There is a growing sense of competition between metallic and composite materials for aerospace structures; this seminar will focus on the latest developments in materials and structural concepts for metals and composites.

Recently, metal producers have undertaken a large development effort to reduce alloy density and study novel structural concepts to offer potential advantages over polymer composites. This will be discussed, as will a summary of the design and manufacturing of polymer composites to provide a counter-point.

This event will be of practical application to structural designers and manufacturers in the aerospace and related industries. It would also benefit university departments by giving the latest industry thinking on the metal/composite competition and provide possible research topics.