Editing Duralumin (section)

== Applications ==

Aluminium alloyed with copper (Al-Cu alloys), which can be [[Precipitation hardening|precipitation hardened]], are designated by the International Alloy Designation System as the 2000 series. Typical uses for [[Metalworking|wrought]] Al-Cu alloys include:<ref name=asm2>ASM Handbook. Volume 2, In ''Properties and Selection: Nonferrous alloys and special purpose materials''. ASM, 2002.</ref>

* '''[[2011 aluminium alloy|2011]]:''' Wire, rod, and bar for [[screw machine (automatic lathe)|screw machine]] products. Applications where good [[machinability]] and good strength are required.
* '''[[2014 aluminium alloy|2014]]:''' Heavy-duty [[forging]]s, plate, and extrusions for aircraft fittings, wheels, and major structural components, space booster tankage and structure, truck frame and suspension components. Applications requiring high strength and hardness including service at elevated temperatures.
* '''[[2017 aluminium alloy|2017]] or Avional (France):''' Around 1% Si.<ref name="Woldman, Avional" /> Good machinability. Acceptable resistance to corrosion in air and mechanical properties. Also called AU4G in France. Used for aircraft applications between the wars in France and Italy.<ref>{{ cite journal | title = Italian Aircraft: Macchi C.200 | journal = [[Flight (magazine)|Flight]] | date = 27 June 1940 | page = 563 | url = https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1940/1940%20-%201833.html }}</ref> Also saw some use in motor-racing applications from the 1960s,<ref>{{ cite book | title = The Lamborghini Miura Bible | last = Sackey | first = Joe | year = 2008 | publisher = Veloce Publishing | isbn = 9781845841966 | page = 54 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=B1dadHSJMBYC&pg=PA54 }}</ref> as it is a tolerant alloy that could be press-formed with relatively unsophisticated equipment.
* '''[[2024 aluminium |2024]]:''' Aircraft structures, rivets, hardware, truck wheels, screw machine products, and other structural applications.
* '''[[2036 aluminium alloy|2036]]:''' Sheet for auto body panels
* '''[[2048 aluminium alloy|2048]]:''' Sheet and plate in structural components for aerospace application and military equipment

=== Aviation ===
[[File:ZRS-4_USS_Akron_duralumin_sample.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Duralumin sample from the 1931 airship [[USS Akron (ZRS-4)|USS ''Akron'' (ZRS-4)]] ]]

German scientific literature openly published information about duralumin, its composition and heat treatment, before the outbreak of [[World War I]] in 1914. Despite this, use of the alloy outside [[German Empire | Germany]] did not occur until after fighting ended in 1918. Reports of German use during World War I, even in technical journals such as [[Flight (magazine) |''Flight'']], could still mis-identify its key alloying component as magnesium rather than copper.<ref>{{ cite journal | title = Zeppelin or Schütte-Lanz? | journal = [[Flight (magazine)|Flight]] | date = 7 September 1916 | page = 758 | url = https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1916/1916%20-%200762.html }}</ref> Engineers in the UK showed little interest in duralumin until after the war.<ref>{{ cite journal | title = Metal Construction of Aircraft | last = Thurston  |first=A.P. | journal = [[Flight (magazine)|Flight]] | date = 22 May 1919 | pages = 680–684 | url = https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1919/1919%20-%200682.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601213511/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1919/1919%20-%200682.html |archive-date=2011-06-01}}</ref>

[[File:Junkers J.I - Ray Wagner Collection Image (20821101334).jpg|thumb|right|The first mass-production aircraft to make extensive use of duralumin, the armored [[Junkers J.I]] [[sesquiplane]] of World War I]]
The earliest known attempt to use duralumin for a heavier-than-air aircraft structure occurred in 1916, when [[Hugo Junkers]] first introduced its use in the airframe of the [[Junkers J 3]], a single-engined monoplane "technology demonstrator" that marked the first use of the Junkers trademark duralumin corrugated skinning.  The [[Junkers]] company completed only the covered wings and tubular fuselage framework of the J 3 before abandoning its development. The slightly later, solely [[Idflieg aircraft designation system#List of Idflieg class letter prefixes|''IdFlieg''-designated]] [[Junkers J.I]] armoured [[Biplane#Sesquiplane |sesquiplane]] of 1917, known to the factory as the Junkers J 4, had its all-metal wings and horizontal stabilizer made in the same manner as the J 3's wings had been, like the experimental and airworthy all-duralumin [[Junkers J 7]] single-seat fighter design, which led to the [[Junkers D.I]] low-wing monoplane fighter, introducing all-duralumin aircraft structural technology to [[Luftstreitkräfte | German military aviation]] in 1918.

