Business Directions and Materials Challenges
for the Aircraft Engine Industry
(Invited)

The future of the domestic aircraft engine industry depends to a significant degree on the development and implementation of better materials of construction. Such materials may be characterized by higher temperature capability, higher strength, better durability, improved environmental resistance, lower density, high stiffness or combinations of these. The pay-off from such materials depends on the ability of the structural designer to deal with and exploit the properties of these materials, including their anisotropy and (often) less-ductile behavior. Simultaneously, the materials developer must consider the production of new materials in quantity with reproducible properties if their adoption is to be a reality. It turns out that the development and incorporation of new materials into a sophisticated product such as a jet engine is the result of combining technology, economics and industrial policy.

This talk will describe the interaction between these facets of materials development and suggest where, as materials specialists, we can do a better job of utilizing our experience to improve the value our customers realize in our products.