Drag Reduction of a Hull by Electrolysis

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the drag reduction on a hull resulting from injection of gas bubbles into the boundary layer by electrolysis. The resulting drag reduction on an eighteen foot model was found to depend on the towing velocity and the time-rate of gas bubbles produced at the electrodes. The drag reduction obtained at a fixed current of 4 amperes was found to vary between 3.2% at the lower towing speeds and 17.5% in the middle of the speed range. With increasing speed, the bubble injection had a diminishing effect. For the maximum drag reduction, the power requirement was 50.4 watts. Projecting these results to prototype application, it appears that the effect is a function of the wetted surface area of the hull.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 21, 1974
Accession Number
AD0784122

Entities

People

  • Wayne A. Thornton

Organizations

  • United States Naval Academy

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Corrosion Resistance
  • Current Density
  • Differential Equations
  • Drag Reduction
  • Electrochemical Reactions
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Flow Rate
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Lepidoptera
  • Mass Flow
  • Materials
  • Plant Oils

Readers

  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Marine Hydrodynamics
  • Mathematics or Statistics