NASA Teams Up With Boeing to Take on Bugs, Creates Slick Solution to Sticky Situation

Bug guts and residue cause drag and fuel consumption, but researchers from NASA and Boeing have come up with a slick solution to a sticky situation.

Causing drag and increasing fuel consumption, the build-up of insect residue on plane wings has long been a bane of the aviation industry. But thanks to the ingenuity of engineers from Boeing, NASA is one step closer to solving this sticky problem.

Working as part of NASA’s Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project, researchers from both organizations recently studied the efficacy of five non-stick coatings on a Boeing test aircraft. The goal was to see how these different coatings prevented the adherence of insect remains to the wing of a craft.

But before they could make their comparisons, the researchers studied exactly what happens when an insect hits a surface at high speed. In a statement, Mia Siochi, senior materials scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center explained that, “when a bug hits and its body ruptures the blood starts undergoing some chemical changes to make it stickier.”

Siochi went on to explain that aircraft wings are designed to be aerodynamic and efficient, but “if you have bugs accumulating, it causes airflow to trip … causing additional drag.”

The aircraft chosen by the team for the experiment — a Boeing ecoDemonstrator 757 — completed 15 test flights into and out of Shreveport Regional Airport (SHV). Each flight included several takeoffs and landings, allowing researchers to ensure that the coatings would be sufficiently exposed to significant concentrations of insects at ground level.

In the end, only one of these five coatings showed promising results under test conditions. “There is still a lot of research to be done, but early data indicated one coating had about a 40 percent reduction in bug counts and residue compared to a control surface mounted next to it,” said Fay Collier, ERA project manager.

Somewhat fittingly, scientists turned to the natural world for inspiration. But this time, it was lotus blossoms, not bugs, that helped researchers to find a solution. At the microscopic level, explains Siochi, a lotus leaf’s rough surface prevents liquids from spreading, allowing them to roll off.

“We’re trying to use that principle in combination with chemistry to prevent bugs from sticking,” she said.

[Photo: NASA]