Time Resolved PIV Investigation on the Skin Friction Reduction Mechanism of Outer-Layer Vertical Blades Array

The drag reducing efficiency of the outer-layer vertical blades, which were first devised by Hutchins (2003), have been demonstrated by the recent towing tank measurements. From the drag measurement of flat plate with various vertical blades arrays by Park et al. (2011), a maximum 9.6% of reduction of total drag was achieved. The scale of blade geometry is found to be weakly correlated with outer variable of boundary layer. The drag reduction of 2.8% has been also confirmed by the model ship test by An et al. (2014). With a view to enabling the identification of drag reduction mechanism of the outer-layer vertical blades, detailed flow field measurements have been performed using 2D time resolved PIV in this study. It is found that the skin friction reduction effect is varied according to the spanwise position, with 2.73% and 7.95% drag reduction in the blade plane and the blade-in-between plane, respectively. The influence of vertical blades array upon the characteristics of the turbulent coherent structures was analyzed by POD method. It is observed that the vortical structures are cut and deformed by blades array and the skin frictional reduction is closely associated with the subsequent evolution of turbulent structures.