Going against the flow: An experimental investigation into the flow mechanics of dimpled surfaces in turbulent boundary layers

Any reduction in vehicle drag or fluid resistance provides a potential of substantial energy savings, with obvious benefits to the economy, environment and overall industrial competitiveness. Although various experimental studies have confirmed the potential drag reduction of dimpled surfaces in a turbulent boundary layer (BL), the working mechanism behind the effect remains largely unresolved. An experimental investigation is performed with the objective to strengthen the understanding of this novel aerodynamic surface and its interaction with the turbulent BL. Direct force measurements are combined with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Particle Image Surface Flow Visualization (PISFV). The direct force measurements reveal that the drag reduction is highly sensitive on flow conditions, a finding with significant implications for further research as well as for potential applications. Furthermore, the PIV and PISFV measurements reveal a spanwise oscillation at the surface and at 0.2δ due to the interaction of individual dimple flow topologies, which are of the converger-diffuser type. The measurement of this oscillation is the first of its kind and provides strong evidence of a state-of-the-art drag reduction theory: the interaction between dimples causes alternating spanwise excitations of the near-wall flow which interacts with the turbulent coherent structures and therefore leads to a reduction of the turbulent drag. This theory is in contrast to what has often been proposed in literature. Dimples potentially have significant advantages over other means of passive flow control for drag reduction: they are very shallow and therefore do not require complicated cleaning or maintenance procedures, also they are not prone to wear such as riblets. Furthermore, they can easily be (retro)fitted on skin panels. This research provides fundamental data that contributes to the understanding of the flow mechanics of these dimpled surfaces in turbulent BLs.Aerospace EngineeringAerodynamic

An experimental investigation into the flow mechanics of dimpled surfaces in turbulent boundary layers

Although various experimental studies have confirmed the potential drag reducing effect of dimpled surfaces in a turbulent boundary layer, the working mechanism remains largely unresolved. An experimental investigation has been performed with the objective to strengthen the understanding of this aerodynamic surface and its interaction with the turbulent boundary layer. Direct force measurements were combined with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Particle Image Surface Flow Visualization (PISFV). The direct force measurements reveal that the drag reduction is highly sensitive to flow conditions: a finding with significant implications for further research as well as for potential applications. Furthermore, the PIV and PISFV measurements reveal a spanwise oscillation of the flow near the surface due to the interaction of individual dimple flow topologies, which are of the converger-diffuser type. The measurement of this oscillation provides evidence for a novel drag reduction theory: the interaction between dimples causes alternating spanwise excitations of the near-wall flow which interacts with the turbulent coherent structures which leads to a reduction of the turbulent drag.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.AerodynamicsFlight Performance and Propulsio

Flow visualization over drag reducing dimpled surfaces in turbulent boundary layers using Particle Image Velocimetry

Although various experimental studies have confirmed a potential drag reduction of dimpled surfaces in turbulent boundary layers, the working mechanism behind the effect remains largely unresolved. The goal of this experimental study is to reveal the flow structures that could explain this drag reduction. To this end, flow visualizations over drag reducing dimpled surfaces are performed, using planar and stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The PIV measurements show that there is no significant vortex generation in the present dimples, but that instead a converger-diffuser type of flow occurs. It can be therefore concluded that it is not the generation of vortices which causes the drag reduction, in contrast to what has been proposed in literature. Based on the present measurements, a new drag reducing mechanism is proposed: the interaction between dimples causes alternating spanwise excitations of the near-wall flow which interacts with the turbulent coherent structures and leads to a reduction of the turbulent drag.AerodynamicsFlight Performance and Propulsio

Development of an experimental apparatus for flat plate drag measurements and considerations for such measurements

Accurately measuring small changes in aerodynamic drag over a flat surface stands at the core of the development of technologies capable of reducing turbulent friction drag. A wind tunnel drag measurement system was developed which improves significantly on the state of the art. Experimental tests demonstrated that an uncertainty of less than 0.5% of C D at a 95% confidence level was typically achieved, already at drag values below 1 N. This was replicated in two different wind tunnels. A match with literature on riblet performance within 1% of C D was obtained. A crucial aspect of the design is the implementation of a correction for the pressure forces on the streamwise-facing surfaces of the test plate assembly. The flexible architecture of the system in the present realisation makes it suitable for most wind tunnels having a test section width of 400 mm or larger, which allows for accelerated development of turbulent drag reduction concepts from moderate-size low-cost facilities towards flow conditions relevant to the intended industrial application.AerodynamicsAerodynamics, Wind Energy & Propulsio

Experimental and numerical investigation into the drag performance of dimpled surfaces in a turbulent boundary layer

Although several previous studies have reported a potential drag-reducing effect of dimpled surfaces in turbulent boundary layers, there is a lack of replicability across experiments performed by different research groups. To contribute to the dialogue, we scrutinize one of the most studied dimple geometries reported in the literature, which has a dimple diameter of 20 mm and a depth of 0.5 mm. There is no general consensus in literature on the drag-reduction performance of this particular dimple geometry, with some studies suggesting a drag reduction, while others report a drag increase. The present combined experimental and numerical study comprises two sets of wind tunnel experiments and a well-resolved large-eddy simulation. The wind tunnel experiments and the large-eddy simulation both depict a total drag increase of around 1%–2% compared to the flat reference case. This finding agrees with a recent study by Spalart et al. (2019). Furthermore, the present wind tunnel experiments have shed light on a plausible reason behind the discrepancy between the study by Spalart et al. (2019) and earlier results from van Nesselrooij et al. (2016). Lastly, the large-eddy simulation results reveal that the pressure drag is the main contributor to the increase in the total drag of the dimpled surface. We believe that these results will contribute to a new consensus on the drag performance of this dimple geometry.Aerodynamic