Innovative coating saves hypersonic aircraft

Since the first man took to the air on an airplane, leading engineers and design teams have continued to work on creating aircraft that can travel long distances with as little time as possible. The result of these works was the creation of first supersonic, and then hypersonic models of aircraft.

Supersonic aircraft are aircraft capable of accelerating to 2,500 km / h, while hypersonic aircraft are capable of speeds of up to 5,000 km / h and higher. These types of aircraft are mainly designed for the needs of the armed forces and include many models produced in different countries. As for passenger traffic, the achievements here are much more modest. Russian-developed supersonic passenger aircraft are Tu-144, as well as Tu-244, Tu-344, Tu-444. The only one from this list who managed to work for the benefit of civil aviation was the Tu-144, which flew on the domestic flight Moscow - Almaty for several years and was decommissioned in 1978. Among foreign models, one can name the well-known Concords that were developed by British-French engineers, as well as its modification Concord-2, capable of speeds up to 2,330 km / h. The first flight of the Concord took place in 1969, and regular commercial flights in the field of civil aviation aircraft of this model made since 1976. The catastrophe of 2000, which occurred on departure from the Paris airport, was the reason for the suspension of Concord flights, and the last transatlantic flight was committed in 2003. In both cases, the official reason for the termination of operation was the disaster caused by technical difficulties in the operation of such specific airliners.

Of course, the flight time on such models is significantly reduced and is incomparable with standard passenger aircraft. For example, a flight from Moscow to Rio de Janeiro would take only 2-3 hours and would not require additional transfers. But supersonic and hypersonic aircraft encounter a number of difficulties during operation, one of which is aerodynamic heating of the structure. The fact is that, accelerating to a speed of more than 6,000 km / h, a hypersonic aircraft undergoes heating to a temperature of 3,000 degrees. Naturally, with such overheating, increased requirements are applied to the material from which the external parts of the housing are made.

An international team of scientists, consisting of British and Chinese engineers, is engaged in the study of high-temperature ceramics. This material has unique properties that can significantly improve the parameters of supersonic and hypersonic aircraft. Recently, the team introduced the world to ceramic coating, which will protect aircraft flying at supersonic speeds. So far, this innovative composition has undergone all the necessary research, but it is hoped that the coating will make it possible to realize the dreams of humanity about safe hypersonic flights.