Hierarchical Riblet Structures for Enhanced Drag Reduction and Broader Operational Range in Water Pipelines
Mirvahid Mohammadpour Chehrghani, Jamal Seyyed Monfared Zanjani, Doekle Yntema, David Matthews, Matthijn de Rooij
TL;DR
This paper introduces a new riblet design that reduces drag in water pipelines more effectively under varying flow conditions.
Contribution
The novel Hierarchical Step-shaped Riblet (HSR) design achieves broader drag reduction performance in turbulent pipe flows.
Findings
HSR achieved a peak drag reduction of 11.2% in experiments.
HSR outperformed conventional and hierarchical riblets across a wider range of flow conditions.
Multiscale geometric tuning improved performance in turbulent flows typical of water pipelines.
Abstract
In drinking water distribution systems (DWDS), skin-friction drag in turbulent pipe flows contributes significantly to energy losses. Passive drag-reducing surfaces, such as shark-skin-inspired riblets, have shown promise in controlled environments but often underperform under variable flow conditions. This study addresses this limitation by developing and experimentally evaluating a Hierarchical Step-shaped Riblet (HSR) design aimed at sustaining drag reduction under the variable and fluctuating flow conditions typical of water pipelines. Building on conventional riblets (CR) and hierarchical riblets (HR), the HSR configuration introduces progressively tapered riblet tips to the hierarchical design to reduce shear-exposed surface area while maintaining effective interaction with vortices of varying size. Riblet designs were fabricated using high-resolution 3D printing and tested in…
Genes, proteins, chemicals, diseases, species, mutations and cell lines named across the full text — each resolved to its canonical identifier and authoritative record.
Click any figure to enlarge with its caption.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 17Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsHydrology and Sediment Transport Processes · Fluid Dynamics and Vibration Analysis · Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity