Drag reduction study of a microfiber-coated cylinder

Abstract

Drag reduction for a bluff body is imperative in a time of increasing awareness of the environmental impact and sustainability of air travel. Microfiber coating has demonstrated its ability to reduce drag on a bluff body. This was done by applying strips of the coating to a cylinder. To widen the application range of the microfiber coating, a fully microfiber-coated cylinder is studied as it has no directionality relative to incoming flow. It is hypothesized that a large coating coverage will cause a reduction in drag dependent on the Reynolds number Re. The fully microfiber-coated cylinder is studied in a wind tunnel and the drag coefficient is determined at a range of Re in the subcritical-flow regime. It is found that the drag coefficient of the microfiber-coated cylinder is a function of Re, and the critical Reynolds number, where the maximum drag reduction occurs, is lower for a microfiber-coated cylinder compared to that of a conventional smooth-surface cylinder.