Drag Reduction Mechanism Research Articles

Heat transfer enhancement and flow resistance reduction characteristics of non-uniform electrohydrodynamic conduction pumping in microchannels

In this study, the thermo-hydraulic performance of non-uniform electrohydrodynamic (EHD) conduction pumping in rectangular and straight microchannels was experimentally investigated. Electrodes are arranged in two ways: dimensions constant, spacing varies (Cases 1–3); both dimensions and spacing vary (Cases 4–6). The results show that EHD conduction pumping significantly enhances heat transfer performance, increasing the average Nusselt number (Nu) by 17.9 %-87 % compared to a smooth microchannel. As Re increases, the inertial force of the fluid dominates, diminishing EHD-induced vortices and limiting heat transfer enhancement. EHD conduction pumping enhances heat transfer by creating vortices that mimic solid pseudo-roughness microelements, increasing fluid disturbance and mixing near the wall. However, these vortices also impede the flow, resulting in a trade-off with increased pressure drop resistance. This paper innovatively adopts an arrangement of increasing electrode size (non-uniform), which effectively reduces the pressure drop resistance in the microchannel while maintaining the advantage of enhanced heat transfer. Cases 4, 5, and 6 exhibit significantly higher comprehensive heat transfer performance (η) than Case 0 (without electrodes), especially at low Re. While the inertial force at high Re suppresses vortex formation and heat transfer enhancement, η remains superior to Case 0. Notably, Case 5 maintains a minimum η of 1.18 even at Re = 1000. Furthermore, this paper proposes an equivalent slip drag reduction mechanism to elucidate the drag reduction effect of the increasing electrode size arrangement. Heat transfer augmentation and pressure drop reduction, as mentioned here in microchannels, are crucial for electronics cooling and microfluidic devices.

Drag reduction mechanism based on the aerospike-jet composite approach under different incoming dynamic pressures

The drag experienced by the nose of an aircraft varies significantly under different incoming flow conditions. In order to reduce the aerodynamic force on the nose of the (hypersonic) supersonic vehicle, the numerical simulation approach has been used to analyze the drag reduction laws and mechanisms of a blunt-body vehicle with the aerospike-counterflowing jet composite approach under different incoming flow dynamic pressures. The effects of two environments with H = 0.1 km and H = 30 km, as well as the influence of different incoming Mach numbers on the drag reduction at H = 0.1 km were investigated. The research has shown that there exists a minimum overall drag value for the vehicle under different dynamic pressures, while the variation in the wall pressure is related to the actual operating conditions. The recirculation zones at the aerospike and in front of the blunt body are important flow structures that affect the drag reduction. When the jet total pressure ratio increases, the position of the recirculation zone at the head of the drag reduction rod moves away from the central axis of the model. When the incoming flow dynamic pressure is higher, the separation point of the recirculation zone in front of the blunt body is located further downstream, and the reattachment point is related to the incoming flow and jet conditions, aligning with the trend of variation of the position of the maximum pressure on the blunt body wall. As it can effectively push away the shock wave, the enhanced drag reduction effect of the jet is significant when the incoming flow dynamic pressure is higher. However, the high jet pressure resulting from high dynamic pressure needs to be considered in the actual design. Furthermore, the complex turbulent flow field formed by the high dynamic pressure incoming flow and the jet is worthy of further study by means of the large eddy simulation.

