An overview of the major materials used in aeronautical and automotive structures will be given in this section. The mechanical and physical properties of the materials will be highlighted, with an emphasis placed on the stiffness versus density and strength versus density of various materials.

1. Section 5 Major Structural Materials for Aeronautical and Automotive Structures An overview of the major materials used in aeronautical and automotive structures will be given in this section. The mechanical and physical properties of the materials will be highlighted, with an emphasis placed on the stiffness versus density and strength versus density of various materials. © Loughborough University 2010. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Licence .

8. Summary of Major Mechanical Properties * Unidirectional (UD) with 60% fibre-volume fraction Density (kg/m 3 ) E (GPa)   y MPa  ult (MPa) K 1c (MPa.m ½ )  (  10 -6 1/  C) Metals and Alloys Aluminium Alloys 2024 7075 Cast Iron Steels mild steel high strength Nickel Alloy Titanium Alloy Magnesium Alloy Polymers or Plastics Epoxy and Polyester PVC Composites CFRP* GRP* Ceramics Alumina Silicon Carbide 2800 2800 7200 7850 7850 8800 4500 1800 1250 1400 1750 1950 3750 3000 72 72 83-170 210 210 190 110 45 2-4 2-4 140 35 390 450 0.33 0.33 0.2-0.3 0.29 0.29 0.3 0.33 0.35 0.3-0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.1-0.2 0.1-0.2 410 480 120-290 220 340-1000 200-1600 760-1000 80-280 30-100 46 630 300 5000 10000 480 550 69-480 430 550-1200 400-2000 900-1200 140-340 30-120 - - - - - 45 23 6-20 100-200 50-154 - 55-115 - 0.4 - 32-45 20-60 4 3 23 23 10-12 12 14 12 10 27 55-90 80 -0.9 7 9 4

9. Stiffness versus Density Composites Density (kg/m 3 ) 100 300 1,000 3,000 10,000 30,000 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1,000 Young’s Modulus (GPa) Woods and Wood Products Foams Metals and Alloys Polymers

10. Strength versus Density Metals and Alloys Composites Woods and Wood Products Polymers Foams Density (kg/m 3 ) 100 300 1,000 3,000 10,000 30,000 0.1 1 10 100 1,000 10,000 Strength (MPa)

14. Temperature Dependent Ductile-Brittle Fracture Transition FCC metals Low-strength alloys (BCC metals, low carbon steel and thermoplastics) High-strength alloys Temperature Absorbed Energy

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