Why Don’t Jet Engines Melt?

Veritasium takes you inside the world of jet engines—from the basic airflow and combustion cycle to the massive size and history of the first turbofan—then straight into Rolls-Royce’s precision casting facility. You’ll see how engineers use crystal-engineered nickel superalloys, single-crystal blades and clever cooling channels to keep turbine parts from succumbing to 1,700°C exhaust gases.

Along the way, you’ll learn about edge dislocations in metals, the gamma-prime phase that strengthens nickel alloys, and the painstaking grain-selection techniques that turn molten metal into components tough enough for supersonic speeds. It’s a whirlwind tour of materials science, manufacturing wizardry and the relentless innovation that keeps jet engines humming without melting.

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