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There is an increasingly urgent need of lightweight components in aerospace industry, among which aluminum (Al) alloys have been the optimal materials of choice for aircraft structural parts since being used in the Junkers F.13 aircraft in the 1920s. Compared to other metal materials, Al alloys have a lower density, and the use of Al alloys reduces the total weight of the aircraft and improves fuel efficiency and load capacity. Meanwhile, the strength and hardness of Al alloys with alloying and heat treatment can be significantly enhanced for uses in high loads and vibration environments. Furthermore, in the harsh aerospace environment, aircraft may receive various climatic conditions and chemical corrosion. Due to good corrosion and fatigue resistance, Al alloys demonstrate excellent performance under these conditions, ensuring the long–term service life of aircraft. In addition, Al alloys have good recyclability, and they can be recycled to reduce resource consumption and environmental load, in line with the principle of sustainable development. In recent years, although composites have been widely used in aerospace, high–strength Al alloys are still in an indispensable position. Therefore, this article reviews the progress and applications of Al alloys commonly used in aerospace. The common strengthening methods and advanced manufacturing and processing technologies of Al alloy are also discussed, which can provide references for the development of advanced high–performance aviation Al alloys in the future.

In this study, different contents (0.0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 wt.%) of Zr55Cu30Al10Ni5 amorphous alloys (Zr-AA) are used to manipulate hypereutectic Al-Si alloys. The edge-to-edge model shows that there is a perfect lattice matching between the crystallized phases and α-Al and Si phases. The thermal analysis of solidification behavior of hypereutectic Al-Si alloys unmanipulated and manipulated by Zr-AA, indicates that the addition of Zr-AA greatly promotes the nucleation of primary Si and significantly accelerates the process of eutectic reaction. When manipulated by the optimal content of 0.2 wt.% Zr-AA, the sizes of α-Al dendrites and primary Si decrease from 212.46 μm and 19.24 μm to 143.39 μm and 16.47 μm, respectively. The eutectic Si changes from needle-like to rod-like and exhibits a mean size decrease from 20.21 μm to 11.69 μm. Meanwhile, alloys exhibit ultimate tensile strength of 362 MPa and fraction strain of 2.21% after 0.2 wt.% Zr-AA manipulation, which are 23% and 37% higher than those of the unmanipulated alloy (295 MPa and 1.61%). The strengthening mechanisms of hypereutectic Al-Si alloys manipulated by in situ nanocrystals crystallized in the melt are mainly attributed to the fine grain strengthening effect and precipitation strengthening effect. The increase in plasticity is due to the refinement and morphology improvement of Si phases.

In this study, the thermal stability of Ni–Nb–Ti metallic glasses was investigated under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. The effectiveness of NiTi phases, one of the nanosized crystallized phases, as grain refiners for Al–Cu alloys was also investigated from a crystallographic point of view using the edge-to-edge matching (E2EM) model. Thermal analysis showed that NiTi phases promote solidification of α-Al, and these nanocrystalline phases also promote an Al–Cu eutectic reaction and inhibit the growth of eutectic phases. A significant refining effect of α-Al grains from 402.7 μm to 69.1 μm was achieved with 0.05 wt.% nanocrystalline phases. Simultaneously, values for yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and fracture strain of inoculated Al–Cu alloys were increased by 18%, 13% and 78% to 363.2 MPa, 534.3 MPa and 11.92%, respectively, when compared with those of uninoculated Al–Cu alloys. Strengthening mechanisms of Al–Cu alloys manipulated by the nanocrystalline phases are grain boundary strengthening and precipitation strengthening.