New materials can solve the problem of 3000 ℃ high temperature in supersonic flight

As we know, the speed of sound refers to the speed of sound. The standard speed is to test the speed of sound propagation in the air at the sea level of 15 ℃ (the speed is different in water or other media). The speed of sonic sound in air at 15 ℃ is 340 meters per second, about 1224 kilometers per hour. Supersonic speed refers to the state that the speed is greater than 340 meters per second. The speed less than 340 meters per second is called subsonic speed. The speed equal to 340 meters per second is transonic speed. The speed of sound will vary due to different air temperature or air pressure.

Today, we want to talk about supersonic flight at 5 times the speed of sound (i.e. Mach 5). When the speed reaches this level, the air temperature around the flight tool will rise to 2000-3000 degrees Celsius. Then, the high temperature will make the surface of the container fall off. This problem has plagued people for a long time in technology. Recently, the invention of a new material may achieve a breakthrough and bring us closer to supersonic flight, including both business flight and space travel.

In fact, supersonic flight is 1000 miles per hour faster than Concorde. If you want to reach supersonic speed, the speed is close to 4000 miles per hour. Adding the takeoff and landing time, it takes only 2 hours to fly from London to New York. If it is a long-distance flight, supersonic aircraft is more beneficial, such as flying from New York to Sydney.

The problem is that even the existing means of transportation, such as Concorde, will rise in temperature during flight, and the windows and cabin walls will be too hot to touch when landing. Moreover, these means of transport have not reached the supersonic level.

Supersonic flight will produce a lot of heat. In order to solve the problem of overheating, we will use a material called ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTC) to coat it on the surface of the aircraft. However, Phys Org pointed out that the traditional UHTC is not perfect and can not fully meet the requirements.

Now researchers at the University of Manchester and Central South University in China are working together to design and manufacture a new kind of carbide coating. The temperature of the coating is up to 3000 ℃ during supersonic flight.

Because of the special structure, the effect of the new material is 12 times better than that of the standard UHTC. It uses a technology called “reactive infiltration”, which sounds similar to the film “Star Trek”. This technology can make the material stronger, stronger than ordinary UHTC and faster.