Aerodynamic development of the BYD SEAL – Part 2: Overview

BYD SEAL is a new developed A+ class sedan by BYD Auto, based on third generation high-performance and high-safety electric platform for EVs. SEAL gives full play to the advantages of electric vehicles in terms of space, handling, NVH, etc., while striving to reach the same level of fuel vehicles in terms of cost and recharge mileage. Therefore it has been dedicated to minimizing energy consumption from all components since its inception, and an important one is to reduce the aerodynamic drag effectively. However, the “ocean aesthetics” styling design based on the original concept model and platform with short overhangs must be kept on this car, which brings great challenge to aerodynamic development. An adaptable aerodynamic development process is set up and correlation between CFD simulation and wind tunnel test are established. This paper depicts the features of the flow field determined in the aerodynamic development process of the BYD SEAL, and describes the key factors in aerodynamic drag reduction as a full model change in detail. Effective rear roofline angle, tail design, front bumper corners, underbody, wheel, detail management such as sealing loss are studied and optimized by Powerflow and Star-CCM+ simulation softwares, and verified in wind tunnel tests of full-scale clay models and prototype vehicles. Design fusion and development tool/efficiency improvement around the vehicle are established, and the inherent drag reduction mechanism is revealed. These findings are of great significance to the aerodynamic optimization with diverse aesthetic and engineering requirements under the background of EV platformization.

Large-scale penetration model tests of bucket foundations of different structural types in clay

Clarifying penetration characteristics and accurately predicting penetration resistance of bucket foundations is crucial to ensure their smooth penetration. This study performed large-scale model tests on nearshore seven-compartment (SC) bucket foundations and novel deep-sea five-connected (FC) bucket foundations to systematically explore the penetration attitude, development of soil plugs, flow rates, bucket-soil interactions, and required suction of these two structures in clay. The good penetrability was identified for the new FC bucket foundation. The development of soil plugs due to bucket wall replacement as well as the mechanism of drag reduction of the inner wall and bucket end were revealed. The experiments demonstrated that the penetration flow rate was almost equal to the volume of bucket body entering the soil and accounted for approximately 95% of the total flow rate. A formula for calculating penetration resistance in clay that considers the effect of suction on the reduction in resistance of the inner wall and bucket end was proposed and validated by field tests. The research results improve the safety of bucket foundation penetration in clay and provide significant guidance for the installation of deep-sea FC bucket foundations.

Drag reduction performance of hydrophobic coatings with controllable wettability

Currently, an increasing number of studies focus on the applications of hydrophobic surfaces for underwater drag reduction. However, the drag reduction mechanisms of hydrophobic coatings with controllable wettability still lack systematic understanding. Herein, nano-SiO2 composite coatings with different contact angles were fabricated using air spraying techniques. The relationship between the hydrophobicity of these coatings and their drag reduction performance under different Reynolds numbers was further investigated. The results showed that the uniformed distributed air layer and low depinning force significantly contributed to drag reduction performance. The coating with a contact angle of 140° achieved a maximum reduction rate of 58 % at a Reynolds number of 750. However, the coatings with contact angles of 150° and 155° exhibited diminished drag reduction effects due to the uneven distribution of the air film. This study highlighted that the hydrophobicity of the coatings and the uniform microstructures are essential for sustaining effective drag reduction performance.

Design and Principles Analysis of Hydrofoil Appendages for Reducing Resistance of High-Speed Ships

To reduce the resistance of high-speed displacement ships with Froude numbers (Fr) between 0.4 and 0.5, this paper proposes the installation of hydrofoils at the bow and stern of the ship. Firstly, starting from the bow wave, this paper proposes the installation of a flat plate appendage at the free surface of the ship’s bow to suppress the height of the bow wave and thus reduce the hull resistance. Taking the DTMB 5415 ship model as the research object, CFD calculation results show that installing a flat plate appendage at the free surface of the ship’s bow can effectively suppress the height of the bow wave, and the total resistance reduction ratio can reach 6.49% when Fr = 0.45. Then, the flat plate appendage was improved to a hydrofoil appendage, further reducing the hull resistance. As a result, the total resistance reduction rate can reach 9.15% at Fr = 0.45. Following this, hydrofoil appendages were installed simultaneously at the bow and stern. The drag reduction effect and mechanism were studied, and the results show that the hydrofoils at the bow and stern have a good drag reduction effect. Suppressing the bow and stern waves and improving the flow field are the main reasons for the drag reduction. Finally, the drag reduction effect of the hydrofoil appendages was verified through experiments, demonstrating its excellent drag reduction effect when Fr = 0.4–0.5 and a maximum total resistance reduction ratio of 14.552%.

