Alcoa Inc.

Aluminum Company of America

Arconic Corporation

Arconic Technologies LLC

Aloca Inc.

Diana K Denzer

Gary H Bray

Roberto J Rioja

Ralph R Sawtell

Jen C Lin

John Newman

Dhruba J Chakrabarti

Gregory B Venema

Cagatay Yanar

Les A Yocum

Edward L Colvin

Andre L Wilson

Julien Boselli

Todd K Cogswell

John Liu

Paul E Magnusen

Robert W Westerlund

Philip E Bretz

Anthony Morales

Jocelyn I Petit

Andreas K Kulovits

Henry G Paris

Kevin P Armanie

Dhurba J Chakrabarti

Ronald G Cheney

Logan Kirsch

Douglas S Bae

Charles E Brooks

Walter D Coker

Daniel K Gadbery

Robert Newell

Anne E Roberts

Patrick Ulysse

Matthew D Garratt

Greg Venema

Yanar Cagatay

New methods of making cold formed, extruded aluminum lithium alloys, and unrecrystallized products made therefrom are disclosed. A method may include one or more of heating an unrecrystallized extruded aluminum-lithium product to a treatment temperature, cooling the unrecrystallized extruded aluminum-lithium product from the treatment temperature to a post-treatment temperature, and cold forming the unrecrystallized extruded aluminum-lithium product into a second product form. Due to the unique processing conditions of the method, the second product form may wholly or partially retain the unrecrystallized microstructure.

Methods of cold forming aluminum lithium alloys

Improved aluminum-copper-lithium alloys are disclosed. The alloys may include 3.4-4.2 wt. % Cu, 0.9-1.4 wt. % Li, 0.3-0.7 wt. % Ag, 0.1-0.6 wt. % Mg, 0.2-0.8 wt. % Zn, 0.1-0.6 wt. % Mn, and 0.01-0.6 wt. % of at least one grain structure control element, the balance being aluminum and incidental elements and impurities. The alloys achieve an improved combination of properties over prior art alloys.

Aluminum-copper-lithium alloys

Aluminum alloy products about 4 inches thick or less that possesses the ability to achieve, when solution heat treated, quenched, and artificially aged, and in parts made from the products, an improved combination of strength, fracture toughness and corrosion resistance, the alloy consisting essentially of: about 6.8 to about 8.5 wt. % Zn, about 1.5 to about 2.00 wt. % Mg, about 1.75 to about 2.3 wt. % Cu; about 0.05 to about 0.3 wt. % Zr, less than about 0.1 wt. % Mn, less than about 0.05 wt. % Cr, the balance Al, incidental elements and impurities and a method for making same. The instantly disclosed alloys are useful in making structural members for commercial airplanes including, but not limited to, upper wing skins and stringers, spar caps, spar webs and ribs of either built-up or integral construction.

Aluminum alloy products having improved property combinations and method for artificially aging same

Aluminum alloy products about 4 inches thick or less that possesses the ability to achieve, when solution heat treated, quenched, and artificially aged, and in parts made from the products, an improved combination of strength, fracture toughness and corrosion resistance, the alloy consisting essentially of: about 6.8 to about 8.5 wt. % Zn, about 1.5 to about 2.00 wt. % Mg, about 1.75 to about 2.3 wt. % Cu; about 0.05 to about 0.3 wt. % Zr, less than about 0.1 wt. % Mn, less than about 0.05 wt. % Cr, the balance Al, incidental elements and impurities and a method for making same. The invention alloy is useful in making structural members for commercial airplanes including, but not limited to, upper wing skins and stringers, spar caps, spar webs and ribs of either built-up or integral construction. The invention alloy may be aged by 2 or 3 step practices while exceeding the SCC requirements for applications for which the invention alloy is primarily intended. The flexibility of the invention in this regard is useful for its application in multi-alloy or multi-material systems joined by welding or bonding and subsequently aged.

An extruded structural member having improved damage tolerance containing a base section (); a stiffening section having at least one pair of structural stiffeners (), the structural stiffeners integral with the base section () and projecting outwardly thereof; and at least one intra-stiffener () area positioned between the pair of structural stiffeners (), the intra-stiffener area () having a microstructure with intentionally increased amounts of fiber texture to reduce the rate of fatigue crack growth in the extruded structural member.

Structural members having improved resistance to fatigue crack growth

Aluminum sheet products having highly anisotropic grain microstructures and highly textured crystallographic microstructures are disclosed. The products exhibit improved strength and improved resistance to fatigue crack growth, as well as other advantageous properties such as improved combinations of strength and fracture toughness. The sheet products are useful for aerospace and other applications, particularly aircraft fuselages.

Aluminum sheet products having improved fatigue crack growth resistance and methods of making same

Disclosed is a method of making lithium-containing aluminum base alloy extrusion having at least a section thereof having a low aspect ratio or which is generally axisymmetrical, the extrusions having improved properties in sections thereof having the low aspect ratio or which are axisymmetrical. The method comprises providing a body of a lithium-containing aluminum alloy, pressing a portion of the body which is to form the axisymmetrical or low aspect ratio section through a tortuous path and extruding an axisymmetrical or a low aspect ratio extrusion section. The axisymmetrical or low aspect ratio section of the extrusion has a tensile strength of at least 60 ksi and an ultimate yield strength at least 4.5 ksi greater than the tensile yield strength.

Extrusion of aluminum-lithium alloys

Disclosed is a method of producing an unrecrystallized aluminum alloy flat rolled product, e.g., plate or sheet, having improved levels of strength and fracture toughness. The method comprises the steps of providing a body of an aluminum base alloy, heating and hot working the body to a first product. This is followed by reheating, cooling and heat treating the first product prior to further working it to an unrecrystallized plate or sheet product, for example.

Method of producing unrecrystallized aluminum products by heat treating

Composite materials having improved fracture toughness are formed by dispersing ductile inclusions in a less ductile matrix. The matrices may be formed from metals, such as high-strength aluminum alloys or ceramics. Bonding should be present between the inclusions and the matrix so that cracks in the composite material must pass through the inclusions.

Composite materials having improved fracture toughness

A method of treating a metallurgical object containing metastable featureless regions adversely affecting toughness, comprising heating the object for transforming the regions at least sufficiently out of their metastable state to improve toughness. A method of treating metal particles containing metastable featureless regions which adversely affect toughness when the particles are bonded together to form a metallurigcal object, comprising heating the particles for transforming the regions at least sufficiently out of their metastable state to improve toughness in metallurgical objects formed by bonding the particles together.

Alloy toughening method

Growing community of inventors

Lower Burrell, PA, United States of America

Diana K Denzer