Its first use in [[aerostat]]ic airframes came in rigid [[airship]] frames, eventually including all those of the "Great Airship" era of the 1920s and 1930s: the British-built [[R100]], the German passenger Zeppelins [[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin|LZ 127 ''Graf Zeppelin'']], [[LZ 129 Hindenburg|LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'']], [[LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II|LZ 130 ''Graf Zeppelin II'']], and the [[U.S. Navy]] airships [[USS Los Angeles (ZR-3)|USS ''Los Angeles'' (ZR-3, ex-LZ 126)]], [[USS Akron (ZRS-4)|USS ''Akron'' (ZRS-4)]] and [[USS Macon (ZRS-5)|USS ''Macon'' (ZRS-5)]].<ref>{{Cite journal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VigDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26 |last= Burton |first= Walter E. |title= The Zeppelin Grows Up |journal= [[Popular Science| Popular Science Monthly]] |date= October 1929 |page= 26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/airships.htm |title="The Great Airships" Century of Flight |access-date=2012-09-06 |archive-date=2018-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426214345/http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/airships.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Bicycles ===

Duralumin was used to manufacture bicycle components and framesets from the 1930s to 1990s. Several companies in Saint-Étienne, France stood out for their early, innovative adoption of duralumin: in 1932, Verot et Perrin developed the first light alloy crank arms; in 1934, Haubtmann released a complete crankset; from 1935 on, Duralumin freewheels, [[derailleurs]], pedals, brakes and handlebars were manufactured by several companies.

Complete framesets followed quickly, including those manufactured by: Mercier (and Aviac and other licensees) with their popular Meca Dural family of models, the Pelissier brothers and their race-worthy La Perle models, and Nicolas Barra and his exquisite mid-twentieth century “Barralumin” creations. Other names that come up here also included: Pierre Caminade, with his beautiful Caminargent creations and their exotic octagonal tubing, and also [[Gnome et Rhône]], with its deep heritage as an aircraft engine manufacturer that also diversified into motorcycles, velomotors and bicycles after World War Two.

[[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries]], which was prohibited from producing aircraft during the American occupation of Japan, manufactured the “cross” bicycle out of surplus wartime duralumin in 1946. The “cross” was designed by [[Kiro Honjo]], a former aircraft designer responsible for the [[Mitsubishi G4M]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/dragoner/20130903-00027518/ |title= "Kaze tachinu" toujou jinbutsu to tori ningen kontesuto. Honjou Kirou no sengo |last=Isurugi |first=Tatsuhito |date=September 3, 2013 |website=news.yahoo.co.jp |publisher=Yahoo! Japan |access-date=November 2, 2020 |language=ja |trans-title=A Character form “The Wind Also Rises” and the Japan Birdman Rally: Kiro Honjo’s Postwar}}</ref>

Duralumin use in bicycle manufacturing faded in the 1970s and 1980s. [[Vitus (bicycle company)|Vitus]] nonetheless released the venerable “979” frameset in 1979, a “Duralinox” model that became an instant classic among cyclists. The Vitus 979 was the first production aluminium frameset whose thin-wall 5083/5086 tubing was slip-fit and then glued together using a dry heat-activated epoxy. The result was an extremely lightweight but very durable frameset. Production of the Vitus 979 continued until 1992.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ebykr.com/duralumin-history-and-use-in-bicycle-building/ |title=Duralumin History & Use in Bicycle Building |last=Anschutz |first=Eric |date=October 31, 2020 |website=Ebykr |publisher=Anschutz Media |access-date=November 1, 2020 |quote=Duralumin was used to manufacture bicycle components and framesets from the 1930s to 1990s.}}</ref>

=== Automotive ===
In 2011, [[BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik|BBS Automotive]] made the RI-D, the world's first production automobile wheel made of duralumin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RI-D {{!}} BBS OFFICIAL WEBSITE ENGLISH |url=https://bbs-japan.co.jp/en/products/1108/ |access-date=2023-04-03 |language=ja}}</ref> The company has since made other wheels of duralumin also, such as the RZ-D.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RZ-D {{!}} BBS OFFICIAL WEBSITE ENGLISH |url=https://bbs-japan.co.jp/en/products/1126/ |access-date=2023-04-03 |language=ja}}</ref>