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Turbulent drag in a rotating frame

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2016

Antoine Campagne ,
Nathanaël Machicoane ,
Basile Gallet ,
Pierre-Philippe Cortet  and
Frédéric Moisy
Antoine Campagne
Affiliation:
Laboratoire FAST, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France
Nathanaël Machicoane
Affiliation:
Laboratoire FAST, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France
Basile Gallet*
Affiliation:
Service de Physique de l’État Condensé, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Pierre-Philippe Cortet
Affiliation:
Laboratoire FAST, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France
Frédéric Moisy
Affiliation:
Laboratoire FAST, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

What is the turbulent drag force experienced by an object moving in a rotating fluid? This open and fundamental question can be addressed by measuring the torque needed to drive an impeller at a constant angular velocity ${\it\omega}$ in a water tank mounted on a platform rotating at a rate ${\it\Omega}$. We report a dramatic reduction in drag as ${\it\Omega}$ increases, down to values as low as 12 % of the non-rotating drag. At small Rossby number $Ro={\it\omega}/{\it\Omega}$, the decrease in the drag coefficient $K$ follows the approximate scaling law $K\sim Ro$, which is predicted in the framework of nonlinear inertial-wave interactions and weak-turbulence theory. However, stereoscopic particle image velocimetry measurements indicate that this drag reduction instead originates from a weakening of the turbulence intensity in line with the two-dimensionalization of the large-scale flow.

JFM classification

Geophysical and Geological Flows: Geophysical and Geological Flows Turbulent Flows: Rotating turbulence Turbulent Flows: Turbulent Flows
Type
Rapids
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 794 , 10 May 2016 , R5
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Copyright
© 2016 Cambridge University Press 

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