ELTRA 宇宙航空業界向け成分・元素分析装置

The aerospace industry is a critical sector that focuses on designing, manufacturing and operating aircraft and spacecraft. It plays a key role in global transportation by enabling fast travel and trade across the world. In defense, it provides essential tools like advanced aircraft and missiles for military use. The aerospace industry also leads space exploration efforts, helping with satellite communications and scientific discoveries.

To meet high standards for performance, safety, and reliability the aerospace industry relies on the latest technology and constant innovation. The materials used should be low-wear and robust against different climate conditions. Additionally, the mechanical load capacity of the whole airplane must be high enough for a large number of starting and landing procedures. Besides the safety aspects, economic factors also come into play. Fuel consumption, for instance, should be as low as possible and in general, the acquisition costs should be in an affordable range.

Materials relevant to Aerospace applications

The aerospace industry utilizes a variety of advanced materials. Each of them is selected based on its ability to meet specific performance criteria, including strength, weight, temperature resistance, and durability:

Titanium Alloys:

Known for their high strength, low weight, and resistance to corrosion and high temperatures. Titanium is commonly used in jet engines, landing gear, and critical structural components where high performance is required.

Aluminium Alloys:

Widely used due to their excellent strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and affordability. Aluminium alloys are primarily used in the airframe structures of aircraft, including fuselage and wing components.

Steel Alloys:

High-strength steel is used in components that require durability and toughness, such as landing gear, fasteners, and certain structural parts. Stainless steel is also used for its corrosion resistance.

Magnesium Alloys:

Used in applications where weight savings are crucial, though less common due to challenges with corrosion and flammability.

Superalloys:

Typically nickel or cobalt-based, these materials are used in engine components that must withstand extreme temperatures and stress.

Composites:

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) are increasingly used for their lightweight and high-strength properties. These composites are used in various parts of aircraft, such as wings, fuselages, and interior components, to improve fuel efficiency and reduce weight.

Ceramics and Glasses:

Used in thermal protection systems, such as those found on spacecraft, as well as in windows and other components that require transparency and resistance to thermal shock.

Polymers and Plastics:

Employed in interior components, insulation, and wiring due to their lightweight and versatile properties.

To give an example, the following materials are used to build a Boeing 787 airplane:

Material					Used in % by weight
Composites					50
Aluminium					20
Titanium					15
Steel					10
Other					5

Titanium and its alloys in the aerospace industry

Titanium is the tenth most frequent element on earth. Thanks to their outstanding mechanical properties titanium and its alloys are particularly well-suited for aerospace applications. First, the density is 60 % lower in comparison to steel which makes titanium a light material. The low weight leads to reduced fuel consumption. Second, good resistance against heat and corrosion ensures a long lifetime and engine safety. Third, low embrittlement and low thermal expansion allows to combine titanium and its alloys with CFRP (Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastics). Titanium and titanium alloys are mainly used in technically critical parts of an airplane like airframes, or engines.[1],[2]

Despite all these advantages, it needs to be considered that the gases oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen can affect the mechanical properties of titanium in a negative way. An additional risk is the high affinity of liquid titanium to these gases during the preparation process. With increasing oxygen concentration, the material becomes harder and more susceptible to cracks [3]. An additional hydrogen concentration can further impact the product quality due to hydrogen embrittlement [4]. With increasing hydrogen content, the titanium first loses its ductility which can be followed by spalling of the titanium surface.

Given the significant influence of oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen concentrations on the material properties of titanium and its alloys, precise measurement of these elements is crucial for quality control in titanium-based products.

ELTRA's ranks among the world's top manufacturers of elemental analyzers

Due to challenges in the aerospace Industry of operating in extreme environments, whether at high altitudes or in the vacuum of space, strict testing and certification procedures are required to ensure that all components and systems work flawlessly. Elemental analysis is crucial in verifying that the materials used in construction possess the required properties.

