Why Don’t Jet Engines Melt? TL;DR
Why Don’t Jet Engines Melt? peels back the roar of turbines to show how they work (from air intake and compression to combustion and spinning blades), why they have to be massive, and the physics of edge dislocations that normally weaken metals. You’ll also get a lightning-fast history of the first jet engine and a peek inside Rolls-Royce’s precision casting facility.
At the heart of the heat resistance are nickel-based superalloys with gamma-prime precipitates and single-crystal blades that shrug off temperatures over 1,000 °C. Clever crystal structures, internal cooling channels and special coatings keep turbine blades cool—and even a lungful of sand can’t turn them to goo. Along the way, Derek Muller hangs out with Rolls-Royce engineers, materials scientists and professors who help make it all possible.
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