Numerical Simulation of Bionic Underwater Vehicle Morphology Drag Optimisation and Flow Field Noise Analysis

The study of aquatic organisms’ ectomorphology is important to understanding the mechanisms of efficient swimming and drag reduction in fish. The drag reduction mechanism in fish remains unknown yet is needed for optimising the efficiency of bionic fish. It is thus crucial to conduct drag tests and analyses. In this paper, an optimal dolphin morphological model is constructed taking the beakless porpoise as the research object. A numerical simulation of the dolphin body model is carried out for different combinations of pitch angle and speed adopting computational fluid dynamics, and the flow field noise of the dolphin body model is solved for different speeds using the FW-H equation. When the dolphin model is oriented horizontally, the differential pressure drag accounts for approximately 20–25% of the total drag as airspeed increases. As both the pitch angle and airspeed increase, the differential pressure drag and friction drag decrease with increasing airspeed. Moreover, the acoustic energy is mainly concentrated at low frequencies for both the dolphin and Bluefin-21 models. The dolphin body model has better noise performance than the Bluefin-21 model at the same speed. The optimisation of the external morphology of the bionic underwater submarine and the analysis of the shape drag are thus important for revealing the drag reduction mechanism, reducing noise in the flow field and provide guidance for research on bionic fish.

Solid–fluid phase transition characteristics of loess and its drag reduction mechanism

Solid–fluid phase transition characteristics of loess and its drag reduction mechanism

Flow-thermal coupled investigation on hypersonic spike-jet with channel

As for blunt-body hypersonic vehicles, the extreme drag and aero-heating pose great challenges to the conceptual design. Different from the conventional configurations, a blunt body slotted with a channel is proposed in this paper. The channel is further combined with a jet on the shoulder to reduce drag and aero-heating. Simultaneously, based on the position of the separation point and vortex edge, a modified effective body approach is developed to accurately investigate the drag reduction mechanism. Specifically, the more slender the modified effective body is, the more obvious the drag reduction is. The simulation results show that the spike-channel-jet can push the shear layer on the spike away from the wall. In this way, the position of shear reattachment point moves downstream, which can enlarge the recirculation zone and weaken the shock-shock interaction. Additionally, the reattachment shock is pushed far away from the blunt body, which is also weakened. For drag, net power is introduced to evaluate the practical value of spike-channel-jet for drag reduction. Compared with a simple spike (spike length L/D = 1) of the same size, the spike-channel-jet can reduce the total drag by 24.68 %, the peak pressure coefficient of the blunt body by 38.54 %, the peak temperature of the blunt body by 65.75 %, and the peak temperature of the spike by 10.63 %. The maximum net power can reach 13.30 kW. Considering the fluid-thermal interaction, the findings reveal the influence of the spike length and jet mass flow rate on aerodynamic performance, by modified effective body further analyze the drag reduction mechanism with the jet, and validate the different reasons for the peak temperature and pressure of the blunt body.

Investigation on drag reduction on rotating blade surfaces with microtextures.

To enhance the aerodynamic performance of aero engine blades, simulations and experiments regarding microtextures to reduce the flow loss on the blade surfaces were carried out. First, based on the axisymmetric characteristics of the impeller, a new simulation method was proposed to determine the aerodynamic parameters of the blade model through the comparison of flow field characteristics and simulation results. Second, the placement position and geometrical parameters (height, width, and spacing) of microtextures with lower energy loss were determined by our simulation of microtextures on the blade surface, and the drag reduction mechanism was analyzed. Triangular ribs with a height of 0.2 mm, a width of 0.3 mm, and a spacing of 0.2 mm exhibited the best drag reduction, reducing the energy loss coefficient and drag by 1.45% and 1.31% for a single blade, respectively. Finally, the blades with the optimal microtexture parameters were tested in the wind tunnel. The experimental results showed that the microtexture decreased energy loss by 3.7% for a single blade under 57° angle of attack and 136.24 m/s, which was favorable regarding the drag reduction performance of the impeller with 45 blades.

