Abstract
A microfiber coating with a hair-like structure is studied as a passive drag reduction device applied on a cylinder. The coating is applied in the flow-separated region of the cylinder to determine its effect on the wake. Flow around a cylinder is studied under the subcritical regime with a Reynolds number of 6.1 × 104 based on the cylinder diameter. The length of the microfiber is 8% of the cylinder diameter. After application of the microfiber coating, the dominant wake-frequency in the flow associated with the Karman-Vortex formation rose and moved further downstream of the cylinder. The frequency increase and the location of the dominant wake-frequency, which corresponds to the vortex’s formation length, are dependent on the coverage of the coating on the cylinder. These changes in the flow features result in drag reduction. The amount of drag reduction is dependent on the coverage of the microfiber coating in the flow-separated region. A maximum drag reduction of 16% is achieved.
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