Drag reduction, from bending to pruning

Superposition of drag reduction due to riblets on drag reduction due to polymers

Active viscoelastic matter: from bacterial drag reduction to turbulent solids.

A paradigm for internally driven matter is the active nematic liquid crystal, whereby the equations of a conventional nematic are supplemented by a minimal active stress that violates time-reversal symmetry. In practice, active fluids may have not only liquid-crystalline but also viscoelastic polymer degrees of freedom. Here we explore the resulting interplay by coupling an active nematic to a ...

Turbulent Drag Reduction by Spanwise Wall Oscillations

The objective of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of wall oscillation as a control scheme of drag reduction. Two flow configurations are considered: constant flow rate and constant mean pressure gradient. The Navier-Stokes equations are solved using Fourier-Chebyshev spectral methods and the oscillation in sinusoidal form is enforced on the walls through boundary conditions for the sp...

Drag reduction by riblets.

The interaction of the overlying turbulent flow with riblets, and its impact on their drag reduction properties are analysed. In the so-called viscous regime of vanishing riblet spacing, the drag reduction is proportional to the riblet size, but for larger riblets the proportionality breaks down, and the drag reduction eventually becomes an increase. It is found that the groove cross section A(...

Polymer Drag Reduction and Bioluminescence Reduction

Bioluminescence represents an operational threat to U.S. Navy nighttime operations because of the vulnerability risk due to detection because of flow-stimulated light emission from naturally occurring plankton. Conversely, bioluminescence presents additional capabilities for detecting moving objects at night, particularly in the littoral zone where conventional acoustic surveillance is severely...