Posted on 04/02/2019 6:55:52 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Instead of requiring separate movable surfaces such as ailerons to control the roll and pitch of the plane, as conventional wings do, the new assembly system makes it possible to deform the whole wing, or parts of it, by incorporating a mix of stiff and flexible components in its structure. The tiny subassemblies, which are bolted together to form an open, lightweight lattice framework, are then covered with a thin layer of similar polymer material as the framework.
The result is a wing that is much lighter... than those with conventional designs, whether made from metal or composites, the researchers say. Because the structure, comprising thousands of tiny triangles of matchstick-like struts, is composed mostly of empty space, it forms a mechanical "metamaterial" that combines the structural stiffness of a rubber-like polymer and the extreme lightness and low density of an aerogel.
Jenett explains that for each of the phases of a flight—takeoff and landing, cruising, maneuvering and so on—each has its own, different set of optimal wing parameters, so a conventional wing is necessarily a compromise that is not optimized for any of these, and therefore sacrifices efficiency. A wing that is constantly deformable could provide a much better approximation of the best configuration for each stage.
While it would be possible to include motors and cables to produce the forces needed to deform the wings, the team has taken this a step further and designed a system that automatically responds to changes in its aerodynamic loading conditions by shifting its shape—a sort of self-adjusting, passive wing-reconfiguration process.
This is all accomplished by the careful design of the relative positions of struts with different amounts of flexibility or stiffness, designed so that the wing, or sections of it, bend in specific ways in response to particular kinds of stresses.
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Exactly. Everything old is new again. Warping a wing existed at the dawn of aviation.
Funny you should say that because in fact the Wright Brothers sued everybody for patent infringement. Their legal activities took the USA from the lead in aircraft manufacturing in roughly 1900 to just about dead-last by the advent of WW1 in 1914.
Glenn Curtiss at Curtiss Aircraft was one of the WB’s frequent legal targets. Ironically Curtiss & Wright ended up merging to from Curtiss-Wright Aircraft.
If ya can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!.....................
To be fair she could be a Chinese-American!
However I get your point & agree with it in may respects.
I have a huge problem with the university I work with & the obliviousness to the potential problem that the foreign grad students place on the university’s intellectual property as well as any company they might work closely with. I get either blank looks, or whispers of “We’ll get sued for discrimination (Race Card!)” to “we need the tuition money they bring! “ (Foreign students here are “ 3 times full tuition’!).
That was my first thought as well.
And the first lighting strike will....
Yup. They called it wing warping.
“I better quit here. This is a major issue with me”
But wait, their is more :)
What makes you think she’s not an American?
Seriously?
“If the software on a complex jet that controls not only the avionics but wing structure malfunctions, that mass up the air obeys the laws of physics and falls to the ground. People die. Read the news lately?”
There is a right way and a wrong way to do that sort of software. Code done the right way flights on thousands of airplanes everyday and they get their safely. The problem on the MAX was not software as a concept. It was how they did one part of a very complicated plane. Planes already have code in them that if it was bugged the plane would literally fall out of the sky, even worse than those two accidents. Claiming software is to blame is like saying rubber is to blame for SUV rollovers.
By the way, know why you don’t hear about many fatal SUV rollovers anymore? Stability control software. Saves lives every day.
...and the more well known:
"There is nothing new under the sun."
Not only that, but “computers” have been tied to aviation well before the invention of the capacitor, let alone integrated circuits.
Even the basic 6 flight instruments are computers of a sort.
“What makes you think she’s not an American?
Seriously?”
What makes you think that she is American?
Seriously!
Foreign Students at MIT 2017/2018
China (People’s Republic Of)
Undergraduate:57
Graduate:708
Special Undergraduate: 26
Special Graduate: 5
Exchange Students: 151
Total Chinese National Students at MIT: 947
https://iso.mit.edu/about/country_17-18.shtml
Source: International Students Office
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Ave, Building E18-219
Response by: H. Larry Elman, SB Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Answered Dec 21, 2016 I have already placed a comment after the ANONYMOUS answer, but many persons do not read that far down.
MIT Admission is by merit only. Donations, family prestige, or where your ancestors attended college has no effect. I am an MIT EC (Admissions Intervewer), so I deal with this question often.
To the best of my knowledge, Chinese people are like other people — generalizing about them as one commentator did —- is just plain WRONG.
Another answer gave an excellent argument based on the huge population of the PRC. One could add to that a good school system.
I had the good fortune to have a Chinese Faculty Advisor at one time. He was very wise, very courteous, and a man to deeply respect.
In short, as an MIT Alumnus, I have no reason to feel uneasy or to question the number of PRC students at MIT.
***********************************************************
Tom Stagliano, MIT Volunteer, interviewed freshmen for admissions
Answered Dec 22, 2016
Students from the PRC make up just under 12% of the international undergraduate population and 24% of the international regular graduate student population at MIT: International Student Statistics 2015-2016
***********************************************************
Huang Tongnao, lives in China
Answered Dec 21, 2016
Short answer: getting a PhD is the way to glory, wealth, social status, and a green card for many Chinese.
The tradition of gaining social status through education is a direct result of the "imperial exam", or "科举制度" in ancient China, when China was ruled by emperors.
The imperial exam is a method to select officials from all Chinese who are non-illiterate.
*************************************************************
https://www.quora.com/Why-there-are-so-many-China-PRC-students-in-MIT
In addition, the wings are predesigned so that the physical arrangement of the parts deform under load in a manner appropriate to provide efficient lift.
Really clever.
Note the East Asian graduate student or professor in the photo: if she's Chinese, they've already stolen everything.
“Wet wing?.. (hmm), or will it use bladders for fuel tanks?”
Good point. I can’t imagine those wings holding much fuel.
You are correct. There was a great documentary on either Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime on the Wright/Curtis rivalry.
Yes I know.
Yeah I get that, but the aerodynamic principle is identical. I would hope in over 100 years the wing may look different.
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