Turbulent drag reduction by passive mechanisms

In many situations involving flows of high Reynolds number (where inertial forces dominate over viscous forces), such as aircraft flight and the pipeline transportation of fuels, turbulent drag is an important factor limiting performance. This has led to an extensive search for both active and passive methods for drag reduction1. Here we report the results of a series of wind-tunnel experiments that demonstrate a passive means of effectively controlling turbulence in channel flow. Our approach involves the introduction of specified patterns of protrusions on the confining walls, which interact with the coherent, energy-bearing eddy structures in the wall region, and so influence the rate at which energy is dissipated in the turbulent flow. We show that relatively small changes in the arrangement of these protrusions can alter the response of the system from one of drag decrease to increased mixing (drag enhancement).