Optimizing formation flight via the Constructal Law (Original Research)
View the pre-release extended abstract
In the Spring of 2024 (my junior year), I was fortunate enough to take world-renowned Professor Adrian Bejan’s course called Constructal Theory and Design in Nature, learning about his original “Constructal Law” and how it applies to the world around us. For our final project, we were tasked with writing a term paper about “anything that tickles the brain”. With my passion for aerospace, I decided to apply the Constructal Law to the problem of formation flight, observing the natural V-formation flight of birds and similar practices in aircraft such as fighter jets. I showed how the Constructal Law could be used to predict the trends that define naturally observed bird formation flight and how that can be applied to the formation flight of aircraft. The pre-release extended abstract can be found here.
After a semester of literature research, aerodynamic theory, and preliminary MATLAB data analysis, I submitted my term paper. Professor Bejan then inspired me to submit the project to the 14th Annual Constructal Law Conference (CLC) taking place in Bucharest, Romania in October 2024. I spent the entire summer refining my paper, performing an in-depth numerical data analysis with MATLAB, and even putting my drawing skills to use to best convey the principles of the Constructal Law. In the end, I was fortunate enough to have my abstract accepted to present at CLC in October 2024.
At the conference, I had the opportunity to present my work to the community of free-thinking engineers and scientists in attendance. I can further appreciate how Constructal Law presents a new way to approach problems in engineering and all of nature, and it was an invaluable opportunity to pick the brains of some of the brightest researchers in the world about their innovative ideas.
I’d like to thank Professor Bejan for his mentorship, guidance, and inspiration for pursuing this project and presenting at CLC. Another thank you to Dr. Kenneth Hall of Duke’s Aeroelasticity group for the lessons and suggestions in aerodynamic theory throughout the conception of the project. Lastly, I am incredibly grateful for the people and funding that are making my travel and attendance at the conference possible: particularly Dean Carmen Rawls and Dr. Jessica Harrell with Duke’s Undergraduate Research Support office, Dr. Linda Franzoni with Pi Tau Sigma, and Dr. Nico Hotz with the Duke MEMS department.
The final paper/manuscript is currently being considered for peer-reviewing and official publishing in the proceedings journal and related publications (this page will be updated accordingly).
