Flexible surface preparation to minimize environmental drag

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have just released a new surface-engineering technique called "Smorph", or Smart Morphable Surface. This is a surface with many convex indentations that can be automatically modified to create the optimum aerodynamic conditions. This is a promising technique that can be applied to vehicles, especially cars, which reduce the air resistance to a minimum, allowing for improved vehicle performance.

"We simply create the same concave folds as the golf ball," said Pedro Reis, who led the MIT team . In fact, the team created a prototype hollow sphere with two different shells. The inner layer is made of flexible silicon and is surrounded by a hardened polystyrene on the outside. When a vacuum cleaner draws inward air outward, the interaction between the soft shell and the hard shell creates concave surfaces on the surface of the sphere.

Accordingly, the elasticity of the spherical surface is similar to that of the fruit that becomes wrinkled when dehydrated. However, due to the convexity of the sphere is determined by the amount of air inside it is much easier to control.

In theory, this concave surface is capable of being used to improve aerodynamic performance in cars. Then, the convex bumps will vary depending on the conditions to create the most favorable aerodynamic effect when the car moves. Of course, the technology can also be applied to aerospace vehicles such as airplanes, spacecraft, etc., to increase operational efficiency while contributing to fuel efficiency. . In addition, researchers say that name-based technology is also applied to the surface of buildings that allow the entire building to reduce the hurricane's potential drag.

However, the application of the surface requires the redesign of the structure as well as the shape of the parts such as the bonnet in the car or the wing ... This is one of the barriers in the process. Officialize the above surface fabrication techniques. Another nice thing is that the material must also have anti-dust, mud. Conversely, it may not be fun for the user to wash his car with mud on a bumpy surface.