[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/ga\/article\/modal\/6835\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n        \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n  \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ERadical closed-wing aircraft design could see greener skies take flight\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eurostat\/statistics-explained\/index.php\/Air_transport_statistics\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003Enearly 1 billion passengers taking to European skies\u003C\/a\u003E in 2016 and the numbers still increasing, the growth in European aviation has been staggering. The effect is that even as many other industries are reducing\u0026nbsp;greenhouse gas\u0026nbsp;emissions through efficiency and new technology, aviation\u2019s are on the increase.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne person flying from London to New York and back generates roughly the same level of emissions as one year\u2019s home heating for the average European.\u0026nbsp;At the recent \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.traconference.eu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 rel=\u0022noopener noreferrer\u0022\u003ETransport Research Arena conference\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in Vienna, Austria, a high-level event covering all modes of European transport, Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research\u0026nbsp;in Germany, said avoiding air travel completely was the best option for protecting the environment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut as Sergio Barbarino, chairman of the Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe (ALICE) responded, that\u2019s an unlikely scenario. \u2018We can\u2019t just tell people they can\u2019t take their holidays in the Canary Islands anymore,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAir travel may be here to stay, but there\u2019s no doubt that engineers need to find new ways to make it cleaner and greener. One idea is to radically redesign an aircraft\u0027s wing so that\u0026nbsp;it requires significantly less operational fuel, an approach that\u0027s currently under development by a project called PARSIFAL.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003E\u0026#039;This solution could completely change the air transport of the future\u0026#039;\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EProfessor Aldo Frediani,\u00a0 University of Pisa, Italy\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFather of aerodynamics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor their design, the team sought inspiration from the renowned German aviation engineer Ludwig Prandtl, often considered the father of aerodynamics. In 1924, Prandtl had an idea for a plane with an unusual wing that reduced the drag coefficient and improved the aerodynamic efficiency but the idea was largely ignored at the time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the late 1990s, Professor Aldo Frediani of the University of Pisa, Italy, and coordinator of the PARSIFAL project, used mathematics to prove that Prandtl\u2019s wing theory was plausible. Prof. Frediani and his team began to work on the design of a new closed-wing airplane based on Prandtl\u2019s original concept.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The theoretical results can be used to define a new configuration, our configuration,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EInstead of two separate wings extending either side of the fuselage, our familiar concept of an airplane, the Prandtl-inspired aircraft has one wing which loops and closes back on itself in a closed-wing design with no wingtips. This reduces the amount of drag acting on the aircraft, meaning that less fuel is burned.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px;\u0022\u003EThis is especially important for take-off and landing, as these are the phases of airplane flight that usually guzzle the most fuel and expel most emissions. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size: 13.008px;\u0022\u003E\u2018These aircraft will be much more convenient from the point of view of fuel consumption, noise pollution and emissions,\u2019 said Prof. Frediani.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe src=\u0022https:\/\/europa.eu\/webtools\/crs\/iframe\/?oriurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2Fstbdl6DFjuM?rel=0\u0022 width=\u0022560\u0022 height=\u0022315\u0022 frameborder=\u00220\u0022 allowfullscreen=\u0022allowfullscreen\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScientists have developed a model plane\u0026nbsp;with a\u0026nbsp;closed-loop wing which is designed to reduce drag and save fuel. Video courtesy of PARSIFAL.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe team has developed a small model of their plane but the idea is to focus on medium-sized aircraft, with the goal of increasing the number of passengers being transported per flight\u0026nbsp;from around 180 to 310.\u0026nbsp;The researchers estimate that the plane could be in the air in 10-15 years\u0027 time, depending on safety checks and the interest of aircraft manufacturers. Their next steps\u0026nbsp;are to refine\u0026nbsp;the aerodynamics, engine position and controls, while the University of Pisa\u0027s economics department is working with PARSIFAL\u0026nbsp;to determine the projected economic performance of the aircraft.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018This solution could completely change the air transport of the future,\u2019 said Prof. Frediani.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeanwhile, other engineers are taking inspiration from nature to develop 3-D printed aircraft components that could\u0026nbsp;reduce weight by up to 30%. The less a plane weighs, the less fuel is required, resulting in a significant reduction of CO\u003Csub\u003E2\u003C\/sub\u003E emissions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHoneycomb structure\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMelanie Gralow is a biomimetic design engineer for the Bionic Aircraft project, which is taking the lessons of nature to improve\u0026nbsp;parts for making aeroplanes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Thin surfaces or rods tend to deform very easily throughout the manufacturing process,\u2019 she explained. \u2018You can stiffen them by applying a certain surface structure. The honeycomb structure is one of those bio-inspired structures that can be utilised to stiffen the wall without adding too much weight.\u2019\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project also takes inspiration from grass stalks, which are subject to bending loads by the wind in the same way as struts in aircraft components. Bending loads are forces that act upon a structure laterally and hence can result in it bending.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The stalk is hollow inside and it has a double wall system,\u2019 said Gralow. \u2018It needs to resist wind forces in nature, but struts in the technical world also have to resist bending. By applying the double-walled system to the struts, we can make them more lightweight, but at the same time just as stiff as they need to be.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo make these intricate, highly-detailed, lightweight parts, the team uses 3D printers with laser beam technology. Although ideal for small precision work, the researchers say that printing an entire aircraft in this way is still a long way off.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018For now, the goal is really to focus on smaller parts because the build spaces of the current printers are restricted. The biggest commercial printers are about 40 - 50 centimetres in width, so that sets the maximum size limit for current 3D-printed metal parts,\u2019 said Gralow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe research in this article has been funded by the EU. 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