Chapter 5 - Titanium and titanium alloys in drones and other small flying objects

Abstract

In recent years, general aviation (GA), with drones emerging as a promising new subarea, has been becoming increasingly popular and important, and it offers vast opportunities to companies, researchers, and the general public. In this chapter, the authors introduce the various applications of Ti and Ti alloys in drones and other small flying objects, including micro air vehicles, model aircraft (aero modeling), paramotor, and air racing, in the background of GA. Ti and Ti alloys are being applied in these areas mainly due to the fact that they are a wonderful group of materials with a great combination of low weight but high strength, and excellent corrosion resistance. For GA, these merits mean lower weight, lower fuel consumption, higher payload capability, and a capability to work in hazardous environments such as those that are corrosion prone. For this chapter, a large amount of reference materials has been examined, and more than 60 are listed for readers. Typical parts of Ti and Ti alloys in these flying objects are presented; processing methods including 3D printing, additive manufacturing, and metal injection molding are introduced. It is hoped that the chapter can assist readers to better understand the applications of Ti and Ti alloys in drones and the other flying objects, in a background of a rapid developing market and quickly evolving technologies.