Trial by Fire
By William G. Fahrenholtz, Greg E. Hilmas
Producing ultrahigh-temperature ceramics that can meet the demands of the future requires innovation, creativity, and a touch of serendipity.
This Article From Issue
September-October 2025
Volume 113, Number 5
Page 296
The two of us entered the field of ultrahigh-temperature ceramics, or UHTCs, in the early 2000s, when demand was increasing for innovative aerospace advances. Potential applications for ceramic materials with melting temperatures above 3,000 degrees Celsius included thermal protection for national defense aerospace vehicles that travel at hypersonic speeds—five or more times the speed of sound in air (Mach 5 or faster)—rocket motors, and scramjet propulsion systems, which generate thrust by burning fuel in a supersonic airstream. At the time, UHTCs offered a way forward, but more research was needed to move the materials toward implementation. The field needed better predictive design, new manufacturing methods such as improved sintering, and ways to improve environmental resistance (the ability to withstand extreme temperatures and reactive environments without degrading).
QUICK TAKE
- Technological progress in areas such as hypersonic flight and energy production requires materials that can withstand extreme environmental conditions.
- Ultrahigh-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) combine the hardness and high melting temperatures of ceramics with the electrical and thermal conductivity associated with metals.
- Despite advances, challenges remain regarding reducing brittleness, improving oxidation behavior, and making UHTCs cheaper, more consistent, and easier to produce.
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