What Happens If You Throw Sand into a Jet Engine?

Ever wondered how a jet engine survives inside-the-blast temperatures and crazy spinning turbines? This Veritasium deep-dive walks you through everything from the very first turbojet to Rolls-Royce’s fancy precision-casting facility. You’ll learn why today’s turbine blades are made from single-crystal nickel superalloys, how dislocations and microstructures keep them from melting at over 1,600 °C, and why these massive air-eating machines are absurdly big in the first place.

Then comes the ultimate test: sand. Those tiny bits of silica slam into the combustion chamber, hit 2,000 °C, and turn into molten glass. That glass then fuses onto spinning blades, upsets the airflow, creates hot spots… and can wreck an engine in seconds. It’s a brutal—and mesmerizing—look at why even the smallest particles can bring down a multi-million-dollar jet.

Watch on YouTube