An experimental study was performed in order to determine the influence of the sequence of operations on the effectiveness of Laser Shock Peening (LSP) treatment in increasing the fatigue performances of open-hole aluminium specimens. Residual stress measurements, fractographic analysis and FEM analysis were performed, indicating the presence of compressive residual stresses on the surface of the treated specimens and tensile residual stresses in the mid-section along the thickness of the specimens. Negative effects on fatigue lives were encountered on the specimens with the hole already present, while positive effect were observed in specimens in which the hole was drilled after LSP treatment. These results indicate that LSP can be a good solution for “in production” application, in which open holes are to be drilled after the LSP treatment. The application in which LSP is used “in service” on structures with pre-existing cut-outs, has proven to be impracticable in the investigated configuration

Crashworthiness is a critical property that enables aerospace structures to minimise injuries and equipment damage during impact scenarios. This review examines the current state of crashworthiness research, with a focus on regulatory frameworks, experimental testing, and numerical modelling techniques. Stringent safety standards set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) guide the design and certification protocols for aeronautical structures. Experimental crash testing, which includes both full-scale and subscale impact tests, provides essential data for validating material behaviour and energy absorption capabilities under both quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions. Advanced numerical modelling tools offer significant insights into crash behaviour, enabling optimisation of structural designs whilst reducing reliance on costly physical testing. This review highlights the integration of regulations, empirical data, and computational tools in advancing crashworthiness research, with an emphasis on developing safer, more efficient, and sustainable aerospace designs. Future directions should prioritise the use of sustainable materials and optimise crashworthy designs through artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced numerical models to enhance structural performance and safety.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the fastest-growing markets of our time. During its journey in the past 30 years, its key to success has been that it can easily produce extremely complex shapes and is not limited by tooling problems when a change in geometry is desired. This flexibility leads to possible solutions for creating lightweight structural elements while keeping the mechanical properties at a stable reserve factor value. In the aerospace industry, several kinds of structural elements for fuselage and wing parts are made from different kinds of steel alloys, such as 17-4PH stainless steel, which are usually milled from a block material made using conventional processing (CP) methods. However, these approaches are limited when a relatively small element must withstand greater forces that can occur during flight. AM can bridge this problem with a new perspective, mainly using thin walls and complex shapes while maintaining the ideal sizes. The downside of the elements made using AM is that the quality of the final product is highly dependent on the build/printing orientation, an issue extensively studied and addressed by researchers in the field. During flight, some components may experience forces that predominantly act in a single direction. With this in mind, we created samples with the desired orientation to maximize material properties in a specific direction. The goal of this study was to demonstrate that an additively manufactured part, produced using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), with a desired build orientation has exceptional properties compared to parts produced via conventional methods. To assess the impact of the build orientation on the LPBF parts’ properties, one-dimensional tensile and dynamic fracture toughness tests were deployed.