解鎖「材料基因組」以推進航空航天設計

上個月，雪梨大學航空航天、機械和機電工程學院的研究人員發現了一種顯微鏡方法，可以揭示先進鋼和客製化矽等晶體材料中的原子關係。

The aerospace industry is constantly striving to improve efficiency, performance, and safety while reducing carbon emissions and maintaining sustainability. In recent years, several technological advancements have expanded the capabilities of air travel both within the Earth's atmosphere as well as outside it. This includes advanced satellite technology for communications, additive manufacturing for lightweight components, electric propulsion for reduced emissions and reduced costs, supersonic flight for faster travel, and artificial intelligence and machine learning for enhanced operational efficiency.

航空航太業不斷努力提高效率、性能和安全性，同時減少碳排放並維持永續性。近年來，多項技術進步擴大了地球大氣層內外航空旅行的能力。這包括用於通訊的先進衛星技術、用於輕型零件的增材製造、用於減少排放和降低成本的電力推進、用於更快旅行的超音速飛行，以及用於提高營運效率的人工智慧和機器學習。

Aerospace focuses on advanced materials with very specific properties. Systems usually involve different kinds of materials, ranging from ceramic thermal to carbon fiber and Titanium, which are used for myriad purposes to optimize performance.

航空航天專注於具有非常特殊性能的先進材料。系統通常涉及不同種類的材料，從陶瓷熱材料到碳纖維和鈦，這些材料用於多種目的以優化性能。

The research in this area aims to develop multifunctional materials, which means materials that have not only structural functions but can also offer other features like active cooling. To bring advanced aerospace concepts to life, materials must be more durable, lightweight, and cost-effective than ever before. 

該領域的研究旨在開發多功能材料，這意味著材料不僅具有結構功能，還可以提供主動冷卻等其他功能。為了將先進的航空航太概念變為現實，材料必須比以往更耐用、輕巧且更具成本效益。

As the aerospace industry continues to progress, let's examine the latest groundbreaking innovations that will take it even further.

隨著航空航太產業的不斷發展，讓我們來看看最新的突破性創新，這些創新將使航空航太產業更進一步。

Unveiling the ‘Materials Genome' to Advance Design

揭開「材料基因組」的面紗以推進設計

Last month, researchers from the University of Sydney's School of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Engineering discovered a microscopy method for unraveling atomic relationships within crystalline materials such as advanced steels and custom silicon.

上個月，雪梨大學航空航天、機械和機電工程學院的研究人員發現了一種顯微鏡方法，可以揭示先進鋼和客製化矽等晶體材料中的原子關係。

This means that researchers can detect even minute changes in the atomic-level architecture of these materials, enhancing our understanding of the fundamental origins of their properties and behavior. This knowledge will enable the development of advanced semiconductors for electronics and lighter, stronger alloys for the aerospace sector.

這意味著研究人員可以檢測到這些材料的原子級結構的微小變化，從而增強我們對其特性和行為的基本起源的理解。這些知識將有助於開發用於電子產品的先進半導體以及用於航空航天領域的更輕、更強的合金。

For this, researchers used atom probe tomography (APT), a technique that visualizes atoms in three dimensions (3D), to unpack the complexity of short-range order (SRO). SRO is a quantitative measure of the relative tendency for a material's constituent elements to deviate from a random distribution. Understanding the local atomic environments is essential for creating innovative materials.

為此，研究人員使用原子探針斷層掃描 (APT)，一種在三維 (3D) 中可視化原子的技術，來解開短程有序 (SRO) 的複雜性。 SRO 是對材料組成元素偏離隨機分佈的相對趨勢的定量測量。了解當地的原子環境對於創造創新材料至關重要。

By quantifying the non-randomness of neighborhood relationships at the atomic scale within the crystal in detail, SRO opens up “vast possibilities for materials that are custom-designed, atom-by-atom, with specific neighborhood arrangements to achieve desired properties like strength,” said the study lead, Professor Simon Ringer, who is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research Infrastructure) at the University of Sydney.

透過詳細量化晶體內原子尺度鄰域關係的非隨機性，SRO 開闢了「逐個原子定制設計的材料的巨大可能性，具有特定的鄰域排列，以實現所需的性能，如強度、 」該研究的負責人、雪梨大學副校長（研究基礎設施）西蒙·林格（Simon Ringer）教授說。

Sometimes referred to as the ‘materials genome,' SRO has been a challenge to measure and quantify. This is because atomic arrangements occur at such a small scale that you can't see them with conventional microscopy techniques.

