New wing design could reduce sonic booms of an aircraft
A team of scientists from Northwestern Polytechnical University in China, led by Professor Gao Chao, has proposed an innovative wing design for supersonic aircraft. The new design aims to minimize the impact of sonic booms and enhance aerodynamic efficiency. This is achieved through strategic placement of holes in the wings, which can help mitigate damaging vibrations caused by shock waves, as an aircraft nears the speed of sound.
New design challenges traditional wing principles
Traditional aircraft wings are designed based on principles established by the Wright brothers and Bernoulli's principle. This principle states that faster airflow over the top of a wing results in lower pressure, while slower airflow underneath creates higher pressure, thus lifting the aircraft. However, as an plane approaches the speed of sound, shock waves form that create turbulence and drag, reducing lift and causing damaging vibrations.
How does the new wing design work?
The Chinese research team used computer simulations and wind tunnel experiments to show that holes in the wing could disrupt these shock waves and lessen the resulting vibrations. Their findings showed a significant increase of over 10% in aerodynamic efficiency. The solution proposed by Gao's team involves covering these holes with a mechanism that opens only when the aircraft exceeds the speed of sound, allowing for effective management of airflow around the wing.
Air pump adjusts jet stream intensity
An air pump within these holes adjusts the intensity of the jet stream, limiting turbulence toward the front of the wing and reducing wing vibrations. Despite a slight loss in lift, this method results in a higher lift-to-drag ratio due to overall drag reduction. The team's findings were published in Acta Aerodynamica Sinica, a Chinese aviation journal.
Supersonic jets: A global challenge
Supersonic jets are currently produced by only a few countries due to their specialized and expensive construction requirements. Sonic booms resulting from supersonic speeds have led to restrictions on supersonic travel over populated areas and contributed to the retirement of Concorde - Anglo-French supersonic airliner - in 2003. While Gao's team plans further wind tunnel testing to refine their technology, other research teams worldwide are also seeking solutions to the challenges of supersonic flight.
