Harvard scientists have developed a new structure inspired by shark skin that could improve the aerodynamic performance of planes, wind turbines, drones and cars. They found that in addition to reducing drag, the denticle-shaped structures significantly increased lift, acting as high-powered, low-profile vortex generators. Most vortex generators in the field today have a simple, blade-like design. “These shark-inspired vortex generators achieve lift-to-drag ratio improvements of up to 323 per cent compared to an airfoil without vortex generators,” said Domel. “With these proof of concept designs, we have demonstrated that these bio-inspired vortex generators have the potential to outperform traditional designs,” Domel said.

Source: Hindustan Times February 07, 2018 09:00 UTC