7x Faster - Breakthrough thermal barrier coatings in 9 months v. 5-7 years

The Challenge

A rapidly growing aerospace engine maker needed advanced thermal barrier coatings exceeding 1350°C to boost turbine efficiency and stay competitive. After 18 months of little progress, their next-gen engine program was at risk.

What was at stake:

• Every 25°C rise saves $500 million annually industry-wide. Coating failures cost airlines $50-100 million yearly.

Critical Requirements

• Operate above 1400°C
• Thermal conductivity under 2 W/m·K
• Endure 1000+ thermal shock cycles
• Stable beyond 50,000 hours
• Cost under $500/kg

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Traditional Approach

Traditional Approach Typically Requires 5-7 Years

• Sequential screening of only 200-500 ceramic options
• Low experimental success rates (15%) mean endless iteration
• Months-long testing cycles between attempts
• Minimal computational tools to guide novel material design
• Fragmented data across isolated experiments

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The Results with N-ERGY AI

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The N-ERGY Solution: 9-Month Platform Deployment

Months 1-3: Data Integration & Computational Sweep

How N-ERGY Accelerated Discovery:

• Automated knowledge extraction from 850 research papers plus major materials databases (Materials Project,AFLOW, NIST)
• Neural network models evaluated thermal properties across 4,467 ceramic candidates
• Advanced thermodynamic simulations assessed phase behavior under extreme conditions
• Intelligent filtering reduced search space to 87 promising compositions

Month 4-6: AI-Powered Innovation

The Breakthrough Moment:

• Platform algorithms discovered a sophisticated 7-element high-entropy ceramic design
• This non-intuitive composition leveraged disorder for enhanced thermal performance
• Simultaneous optimization across cost, stability, and performance metrics
• Final selection: 12 candidates for experimental verification

Month 7-9: Rapid Validation Cycle

Targeted Laboratory Work:

• Precision synthesis and professional coating application
• Complete materials characterization suite
• Predictive models achieved 86% accuracy against physical measurements
• 58% of candidates met all requirements - nearly 4× better than conventional approaches

Outcome: Production-ready coating formulation delivering 1420°C capability and superior thermal insulation

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Why N-ERGY's Integrated Platform Made the Difference

Where traditional methods test hundreds of materials sequentially over years, N-ERGY's integrated approach delivers:

• Intelligent synthesis of disparate knowledge sources into unified analysis
• Computational evaluation of thousands of candidates before lab investment
• Physics-based and ML models working together to reveal unexpected solutions
• Strategic experimental validation achieving 4× higher success rates
• Continuous learning loops where lab results enhance predictive capability

The result: transformative materials innovation delivered as a turnkey service - months instead of years, costing millions (USD) instead of hundreds of millions (USD).