Experimental Study on Physical Mechanism of Drag Reduction of Hydrophobic Materials in Laminar Flow

We experimentally study the physical mechanism of the drag reduction of hydrophobic materials in the macroscopic scale. The experiment includes the drag and velocity measurements of laminar boundary layer flow over flat plates, and the observation of air bubbles on the surfaces. The plate surfaces have different wetting and roughness properties. In the drag measurements, the plates with bubbles on the surfaces lead to drag reduction, but not for those without bubbles. Velocity measurement confirms that the flow is laminar and gives apparent fluid slip on the plate wall with bubbles. In observation, air bubbles in macroscopic size emerge and enlarge on hydrophobic surfaces but not on hydrophilic surfaces. Therefore, the drag reduction of
hydrophobic materials is explained by the generation of air bubbles of macroscopic size that cause the apparent velocity slip.