Lasers produce shark skins on aircraft

Innovative technology to create riblets opens up a new chapter in the history of aviation coatings. Aerospace Manufacturing reports.

Leading aircraft paint supplier, Mankiewicz and laser specialist, 4JET have partnered to introduce a new laser process for the creation of fuel saving riblets automatically lasered onto painted aircraft surfaces.

The technology – dubbed Laser Enhanced Air Flow or LEAF – uses the principle of laser interference patterning to quickly create fine lateral grooves in the uppermost layer of aircraft paint. The process – while still in the development stage – already yields industrial throughput levels and has passed initial qualifications for durability.

Different from the known laser technologies, 4JET has now found a way to speed up the process by a factor of about 500 using the principle of laser interference patterning: The laser beam is split up and recombined on the surface in such a way that the electric field oscillations of the light waves superpose in a controlled manner. This enables the creation of 15km of riblets – equal to about 1m² of riblet surface – within less than one minute.

The riblets produced by lasers have been proven to reduce drag by up to 10% which results in fuel savings for commercial long-haul airlines by more than 1% – equalling tremendous potential savings on total global kerosene spending of US$150 billion annually.

Adding even more benefits, LEAF is working dry without any consumables. It allows adjustment of riblet geometries depending on their location on the aircraft. The paint dust and vapour created during the process is evacuated and the process does not require post-processing. The technology is able to process curved or riveted surfaces and can be integrated with existing robotics used for paint removal or printing operations in aircraft maintenance.

“We are looking forward to actively writing another chapter in the history of aviation coatings and shaping the future of sustainable aircraft,” says Mankiewicz executive managing director aviation, Andreas Ossenkopf. “With 4JET we are glad to have such a competent partner from the laser industry at our side and look forward to future cooperation and commercialisation of this ground breaking new method to save fuel and thus contribute to a greener future.”

4JET CEO, Jorg Jetter adds: “We are excited about the progress so far and the tremendous opportunities of our new partnership with Mankiewicz. LEAF could not only be opening up an entirely new market for our company but deliver a significant contribution to cut down CO₂ emissions in the aviation sector.”

In addition to this future technology, the focus on weight reduction has always played an important role for Mankiewicz. The lowest possible dry film thicknesses and the smoothest possible surfaces, which do not offer dirt any chance of adhering to the surface and keep air resistance as low as possible are just two aspects of its products. The company takes care during the development of its coatings to ensure that they develop their full property profile and are completely covering even in very thin film thicknesses.

Mankiewicz is one of Germany's traditional paint manufacturers, and is said to lead the field in the production of both solvent-based and water-dilutable high-tech coating systems for industrial series production.

www.mankiewicz.com