May 5, 2024

A Future Aircraft Designed Using Advanced Supercomputing at NASA

NASAs high-performance computers have created this image that shows a Transonic Truss Braced Wing (TTBW) airplane idea being tested in a virtual wind tunnel. NASA and Boeing have signed up with forces to develop a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) airplane, incorporating advanced innovation that could considerably improve the fuel effectiveness of business airplane. The TTBW aircraft has a distinct structure, including a high element ratio wing and wing and jury struts, resulting in detailed circulation phenomena such as transonic buffet, apart circulation, and a turbulent wake.

Visualization of the concept Transonic Truss-Braced Wing airplanes free-air configuration revealing time-averaged surface area pressure coefficient contour (red is high, blue is low) and streamlines specified by surface area skin friction. The image reveals the shock along the span of the wing, including the spanwise variations of the shock location, and the streamlines highlighting the areas of apart circulation downstream of the shock. Oliver Browne, NASA/Ames
The Advanced Supercomputing Division of NASAs Ames Research Center in California created this image as part of an effort by the Transformational Tools and Technologies job to establish computational tools for TTBW research study.
In January, NASA chose a TTBW principle from The Boeing Company for its Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project.

NASA and Boeing have actually joined forces to develop a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) aircraft, including cutting-edge technology that might substantially boost the fuel performance of industrial airplane. The TTBW aircraft has a special structure, featuring a high element ratio wing and wing and jury struts, resulting in detailed flow phenomena such as transonic buffet, separated circulation, and a turbulent wake. The basic market practice utilizes Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)-based computational fluid characteristics (CFD) analysis for forecasting buffet start, but precise forecasting might need more precise scale-resolving CFD simulations to prepare for buffet onset and apart circulation development. For that reason, NASAs Advanced Air Transport Technology Project has actually started a collaborative, multi-center effort to develop brand-new simulation methods to anticipate the TTBWs efficiency and that of comparable truss-braced wing setups, especially for predicting transonic buffet start.

NASAs high-performance computer systems have actually generated this image that shows a Transonic Truss Braced Wing (TTBW) airplane principle being evaluated in a virtual wind tunnel. The image highlights how the airplanes wings connect with the surrounding air. Credit: NASA/ Oliver Browne
No, its not hypermodern art. This image, produced by NASAs high-performance computers, shows a Transonic Truss Braced Wing (TTBW) airplane principle being checked in a virtual wind tunnel, demonstrating how its wings engage with the air around them.
In this case, the dark red area along the front of the wing represents higher-speed airflow as the TTBWs wings, which are thinner than those these dayss commercial airliners, pierce the air. The tan-colored area shows the relatively smooth wake produced by the aerodynamic wings.
A TTBW airplane produces less drag due to its longer, thinner wings supported by aerodynamic trusses. In flight, it could consume up to 10% less jet fuel than a basic airliner.