News and Views

In three hours from Tokyo to New York — that is the objective which Japanese researchers are following. This should be achieved and commercialized by the beginning of the next century with a passenger aircraft flying at supersonic speeds. The main focus of the Japanese is the drive system, which will make possible velocities of up to five times the speed of sound. The selected materials have to meet tough demands such as high temperature resistance and low weight at the same time. Advanced composite materials have been proposed for selection which are light in weight, but have a low heat resistance. In order to use these composite materials, an idea was developed using thermal barrier coatings for protection. For this reason, the Japanese selected Controlled Atmosphere Plasma Spraying (CAPS), developed by Plasma‐Technik AG, Wohlen, Switzerland. CAPS technology allows the deposition of plasma spray coatings at an ambient temperature, which was not possible using other coating processes up to now.