Composite materials offer many advantages in aircraft applications when compared to conventional materials such as metals. Increased strength, increased stiffness, reduced weight, reduced part count, and longer lifespan through greater fatigue limits and better corrosion resistance are benefits that can be achieved by replacing metals with composites.

Composite materials are quite versatile since their physical and mechanical properties can often be customized or “tuned” for an application by adjusting the composition of the specific material. For example, the mechanical properties in fiber reinforced composites are directional and aligned with the fiber orientation in the material, which allows more strength and stiffness to be selectively added to a structure by aligning the fiber orientation with the highest loads applied to the structure.

The use of composites also opens up more options for the design geometry of aircraft structures since they are particularly well suited for compound curves and organic shapes such as engine cowlings, wheel fairings, and wing tips. When properly applied, all of these advantages translate into higher performance for the application. Aircraft that can fly faster, higher, and farther while carrying greater payloads are made possible through the use of composite materials. 

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