaiser Aluminum is focused on being a premier aluminum solution provider in the aerospace market – which includes accelerated development programs to meet dynamic materials and market requirements. These accelerated programs are accomplished thru focused product performance goals, materials modeling, and process modeling; AA7097 plate product was developed in approximately 2.5 years from inception to MMPDS allowables maturity levels.