TL;DR

Ever wondered how a roaring jet engine doesn’t turn into molten metal? This deep-dive unpacks the basics of turbine engines (from compressors and combustors to the giant spinning turbines), why they need to be so massive, and a quick history lesson on the very first jet engine. Along the way you get a peek inside Rolls-Royce’s precision casting plant and hear from top materials scientists about edge dislocations and how crystals play a starring role.

At the heart of it all are nickel-based superalloys loaded with tiny gamma-prime precipitates—and cast into single-crystal blades with built-in cooling channels—that let these turbines survive scorching temperatures (and even a bit of sand ingestion) without melting. In the end, it’s not magic but smart metallurgy, crystal engineering and clever air-cooling that keep those engines humming (and intact) at Mach speeds.

Watch on YouTube