Frictional Drag Reduction with Functional Use of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow Characteristics

Abstract

Drag reduction using bubbles are now in operation for marine vessels, and recorded significant fuel saving. Beside it, fluid mechanics inside high-speed bubbly turbulent boundary layer is highly complex. Efforts by scientists and engineers in Japan straggled in the last 30 years and recently reached the goal. They found further potential of technical improvement with recent experimental discovery on bubbles’ organizing behaviors.