Investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (TAPS)

The issue of drag reduction in pipes has already been widely researched and studied. Currently the most popular method for reducing drag in pipes employed commercially is through the use of additives. However, these additives do have drawbacks such as mechanical degradation, altering the chemical a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ashwin Charles, Benedict
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/9448/1/CD8273.pdf
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/9448/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.ump.umpir.9448
record_format eprints
spelling my.ump.umpir.94482021-08-19T04:21:43Z http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/9448/ Investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (TAPS) Ashwin Charles, Benedict TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery The issue of drag reduction in pipes has already been widely researched and studied. Currently the most popular method for reducing drag in pipes employed commercially is through the use of additives. However, these additives do have drawbacks such as mechanical degradation, altering the chemical and physical properties of the fluid they inhabit as well as being toxic and non-biodegradable for the most part. This has spurred new research aimed to exploring more nature friendly, non-additive means of drag reduction. Among these techniques the most popular ones include riblets, dimples,oscillating walls, compliant surfaces and microbubles but each of these techniques have their respective drawbacks especially when considered for drag reduction in pipes. The present study introduces a novel non-additive technique that employs narrow strips of flexible elastic material in an arrangement mimicking the tentacles of a squid. This form of biomimickry has been frequent among the non-additive methods mentioned previously. The device which has been named the Turbulence Altering Pseudo-Surface (TAPS) consisted of 12 strips of elastic material (neoprene and silicone were tested in this study) of varying lengths of 0.2m, 0.3m, 0.4m, 0.5m, 0.6m and 0.7m with 0.005m width and 0.003m thickness each. The %DR was measured across 4 different testing section lengths, 0.5m, 1.0m, 1.5m and 2.0m spans. The flowrates tested were 6.0m /h, 6.5m 3/h, 7.0m 3/h,.5m 3/h, 8.0m 3/h, 8.5m 3/h, 9.0m 3/h and 9.5m 3/h. The results of the series of experiments carried out were both stimulating and intriguing. On one hand, the maximum %DR achieved is 65% with TAPS made of 0.6m strips of neoprene, but this is followed by an immediately negative pressure gradient change across the consecutive testing sections. On the other hand for TAPS made of 0.7m silicone strips, there is a peak recorded at 42.7% DR with considerable persistence of effect further downstream across the proceeding testing sections. These results raise a perplexing question of whether a localized high %DR is preferred or if a smaller but persisitent effect is better for flow improvement purposes. Whichever the case, this research has profound and important implications for the future of drag reduction in pipes as it has dispelled one of the age old myths, that reducing the effective pipe diameter always results in an increase in drag. There is immense potential in this field of research and plenty of room for improvement in future works. 2014-04 Thesis NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/9448/1/CD8273.pdf Ashwin Charles, Benedict (2014) Investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (TAPS). Masters thesis, Universiti Malaysia Pahang.
institution Universiti Malaysia Pahang
building UMP Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaysia Pahang
content_source UMP Institutional Repository
url_provider http://umpir.ump.edu.my/
language English
topic TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
spellingShingle TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Ashwin Charles, Benedict
Investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (TAPS)
description The issue of drag reduction in pipes has already been widely researched and studied. Currently the most popular method for reducing drag in pipes employed commercially is through the use of additives. However, these additives do have drawbacks such as mechanical degradation, altering the chemical and physical properties of the fluid they inhabit as well as being toxic and non-biodegradable for the most part. This has spurred new research aimed to exploring more nature friendly, non-additive means of drag reduction. Among these techniques the most popular ones include riblets, dimples,oscillating walls, compliant surfaces and microbubles but each of these techniques have their respective drawbacks especially when considered for drag reduction in pipes. The present study introduces a novel non-additive technique that employs narrow strips of flexible elastic material in an arrangement mimicking the tentacles of a squid. This form of biomimickry has been frequent among the non-additive methods mentioned previously. The device which has been named the Turbulence Altering Pseudo-Surface (TAPS) consisted of 12 strips of elastic material (neoprene and silicone were tested in this study) of varying lengths of 0.2m, 0.3m, 0.4m, 0.5m, 0.6m and 0.7m with 0.005m width and 0.003m thickness each. The %DR was measured across 4 different testing section lengths, 0.5m, 1.0m, 1.5m and 2.0m spans. The flowrates tested were 6.0m /h, 6.5m 3/h, 7.0m 3/h,.5m 3/h, 8.0m 3/h, 8.5m 3/h, 9.0m 3/h and 9.5m 3/h. The results of the series of experiments carried out were both stimulating and intriguing. On one hand, the maximum %DR achieved is 65% with TAPS made of 0.6m strips of neoprene, but this is followed by an immediately negative pressure gradient change across the consecutive testing sections. On the other hand for TAPS made of 0.7m silicone strips, there is a peak recorded at 42.7% DR with considerable persistence of effect further downstream across the proceeding testing sections. These results raise a perplexing question of whether a localized high %DR is preferred or if a smaller but persisitent effect is better for flow improvement purposes. Whichever the case, this research has profound and important implications for the future of drag reduction in pipes as it has dispelled one of the age old myths, that reducing the effective pipe diameter always results in an increase in drag. There is immense potential in this field of research and plenty of room for improvement in future works.
format Thesis
author Ashwin Charles, Benedict
author_facet Ashwin Charles, Benedict
author_sort Ashwin Charles, Benedict
title Investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (TAPS)
title_short Investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (TAPS)
title_full Investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (TAPS)
title_fullStr Investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (TAPS)
title_full_unstemmed Investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (TAPS)
title_sort investigating drag reduction using turbolence altering pseudo-surface (taps)
publishDate 2014
url http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/9448/1/CD8273.pdf
http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/9448/
_version_ 1709667567354773504
score 13.211869