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The Past Half Century of Engineering--And a Look Forward Summary of a Forum (2015) / Chapter Skim
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7 Fifty Years of Materials Science
Pages 24-27

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From page 24...
... To further boost fuel efficiencies, the compression ratio and burning temperature in the engine have to increase. However, the temperature in the turbine of today's jet engines is already several hundred degrees above the incipient melting point of the turbines' nickel superalloys.
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From page 25...
... Other CMC applications are under development. Another intriguing concept would be to move away from the Brayton ­ thermodynamic cycle to new engine architectures, such as a number of small fans along the leading edge of an airplane's wing, with each fan p ­ owered by electricity carried in a superconducting wire.
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From page 26...
... extend that process into other areas." Over the next 50 years, the major materials impetus will be on effectively taking advantage of new materials developments, across all application areas, to fulfill societal needs. The route to get there will involve step increases in the amount of computational modeling and quantum increases in knowledge of the underlying science behind the material that can readily be turned into predictive models.
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From page 27...
... "Going forward, I think a coordinated effort by industry, government, and universities -- and this will no doubt happen in the next 50 years -- will be essential to accelerate the development of materials across all different spectrums of interest." A collaborative ecosystem among sectors can bring experts together to solve problems and satisfy needs, with computational tools facilitating collaborations. "The future for materials is quite exciting," Schafrik concluded.
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Key Terms

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  • aircraft engines
  • effectively taking
  • collaborative ecosystem
  • relevant degradation

  • leap engine
  • team greatly
  • degradation modes
  • matrix composites
  • greatly sped

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  • matrix composite
  • manufacturing team
  • accelerated programs
  • involve step

  • materials experts
  • electricity carried
  • essentially radiators
  • fuel efficiencies
  • similar challenges


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