Near Wall Shear Stress Modification Using an Active Piezoelectric Nanowire Surface

The objective of this one year effort is to evaluate a recently developed nanaengineered surface for ns potential in reducing lurbulent drag. The surface under consideration consists of vertically aligned piezoelectric nanowires. which can be actively oscillated by an extemally applied electric field. We hypothesize that when installed as the bounding wall in fluid flow, actuation of wave motion in the cross-flow direction will result in disruption of the formation of drag-inducing coherent structures, thereby leading to a reduction in wall shear stress.