Credit: NASA Langley Research Center
Every
bit of weight on an aircraft increases the fuel, emissions and money required
to put it in the air. NASA and Boeing have been working together to design a
longer, thinner and lighter wing – so different from typical commercial
transport aircraft wings that it requires a brace, or truss, to provide the
wing extra support.
Researchers
expect the lighter weight, lower drag truss-braced wing to reduce both fuel burn and carbon emissions
by at least 50% over current technology transport aircraft, and by 4 to 8%
compared to equivalent advanced technology conventional configurations with
unbraced wings.
The
wind tunnel model tested has a 50% greater wingspan than a comparable aircraft
with current wing technology. Engineers are using detailed computer modeling of
aerodynamics to iterate the design. Using computational results showing how air
would flow around the model, they modify the dimensions and shape of the wing
and truss to improve areas that may generate undesirable air flow that would
increase drag and reduce lift. Then engineers test models in a wind tunnel
using multiple experimental techniques to validate the computations and
aircraft performance predictions.
In
this image, Greg Gatlin, NASA aerospace research engineer from NASA's Langley
Research Center, inspects the truss-braced wing during testing in the Unitary
Plan Wind Tunnel complex at NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.
NASA
and Boeing engineers are analyzing results from the recent test and plan to
further explore the wing design. The truss- braced wing is part of NASA's
Advanced Air Transport Technology project, which addresses the challenge
of developing energy efficiency improvements to reduce emissions and perceived
community noise dramatically without adversely affecting safety.
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