JuneYao Group develops new aluminium alloy capable of reducing weight of passenger jets

Shanghai-based JuneYao Group has reportedly developed a world-leading aluminium alloy technology, a nano-ceramic aluminium alloy, which is expected to help China’s homegrown c919 passenger jets reduce 15 per cent of weight in the future.

Besides being able to reduce weight, the new alloy is also capable of increasing the strength of traditional aluminium alloys by about 30 per cent. For foreign competitors, it may take one or two decades to catch up with such technology, JuneYao Group’s president Wang Junhao said at a conference on Sunday, July 7, 2019.

Emphasising the importance of reducing airplane weight, Junhao also said that based on the oil price in 2015, losing one kilogram of a jet’s weight would be equivalent to saving 12,000 yuan in fuel consumption.

Wu Guanghui, the chief designer of the C919, said earlier that the team was testing the new material’s performance in panels and forge pieces, using widely in space satellites, space stations such as Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2, as well as in airplane applications, according to media reports. On passing the test, it will be used on a large scale to replace import materials.

In 2015, JuneYao Group had begun cooperation with Shanghai Jiaotong University to develop a new materials business, while and in 2017, it set up a research institute, claiming intellectual property rights on ceramic aluminium new materials.