Abstract
Experiments conducted on the effect of riblets on the laminar-to-turbulent transition of a flat plate in a water tunnel are reported. Transition was determined using a Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV). A smooth reference surface was compared to five riblet surfaces for a range of Reynolds numbers. Smooth surface transition Reynolds number was about 2.75 × 106. All of the five tested riblet surfaces had lower transition Reynolds numbers. A critical roughness Reynolds number of about 6 was determined for one of the riblet surfaces. This is much lower than the generally accepted value of 25, considered safe for distributed roughness.
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Ladd, D.M., Rohr, J.J., Reidy, L.W. et al. The effect of riblets on laminar to turbulent transition. Experiments in Fluids 14, 1–9 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196981
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196981