Nanomaterials in aviation: new opportunities for the aircraft.

To date, such nanomaterial as graphene has found wide application in science and technology, and all thanks to the high properties of this substance, which provides an improvement in the characteristics of other materials forming a composite substrate. Not so long ago, the resource Avia.pro already talked about the unique use of graphene, which does not allow the fuselage of aircraft to freeze at low temperatures, which greatly improves the safety of the flights, and does not require additional investment in the handling of aircraft of various kinds of anti-icing fluids and compounds. British scientists have stepped even further, and proposed in the near future to launch the production of aircraft, the components of which will include graphene particles, which will greatly improve the operation of aircraft, transferring it to a radically new level.

At present, the prototype of this aircraft has already been created, and in the course of the study, the experts were able to discover that the use of composite materials, which are based include graphene, provides aircraft improved aerodynamics, which is expressed primarily in reducing drag in flight, in the specifically, the friction force is reduced by an average of 5% to 7%, which consequently leads and fuel economy that is already quite significant technological breakthrough for the global aviation industry.

In the course of further research, the experts were also able to establish the fact that the use of graphene and to minimize the weight of the aircraft, and although this value is not significant, all else being equal, it should also be considered.

Not insignificant criterion using such nanomaterials as graphene, is the significant increase in strength and durability of parts and parts of the fuselage of aircraft, particularly when compared aircrafts made using conventional materials, the strength of the aircraft structure made with the use of composite materials based on graphene increases an average of 10%, and as for the most exposed to damage the wings, then the special technology, can achieve 60% gains strength characteristics.

Moreover, during the test, it was found that graphene is able to withstand even a lightning strike, which is also an important aspect of the aviation sector, and, applies it to the big aviation and small, where the proportion of aircraft accidents have occurred due to contact with lightning plane over the past few years it has increased by 75%.

The only negative point of application of composite materials based on graphene is the high cost of using this material, however, scientists believe that by the year 2020, the first aircraft started to be able to prove their effectiveness using this method.

Kostyuchenko Yuriy specifically for Avia.pro