As idw-online reports researchers of TU Graz have recently applied a shark-skin similar coating on engine blades and tracked the course of the cooling air in the engine. That way, they make aircraft more fuel-efficient, less expensive and quieter. Emil Göttlich, a researcher at the Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery and Machine Dynamics at Graz University of Technology (ITTM), and his team are working on the transition duct – a key component in the aircraft engine that has to withstand temperatures of just under 1,000 °C. The team was able to demonstrate in the Beyond Europe project TURANDOT (Turbulence and Duct Surface Optimization in Turbofans) that the so-called riblet coating can improve the efficiency of the transition duct. The project team was able to demonstrate that the so-called riblet coating enormously improves the efficiency of the transition duct and thus engine performance. This coating was developed by project partner bionic surface technologies. It is a sharkskin-like surface coating consisting of nano- and microstructured grooves (riblets) that reduces friction on the channel wall and thus flow resistance. Göttlich elaborates: “With the so-called riblet technology, we can reduce the pressure loss in the transition channel by up to 5%, regardless of its geometry. Although this may not sound like much at first glance, it can significantly reduce fuel consumption. This is not only important for the environmental compatibility of the aircraft, but also has a high financial benefit for airlines, especially since their profit is about 1 % of the kerosene costs.” Engine manufacturer General Electric Aviation (Cincinnati, USA), which supplied the test geometry, will now use the setup in a new generation of engines, which hopefully will be quieter, require less maintenance and be more fuel-efficient.
Further information: www.idw-online.de
The project team was able to demonstrate the riblet coating enormously improves the efficiency of the engine performance. Image: PublicDomainPictures/Pixabay