Current efforts to combat corrosion in aircraft components rely on experience and expensive laborintensive testing to identify how manufacturing processes heating forming and actual use affect the corrosionresistance of a specific part

Researchers Aim to Track, Predict Corrosion in Aircraft Parts

May 25, 2016

The Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) program initiated a research program dedicated to developing a database and computer models that will predict corrosion in aluminum alloys, in airplanes and other transport applications.

Robert Brooks

The Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) program initiated its fifth research program involving manufacturing parts for transportation, this one dedicated to developing a database and computer models that will predict corrosion in aluminum alloys, particularly in airplanes. LIFT is a public-private partnership launched in 2014 under the aegis of the U.S. Department of Defense to coordinate industrial and academic interests to develop and deploy manufacturing technologies for lightweight metal products.

Previous LIFT programs have focused on ductile iron, aluminum diecasting, aluminum-lithium alloys, and modeling titanium products design and development.

The latest project will draw together researchers at The Ohio State University and United Technologies Research Center, working with Lockheed Martin, DNV GL (an international certification body), and the University of Michigan.

“Our role is identifying innovations that are ready to make the jump from the lab to production, then leveraging the right expertise and resources to deliver results,” stated LIFT’s chief technology officer Alan Taub. “It’s exciting to see all the potential we have to transform lightweight metal manufacturing, and to help move those technologies into production.”

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About the Author

Robert Brooks | Content Director

Robert Brooks has been a business-to-business reporter, writer, editor, and columnist for more than 20 years, specializing in the primary metal and basic manufacturing industries. His work has covered a wide range of topics, including process technology, resource development, material selection, product design, workforce development, and industrial market strategies, among others. Currently, he specializes in subjects related to metal component and product design, development, and manufacturing — including castings, forgings, machined parts, and fabrications.

Brooks is a graduate of Kenyon College (B.A. English, Political Science) and Emory University (M.A. English.)