An Assessment of the Drag Reduction Properties of Riblets and the Penalties of Off-Design Conditions.

Abstract

An assessment is given of the performance of riblets in reducing skin friction in turbulent flow. The data of Sawyer and Winter is used to develop skin-friction relationships derived from the velocity profile for a turbulent boundary layer as modified by a riblet surface. The maximum percentage drag reduction is shown to vary with Reynolds number R sub x. At large values of the non-dimensional riblet height the riblet surface acts as a uniform roughness and a value for the equivalent sand-grain roughness height is given. Examples of the estimated drag reductions which might be achieved for two current aircraft by incorporating riblet surfaces are presented.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA194003

Entities

People

  • L. Gaudet

Organizations

  • Royal Aircraft Establishment

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Coefficients
  • Drag
  • Drag Reduction
  • Equations
  • Friction
  • Geometry
  • Layers
  • Pressure Gradients
  • Reynolds Number
  • Roughness
  • Skin Friction
  • Thickness
  • Turbulent Boundary Layer
  • Turbulent Flow

Readers

  • Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics.
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis