GE Develops Lightweight Metal Sheet for Aircraft Skins

Metal may have a new entry in the battle for super lightweight aircraft skins. General Electric received a U.S. patent June 17 for a powder metal sheet composition that could compete with plastic composites, such as those used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner or new Airbus wide-bodied aircraft. The GE sheet is made from a nickel-base superalloy having more than about 30 percent by volume of gamma prime phase, or an intermetallic such as a titanium aluminide. A GE spokesperson commented to Design News: “We have no plans at this time to introduce this into any product, but it offers GE the interesting option to use this for high temperature sheet material.”