scholarly journals SUPERHYDROPHOBIC SURFACES FOR DRAG REDUCTION

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Bottaro
Keyword(s):  
Drag Reduction ◽  
Slip Length ◽  
Superhydrophobic Surfaces ◽  
Transition To Turbulence ◽  
Effective Coupling ◽  
Instability Waves ◽  
Low Surface Energy ◽  
Apparent Slip ◽  
Energy Material ◽  
Relevant Length Scale

Properties of superhydrophobic materials are examined in light of their possible use for drag reduction in naval applications. To achieve superhydrophobicity a low-surface-energy material must be structured so as to minimize the liquid-solid interactions. The crucial aspect is that of maintaining a layer of gas in between the (rough) wall and the liquid, and this can be achieved by hierarchical micro- and nano-structuring of the solid surface, to ensure a sufficiently large apparent slip of the fluid at the wall, thus reducing skin friction. The behavior of the liquid is quantified by a slip length; recent results have shown that this length can be as large as 400 μm. As far as transition to turbulence is concerned, we show that superhydrophobic surfaces are effective (i.e. they delay the onset of travelling instability waves) only in channels with characteristic dimensions of a few millimeters. Conversely, when the fluid flow has already attained a turbulent state, the gain in term of drag reduction can be very significant also in macroscopic configurations. This occurs because the relevant length scale of the boundary layer is now the thickness of the viscous sub-layer, which can be of magnitude comparable to the slip length, so that an effective coupling emerges. Finally, some procedures to produce superhydrophobic surfaces are examined, in light of the possible application of such innovative coatings on the hull of ships.

Turbulent flow over superhydrophobic surfaces with streamwise grooves

2014 ◽  
Vol 747 ◽  
pp. 186-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Türk ◽  
G. Daschiel ◽  
A. Stroh ◽  
Y. Hasegawa ◽  
B. Frohnapfel
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Turbulent Flow ◽  
Drag Reduction ◽  
Secondary Flow ◽  
Slip Length ◽  
Laminar Flows ◽  
Superhydrophobic Surfaces ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Effective Slip Length ◽  
Effective Slip

AbstractWe investigate the effects of superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) carrying streamwise grooves on the flow dynamics and the resultant drag reduction in a fully developed turbulent channel flow. The SHS is modelled as a flat boundary with alternating no-slip and free-slip conditions, and a series of direct numerical simulations is performed with systematically changing the spanwise periodicity of the streamwise grooves. In all computations, a constant pressure gradient condition is employed, so that the drag reduction effect is manifested by an increase of the bulk mean velocity. To capture the flow properties that are induced by the non-homogeneous boundary conditions the instantaneous turbulent flow is decomposed into the spatial-mean, coherent and random components. It is observed that the alternating no-slip and free-slip boundary conditions lead to the generation of Prandtl’s second kind of secondary flow characterized by coherent streamwise vortices. A mathematical relationship between the bulk mean velocity and different dynamical contributions, i.e. the effective slip length and additional turbulent losses over slip surfaces, reveals that the increase of the bulk mean velocity is mainly governed by the effective slip length. For a small spanwise periodicity of the streamwise grooves, the effective slip length in a turbulent flow agrees well with the analytical solution for laminar flows. Once the spanwise width of the free-slip area becomes larger than approximately 20 wall units, however, the effective slip length is significantly reduced from the laminar value due to the mixing caused by the underlying turbulence and secondary flow. Based on these results, we develop a simple model that allows estimating the gain due to a SHS in turbulent flows at practically high Reynolds numbers.

Drag Reduction With Superhydrophobic Riblets

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Barbier ◽  
Elliot Jenner ◽  
Brian D’Urso
Keyword(s):  
Drag Reduction ◽  
Rotational Speed ◽  
Slip Length ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Superhydrophobic Surfaces ◽  
Turbulent Regime ◽  
High Rotational Speed ◽  
University Of Pittsburgh ◽  
Oak Ridge ◽  
Nanophase Materials

Samples combining riblets and superhydrophobic surfaces are fabricated at University of Pittsburgh and their drag reduction properties are studied at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) in Oak Ridge National Laboratory with a commercial cone-and-plate rheometer. In parallel to the experiments, numerical simulations are performed in order to estimate the slip length at high rotational speed. For each sample, a drag reduction of at least 5% is observed in both laminar and turbulent regime. At low rotational speed, drag reduction up to 30% is observed with a 1 mm deep grooved sample. As the rotational speed increases, a secondary flow develops causing a slight decrease in drag reductions. However, drag reduction above 15% is still observed for the large grooved samples. In the turbulent regime, the 100 μm grooved sample becomes more efficient than the other samples in drag reduction and manages to sustain a drag reduction above 15%. Using the simulations, the slip length of the 100 μm grooved sample is estimated to be slightly above 100 μm in the turbulent regime.

scholarly journals Variational Nonlinear Optimization in Fluid Dynamics: The Case of a Channel Flow with Superhydrophobic Walls

Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Stefania Cherubini ◽  
Francesco Picella ◽  
Jean-Christophe Robinet
Keyword(s):  
Channel Flow ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Slip Length ◽  
Superhydrophobic Surfaces ◽  
Transition To Turbulence ◽  
Growth Mechanisms ◽  
Boundary Slip ◽  
Optimal Perturbation ◽  
Energy Growth ◽  
Optimal Energy

Variational optimization has been recently applied to nonlinear systems with many degrees of freedom such as shear flows undergoing transition to turbulence. This technique has unveiled powerful energy growth mechanisms able to produce typical coherent structures currently observed in transition and turbulence. However, it is still not clear the extent to which these nonlinear optimal energy growth mechanisms are robust with respect to external disturbances or wall imperfections. Within this framework, this work aims at investigating how nano-roughnesses such as those of superhydrophobic surfaces affect optimal energy growth mechanisms relying on nonlinearity. Nonlinear optimizations have been carried out in a channel flow with no-slip and slippery boundaries, mimicking the presence of superhydrophobic surfaces. For increasing slip length, the energy threshold for obtaining hairpin-like nonlinear optimal perturbations slightly rises, scaling approximately with Re−2.36 no matter the slip length. The corresponding energy gain increases with Re with a slope that reduces with the slip length, being almost halved for the largest slip and Reynolds number considered. This suggests a strong effect of boundary slip on the energy growth of these perturbations. While energy is considerably decreased, the shape of the optimal perturbation barely changes, indicating the robustness of optimal perturbations with respect to wall slip.

scholarly journals Change in drag, apparent slip and optimum air layer thickness for laminar flow over an idealised superhydrophobic surface

2013 ◽  
Vol 727 ◽  
pp. 488-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Busse ◽  
N. D. Sandham ◽  
G. McHale ◽  
M. I. Newton
Keyword(s):  
Drag Reduction ◽  
Mass Flow Rate ◽  
Layer Thickness ◽  
Mass Flow ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Superhydrophobic Surface ◽  
Slip Length ◽  
Apparent Slip ◽  
Viscosity Contrast ◽  
Gas Layer

AbstractAnalytic results are derived for the apparent slip length, the change in drag and the optimum air layer thickness of laminar channel and pipe flow over an idealised superhydrophobic surface, i.e. a gas layer of constant thickness retained on a wall. For a simple Couette flow the gas layer always has a drag reducing effect, and the apparent slip length is positive, assuming that there is a favourable viscosity contrast between liquid and gas. In pressure-driven pipe and channel flow blockage limits the drag reduction caused by the lubricating effects of the gas layer; thus an optimum gas layer thickness can be derived. The values for the change in drag and the apparent slip length are strongly affected by the assumptions made for the flow in the gas phase. The standard assumptions of a constant shear rate in the gas layer or an equal pressure gradient in the gas layer and liquid layer give considerably higher values for the drag reduction and the apparent slip length than an alternative assumption of a vanishing mass flow rate in the gas layer. Similarly, a minimum viscosity contrast of four must be exceeded to achieve drag reduction under the zero mass flow rate assumption whereas the drag can be reduced for a viscosity contrast greater than unity under the conventional assumptions. Thus, traditional formulae from lubrication theory lead to an overestimation of the optimum slip length and drag reduction when applied to superhydrophobic surfaces, where the gas is trapped.

scholarly journals Sustainable Drag Reduction in Turbulent Taylor-Couette Flows by Depositing Sprayable Superhydrophobic Surfaces

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siddarth Srinivasan ◽  
Justin A. Kleingartner ◽  
Jonathan B. Gilbert ◽  
Robert E. Cohen ◽  
Andrew J. B. Milne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drag Reduction ◽  
Superhydrophobic Surfaces ◽  
Taylor Couette

Effects of the air layer of an idealized superhydrophobic surface on the slip length and skin-friction drag

2016 ◽  
Vol 790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taeyong Jung ◽  
Haecheon Choi ◽  
John Kim
Keyword(s):  
Drag Reduction ◽  
Skin Friction ◽  
Superhydrophobic Surface ◽  
Slip Length ◽  
Joint Probability ◽  
Turbulent Channel Flow ◽  
Water Interface ◽  
Friction Drag ◽  
Recirculating Flow ◽  
Air Water Interface

The anisotropy of the slip length and its effect on the skin-friction drag are numerically investigated for a turbulent channel flow with an idealized superhydrophobic surface having an air layer, where the idealized air–water interface is flat and does not contain the surface-tension effect. Inside the air layer, both the shear-driven flow and recirculating flow with zero net mass flow rate are considered. With increasing air-layer thickness, the slip length, slip velocity and percentage of drag reduction increase. It is shown that the slip length is independent of the water flow and depends only on the air-layer geometry. The amount of drag reduction obtained is in between those by the empirical formulae from the streamwise slip only and isotropic slip, indicating that the present air–water interface generates an anisotropic slip, and the streamwise slip length ($b_{x}$) is larger than the spanwise one ($b_{z}$). From the joint probability density function of the slip velocities and velocity gradients at the interface, we confirm the anisotropy of the slip lengths and obtain their relative magnitude ($b_{x}/b_{z}=4$) for the present idealized superhydrophobic surface. It is also shown that the Navier slip model is valid only in the mean sense, and it is generally not applicable to fluctuating quantities.

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