Have you ever stopped to wonder how gages and sensors in rocket engines work? Man, those engines and everything in them must get hot! So why doesn't the whole system go haywire when all of the finite mechanisms such as speed sensors that gage the rotation rate of all the different spinning motors get hot enough to melt common metals. High Tech Materials Well it would be easy to guess that they make everything out of high temperature alloys. Hey! What about electrical components that contain finite moving parts? Won't everything short out and what about metal expansion in high temperatures? The fact is, that all of these problems have been solved with the use of new high tech materials. Magnetic Sensors First of all, high temperature sensors use magnets or silicon strips impregnated with magnetic material to actually gage how fast something is spinning, so that eliminates any type of cable that would foul up in high temperatures. So, this eliminates one problem but what about thew others? Ceramics Replaces Metal in High Temperatures Ceramics are now used extensively in high tech, high temperature speed sensors and if fact ceramics are finding their way into many high temperature mechanical applications. Its hard, expands minimally, can be shaped and milled and doesn't conduct electricity and withstands extremely high temperatures, so ceramics works great in high temperatures. High Tech Alloys Resist High Temperatures For wiring, copper which melts at around 2,000 degrees is replaced by new high tech alloys that stand up to much higher temperatures. Instead of plastic coating, like regular wire, other high tech heat resistant materials such as asbestos are used to insulate the wiring in todays high temperature speed sensor.
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