TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY: New Wing Design Exponentially Increases Total Aircraft Efficiency (DRC-TOPS-36)

NASA’s Technology Transfer Program solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses. THE TECHNOLOGY: Innovators at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center are experimenting with a new wing design that removes adverse yaw and dramatically increases aircraft efficiency by reducing drag. Known as the PRANDTL-D wing, this design addresses integrated bending moments and lift to achieve a 12 percent drag reduction. The approach to handling adverse yaw employs fine wing adjustments rather than an aircraft's vertical tail. The technology has the potential to significantly increase total aircraft efficiency by optimizing overall aircraft configuration through the reduction in size or removal of the vertical tail as well as the reduction of structural weight. Adverse yaw, present in current aircraft design, is the adverse horizontal movement around a vertical axis of an aircraft; the yaw opposes the direction of a turn. As an aircraft turns, differential drag of the left and right wings while banking contributes to aircraft yaw. Proverse yaw—yawing in the same direction as a turn—would optimize aircraft performance. Initial results from flight experiments at Armstrong demonstrated that this wing design unequivocally established proverse yaw. This wing design further reduces drag due to lift at the same time. To express interest in this opportunity, please submit a license application through NASA’s Automated Technology Licensing Application System (ATLAS) by visiting https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/DRC-TOPS-36 If you have any questions, please contact NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s Technology Transfer Office at [email protected] with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this FBO notice and your preferred contact information. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at https://technology.nasa.gov/ These responses are provided to members of NASA’s Technology Transfer Program for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.