Drag Reduction Mechanism of Array Microslit-Opposed Jets in the Passivation Leading Edge of High-Speed Aircrafts

Drag Reduction Mechanism of Array Microslit-Opposed Jets in the Passivation Leading Edge of High-Speed Aircrafts

Anomalous friction of confined water in carbon nanotubes

The friction of water within a carbon nanotube (CNT) is influenced by the interplay between energy barriers and water structure. In this work, we employ a series of regular polygonal CNTs, whose energy barriers remain constant with size, to examine the influence of water structure on solid-water friction using the molecular dynamics (MD) method. Polygonal CNTs with radii under 0.45 nm show friction coefficients an order of magnitude higher than their circular counterparts. While water exhibits an ordered phase within 0.5–0.6 nm-radius polygonal CNTs, resulting in a significant 80 % reduction in the friction coefficients compared to bulk like water. The force distribution analysis confirms the constancy of energy barriers. Further analysis of water density, hydrogen bond number distribution, average structure factor, and density correlation time demonstrates that the density correlation time predominantly impacts solid-liquid friction. The observed reduction in friction is primarily due to the collective movement of water molecules in an ordered arrangement. These findings illuminate nanoscale drag reduction mechanisms, offering insights for micro-nano flow system design.

Data-driven model for anti-pitching control of wave-piercing trimaran with stern-flap interceptor in waves

The control of pitching in wave-piercing trimarans helps improve crew comfort and navigation stability, providing a strong guarantee of safe and efficient ship operation. Current research on anti-pitching has mostly focused on control algorithms that use empirical formulas to calculate the stabilising moments directly. Little research has been conducted on appendage modelling. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) method was employed to conduct a series of numerical simulations of waves on a trimaran equipped with a stern-flap interceptor with variable angles of attack. An optimal feature combination was designed by considering the spatial and temporal characteristics, such as the interaction between the stern-flap interceptor and hull, and the memory effect of the flow field. Based on long short-term memory (LSTM), a data-driven model of the stern-flap interceptor oriented towards anti-pitching control was constructed. In addition, the anti-pitching and drag-reduction mechanisms of the stern-flap interceptor were explored. The proposed model, which is oriented towards anti-pitching, establishes the relationship between the angle of attack of the appendage, the ship's attitude, and the stabilising moment applied to the hull. Experiments verified the accuracy and generalisation of the model. This study provides a theoretical basis for designing and developing an anti-pitching control system for wave-piercing trimarans.

Optimal configuration of passive flow control devices to reduce the aerodynamics drag of a tractor-trailer model

Aerodynamic drag plays an important role in heavy vehicles, especially when traveling at high speeds. In this context, the application of passive flow control devices emerges as a potential approach to reduce the aerodynamic drag of vehicles, leading to improvements in fuel efficiency and environmental pollution. Consequently, this study focuses on using cab side extenders and rear flaps to reduce the aerodynamic drag of a 1:8 small-scale simplified tractor-trailer model. The main parameters of this device configuration, including the length LR and deflection angle θG of the cab side extenders, the length LR and deflection angle θR of the rear flaps, are optimized to minimize the model aerodynamic drag coefficient. Numerical studies are performed using the Computational Fluid Dynamics method, with the steady k-ω SST and the unsteady DES turbulence model. The optimal solution is implemented based on a 30-level Latin Hypercube design of the experiment and a full quadratic regression response surface method. The obtained results show that a maximum reduction in the aerodynamic drag coefficient of the simplified tractor-trailer model by 20.8 % is achieved with an optimized configuration of control devices. The mechanism of aerodynamic drag reduction is also evaluated based on the analysis of flow fields around the vehicle model.

