Abstract
In this study, we experimentally investigate the possibility of skin-friction drag reduction by series of transverse cavities in a turbulent boundary layer flow. The effects of cavity depth (d), cavity length (l) and cavity spacing (s) on the skin friction drag are examined in the range of $Re_{\theta}\;=\;4030\;{\sim}\;7360$, $d/{\theta}_0\;=\;0.13\;{\sim}1.03$, l/d = 1 ~ 4 and s/d = 5 ~ 20. We perform experiments for twenty different cavity geometries and directly measure total drag force using in-house force measurement system. In most cases, the skin friction drag is increased. At several cases, however, small drag reduction is obtained. The variation of the skin ftiction drag is more sensitive to the cavity length than to the cavity depth or cavity spacing, and drag is reduced at $s/l\;{\geq}\;10$ and $l/{\theta}_0\;{\leq}\;0.26$ irrespective of the cavity depth. At $l/\bar{\theta}_0\;=\;0.13$ and s/l = 10, maximum 2% drag reduction is achieved. When the skin friction drag is reduced, there is little interaction between the flows inside and outside cavity, and the flow changed by the cavity is rapidly recovered at the following crest. A stable vortex is formed inside a cavity in the case of drag reduction. This vortex generates negative skin friction drag at the cavity bottom wall. Although there is form drag due to the cavity itself, total drag is reduced due to the negative skin friction drag.
