Titanium alloys and processing for high speed aircraft

Commercially available titanium alloys as well as emerging titanium alloys with limited or no production experience are being considered for a variety of applications to high speed commercial aircraft structures. A number of government and industry programs are underway to improve the performance of promising alloys by chemistry and/or processing modifications and to identify appropriate alloys and processes for specific aircraft structural applications. This paper discusses some results to date of NASA sponsored research on the effects of heat treatment, service temperatures from −54 to +177°C, and selected processing on the mechanical properties of several candidate β and α-β titanium alloys. Included are β alloys Timetal 21S, LCB, Beta-C, Beta-CEZ and Ti-10-2–3 and α-β alloys Ti-62222, Ti-6242S, Timetal 550, Ti-62S, SP-700 and Corona-X. The emphasis is on strength and toughness properties of rolled sheet product and on the superplastic properties and processing of the materials.