1

Chapter I

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Introduction

        This study will tackle the impact on how the material of an aircraft affects its

flying performance. In the Aviation Industry, materials and parts are always

updated and upgraded to be in its peak performance and durability to assure

safety and avoid incidents while in the sky or the field. The development of new

technology has been essential to the advancement and progress of aviation with

the constant evolution of materials, aircrafts are progressing to be safer and have

better performance. There is a set of criteria to select the materials that are going

to be assembled in an aircraft and the earliest criteria was the minimum weight

and maximum strength of a material (1903 – 1902). Earlier aircrafts were

designed to be light yet strong; there were other criteria such as the toughness,

durability and cost of the material but were given less attention due to the high

demand for high strength-to-weight aircrafts. In the 1920’s to 1930’s the criteria

were widened to include factors affecting the performance and capabilities of an

aircraft. Commercial flights were more popular, and the military effectiveness of

aircrafts were realized and paved the way for fast fighters and heavy bombers.

This advancement leads to aircrafts being capable of flying at high speeds within

long distances while carrying heavy baggage. The criteria of high strength-to-

weight aircrafts were still essential but other criteria such as high stiffness and

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

 2

durability were also more focused on. Higher stiffness was used to create sleeker

and more compact designs with aircrafts resulting in a greater performance.

Many of the present-day criteria was ignored by the first generation of aircraft

designers because they only focused on using materials which provided high

strength yet little weight and at the time, the best material for that criteria was

wood. This study revolves around the historical development of the types of

materials used in aircrafts such as: wood, aluminum, magnesium, titanium,

nickel super alloys and composites. The introduction of these materials into

aircraft structures or engines, and how their usage and properties have changed

over time is discussed as well as the performance of an aircraft depending on the

material used.

Material fatigue is a common cause of incidents, using the wrong or

insufficient material can cause your aircraft to be unable to work or fragile. First,

"the CA 60 might be the world's ugliest aircraft of all time" due to its design to

carry 100 passengers they decided to construct 9 wings, the 3 wings carry 8

engines. Surprisingly, ne the first flight test reaches an altitude of 60 feet but as

soon as it lands it crashed down in the water, fortunately the pilot survived. The

company decided to burn down the prototype. The "Christmas Bullet" is an

aircraft but it had no struts supporting the wings, instead it was supposed to flap

like a bird's wings. It crashed during the first flight test because his design is

incapable of flight and the wings are simply twisted off. The last accident is "The

DC-10 aircraft" was poorly design but was a favorite amongst aircraft fans

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

 3

around the world. The problem is that the cargo bay door was supposed to open

outward not inward. The cargo door opened, and it caused the cabin floor to

collapse and it caused the plane to crash and killed everyone on board.

This study focuses on the history of material used and the reasons why

the materials were changed through time. In WORLD WAR 1, Air ship made of

wood and texture were hard to keep up and subject to quick weakening when

forgotten about in the components. This, in addition to the requirement for more

prominent quality, prompted the utilization of metal in flying machine. The

principal general use was in World War I, when the Fokker flying machine

organization utilized welded steel tube fuselages, and the Junkers organization

made all-metal airplane of double tubing and aluminum covering. During the

period from 1919 through 1934, there was a continuous pattern to all-metal

development, with some air ship having all-metal (quite often of aluminum or

aluminum composite) structures with texture secured surfaces, and others

utilizing an all-metal monocoque development. Metal is more grounded and

more solid than texture and wood, and, as the vital assembling aptitudes were

built up, its utilization empowered planes to be both lighter and simpler to

construct. On the negative side, metal structures were dependent upon erosion

and metal weakness, and new strategies were created to ensure against these

dangers. A wide assortment of aluminum compounds was created, and

fascinating metals like molybdenum and titanium were brought into utilization,

particularly in vehicles where outrageous quality or phenomenal warm

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

 4

opposition was a prerequisite. As air ship were intended to work at Mach 3

(three times the speed of sound) and past, an assortment of strategies to stay

away from the impacts of streamlined warming were presented. These

incorporate the utilization of fuel in the tanks as a "heat sink" (to assimilate and

scatter the produced warmth), just as the work of intriguing materials, for

example, the propelled carbon-carbon composites, silicon carbide earthenware

coatings, titanium-aluminum combinations, and titanium compounds fortified

with clay filaments. Also, a few plans require the dissemination of freezing

hydrogen gas through basic zones of streamlined warming.

Evidences of the incidents explain that firstly, The Transaereo (CA 60) was

removed from its storage just because on January 20, 1921, and on that day, it

was widely shot. On January 21, the airplane was booked to be placed in the

water just because, and a cameraman had been employed to shoot a few

arrangements of the flying machine coasting on the lake. On account of the low

degree of the lake and of certain challenges identified with the slipway that

associated the shed with the outside of the lake, the flying pontoon couldn't

arrive at the water. In the wake of accepting De Siebert's approval, the slipway

was protracted on January 24, and afterward again on 28. Operations were

carried on among issues and snags until February 6, when Caproni was educated

that 30 wing ribs had broken and should have been fixed before the start of

practice runs. He was enraged and kept his representatives conscious during that

time to enable the tests to start on February 7. The ribs were fixed, yet then a

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

 5

starter was discovered broken, causing Caproni's disappointment, with the goal

that the tests must be deferred again. Continually keeping on the water surface,

the air ship made a few turns, at that point quickened reenacting a departure

run, at that point made different moves before Gianni Caproni and other

significant agents of the Italian aeronautics during the 1920s: Giulio Macchi and

Alessandro Tonini of Nieuport-Macchi, Raffaele Conflenti of SIAI. The tests were

before long hindered by the exacerbating of the climate conditions, yet their

result was sure. The air ship had demonstrated receptive to the controls,

flexibility and stable; it was by all accounts excessively light towards the bow

and by the day's end some water was found to have spilled inside the fuselage.

