European drag-reduction research - recent developments and current status

The recent developments and current status of the drag-reduction research i n Europe are described here with an overview of European Research Community on Flow, Turbulence and Combustion (ERCOFTAC) where a large amount of rese arch work has been coordinated in the last 10 yr. This is followed by the d iscussions of some of the recent results on riblets, compliant coating, dra g reduction in nature, polymer additives and wall oscillation with an empha sis on the drag-reduction mechanisms involved. (C) 2000 The Japan Society o f Fluid Mechanics and Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.