Development and mechanism research of hydrophobic associative polymer drag reducing agents

ABSTRACT The challenge of insufficient proppant transportation capacity in slick water remains unresolved. To tackle this concern, a hydrophobically associating water-soluble polymer (HAWP), characterized by a low molecular weight (MW) of 8.11 × 105 g/mol, was successfully synthesized via a photo-initiation method. The drag reduction mechanism of the material was characterized through nuclear magnetic resonance and rheological performance testing. The drag reduction mechanism of the material was characterized through nuclear magnetic resonance and rheological performance testing. The results show that in comparison to conventional drag reducers in slick water with an average MW of approximately 1 × 107 g/mol, HAWP demonstrates significantly reduced MW. The rheological test results indicate that upon addition of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDS, 200 mg/L) to the HAWP solution (0.3 wt%), the storage modulus experienced a substantial increase from 0.14 Pa to 7.42 Pa, demonstrating enhanced mechanical properties. Meanwhile, drag reduction (DR) tests showed that the efficiency of drag reduction achieved by the polymer system (PS) drag reducer was comparable to that of conventional linear polymers. This research achievement effectively addresses the challenges of low molecular weight and resistance reduction encountered in previous endeavors.

Drag reduction characteristics of the placoid scale array skin sup-ported by micro Stewart mechanism based on penalty immersed boundary method

Sharkskin performs an excellent flow drag reduction property, leading to numerous biomimetic research to obtain artificial drag reduction structures for underwater vehicles. The existing work mainly focused on replicating or simplifying the morphology of the placoid scale, however, such bionic structures cannot fully reproduce the drag reduction effects of sharks swimming in natural environments. This is because the existing research has not considered the influence of the multi-degree freedom motion characteristics of the placoid scale. Therefore, a new bionic drag reduction skin is proposed by combining micro Stewart mechanisms and placoid scales, where the micro Stewart mechanism is able to achieve the multi-degree freedom motion characteristics. The numerical results indicate that micro Stewart mechanisms inhibit the generation and development of the streamwise and spanwise vortex structures in the bionic placoid scale array, which can delay flow separation and improve the drag reduction effect of the placoid scale array. Compared with the bionic placoid scale skin and the blade groove skin without multi-degree freedom motion foundation, the new bionic skin achieves relative drag reduction efficiency of 15.78 % and 14.18 % at maximum, respectively, by reasonably adjusting the bionic skin parameters including the leg stiffness, leg damping, upper platform mass, upper platform center of mass height of the micro Stewart mechanism and the skin element distribution spacing. The research presents a novel sharkskin bionics design and reveals the mechanism of skin drag reduction to some extent.

Combustion performance of hydrogen fueled parallel wall-jet used for drag reduction in a supersonic combustor

Hydrogen fueled parallel wall-jet combustion is considered to be one of the most promising drag reduction technologies in supersonic combustors, researchers mainly focus on its drag reduction mechanism, while balancing its combustion efficiency and drag reduction performance is of great significance for engine performance and energy conservation. In this paper, combustion performance of hydrogen fueled parallel wall-jet is numerically investigated. Kinetic reaction rate and scalar dissipation rate are defined to decouple the chemical reaction and mixing processes. Results indicate that although hydrogen fueled parallel wall-jet combustion is a nonequilibrium chemical reaction process, the combustion process is dominated by mixing due to the much larger magnitude order of kinetic reaction rate. The investigation also reveals that, compared to the effects of mainstream total temperature, mainstream Mach number presents a more significant effect on combustion efficiency. Moreover, combustion efficiency increase first brings negative and then brings beneficial effects on drag reduction performance, which is due to the different sensibilities of the two skin friction determinants viscosity and velocity gradient to combustion efficiency. It is found that, viscosity is more sensitive to combustion efficiency, with combustion efficiency increases by 5.4 %, viscosity increases by 4.15 %, while velocity gradient only decreases by 2.19 %.

Effective Underwater Drag Reduction: A Butterfly Wing Scale-Inspired Superhydrophobic Surface.

