Turbulent Drag Reduction Using Compliant Coatings

Abstract

An experimental study was carried in a water tunnel, where the drag of several compliant coatings in the turbulent boundary layer was measured. An axi-symmetric test model similar to that used by NUWC was designed and built, and identical compliant coatings were tested as a part of collaboration between UK, U.S. and Russia. While experimental results in the UK show small drag reductions by up to 3% in some of the compliant coatings tested, skin-friction drags of compliant coatings measured at MIT are consistently greater than that of rigid surface. The Russian data are not yet available at the time of writing this report. The aging of the compliant coatings are thought to be the reason for these discrepancies. A better coordination will be required for the rest of the program to overcome this problem.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 30, 2002
Accession Number
ADA405426

Entities

People

  • Kwing-so Choi

Organizations

  • University of Nottingham

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Data Sets
  • Drag
  • Drag Reduction
  • Elastic Properties
  • Frequency
  • Friction
  • Layers
  • Measurement
  • Modulus Of Elasticity
  • Skin Friction
  • Strain Gages
  • Test Facilities
  • Tunnels
  • Turbulent Boundary Layer
  • Water Tunnels

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Surface Engineering/Surface Coating Technology.