Qlayers has been awarded a grant from the TSH Vliegtuigmaakindustrie subsidy programme to collaborate on a highly innovative research project radically reducing Qlayers has been awarded a grant to collaborate on a highly innovative research project radically reducing drag and weight of airplane wings.
Project RICHTING (DIRECTION) is a collaborative project between researchers from TUDelft faculty of Aerospace Engineering and some of the top innovative institutes and companies in the Netherlands: TNO, DNW, NLR, Qlayers and Toray.
The objective of the DIRECTION project is to develop smart coating application technology in combination with morphing wing design to reduce the drag and weight of airplane wings leading to significantly lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of aircraft.
Since 2017, Qlayers R&D team has been working on a unique technology to print drag-reducing microstructures on large surfaces such as wind turbine blades, ships and aircraft. These microstructures can reduce drag up to 5% resulting in more energy output for wind turbines and reducing CO2 emissions for vehicles.
The DIRECTION project is an opportunity for Qlayers to bring years of in-depth knowledge in precision coating into the industrial setting and contribute to building a highly efficient and sustainable aviation industry.
The aim of the TSH Vliegtuigmaakindustrie scheme is to stimulate research projects that contribute to making aviation more sustainable and strengthen the relationship between European research and innovation and national research activities in the field of civil aircraft development. In 2021, a budget of € 9.5 million was allocated to support R&D projects in the field of aircraft construction manufacturing industry.
More information about the TSH Vliegtuigmaakindustrie subsidy programme can be found here.
