Editing Heat shield (section)

===Aircraft===
Some [[airplane|aircraft]] at high speed, such as the [[Concorde]] and [[SR-71 Blackbird]], must be designed considering similar, but lower, overheating to what occurs in spacecraft. In the case of the Concorde the aluminum nose can reach a maximum operating temperature of 127&nbsp;°C (which is 180&nbsp;°C higher than the ambient air outside which is below zero); the metallurgical consequences associated with the peak temperature were a significant factor in determining the maximum aircraft speed.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.darchem.com/product/aircraft-thermal-insulation/ | title=Aircraft Thermal Insulation }}</ref>

Recently new materials have been developed that could be superior to '''RCC'''. The prototype '''SHARP''' ('''S'''lender '''H'''ypervelocity '''A'''erothermodynamic '''R'''esearch '''P'''robe) is based on [[ultra-high temperature ceramic]]s such as zirconium diboride (ZrB<sub>2</sub>) and hafnium diboride (HfB<sub>2</sub>).<ref>{{cite news |title= Ultra-High Temperature Ceramics: Materials for Extreme Environment Applications|year= 2014|doi= 10.1002/9781118700853|isbn= 9781118700853|editor-last1= Fahrenholtz|editor-last2= Wuchina|editor-last3= Lee|editor-last4= Zhou|editor-first1= William G|editor-first2= Eric J|editor-first3= William E|editor-first4= Yanchun}}</ref> The thermal protection system based on these materials would allow to reach a speed of [[Mach number]] 7 at sea level, Mach 11 at 35000 meters and significant improvements for vehicles designed for [[hypersonic speed]]. The materials used have thermal protection characteristics in a temperature range from 0&nbsp;°C to + 2000&nbsp;°C, with melting point at over 3500&nbsp;°C. They are also structurally more resistant than RCC, so they do not require additional reinforcements, and are very efficient in re-irradiating the absorbed heat.<ref>https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20090018047/downloads/20090018047.pdf</ref> [[NASA]] funded (and subsequently discontinued) a research and development program in 2001 for testing this protection system through the University of Montana.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://hubbard.engr.scu.edu/docs/thesis/2003/SHARP_Thesis.pdf |title= Copia archiviata |access-date= 9 April 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051215231157/http://hubbard.engr.scu.edu/docs/thesis/2003/SHARP_Thesis.pdf |archive-date= 15 December 2005 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.coe.montana.edu/me/faculty/cairns/sharp/sharp.htm sharp structure homepage w left<!-- Titolo generato automaticamente -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016071845/http://www.coe.montana.edu/me/faculty/cairns/sharp/sharp.htm |date=16 October 2015 }}</ref>

The [[European Commission]] funded a research project, C3HARME, under the NMP-19-2015 call of [[Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development]] in 2016 (still ongoing) for the design, development, production and testing of a new class of [[Ultra high temperature ceramic matrix composite|ultra-refractory ceramic matrix composites]] reinforced with silicon carbide fibers and [[carbon fibers]] suitable for applications in severe aerospace environments.<ref>{{cite web|title=c³harme|url=https://c3harme.eu/|website=c3harme.eu|access-date=2018-03-27|archive-date=2020-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806224423/http://c3harme.eu/|url-status=live}}</ref>