Because lithium is the least dense elemental metal, materials scientists and engineers have been working for decades to develop a commercially viable aluminum-lithium (Al-Li) alloy that would be even lighter and stiffer than other aluminum alloys. The first two generations of Al-Li alloys tended to suffer from several problems, including poor ductility and fracture toughness; unreliable properties, fatigue and fracture resistance; and unreliable corrosion resistance.

The reason that most aerospace structural design engineers are "underutilized" today is a direct result of the aerospace industries' efforts over the preceding two decades to increase specialization within the structural engineering fields. This prevailing attitude that exists by most companies can however lead to awkward, inefficient, and inadequate structural designs. 

Whether an airplane or a space shuttle, a flying machine requires advanced materials to provide a strong, lightweight body and a powerful engine that functions at high temperature. The Aerospace Materials Handbook examines these materials, covering traditional superalloys as well as more recently developed light alloys. Capturing state-of-the-art developments in materials research for aeronautical and aerospace applications, this book provides a timely reference for both newcomers and veteran researchers in the field.

This book serves as a comprehensive resource on various traditional, advanced and futuristic material technologies for aerospace applications encompassing nearly 20 major areas. 

Each of the chapters addresses scientific principles behind processing and production, production details, equipment and facilities for industrial production, and finally aerospace application areas of these material technologies. The chapters are authored by pioneers of industrial aerospace material technologies. 

This book is a comprehensive compilation of chapters on materials (both established and evolving) and material technologies that are important for aerospace systems. It considers aerospace materials in three Parts. 

Part I covers  Metallic Materials (Mg, Al, Al-Li, Ti, aero steels, Ni, intermetallics, bronzes and Nb alloys); Part II deals with Composites (GLARE, PMCs, CMCs and Carbon based CMCs); and Part III considers Special Materials. 

Aerospace Materials and Applications addresses materials selection and use in aircraft, spacecraft, launch vehicles, and propulsion systems and power systems. 

Advances in aerospace systems are strongly dependent on advances in materials and processing technologies. In the past hundred years of powered flight aircraft structures have evolved around advances in materials that are lighter and stronger. 

Aerospace Materials provides a grounding in state-of-the-art aerospace materials technology, including developments in aluminum, titanium, and nickel alloys, as well as polymers and polymer composites. Experts in each topic have contributed key overviews that summarize current knowledge and indicate future trends. 

Very light, very strong. extremely reliable -aircraft and aerospace engineers are. and have to be. very demanding partners in the materials community. 

Still relevant decades after its 1950 publication, this legendary reference text on aircraft stress analysis is considered the best book on the subject. It emphasizes basic structural theory, which remains unchanged with the development of new materials and construction methods, and the application of the elementary principles of mechanics to the analysis of aircraft structures.