Molecular dynamics study on drag reduction mechanism of active gas layer at micro/nano fluid-solid interfaces

ZHANG Yanru; GAO Xiang; NING Hongyang; ZHANG Fujian; SONG Yunyun; ZHANG Zhongqiang; LIU Zhen

doi:10.7498/aps.74.20250289

Abstract

Friction resistance is the primary factor influencing the energy consumption and speed of underwater vehicles. Active air layer drag reduction is an active boundary layer control technique that reduces wall friction drag by injecting gas into the solid-liquid boundary layer. Compared with other drag reduction methods, which are often difficult to scale due to high costs and potential environmental concerns, this technology utilizes a simple auxiliary device. By employing inexpensive and environmentally friendly compressed air or combustion exhaust gases, it effectively lowers fluid resistance. Therefore, active drag reduction technology plays a crucial role in minimizing friction and enhancing overall performance. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations are used to construct a Couette flow shear model, with gas injected at the boundaries of a nanochannel. The flow characteristics and boundary drag reduction of Couette flow in a nanochannel is investigated in this work. The influence of gas injection on these characteristics is examined, along with the effects of surface wettability, shear velocity, and gas injection rate on boundary slip velocity and drag reduction. The results indicate that the gas adsorption on the solid surface in the form of discrete bubbles hinders liquid flowing and slipping near the wall, leading to the increase of drag. However, increasing surface hydrophobicity, shear rate, and gas injection rate facilitates the transverse spreading of bubbles, reduces flow obstruction, and enhances slip. Additionally, these factors promote the formation of a continuous gas layer from discrete bubbles, further improving drag reduction. Once the gas layer forms, shear stress decreases significantly, and slip velocity varies with surface wettability, shear velocity, and gas injection rate. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for developing the active gas layer drag reduction technology and optimizing the surface structures in ships and underwater vehicles.

Keywords:

Authors and contacts

1.
School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
2.
School of Ship and Ocean Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212003, China

Corresponding author: ZHANG Zhongqiang, zhangzq@ujs.edu.cn ; LIU Zhen, liuzhen@just.edu.cn

Funds: Project supported by the Key Development Program for Frontier Technologies of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant No. BF2024047) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12272151, 52005222, 92248301).

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References

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Cited By

图 1 (a) Couette流剪切流动及通气系统模型示意图; (b) 模型主要尺寸; (c) 不同边界条件下气体形态图

Figure 1. (a) Schematic diagram of Couette flow shear flow and ventilation system model; (b) main dimensions of the model; (c) gas morphology diagram under different boundary conditions.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 2 不同固-气耦合强度下, (a)气体形态图, 以及(b), (c)液体原子速度轮廓图, 其中(b)气泡, (c)气膜

Figure 2. (a) Gas morphology and (b), (c) liquid atomic velocity profiles under different solid-gas interaction strengths, where (b) represents bubbles and (c) represents the gas layer.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 3 不同固-气耦合强度下, (a)边界滑移速度变化图和(b) 剪切应力变化图

Figure 3. Boundary slip velocity (a) and shear stress (b) under different solid-gas interaction strengths.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 4 不同固-气相互作用强度下的密度分布图　(a)无气体; (b)气泡; (c)气膜

Figure 4. Density distribution under different solid-gas interaction strengths: (a) Without gas; (b) with bubble; (c) with gas layer.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 5 不同剪切速度下, (a) 气体形态图, (b) 边界滑移速度和剪切应力图, 以及(c) 液体原子密度分布图

Figure 5. (a) Gas morphology, (b) boundary slip velocity and shear stress, and (c) liquid atomic density distribution in the bubbles state under different shear velocities.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 6 形成气膜后不同剪切速度下, (a) 气体形态图和(b) 液体原子速度轮廓图(其中半透明的线条为对照的无气体通入时的液体原子速度)

Figure 6. (a) Gas morphology and (b) liquid atomic velocity profile under different shear velocities after the formation of gas layer. In panel (b), the translucent lines represent the liquid atomic velocity without gas injection for comparison.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 7 不同剪切速度下, (a) 边界滑移速度图、(b) 剪切应力图和(c) 液体原子速度轮廓图(气膜)

Figure 7. (a) Boundary slip velocity, (b) shear stress, and (c) liquid atomic velocity profile in the gas layer state under different shear velocities.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 8 通入不同气体原子数量时, (a) 气体形态图、(b) 液体原子速度轮廓、(c) 边界滑移速度及剪切应力图和(d) 液体原子密度分布图

Figure 8. (a) Gas morphology, (b) liquid atomic velocity profile, (c) boundary slip velocity and shear stress, and (d) liquid atomic density distribution in the bubbles state under different numbers of injected gas atoms.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

图 9 通入不同气体原子数量时, (a)气体形态图、(b)液体原子速度轮廓、(c)边界滑移速度及剪切应力图和(d) 液体原子密度分布图(气膜)

Figure 9. (a) Gas morphology, (b) liquid atomic velocity profile, (c) boundary slip velocity and shear stress, and (d) liquid atomic density distribution in the gas layer state under different numbers of injected gas atoms.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

表 1 三相相互作用势能参数

Table 1. Potential energy parameter of three-phase interaction.

两相类型 ε/(k_BT )/(kcal·mol^–1) σ/Å

固-固 1.2 3.4

液-液 1.2 3.4

气-气 0.4 5.0

固-液 0.7 3.4

固-气 1.0 4.2

液-气 0.4 4.488

DownLoad: CSV

[1]	Sindagi S, Vijayakumar R 2021 Ships Offshore Struct. 16 968 Google Scholar
[2]	Fu Y F, Yuan C Q, Bai X Q 2017 Biosurf. Biotribol. 3 11 Google Scholar
[3]	Ceccio S L 2010 Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 42 183 Google Scholar
[4]	康晓宣, 胡建新, 林昭武, 潘定一 2023 力学学报 55 1087 Google Scholar Kang X X, Hu J X, Lin Z W, Pan D Y 2023 Chin. J. Theor. Appl. Mech. 55 1087 Google Scholar
[5]	李芳, 赵刚, 刘维新, 张殊, 毕红时 2015 物理学报 64 034703 Google Scholar Li F, Zhao G, Liu W X, Zhang S, Bi H S 2015 Acta Phys. Sin. 64 034703 Google Scholar
[6]	张晨远, 张智嘉, 丛巍巍, 魏浩, 张松松 2023 化学通报 86 863 Google Scholar Zhang C Y, Zhang Z J, Cong W W, Wei H, Zhang S S 2023 Chemistry 86 863 Google Scholar
[7]	Pakzad H, Liravi M, Moosavi A, Nouri B A, Najafkhani H 2020 Appl. Sur. Sci. 513 145754 Google Scholar
[8]	Yue P P, Zhang M, Zhao T, Liu P, Peng F, Yang L Q 2024 Ind. Crop. Prod. 214 118523 Google Scholar
[9]	Makiharju S A, Perlin M, Ceccio S L 2012 Int. J. Nav. Arch. Ocean 4 412 Google Scholar
[10]	McCormick M E, Bhattacharyya R 1973 Naval Engineers Journal 85 11 Google Scholar
[11]	Kumagai I, Takahashi Y, Murai Y 2015 Ocean Eng. 95 183 Google Scholar
[12]	Gao Q D, Lu J S, Zhang G L, Zhang J W, Wu W F, Deng J J 2023 Ocean Eng. 272 113804 Google Scholar
[13]	Zhao X J, Zong Z 2022 Ocean Eng. 251 111032 Google Scholar
[14]	Tanaka T, Oishi Y, Park H J, Tasaka Y, Murai Y, Kawakita C 2023 Ocean Eng. 272 113807 Google Scholar
[15]	Samuel A, Jia W D, Ou M X, Wang P, Gong C 2019 Appl. Eng. Agric. 35 795 Google Scholar
[16]	Dabbour M, He R H, Mintah B, Ma H L 2019 J. Food Process Eng. 42 e13084 Google Scholar
[17]	Jiang Y, Li H, Hua L, Zhang D M 2020 Biosyst. Eng. 193 216 Google Scholar
[18]	张鹏, 张彦如, 张福建, 刘珍, 张忠强 2024 物理学报 73 154701 Google Scholar Zhang P, Zhang Y R, Zhang F J, Liu Z, Zhang Z Q 2024 Acta Phys. Sin. 73 154701 Google Scholar
[19]	刘汉伦, 张忠强, 郝茂磊, 程广贵, 丁建宁 2018 气体物理 3 32 Google Scholar Liu H L, Zhang Z Q, Hao M L, Cheng G G, Ding J N 2018 Phys. Gases 3 32 Google Scholar
[20]	Killian B, Alizée D, Thierry C, Paul L, Laurent V, Jean-François M 2025 Comput. Phys. Commun. 307 109427 Google Scholar
[21]	Weijs J H, Snoeijer J H, Lohse D 2012 Phys. Rev. Lett. 108 104501 Google Scholar
[22]	Mustafa O, Sophia J, Ali B, Adam A W 2025 Int. Commun. Heat Mass 163 108658 Google Scholar
[23]	Meng J Q, Wang J, Wang L J, Lyu C H, Lyu Y P, Nie B H 2024 Colloid. Surf. A 684 133126 Google Scholar
[24]	Qiu H, Guo W L 2019 J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 10 6316.Google Scholar
[25]	Yang J H, Yuan Q Z, Zhao Y P 2019 Sci. China Phys. Mech. 62 124611 Google Scholar
[26]	García-Magariño A, Lopez-Gavilan P, Sor S, Terroba F 2023 J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 11 1315 Google Scholar
[27]	Kitagawa A, Denissenko P, Murai Y 2019 Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 104 141 Google Scholar
[28]	Tang S, Zhu Y, Yuan S 2023 J. Bionic Eng. 20 2797 Google Scholar
[29]	Hu H, Wang D, Ren F, Bao L, Priezjev N V, Wen J 2018 Int. J. Multiphase Flow 104 166 Google Scholar
[30]	吕鹏宇, 薛亚辉, 段慧玲 2016 力学进展 46 179 Google Scholar Lyu P Y, Xue Y H, Duan H L 2016 Adv. Mech. 46 179 Google Scholar

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