2004/06/30 by Victor S. L’vov, Victor S. L'vov, Anna Pomyalov +2 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Fluid Dynamics and Mixing #Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows #Particle Dynamics in Fluid Flows #nlin.CD #physics.flu-dyn
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.94.174502
published as Phys. Rev. Letts., v. 94, 174502, (2005). · 4 pages, 2 figs., included, PRL submitted
arxiv created 2004/07/09 · openalex publication_date 2005/05/06 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Drag reduction by microbubbles is a promising engineering method for improving ship performance. A fundamental theory of the phenomenon is lacking, however, making actual design quite haphazard. We offer here a theory of drag reduction by microbubbles in the limit of very small bubbles, when the effect of the bubbles is mainly to normalize the density and the viscosity of the carrier fluid. The theory culminates with a prediction of the degree of drag reduction given the concentration profile of the bubbles. Comparisons with experiments are discussed and the road ahead is sketched.