Claims
- 1. A 2000 series aluminum product alloy consisting essentially of in weight percent about 3.60 to 4.25 copper, about 1.00 to 1.60 magnesium, about 0.30 to 0.80 manganese, no greater than about 0.05 silicon, no greater than about 0.07 iron, no greater than about 0.06 titanium, no greater than about 0.002 beryllium, the remainder aluminum and incidental elements and impurities, wherein a Tmax heat treatment is below the lowest incipient melting temperature for a given 2000 series alloy composition and the Cutarget is determined by the expression:
- 2. A 2000 series aluminum product alloy consisting essentially of a composition within the box of W, X, Y, and Z as defined in FIG. 5, wherein Tmax for each composition corner point is W=925° F., X=933° F., Y=917° F., and Z=909° F., wherein Cutarget is defined by the following equation:
- 3. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein the Cutarget composition is about 3.85 to about 4.05 weight percent and the Mgtarget is about 1.25 to about 1.45 weight percent.
- 4. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said minimum improves by 5.5%.
- 5. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said minimum improves by 6%.
- 6. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said minimum improves by 6.5%.
- 7. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said minimum improves by 7%.
- 8. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said minimum improves by 7.5%.
- 9. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said alloy is a structural component in an aerospace product.
- 10. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said alloy is a part of a lower wing.
- 11. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 2 wherein said alloy improves by a minimum of 5% compared to the average values of standard 2324-T39 alloy shown in FIG. 1 for the same properties selected from the group consisting of the plane strain fracture toughness, KIc, the plane stress fracture toughness, Kapp, the stress intensity factor range, ΔK, at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle wherein R=0.1 and RH is greater than 90%, and combinations thereof.
- 12. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 2 wherein said alloy improves by a minimum of 5.5% compared to the average values of standard 2324-T39 alloy shown in FIG. 1 for the same properties selected from the group consisting of the plane strain fracture toughness, KIc, the plane stress fracture toughness, Kapp, the stress intensity factor range, ΔK, at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle wherein R=0.1 and RH is greater than 90%, and combinations thereof.
- 13. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 2 wherein said alloy improves by a minimum of 6% compared to the average values of standard 2324-T39 alloy shown in FIG. 1 for the same properties selected from the group consisting of the plane strain fracture toughness, KIc, the plane stress fracture toughness, Kapp, the stress intensity factor range, ΔK, at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle wherein R=0.1 and RH is greater than 90%, and combinations thereof.
- 14. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 2 wherein said alloy improves by a minimum of 6.5% compared to the average values of standard 2324-T39 alloy shown in FIG. 1 for the same properties selected from the group consisting of the plane strain fracture toughness, KIc, the plane stress fracture toughness, Kapp, the stress intensity factor range, ΔK, at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle wherein R=0.1 and RH is greater than 90%, and combinations thereof.
- 15. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 2 wherein said alloy improves by a minimum of 7% compared to the average values of standard 2324-T39 alloy shown in FIG. 1 for the same properties selected from the group consisting of the plane strain fracture toughness, KIc, the plane stress fracture toughness, Kapp, the stress intensity factor range, ΔK, at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle wherein R=0.1 and RH is greater than 90%, and combinations thereof.
- 16. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 2 wherein said alloy improves by a minimum of 7.5% compared to the average values of standard 2324-T39 alloy shown in FIG. 1 for the same properties selected from the group consisting of the plane strain fracture toughness, KIc, the plane stress fracture toughness, Kapp, the stress intensity factor range, ΔK, at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle wherein R=0.1 and RH is greater than 90%, and combinations thereof
- 17. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 2 wherein said alloy is a structural component in an aerospace product.
- 18. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said alloy is a part of a lower wing.
- 19. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 2 wherein said Tmax increases from about 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5° F. when silicon is less than about 0.04 weight percent.
- 20. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 2 wherein said Tmax increases from about 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5° F. when silicon is less than about 0.03 weight percent.
- 21. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said alloy is in a T-39 temper.
- 22. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said alloy is in a T-351 temper.
- 23. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said KIc improves by a minimum of 1.9 in.
- 24. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said Kapp improves by a minimum of 4.9 ksi{square root}in.
- 25. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said ΔK at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle improves by a minimum of 0.65 ksi{square root}in with R equal to 0.1 and RH greater than 90%.
- 26. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said KIc improves by a minimum of 2.0 ksi{square root}in.
- 27. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said Kapp improves by a minimum of 5.4 ksi{square root}in.
- 28. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 where in said ΔK at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle improves by a minimum of 0.71 ksi{square root}in with R equal to 0.1 and RH greater than 90%.
- 29. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said KIc improves by a minimum of 2.2 ksi{square root}in.
- 30. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said Kapp improves by a minimum of 5.9 ksi{square root}in.
- 31. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said ΔK at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle improves by a minimum of 0.80 ksi{square root}in n with R equal to 0.1 and RH greater than 90%.
- 32. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said KIc improves by a minimum of 2.4 ksi{square root}in.
- 33. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said Kapp improves by a minimum of 6.4 ksi{square root}in.
- 34. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said ΔK at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle improves by a minimum of 0.85 ksi{square root}in with R equal to 0.1 and RH greater than 90%.
- 35. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said KIc improves by a minimum of 2.6 ksi{square root}in.
- 36. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said Kapp improves by a minimum of 6.9 ksi{square root}in.
- 37. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 where in said ΔK at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle improves by a minimum of 0.90 ksi{square root}in with R equal to 0.1 and RH greater than 90%.
- 38. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said KIc improves by a minimum of 2.8 ksi{square root}in.
- 39. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said Kapp improves by a minimum of 7.4 ksi{square root}in.
- 40. The 2000 series aluminum alloy of claim 1 wherein said ΔK at a fatigue crack growth rate of 10μ-inch/cycle improves by a minimum 1.00 ksi{square root}in with R equal to 0.1 and RH greater than 90%.
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/208,963 filed Dec. 10, 1998 entitled “High Toughness Plate Alloy For Aerospace Applications” that claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/069,591, filed Dec. 12, 1997.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60069591 |
Dec 1997 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09208963 |
Dec 1998 |
US |
Child |
10072365 |
Feb 2002 |
US |