Materials for Launch Vehicle Structures

This chapter concerns materials for expendable and reusable launch vehicle (LV) structures. An emphasis is placed on applications and design requirements, and how these requirements are met by the optimum choice of materials. Structural analysis and qualification strategies, which cannot be separated from the materials selection process, are described. A launch vehicle is an airborne system that delivers a payload from the ground to suborbital, orbital or interplanetary space. The payload is usually housed in a space vehicle or satellite that is not considered part of the LV. When it is not important to distinguish the payload from the space vehicle, both may be referred to as the payload. Modern LVs are designed with a particular type of payload in mind (astronauts, earth-orbiting instruments, interplanetary probes, etc.) but