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Tiny embedded nozzles blowing air over the surface of an
airplane’s vertical tail fin showed that future aircraft
could safely be designed with smaller tails, reducing
weight and drag. This technology was tested using
Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator 757 flying laboratory. Also
flown was a test of surface coatings designed to
minimize drag caused by bug residue building up on the
wing’s leading edge.
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NASA developed a new process for stitching together
large sections of lightweight composite materials to
create damage-tolerant structures that could be used in
building uniquely shaped future aircraft that weighed as
much as 20 percent less than a similar all-metal
aircraft.
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Teaming with the Air Force Research Laboratory and
FlexSys Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan, NASA successfully
tested a radical new morphing wing technology that
allows an aircraft to seamlessly extend its flaps,
leaving no drag-inducing, noise-enhancing gaps for air
to flow through. FlexSys and Aviation Partners of
Seattle already have announced plans to commercialize
this technology.
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NASA worked with General Electric to refine the design
of the compressor stage of a turbine engine to improve
its aerodynamic efficiency and, after testing, realized
that future engines employing this technology could save
2.5 percent in fuel burn.
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The agency worked with Pratt & Whitney on the company’s
geared turbofan jet engine to mature an advanced fan
design to improve propulsion efficiency and reduce
noise. If introduced on the next-generation engine, the
technology could reduce fuel burn by 15 percent and
significantly reduce noise.
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NASA also worked with Pratt & Whitney on an improved
design for a jet engine combustor, the chamber in which
fuel is burned, in an attempt to reduce the amount of
nitrogen oxides produced. While the goal was to reduce
generated pollution by 75 percent, tests of the new
design showed reductions closer to 80 percent.
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New design tools were developed to aid engineers in
reducing noise from deployed wing flaps and landing gear
during takeoffs and landings. Information from a
successful wind-tunnel campaign, combined with baseline
flight tests, were joined together for the first time to
create computer-based simulations that could help mature
future designs.
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Significant studies were performed on a hybrid wing body
concept in which the wings join the fuselage in a
continuous, seamless line and the jet engines are
mounted on top of the airplane in the rear. Research
included wind-tunnel runs to test how well the aircraft
would operate at low speeds and to find the optimal
engine placement, while also minimizing fuel burn and
reducing noise.
As part of the closeout work for the ERA project,
information and results regarding each of these
technology demonstrations were categorized and
stored for future access and use by the aerospace
industry, and will be discussed at the American
Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Sci-Tech
Conference in San Diego this week.
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