SRO 有時被稱為“材料基因組”，它一直是測量和量化的挑戰。這是因為原子排列的規模非常小，用傳統的顯微鏡技術無法看到它們。

So, the team of researchers developed a new method using APT that overcomes these challenges, making it “a significant breakthrough in materials science,” said Ringer, a materials engineer at AMME. 

因此，研究人員團隊使用 APT 開發了一種新方法，克服了這些挑戰，使其成為“材料科學的重大突破”，AMME 的材料工程師 Ringer 說。

The study's focus has been on high-entropy alloys (HEAs), a heavily researched area due to their potential for use in situations that require high-temperature strength, including jet engines and power plants.

該研究的重點是高熵合金（HEA），這是一個受到廣泛研究的領域，因為它們具有在需要高溫強度的情況下使用的潛力，包括噴氣發動機和發電廠。

Using advanced data science techniques and drawing on data from APT, the researchers observed and measured SRO. They were then able to compare how SRO changes in a high-entropy alloy of cobalt, chrome, and nickel under different heat treatments.

研究人員利用先進的數據科學技術並利用 APT 的數據來觀察和測量 SRO。然後，他們能夠比較不同熱處理下鈷、鉻和鎳高熵合金中 SRO 的變化。

According to Dr Andrew Breen, a senior postdoctoral fellow:

高級博士後研究員安德魯布林 (Andrew Breen) 博士表示：

“(The study has produced a) sensitivity analysis that bounds the precise range of circumstances whereby such measurements are valid and where they are not valid.”

“（該研究產生了）敏感性分析，限制了此類測量有效和無效的情況的精確範圍。”

By measuring and understanding SRO, this study could also help transform approaches to materials design and show just how “small changes at the atomic level architecture can lead to giant leaps in materials performance,” said Dr. Mengwei He, a postdoc research fellow in the School of Aerospace, Mechanical, and Mechatronic Engineering.

透過測量和理解 SRO，這項研究還可以幫助轉變材料設計方法，並展示“原子級結構的微小變化如何導致材料性能的巨大飛躍”，該研究的博士後研究員孟偉博士說。機電工程學院。

Moreover, by providing a blueprint at the microscopic level, the study enhances a researcher's capabilities to computationally simulate, model, and then predict materials behavior. It can further act as a template for future studies in which SRO controls critical material properties. 

此外，透過提供微觀層面的藍圖，該研究增強了研究人員計算模擬、建模並預測材料行為的能力。它可以進一步充當未來研究的模板，其中 SRO 控制關鍵材料特性。

A Revolutionary Material to Enable Hypersonic Flight

實現高超音速飛行的革命性材料

There is a lot of interest in achieving sustained flight at hypersonic speeds, but technical challenges remain. These include managing extreme heat, developing materials that can withstand stress, extreme temperatures, and oxidation without compromising performance, and creating propulsion systems that can operate efficiently at high speeds and altitudes. 

人們對實現高超音速持續飛行很感興趣，但技術挑戰仍然存在。其中包括管理極端高溫，開發能夠承受壓力、極端溫度和氧化而不影響性能的材料，以及創建能夠在高速和高海拔下高效運行的推進系統。

As researchers try to find solutions to these problems, scientists from Guangzhou University School of Materials Science and Engineering reported a breakthrough in hypersonic heat shields earlier this year.

當研究人員試圖找到這些問題的解決方案時，廣州大學材料科學與工程學院的科學家今年稍早報告了高超音速隔熱罩的突破。

In what could be a game changer for hypersonic flight, the scientists developed a new material, porous ceramic, that provides “exceptional thermal stability” and “ultrahigh compressive strength.” 

科學家們開發了一種新材料多孔陶瓷，它可能會改變高超音速飛行的遊戲規則，它提供「卓越的熱穩定性」和「超高的抗壓強度」。

This has been achieved using a multi-scale structure design, which the scientists say has been done for the very first time. Moreover, the quick fabrication of this high-entropy ceramics opens the door to wider exploration in the sectors of aerospace, chemical engineering, and energy production and transfer.

這是透過多尺度結構設計實現的，科學家稱這是第一次這樣做。此外，這種高熵陶瓷的快速製造為航空航太、化學工程以及能源生產和轉移領域更廣泛的探索打開了大門。

The researchers said the ceramics were fabricated through “an ultrafast high-temperature synthesis technique

研究人員表示，這些陶瓷是透過「超快高溫合成技術」製造的