Any additional evidences towards the problem of material fatigue for being a

reason for an aircraft-related incident and a part of human error. In order to

avoid material fatigue, aviation companies would begin test of the different

aluminum and magnesium to improve the current product and ensure the safety

of the passengers. There are cases of material fatigue dating back decades where

in one case the 1954 De Havilland Comet Plane Crashes would be a primal

example of material fatigue. The first incident would occur at the very start of the

year where the BOAC Flight 781 would experience explosive decompression en-

route to London from Rome. Resulting into the casualties of all passengers and

crew members. After the first incident all Comet aircrafts were immediately

grounded and a search and rescue was issued, after recovering and examining

the aircraft it was said that it experienced explosive decompression mid-air, and

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

 6

also believing that an engine turbine explosion resulted into the accident thus,

resulting into modifications towards the turbines and now cleared to take flight

again. But only weeks into being reinstated South African Airways Flight 201, in

which case, another Comet aircraft suffered the same fate as Flight 781 did, it

would have suffered another explosive decompression during their route to

Johannesberg from Rome. Once again, all passengers and crew members were

killed, thus making that the turbine explosion was not the main culprit. In the

aftermath of the Flight 201 incident, an investigation that would take years and

would determine that the metal fatigue was caused by the design defects in

which resulted to the explosive decompression. The design defects would

indicate that a squared window design caused a dangerously high stress

concentration to the window’s corners, but it was said that 70% of the pressure

was concentrated from the corners of the aircraft windows. This was supported

by that the window were riveted instead of glued, and that the rivet holes

resulted to the cracks due to fatigue would continue during the duration of the

flight. These discoveries from the incident would result into a overhaul and a re-

design for aircrafts, where the next aircrafts designed since the incident would

remove the sharp point and edge design to reduce stress or material fatigue.

There are some ways to also prevent material fatigue and how to fix it. First, it is

important to bear in mind that any difference in part or mechanical component

parts are special regions where pressure can concentrate hence influencing their

mechanical strength of fatigue. The geometry of a part will also affect the velocity

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

 7

at which the crack propagates. A design that favors the emergence of stress

concentration areas, cross sectional changes, the presence of keyways, holes, or

insert corners will allow the development of a crack sooner. Improve the surface

finish by polishing to prevent small scratches or grooves from appearing due to

cutting on the surface of a part. The intermediate strain of tensile worsens the

output in metals related to fatigue as it widens the crack. Compression pressure,

on the other hand, increases its output on a thin surface layer by means of

residual compression stress. The overall effect is to reduce the likelihood of crack

nucleation and failure of fatigue. Surface hardening processes the carbonization

and nitrating where a component is exposed at high temperature to a carbon –

nitrogen rich atmosphere. Usually this layer is 1mm deep and harder than the

material of the core. Another thing to keep in mind is fluctuating or cyclic

tension that loads work before failure for a large number of cycles, being one of

the key parameters present in the severity of material fatigue.

The Objectives of the Study

Primary Objective:

The study aims to correlate the material impact used in aircraft

planes in relation to flight performance.

Specific Objectives:

a. To compare the materials used in the Tora-Tora and Boeing 777X

aircrafts

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

 8

b. To compare the material used of aircraft, ships, and houses

c. To identity the reason on why materials change in aircrafts

d. To analyze how the materials are used in the architectural design of an

aircraft

Scope and Delimitations

The scope of the study only focuses on the materials used in the Tora-Tora

and Boeing 777X aircrafts and the comparison of the materials used in the

aircraft. To correlate the effectiveness of the materials used in both aircrafts in

relation to their flight performance.

The delimitation of the study is the other types of aircrafts such as Airbus,

Cessna, Military planes, etc. This study will also not discuss the geographical

origin of the materials. The study will avoid discussing about the internal parts

of an aircraft such the engines, machineries within and the equipment inside an

aircraft.

Significance of the Study

The study benefits the following:

a. The school, WCC

The school will benefit from the study in the means of informing on

how material impact used in aircraft is connected and correlated to the

flight performance as well as to avoid material problems in their aircrafts.

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

 9

b. The administrators, Staff of the school

This study benefits the instructors to guide the students about

material impact used in aircraft planes affects correlation to the flight

performance in order for them to have a better understanding in their

aviation studies.

c. The future researchers

The future researchers can benefit from this research because this

can help give information and can serve as a basis to their related topics

and to also widen their ideas about this specific study.

d. The future students

The future students can benefit from this study because they can

gain new knowledge about material impact used in aircraft planes in

correlation to the flight performance.

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL