In a roll-to-roll process, functional films with a riblet structure are produced. The fine riblets are barely visible to the human eye. Applied to aircraft, they reduce dragon flow-relevant parts and thus save fuel. Marcel Schumacher shows project manager Dr. Sebastian Hartwig the manufacturing process of BASF's product NovaFlex SharkSkin, in the aviation industry known as shark skin technology.
Coatings
Coatings
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Sharkskin Technology for Airplanes

Coatings

Sharkskin Technology for Airplanes

Nature provides us with numerous examples of micro-structures with incredible functionalities. Our surface film NovaFlex SharkSkin mimics the fine structure of shark skin and improves the aerodynamics of aircraft.
Unterwasseransicht eines schwimmenden Hais
Learning from Sharks 
As is often the case, nature turns out to be one step ahead of us humans. Sharks are amazing. They’ve been around longer than trees – about 450 million years. They are gliding through water with ease. But how? Research reveals that the skin of a shark has lots of tiny “ribs” on it. These reduce drag and make the shark more efficient at swimming. 
Why not optimize the surface of an aircraft so that it emulates shark skin? Saving fuel and cutting emissions would be an instant win for climate protection.
Head of Functional Films

Dr. Sebastian Hartwig

Head of Functional Films - Flow Enhancement

In a joint project, BASF and Lufthansa Technik have succeeded in developing a functional film that mimics the fine structure of a shark’s skin and thus optimizes aerodynamics at flow-relevant parts of the aircraft. As a result, fuel consumption and thus CO2 emissions can be reduced. The surface structure, which consists of riblets around 50 micrometers in size, imitates the properties of a shark’s skin. 
A Lufthansa plane in mid-flight high above the clouds. A sticker on its side says it is flying more sustainably with sharkskin technology (Photo: Lufthansa Cargo).
Covering the flow-relevant areas of the aircraft with the functional film NovaFlex SharkSkin reduces drag by around 1 percent, which in turn saves around 400 tons of kerosene and around 1,250 tons of CO2 per aircraft (long-haul passenger aircraft of the type Boeing 777-300ER) per year. Lufthansa Technik and BASF intend to systematically develop the new technology in the direction of additional aircraft types and even larger areas, so that it can support airlines around the world even more comprehensively in achieving their emission targets in the future. In initial model calculations, the sharkskin technology could even avoid CO2 emissions of up to three percent in its maximum expansion stage.
NovaFlex SharkSkin – How does it work?