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Fish scales will speed up planes

13.10.2020

Aircraft designers regularly turn to the animal world in search of new solutions. For example, not so long ago, the complex wing movements of locusts prompted them to design more efficient aircraft wings.

Similarly, the authors of a new study from the University of London and Stuttgart found inspiration in how scales help fish move smoothly through the water. As you know, in order to minimize resistance during swimming, the skin of fish is covered with small scales of complex shape. By studying the surface topology of the scales of European sea bass and carp, scientists have found something interesting.

Research was carried out using digital microscopes, and then, for the geometric reconstruction of intricate patterns, computer modeling was used. It turned out that the overlapping areas on the surface of the fish scales lead to a zigzag movement of the liquid upon contact with it. This, in turn, creates a "striped flow" that cancels out the erratic fluctuations that would normally lead to turbulence called Tollmien-Schlichting waves. Ultimately, this reduces the frictional resistance of the scales by more than 25%. A similar effect was replicated with a fragment of a fish scale attached to a plate inside a water tunnel, in which the liquid moves without mixing or pulsing.

If a similar effect can be reproduced by installing artificial "flakes" on aerodynamic surfaces, this could play an important role in the development of a new generation of aircraft. Such machines will fly faster while consuming less fuel.

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