Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne have developed a new piece of technology that will bring the possibility of hypersonic flight one step closer.
It was revealed this week that a team has developed 3D printed catalysts which they say can power hypersonic flight.
The piece of equipment acts as a cooling agent to combat the extreme heat generated when aircraft fly at or above Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, which is around 6,100km/h.
If this technology was put into use on commercial airliners, it would mean that passengers would be able to head from London to New York in as little as 90 minutes.
In the past, there was a major problem with overheating associated with hypersonic flight, which has halted scientists in their paths to enhancing the speed of travel.
The latest breakthrough by researchers at the RMIT’s Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry could possibly ensure that flights from London to Sydney were shortened to four hours.
Speaking about their creation, Roxanne Hubesch, the research report’s first author, said; "Our 3D printed catalysts are like miniature chemical reactors, and what makes them so incredibly effective is that mix of metal and synthetic minerals.”
They managed to test their design by replicating the extreme temperatures and pressures associated with the reaction of fuel at hypersonic speeds.
In carrying out this experiment, the team was able to confirm that this was "one of the most promising experimental approaches" to the problem of overheating.
After the supersonic British Airways Concorde - which reached Mach 2 - ceased commercial flights, the research into developing anything close to it waned.
However, the development of an aircraft that can travel at hypersonic speed may be in existence very soon after a hypersonic aircraft builder, Hermeus, was given €50.7 million by the US Air Force to build the necessary engine and test it.
