Reducing drag by controlling wall turbulence

Abstract

Wall turbulence is a critically important phenomenon for any system where fluid flows past an object. Wall turbulence is responsible for 90 per cent of the drag experienced by a large crude tanker, to give just one example. This project aims to investigate novel ways to control wall turbulence by exploiting the presence of recently-discovered large-scale structures. This will lead to significant reductions in the drag and fuel burnt by transport vehicles.

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