As a designer and innovator type, I often see applications for new scientific research and discoveries. I’d like to explain what I mean with a little example if I might. In this case study, I will be discussing float planes and sea planes, specifically how to make them safer and more efficient. Each time you make an aircraft more efficient, you add to its performance, and this directly translates to lower fuel consumption, thus, greater range, faster climb rate, or lower weight, meaning greater payload. It’s just an all-around good thing.
Okay so, there was an interesting article in Popular Mechanics titled; “Shark Skin Will Inspire Faster Swimsuits and Airplanes – Using a 3D printer, scientists build an artificial skin with microscopic features similar to a shark’s,” by Charles Q. Choi, published on May 15, 2014. The article stated:
“Sharks are known for their jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth, but their skin also contributes to their ferocity. It’s covered with tooth-like scales-structures known as denticles that make shark skin rough like sandpaper. Scientists have long suspected these denticles make sharks faster, more maneuverable by disrupting the flow of water over the fish reducing any drag holding them back. Now, scientists have fabricated the most realistic artificial shark skin yet. Published in Journal of Experimental Biology it confirms the structure can improve swimming performance, and could lead to better swimming robots.”
We already all know about how this improved Olympic Swimmer swimsuits and was therefore banned from the sport. There was another article in Znet, but it was published back in late May of 2010; “A sharkskin coating for ships, planes and blades – German researchers develop a paint that mimics the aerodynamics of shark scales. Could this mean smoother sailing for ships, soaring for planes, and spinning for wind turbines?” written by Melissa Mahony.
Recently, there have been some rather interesting research discoveries on the nanoscale, specifically coating technology – superhydrophobic coatings. Now then, it would make sense to double up here. Why not coat the floats on a float plane with these coatings but first use the shark skin topography? As the aircraft moves faster through the water and comes up on the step have shark skin design spread out more for best efficiency and design for speeds through the water corresponding full-weight take off speed. Meanwhile the coating allows the aircraft to get to that speed faster.
When it comes to sea planes, with outer wing floats, the floats would be the same as above, but in this case the hull would be coated along with bottom sides of empennage, including horizontal stabilizers, allowing the water to move off the aircraft easily, lowering weight and improving airflows. Please consider all this. It should be done and no one is doing it yet from my studies. Now perhaps some brilliant aerospace designers are, great, more should follow them.