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This is HUGE! It promises to be a real game changer for commercial aviation.

Excerpt:

CHINA'S NEW WING DESIGN WITH HOLES COULD TACKLE SONIC BOOMS, BOOST AVIATION

Sonic booms, shockwaves— and the shattered windows they often cause— have been major obstacles preventing the return of supersonic aircraft. However, scientists from Northwestern Polytechnical University in China have found a remarkable way to reduce the effects of these phenomena.

Conventional aircraft wings follow design principles established by the Wright brothers and rely on Bernoulli’s principle. This dictates that faster airflow over the top of the wing results in lower pressure, while slower airflow underneath generates higher pressure, thus lifting the plane.

However, as an aircraft approaches the speed of sound, shock waves come into existence, creating turbulence and drag. These reduce lift and cause damaging vibrations.
The research team, led by Professor Gao Chao of the university’s School of Aeronautics, proposed that strategic holes in the wing could solve these ill effects.

They employed computer simulations and wind tunnel experiments, which demonstrated that the holes in the wing disrupted shock waves and mitigated the ensuing vibrations. Remarkably, they also discovered a boost of over 10% in aerodynamic efficiency.

A crucial moment in aircraft design:

Few countries are capable of producing supersonic jets today as these require specialized and expensive construction to withstand the forces encountered at supersonic speeds. Additionally, the resulting sonic booms led to restrictions on supersonic travel over populated areas and, most notably, contributed to the retirement of the Concorde in 2003.

The team’s solution is simple, elegant, and effective. By covering the holes with a mechanism that opens only when the aircraft exceeds the speed of sound, they can effectively manage the airflow around the wing.

Within these holes is an air pump that adjusts the jet stream’s intensity, limiting turbulence towards the wing’s front. This reduces wing vibrations. Despite a slight loss in lift, the overall drag reduction results in a higher lift-to-drag ratio.