NAL jobs for Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, Civil Aviation Authority of Britain
By N. Mohan | 03 Feb 1999
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The National Aerospace Laboratories at Bangalore has recently completed a research project for the Boeing Company of the US, which is expected to contribute to the improvement of Boeing's future aircraft designs. The project concerned airflow over the wings of the aircraft. Research work done by NAL enables conversion of turbulent wind flow over the wings into laminar (smooth) flow. This can reduce the drag and improve fuel efficiency
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Working on design parameters specified by Boeing, and with instrumentation of its own, the NAL research team of the NAL simulated real situations at the Nilakantan Wind Tunnel Centre and generated a huge database that can be used in designing fuel-efficient aircraft.
Another project that NAL has completed for Boeing involves structural testing of various joints of the aircraft. The inputs from the project would help Boeing to make better joints such as the wing-fuselage joints of its future aircraft.
The National Aerospace Laboratories has at least two major projects in hand at present. One is for Pratt & Whitney, worth $100,000 (roughly Rs 42.7 lakh) on a study of flow characteristics over gas-driven turbine engines, and another for the Civil Aviation Authority of Britain to ensure safety of aircraft as they land.
For the Civil Aviation Authority study, NAL scientists analysed the turbulence behind large aircraft as they land and how it creates a spiralling airflow that can hit smaller aircraft coming in for landing immediately afterwards. The spiralling flow can make the small aircraft lose control and crash. The findings are expected to help the British civil aviation authorities plan and better utilise the airspace and landing area at various airports in Britain.
In view of the potential generated by these projects, the National Aerospace Laboratories is accelerating its work in various fields. It has strengths in computer software used in aerospace technology, and it has already developed a supercomputer using a parallel processing architecture. IBM has evinced interest in software developed by National Aerospace Laboratories, and entrusted it with its numerical weather prediction codes. The advantage offered by NAL is low cost for such work.
National Aerospace Laboratories is working on a supercomputer of 3 - 4 gigaflops, usng parallel computing. Estimated to cost around Rs 1 crore, the computer is expected to be ready in about six months' time.
In the last decade about half of NAL's operating expenses have been met from revenue earned from research. The organisation has about 350 highly qualified personnel working on these projects.
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Working on design parameters specified by Boeing, and with instrumentation of its own, the NAL research team of the NAL simulated real situations at the Nilakantan Wind Tunnel Centre and generated a huge database that can be used in designing fuel-efficient aircraft.
Another project that NAL has completed for Boeing involves structural testing of various joints of the aircraft. The inputs from the project would help Boeing to make better joints such as the wing-fuselage joints of its future aircraft.
The National Aerospace Laboratories has at least two major projects in hand at present. One is for Pratt & Whitney, worth $100,000 (roughly Rs 42.7 lakh) on a study of flow characteristics over gas-driven turbine engines, and another for the Civil Aviation Authority of Britain to ensure safety of aircraft as they land.
For the Civil Aviation Authority study, NAL scientists analysed the turbulence behind large aircraft as they land and how it creates a spiralling airflow that can hit smaller aircraft coming in for landing immediately afterwards. The spiralling flow can make the small aircraft lose control and crash. The findings are expected to help the British civil aviation authorities plan and better utilise the airspace and landing area at various airports in Britain.
In view of the potential generated by these projects, the National Aerospace Laboratories is accelerating its work in various fields. It has strengths in computer software used in aerospace technology, and it has already developed a supercomputer using a parallel processing architecture. IBM has evinced interest in software developed by National Aerospace Laboratories, and entrusted it with its numerical weather prediction codes. The advantage offered by NAL is low cost for such work.
National Aerospace Laboratories is working on a supercomputer of 3 - 4 gigaflops, usng parallel computing. Estimated to cost around Rs 1 crore, the computer is expected to be ready in about six months' time.
In the last decade about half of NAL's operating expenses have been met from revenue earned from research. The organisation has about 350 highly qualified personnel working on these projects.
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