Why Don’t Jet Engines Melt?
Veritasium takes us on a deep dive into how jet engines survive temperatures far above the melting point of their materials. After a quick primer on engine anatomy and why turbine cores need to be so large, the video unpacks the metallurgy magic: nickel-based superalloys with gamma-prime phases, precision casting techniques and single-crystal blades that resist creep and dislocations.
You’ll tour a Rolls-Royce casting facility, see animations of grain selection and microstructure, and hear from materials-science experts about cooling channels and heat-tolerant crystal structures—basically, all the tricks engineers use to make sure jet engines keep running even when sand or other debris gets thrown in.
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