Bubbly drag reduction accompanied by void wave generation inside turbulent boundary layers

Frictional drag reduction, a technique by which bubbles are injected into the turbulent boundary layer surrounding the hull of a marine vessel, is now at the stage of practical applications. In achieving drag reduction, void waves often stand out naturally, the reason for which still remains unclear. The present study aims at an experimental characterization of void waves along a flat-bottom ship. A 100-m-long water reservoir is used in which a 4-m-long fully transparent experimental model ship, equipped with wall shear stress sensors and cameras, is towed by a train at speeds of up to 3 m/s. From measurements of the transition of the bubble distribution from random to wavy accumulated swarms downstream, the accompanying intrinsic passing frequency of void waves is examined. A 30% drag reduction rate was recorded with the appearance of void waves in the boundary layer at an average void fraction of 4%. This is much greater than the trivial inertia effect from drag reduction. To clarify the characteristics of the measured void waves, we compare the void wave frequency range to those of several flow instabilities that may occur in bubbly two-phase boundary layer flows.