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Turbulent drag reduction through rotating discs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2013

Pierre Ricco*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK
Stanislav Hahn
Affiliation:
Honeywell Turbo Technologies, Turanka 100/1236, Brno, Czech Republic
*
†Email address for correspondence: p.ricco@sheffield.ac.uk
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Abstract

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An active technique for friction drag reduction in a turbulent channel flow is studied by direct numerical simulations. The flow modification is induced by the steady rotation of rigid flush-mounted discs, located next to one another on the walls. The effect of the disc motion on the turbulent drag is investigated at a Reynolds number of ${R}_{\tau } = 180$ , based on the friction velocity of the stationary-wall case and the half channel height. For a fixed maximum disc tip velocity, drag reduction can be achieved when the disc diameter is larger than a threshold, while below this threshold the drag increases. A maximum drag reduction of 23% is computed. The net power saved, obtained by taking into account the power spent to enforce the rotational motion against the fluid viscous resistance, is found to be positive and reach 10%. The disc-flow parameters required for commercial aircraft flight conditions and flows over high-speed trains and ship hulls are estimated and future implementations based on existing micro-electromagnetic motor and micro-air turbine technologies are discussed.

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Type
Papers
Copyright
©2013 Cambridge University Press