The technology, called Twisteron, is designed to minimize drag on airplanes as they fly. It minimizes the induced drag caused by the lift on an aircraft. The Twisterons, installed on the wing of a plane, make twisting motions based on a formula devised by German engineer Ludwig Prandtl in the early 20th century.

"The real essence of the invention is the mathematics that lead to it," said Twisteron inventor Warren F. Phillips, a professor in USU's College of Engineering. "You only get minimum induced drag if you follow that equation exactly."

Twisting wing technology has been around since the Wright Brothers invented the airplane, but wings that adjust based on flying conditions haven't been a reality until now. The Twisterons were successfully tested on a model airplane during the 2003 National Design, Build, Fly competition. USU's design took first place at the competition.

While the amount of drag on an aircraft using Twisterons is reduced by only a small amount -- about 21/2 percent -- it could potentially save millions of dollars in fuel costs.

"You can look up anytime, almost anywhere on Earth and see a plane in the sky," Phillips said. "Airplanes burn a tremendous amount of fuel."

A Boeing 747 burns about 75 gallons of fuel an hour. As the cost of fuel continues to rise, Phillips said, the savings from the technology would increase.

"At some point, the savings begins to outweigh the cost of the engineering," he said.

Many airplanes have been equipped with winglets -- short, vertical stabilizing fins projecting from the tips of the wings -- that reduce drag by only a small fraction of a percent.

"They put (winglets) on airplanes just because of the vast amount of fuel (they save)," he said. "Any kind of savings when you're talking about that volume of fuel is worth doing."

The school has applied for a patent on the technology, but in the meantime USU can license Twisterons and seek sponsored research dollars to further develop them, said Steven Kubisen, vice president of USU's Office of Technology Management and Commercialization.

"If we're able to do that, we could see some return to the university in a couple of ways," he said. "It's potentially very substantial."

Kubisen said he couldn't put a figure on the amount of revenue Twisterons could generate for USU, but he said it's one of the bigger technology opportunities the school has had.

"Our office is working on about 40 different projects, and this is in the top two or three as far as potential," he said.

Doctoral student Nick Alley worked with a team of six graduate students on the model plane that was used in the competition. Building the plane with Twisterons was not a typical model plane project, either.

"There's no instruction manual," he said. "You have to learn as you go."

Alley, who also worked on the USU Wright Flyer project, said many hours went into perfecting the design.

"(Twisteron) makes (planes) as efficient as they can be," he said.

For Phillips, thousands upon thousands of hours went into getting Prandtl's Equation just right to make the technology work.

"This is my job, this is my recreation, this is my religion," he said. "This is all I do."

The solution that enabled the technology, however, came to him overnight. Phillips had been thinking about the formula one night and said he couldn't figure it out, but the next morning he knew all about Twisterons.

"I already knew that you could minimize the induced drag on an airplane at one particular operating condition," he said.

A particular twist could be put on a wing that would optimize drag at one particular airspeed, altitude and weight, Phillips said. Wings could also be installed with an elliptical shape, like a British Spitfire airplane, but they wouldn't be optimal for every flying condition.

"You have to know the mathematical solution to the lifting line equation to know how to twist the wing so that it produces the minimum induced drag in any operating situation," Phillips said.

If installed on a large aircraft, a computer would optimize the twist on the wing based on the flying conditions.

"It would all be totally transparent to the pilot," he said.

The technology would not be exclusive to aircraft, either, Kubisen said. Performance racing cars, sailboats and submarines would also be able to use Twisterons to improve their efficiency.

Kubisen said the technology would likely be seen sooner on sailboats than aircraft, due to the amount of testing that would be required by the Federal Aviation Administration.

"This has potential anytime you have an aerodynamic surface," he said.



		15 June 2004 New twist on saving fuel By Tyler Riggs Herald Journal A new technology from Utah State University could save the airline industry millions of dollars in fuel costs each year. The technology, called Twisteron, is designed to minimize drag on airplanes as they fly. It minimizes the induced drag caused by the lift on an aircraft. The Twisterons, installed on the wing of a plane, make twisting motions based on a formula devised by German engineer Ludwig Prandtl in the early 20th century. "The real essence of the invention is the mathematics that lead to it," said Twisteron inventor Warren F. Phillips, a professor in USU's College of Engineering. "You only get minimum induced drag if you follow that equation exactly." Twisting wing technology has been around since the Wright Brothers invented the airplane, but wings that adjust based on flying conditions haven't been a reality until now. The Twisterons were successfully tested on a model airplane during the 2003 National Design, Build, Fly competition. USU's design took first place at the competition. While the amount of drag on an aircraft using Twisterons is reduced by only a small amount -- about 21/2 percent -- it could potentially save millions of dollars in fuel costs. "You can look up anytime, almost anywhere on Earth and see a plane in the sky," Phillips said. "Airplanes burn a tremendous amount of fuel." A Boeing 747 burns about 75 gallons of fuel an hour. As the cost of fuel continues to rise, Phillips said, the savings from the technology would increase. "At some point, the savings begins to outweigh the cost of the engineering," he said. Many airplanes have been equipped with winglets -- short, vertical stabilizing fins projecting from the tips of the wings -- that reduce drag by only a small fraction of a percent. "They put (winglets) on airplanes just because of the vast amount of fuel (they save)," he said. "Any kind of savings when you're talking about that volume of fuel is worth doing." The school has applied for a patent on the technology, but in the meantime USU can license Twisterons and seek sponsored research dollars to further develop them, said Steven Kubisen, vice president of USU's Office of Technology Management and Commercialization. "If we're able to do that, we could see some return to the university in a couple of ways," he said. "It's potentially very substantial." Kubisen said he couldn't put a figure on the amount of revenue Twisterons could generate for USU, but he said it's one of the bigger technology opportunities the school has had. "Our office is working on about 40 different projects, and this is in the top two or three as far as potential," he said. Doctoral student Nick Alley worked with a team of six graduate students on the model plane that was used in the competition. Building the plane with Twisterons was not a typical model plane project, either. "There's no instruction manual," he said. "You have to learn as you go." Alley, who also worked on the USU Wright Flyer project, said many hours went into perfecting the design. "(Twisteron) makes (planes) as efficient as they can be," he said. For Phillips, thousands upon thousands of hours went into getting Prandtl's Equation just right to make the technology work. "This is my job, this is my recreation, this is my religion," he said. "This is all I do." The solution that enabled the technology, however, came to him overnight. Phillips had been thinking about the formula one night and said he couldn't figure it out, but the next morning he knew all about Twisterons. "I already knew that you could minimize the induced drag on an airplane at one particular operating condition," he said. A particular twist could be put on a wing that would optimize drag at one particular airspeed, altitude and weight, Phillips said. Wings could also be installed with an elliptical shape, like a British Spitfire airplane, but they wouldn't be optimal for every flying condition. "You have to know the mathematical solution to the lifting line equation to know how to twist the wing so that it produces the minimum induced drag in any operating situation," Phillips said. If installed on a large aircraft, a computer would optimize the twist on the wing based on the flying conditions. "It would all be totally transparent to the pilot," he said. The technology would not be exclusive to aircraft, either, Kubisen said. Performance racing cars, sailboats and submarines would also be able to use Twisterons to improve their efficiency. Kubisen said the technology would likely be seen sooner on sailboats than aircraft, due to the amount of testing that would be required by the Federal Aviation Administration. "This has potential anytime you have an aerodynamic surface," he said. Copyright © 2004 The Herald Journal. Logan, Utah

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