Drag reduction by herringbone riblet texture in direct numerical simulations of turbulent channel flow

Journal Article (2017)
Author(s)

H.O.G. Benschop (TU Delft - Fluid Mechanics)

W. P. Breugem (TU Delft - Multi Phase Systems)

Research Group
Fluid Mechanics
Copyright
© 2017 H.O.G. Benschop, W.P. Breugem
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1080/14685248.2017.1319951
More Info
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Publication Year
2017
Language
English
Copyright
© 2017 H.O.G. Benschop, W.P. Breugem
Research Group
Fluid Mechanics
Issue number
8
Volume number
18
Pages (from-to)
717 - 759
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Abstract

A bird-feather-inspired herringbone riblet texture was investigated for turbulent drag reduction. The texture consists of blade riblets in a converging/diverging or herringbone pattern with spanwise wavelength Λf. The aim is to quantify the drag change for this texture as compared to a smooth wall and to study the underlying mechanisms. To that purpose, direct numerical simulations of turbulent flow in a channel with height Lz were performed. The Fukagata-Iwamoto-Kasagi identity for drag decomposition was extended to textured walls and was used to study the drag change mechanisms. For Λf/Lz ≳ O(10), the herringbone texture behaves similarly to a conventional parallel-riblet texture in yaw: the suppression of turbulent advective transport results in a slight drag reduction of 2%. For Λf/Lz ≲ O(1), the drag increases strongly with a maximum of 73%. This is attributed to enhanced mean and turbulent advection, which results from the strong secondary flow that forms over regions of riblet convergence/divergence. Hence, the employment of convergent/divergent riblets in the texture seems to be detrimental to turbulent drag reduction.