Qualifying of metallic materials and structures for aerospace applications

The U.S. Navy's certification and qualification process for materials and structures is undertaken to ensure the flight safety and full mission capability of naval aviation weapon systems. A building-block process is practiced in which validated engineering data and concepts provide the foundation for continued technological development and innovation. For example, prior to developing material-property standards, the manufacturing process is frozen and fully characterized. The customer's cost, schedule, and performance requirements must be carefully considered. Technologies are selected for immediate use or further R&D based upon a risk assessment that takes into account many factors, including technological maturity, lessons learned, the sponsor budget and schedule constraints, affordability, return on investment, and life-cycle cost impact. This paper explores the process that the navy uses to qualify its airframe alloys and structures.