Application of neural networks to turbulence control for drag reduction

A new adaptive controller based on a neural network was constructed and applied to turbulent channel flow for drag reduction. A simple control network, which employs blowing and suction at the wall based only on the wall-shear stresses in the spanwise direction, was shown to reduce the skin friction by as much as 20% in direct numerical simulations of a low-Reynolds number turbulent channel flow. Also, a stable pattern was observed in the distribution of weights associated with the neural network. This allowed us to derive a simple control scheme that produced the same amount of drag reduction. This simple control scheme generates optimum wall blowing and suction proportional to a local sum of the wall-shear stress in the spanwise direction. The distribution of corresponding weights is simple and localized, thus making real implementation relatively easy. Turbulence characteristics and relevant practical issues are also discussed.