Dr. Amy Lang, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

“Reducing the Drag Over Aircraft by Mimicking the Surface Geometry of Bristled Shark Skin Scales”

(Category:  Aviation)

The issue of reducing drag over solid surfaces in high velocity flows is one that has kept researchers working for years.  It is estimated that even a 1% reduction in drag can save an airline company $100,000 to $200,000 and at least 25,000 gallons of fuel per year per aircraft.  Worldwide, this 1% reduction could translate to fuel savings of more than $1 billion per year. The resulting reduction in emissions into our air is equally as impressive. With her Lindbergh Grant, Dr. Lang will determine whether the surface texture on the skin of fast-swimming sharks, potentially capable of bristling their scales when in pursuit of prey, could be mimicked and used to reduce the drag on aircraft. She will perform water tunnel experiments to measure the flow over and within a bristled sharkskin model (2 cm size scales), which achieves similarity with real sharkskin (0.2 mm size scales) by a corresponding scale down in velocity of the experiments.  She will also obtain drag measurements over a sharkskin model in a Couette flow facility containing high viscosity oil.  Her objective is to reveal the boundary layer control mechanisms of the bristled sharkskin to deduce the means by which sharks minimize their drag.  Dr. Lang’s project has the potential to reduce aircraft drag by 30%, once the technology is refined and implemented, greatly reducing the nation’s dependency on fossil fuels, reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, and costs.

 

 

 

Wonder how it works in icing conditions?

Grayhawk