Tanya Weaver Fri 10 Oct 2025
Collected at: https://eandt.theiet.org/2025/10/10/novel-high-performance-alloy-shows-potential-next-gen-engine-and-turbine-applications
Future aircraft engines and gas turbines could be made more efficient with a new high-temperature resistant alloy, according to a new study.
Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany have developed a metal-based alloy suitable for components used in very high temperature applications.
Featuring a combination of chromium, molybdenum and silicon, the alloy is ductile at room temperature, remains stable at very high temperatures and is oxidation-resistant.
The starting point for the research was the limitation of today’s superalloys to be safely used at operating temperatures above 1,100°C.
As Martin Heilmaier, a professor at KIT, explains, this temperature is inadequate for many high-temperature applications as the “efficiency in combustion processes increases with temperature”.
In contrast, the researchers’ metal-based alloy has a melting point as “high as about 2,000°C, and – unlike refractory alloys known to date – it oxidises only slowly, even in the critical temperature range”.
According to the researchers, this is specifically remarkable as resistance to oxidation and ductility still cannot be predicted sufficiently to allow a targeted material design, despite the great progress that has been achieved in computer-assisted materials development.
The researchers see their alloy being especially applicable to turbine engines in future aeroplanes on long-haul flights. “In a turbine, even a temperature increase of just 100°C can reduce fuel consumption by about 5%,” said Heilmaier.
The researchers also see a future application for this robust alloy in power plant gas turbines, as it would enable the plant to operate with lower CO₂ emissions.
Heilmaier said: “In order to be able to use the alloy on an industrial level, many other development steps are necessary.
“However, with our discovery in fundamental research, we have reached an important milestone. Research groups all over the world can now build on this achievement.”
Their study – ‘A ductile chromium-molybdenum alloy resistant to high-temperature oxidation’ – has been published in Nature journal.
Leave a Reply