Turbulent drag reduction by the seal fur surface

Abstract

The drag-reducing ability of the seal fur surface was tested in a rectangular channel flow using water and a glycerol-water mixture to measure the pressure drop along the channel in order to evaluate friction factors in a wide range of Reynolds number conditions, and the drag reduction effect was confirmed quantitatively. The maximum reduction ratio was evaluated to be 12% for the glycerol-water mixture. The effective range of the Reynolds number, where the drag reduction was remarkable, was wider for the seal fur surface compared to that of a riblet surface measured in this channel and in previous studies. It was also found that for the seal fur surface, unlike riblets, any drag increase due to the effect of surface roughness was not found up to the highest Reynolds number tested. Measurements of the seal fur surface using a 3D laser microscope revealed that there were riblet-like grooves, composed of arranged fibers, of which spacings were comparable to that of effective riblets and were distributed in various wavelengths. Using LDV measurements, it was found that the difference in the mean velocity scaled by the outer variable among the smooth, riblet, and seal fur surfaces did not appear at any spanwise locations. Streamwise turbulence intensity for the seal fur surface was found to be about 5% smaller than those for smooth and riblet surfaces.