ELTRA GmbH is a leading manufacturer with over 40 years of expertise in producing high-precision elemental analyzers. The product range includes instruments for measuring carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen content in various types of materials. Additionally, ELTRA is known for its thermogravimetric analyzers, which are used to assess weight loss during specific temperature or heating processes. These analyzers are essential tools in industries requiring accurate material composition analysis, such as aerospace, metallurgy, cement, mining, battery production and many other areas.

O/N/H analysis in raw materials for aircraft components

One important part of chemical analysis of materials used in the aerospace industry is always the measurement of the gases oxygen (O), nitrogen (N) and hydrogen (H) which have a significant influence on the material properties.

ELTRA’s O/N/H analyzer ELEMENTRAC ONH-p2 uses inert gas fusion to measure the requested gases in a wide concentration range from the low ppm level up to 2 %. The electrode furnace, which is also called impulse furnace, of the ONH-p2 melts the Titanium sample (e.g.) at temperatures up to 3000 °C and measures the released hydrogen and nitrogen in their elemental form and oxygen as carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is formed by reaction of the oxygen from the Titanium sample with the carbon of a graphite crucible. To assure a reliable measurement of O/N/H, fluxes like nickel or tin are added to the sample. These reduce the melting point and ensure a complete release of the embedded gases and a good repeatability of the O/N/H measurements. The ELEMENTRAC ONH-p2 complies with all international standards and is easy to use for academic and non-academic staff alike. The ELEMENTRAC ONH-p2 processes samples of any solid shape like powder, granulate, wires or small plates. Typical sample weights are approx. 100 mg. The sample amount can be increased up to 1000 mg for steel and iron-based samples for which no fluxes are required.

詳細

Typical measurement results of the ONH-p2

O / N / H concentrations in titanium samples

Weight (mg)	Hydrogen (ppm)	Weight (mg)	Oxygen (ppm)	Nitrogen (ppm)
101.6	10.2	119.4	1150.6	95.8
101	11.1	115.7	1114.3	86.5
100.8	10.1	117.8	1159.5	104.7
101.8	9.9	123.1	1149.7	98.9
102	9.3	116.4	1205.1	97.7
100.5	12	116.4	1206.7	105.1
102.1	11.3	112.4	1183.0	101.5
104.7	9.5	118.5	1180.6	106.0
103.7	10.9	116.3	1120.3	93.8
103.9	10.5	118.0	1171.1	-
Average Value	10.480	-	1164.1	100.4
Deviation / Relative Deviation (%)	0.847 / 8.08%	31.6 / 2.7%	-

Due to the big impact the oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen content of a raw material has on safety-relevant parts in an aircraft, reliable measurement of element concentrations is indispensable. ELTRA’s ELEMENTRAC ONH-p2 combustion analyzer with its powerful electrode furnace and wide range detectors is perfectly suited for measuring these gases in low, medium and high concentrations in steel, aluminium and titanium samples.

炭素 / 硫黄分析装置 CS-i

炭素・硫黄といった元素の含有量は、鋼やチタン等の材料の硬度・加工性に大きな影響を与えるので、その正確な分析が航空宇宙産業でのアプリケーションにとっては重要になります。

炭素・硫黄分析計CS-i では、高周波誘導炉により無機サンプルが純酸素雰囲気で2,000 °C以上の温度で溶融され、最大4個の独立したIR（赤外線）セルでその炭素・硫黄含有量を正確に測定します。IRセルの数により、測定レンジは柔軟に設定できます。

詳細

For more information, you are welcome to read our technical report or contact us.

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お問合せ

_{[1] Denis Bergoint in lightweightdesign 06/2013: (Produktions- und Fertigungstechnik)}
_{[2] Ikuhiro Inagaki, Nippon steel & Sumitomo metal technical report No 106; July 2014}
_{[3] https://news.berkeley.edu/2015/02/05/oxygen-titanium/}
_{[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_embrittlement}