Previous research has established that surfaces with tiny ribs (riblets) aligned in the streamwise direction can reduce the turbulent wall-shear stress below that of a smooth surface. Typical skin-friction reductions have been found to be about 5%. The results of the present investigation, however, demonstrate a considerable improvement over this value. This improvement is achieved by a systematic experimental optimization which has been guided by theoretical concepts.A key feature of our experiments is the utilization of an oil channel. Previous experiments in wind tunnels had to contend with very small riblet dimensions which typically had a lateral rib spacing of about 0.5 mm or less. By contrast, in our oil channel, the ribs can have a lateral spacing of between about 2 and 10 mm. This increased size of the surface structures enables test surfaces to be manufactured with conventional mechanical methods, and it also enables us to build test surfaces with adjustable geometry. In addition, the Berlin oil channel has a novel shear stress balance with an unprecedented accuracy of ±0.3%. This latter feature is a prerequisite for a systematic experimental optimization.In the present investigation, surfaces with longitudinal ribs and additional slits are studied. The experiments cover a fairly large range of parameters so that the drag reduction potential of a surface with ribs and/or slits is worked out conclusively. A large parameter range is made possible because of the adjustability of the surfaces as well as the automatic operation of the oil channel. In particular, the following tests were run:(i) Shear stress measurements with conventional riblet configurations, i.e. with triangular and semi-circular grooves, have been carried out. These measurements were necessary in order to establish the connection between our oil channel data and previous data from wind tunnels. As was previously established, we found a drag reduction of about 5%.(ii) An adjustable surface with longitudinal blade ribs and with slits was built and tested. Both groove depth and slit width could be varied separately and continuously during the experiment. It turned out, that slits in the surface did not contribute to the drag reduction. Nevertheless, these investigations show how perforated surfaces (e.g. for boundary-layer control) can be designed for minimal parasitic drag. On the other hand, with closed slits, an optimal groove depth for the rib surface could be determined, i.e. half of the lateral rib spacing. For this configuration, we found an 8.7% skin-friction reduction. By carefully eliminating deleterious effects (caused by little gaps, etc.), the skin-friction reduction could be improved to a record value of 9.9%.(iii) A quantitative comparison between theory and experiment was carried out. The theory is based on the assumption that riblets impede the fluctuating turbulent crossflow near the wall. In this way, momentum transfer and shear stress are reduced. The simplified theoretical model proposed by Luchini (1992) is supported by the present experiments.(iv) For technological applications of riblets, e.g. on long-range commercial aircraft, the above thin-blade ribs are not practical. Therefore, we have devised a surface that combines a significantly improved performance (8.2 %) with a geometry which exhibits better durability and enables previously developed manufacturing methods for plastic riblet film production to be used. Our riblet geometry exhibits trapezoidal grooves with wedge-like ribs. The flat floor of the trapezoidal grooves permits an undistorted visibility through the transparent riblet film which is essential for crack inspection on aircraft.

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The viscous sublayer of a turbulent boundary layer on a surface with fine longitudinal ribs (riblets) is investigated theoretically. The mean flow constituent of this viscous flow is considered. Using conformal mapping, the velocity distributions on various surface configurations are calculated. The geometries that were investigated include sawtooth profiles with triangular and trapezoidal grooves as well as profiles with thin blade-shaped ribs, ribs with rounded edges and ribs having sharp ridges and U-shaped grooves. (This latter riblet configuration is also found on the tiny scales of fast sharks.) Our calculations enable us to determine the location of the origin of the velocity profile that lies somewhat below the tips of the ridges. The distance between this origin and the tip of the ridge we call ‘protrusion height’. The upper limit for the protrusion height is found to be 22% of the lateral rib spacing; the coefficient 0.22 being the value of the expression π−1 In 2. This limit is valid for two-dimensional riblet geometries. Analogous experiments with an electrolytic tank are carried out as an additional check on the theoretical calculations. This is also an easy way to determine experimentally the location of the origin of the velocity profile for arbitrary new riblet geometries. A possible connection between protrusion height and drag reduction in a turbulent boundary layer flow is discussed. Finally, the present theory also produces an orthogonal grid pattern above riblet surfaces which may be utilized in future numerical calculations of the whole turbulent boundary layer.

A survey is given on fluid-dynamic effects caused by the structure and properties of biological surfaces. It is demonstrated that the results of investigations aiming at technological applications can also provide insights into biophysical phenomena. Techniques are described both for reducing wall shear stresses and for controlling boundary-layer separation. (a) Wall shear stress reduction was investigated experimentally for various riblet surfaces including a shark skin replica. The latter consists of 800 plastic model scales with compliant anchoring. Hairy surfaces are also considered, and surfaces in which the no-slip condition is modified. Self-cleaning surfaces such as that of lotus leaves represent an interesting option to avoid fluid-dynamic deterioration by the agglomeration of dirt. An example of technological implementation is discussed for riblets in long-range commercial aircraft. (b) Separation control is also an important issue in biology. After a few brief comments on vortex generators, the mechanism of separation control by bird feathers is described in detail. Self-activated movable flaps (= artificial bird feathers) represent a high-lift system enhancing the maximum lift of airfoils by about 20%. This is achieved without perceivable deleterious effects under cruise conditions. Finally, flight experiments on an aircraft with laminar wing and movable flaps are presented.

An axisymmetric hot-air jet discharging into cold ambient air is investigated experimentally. We consider the transitional regime, that is, Reynolds numbers at which the jet is initially laminar. In the first part of the paper it is demonstrated by several different experiments that, for sufficiently low Reynolds number and a ratio of jet exit to ambient density below approximately 0.7, global oscillations of the ‘jet column’ become self-excited, a behaviour which is related to local absolute instability in the potential core region. The onset of the global oscillations is identified as a Hopf bifurcation and two axisymmetric global modes are observed below the critical density ratio. Finally, it is shown that in the (self-excited) limit-cycle regime the spreading of the hot jet is intermittently quite spectacular, with half-angles in excess of 45°. Using flow visualization, this large spreading of low-density jets is related to the generation of strong ‘side jets’ emanating from the jet column.