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Due to the limited energy storage of micro underwater vehicles, it is urgent to adopt drag reduction methods to improve their mileage and maneuverability. In view of the drag reduction requirements of micro vehicles, a piezoelectric traveling wave drag reducer (PTWDR) is proposed in this article. The PTWDR can be embedded into the surface of micro vehicles, with the merits of small size, high drag reduction efficiency and low energy consumption. We analyzed the structural changes of turbulent flow field caused by the actuation of PTWDR, and revealed the turbulent drag reduction mechanism. The control parameters selecting method to achieve required drag reduction performance under different operating conditions are proposed. The good drag reduction effects in various regions of the vehicles can be achieved by reasonably arranging PTWDR. The friction drag and total drag experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of PTWDR in achieving drag reduction, and the maximum drag reduction rate can reach 58%. Finally, the energy saving efficiency of PTWDR are studied, and it is confirmed that PTWDR can achieve net energy savings. This study provides an important reference for on-demand active drag reduction and net energy saving of micro vehicles.
Zhang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.