Over the past decade, the Aging Aircraft Community invested heavily in research and development for the characterization, prediction, remediation, and prevention of aircraft corrosion. Because the vast majority of this work was geared toward military aircraft, efforts focused on so-called “legacy alloys” such as 2024 and 7075, which have shown poor resistance to exfoliation (EXCO) and stress corrosion cracking (SCC). The alloys used for aircraft construction have evolved and now can be used in new products with dramatically improved corrosion performance. Specifically, new alloys in the 7X5X family, 7085, and next-generation Al-Li alloys (e.g., 2X99) offer improved corrosion resistance relative to legacy alloys.
