Al-Li alloys are a series of aluminum and lithium alloys that often include copper and zirconium. Since lithium is the metal chemical element with the lower density of the periodic table, these alloys are significantly less dense than aluminum. Every 1% of lithium weight added to aluminum reduces the density of the resulting alloy by 3%.

Al-Li alloys are of primary interest to the aerospace industry, thanks to the weight gain they procure. They are currently being used in some facilities of line planes and AgustaWestland EH101 helicopter.

As of 2006, the third and the current version of the outer tank of the Space Shuttle is mainly made in Al-Li. Additionally, Al-Li alloys are also used on Atlas V and Delta IV EELV rockets and will be used by NASA for the Constellation Program, mainly on Ares I and Ares V rockets, as well as on Orion's spacecraft.

Al-Li alloy recycling, shredding and other recycled material should be kept separate from other aluminum scraps during recycling, because coming into contact with conventional aluminum could cause incendiary chemical reactions with a risk of explosion . Notemodify wikitesto Voices correlateemodify wikitesto

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