Advanced Material Development for Aircraft Fuselage Applications

AIRWARE^® technology has been implemented on nearly every recent commercial aircraft program, new and derivative.  Applications in the fuselage include bare exterior skin, stringers, seat tracks and floor structure, window frames, and large internal components.  AIRWARE® sheet, plate, extrusion and forged products are in serial production and Constellium has invested in three casting facilities to support customer build rate demands.

Mechanical property drivers for materials vary according to the size of the aircraft and the manufacturers’ design strategies.  While aircraft manufacturers are defining missions for new programs, Constellium is continuing to develop innovative material solutions.  Building on experience with high performance AIRWARE^® technology, new materials are being developed to provide the best options to OEMs and Tier1s.

This presentation will provide an overview of recent Constellium material developments, emphasizing the most recent work on advanced external fuselage sheet material including results of fuselage sheet forming studies conducted within the METAFOR project.