The microstructured superhydrophobic surface serves as an alternative strategy to decrease resistance of underwater vehicles, but the sustainment of an entrapped air layer and the stability of the corresponding gas-liquid interface within textures in flow shear or high pressure are still a great challenge. Inspired by the scales of Parantica melaneus wings, we propose a biomimetic surface with a hierarchical structure featuring longitudinal ridges and regular cavities that firmly pin the gas-liquid interface. The drag reduction rate of the Butterfly Wing Scale-Like Surface (BWSLS) demonstrates a noticeable rise over the single-scale textured mainstream biomimetic surfaces at moderate Reynolds numbers. The superior drag reduction mechanism is revealed as the synergistic effect of a thicker gas film and a more pronounced secondary vortex within the hierarchical textures. The former reduces the velocity gradient near the surface, while the latter decreases the vorticity and energy dissipation. In a high hydrostatic pressure environment, the proposed surface also demonstrates significant stability of the gas-liquid interface, with a gas coverage rate of over 67% during the cyclic loading, surpassing single-structured surfaces. Our study suggests promising surface designs for optimal drag reduction by mimicking and leveraging diverse surfaces of organisms adapted to oceanic climates.

The advancing wave front on a sloping channel covered by a rod canopy following an instantaneous dam break

The drag coefficient Cd for a rigid and uniformly distributed rod canopy covering a sloping channel following the instantaneous collapse of a dam was examined using flume experiments. The measurements included space x and time t high resolution images of the water surface h(x, t) for multiple channel bed slopes So and water depths behind the dam Ho along with drag estimates provided by sequential load cells. Using these data, an analysis of the Saint-Venant equation (SVE) for the front speed was conducted using the diffusive wave approximation. An inferred Cd=0.4 from the h(x, t) data near the advancing front region, also confirmed by load cell measurements, is much reduced relative to its independently measured steady-uniform flow case. This finding suggests that drag reduction mechanisms associated with transients and flow disturbances are more likely to play a dominant role when compared to conventional sheltering or blocking effects on Cd examined in uniform flow. The increased air volume entrained into the advancing wave front region as determined from an inflow–outflow volume balance partly explains the Cd reduction from unity.

Performance evaluation of trimethylolpropane ester as high-temperature resistant lubricant for high performance water-based drilling fluids

As drilling operations increasingly target large-displacement wells, horizontal wells, deep wells, and ultra-deep wells, the challenges of excessive drilling resistance and downhole safety have become more prominent. During the drilling process, one of the primary technical methods for preventing and addressing drilling safety issues is the reduction of downhole frictional resistance through the addition of lubricants to the drilling fluid. In this study, a high-temperature and high-salt-resistant drilling fluid lubricant was synthesized using raw materials such as oleic acid and trimethylolpropane. The lubricant exhibited excellent lubrication performance under high-temperature and high-salt conditions. When added at a 1.5% dosage to a 4% freshwater-based slurry, HZ-1 resulted in a 95.2% reduction in the lubrication coefficient. After aging at 200 °C, the HZ-1-containing slurry maintained an 87.9% reduction, and when used with a NaCl dosage of 36%, the slurry still exhibited an 80.5% reduction. Furthermore, HZ-1 exhibited favorable compatibility with both polymer drilling fluid and polysulfone drilling fluid systems. It had basically no effect on the rheological properties of the drilling fluid and reduced filtration loss. Moreover, HZ-1 exhibited a lubrication coefficient reduction rate of 94.5% in freshwater-based slurry and 85.5% in brine-based slurry, outperforming domestic and foreign lubricants. It outperformed these comparative lubricants in terms of lubrication and drag reduction within the same period. The analysis of the lubrication and drag-reduction mechanism revealed that HZ-1, when adsorbed onto a metal surface, formed a hydrophobic and high-strength physical adsorption film. This film prevented direct contact between drilling tools and the friction surface of the well wall, resulting in a significant reduction in the lubrication coefficient. Furthermore, using the drilling fluid system containing HZ-1 lubricant, the wear scar diameter formed on the surface of the four-ball friction experimental body was the smallest, measuring only 0.78 mm. This property significantly enhances the extreme-pressure and anti-wear performance of the friction sub-surface. Consequently, HZ-1 effectively prevents complications such as pressure support, stuck drilling, and high frictional resistance, thereby significantly reducing costs and improving efficiency.