Exploring Cryogenic Drag Reduction for Laminar Flow Control
ir. M. (Marina) Barahona Lopez
PhD candidate
Prof. dr. M. (Marios) Kotsonis
Full Professor
Green hydrogen is becoming a hot topic in European R&D, offering both challenges and opportunities. One promising and high-impact opportunity is found in an old idea, which can now be revisited through modern methodologies: “Cryogenic Drag Reduction (CDR)”. By routing the onboard liquid hydrogen (LH2) through skin panels, aircraft surfaces like wings and fuselage can be actively cooled. Cooling the adjacent boundary layer flows—which account for nearly 60% of total aircraft drag—alters the near-wall viscosity and helps stabilize the flow. A significant contribution to this drag reduction stems from the existence of a prolonged laminar flow under the action of the cold aerodynamic surfaces.
Marina is investigating the potential of using CDR technology to delay laminar-to-turbulent transition in swept wings – crucial in commercial aviation. The transition process in swept wings is governed by the growth of Stationary Crossflow Instabilities (S-CFI). Whereas S-CFI evolution is well understood in adiabatic (non-cooled) conditions, its development under non-adiabatic (cooled) conditions remains largely unexplored.
Marina’s PhD research focuses on studying the flow and thermal interactions that occur during S-CFI-dominated transitions under cooled wall conditions, aiming to understand how these interactions affect the overall transition process from laminar to turbulent flow. To this end, she combines a multi-disciplinary approach that combines theory, simulations, and experiments.
The images here provide a glimpse into Marina’s experimental work. If you would like to learn more about her research or have any questions, feel free to reach out at m.barahonalopez@tudelft.nl
Barahona, M., A. F., Rius-Vidales, A. F., and Kotsonis, M. (2024). Stability and Transition of Crossflow Vortices under Non-Adiabatic Wall Conditions. In IUTAM 2024 Symposium.
Barahona, M., Rius-Vidales, A. F., Tocci, F., Hein, S., & Kotsonis, M. (2024). The effect of a forward-facing step on Tollmien-Schlichting waves (Under preparation)
Barahona, M., Weijer, T. A. V., Rius-Vidales, A. F., & Kotsonis, M. (2024). Stability of Swept Wing Boundary Layers under Non-Adiabatic Wall Conditions. In AIAA SCITECH 2024 Forum(p. 0695).
Rius-Vidales, A. F., Barahona, M., & Kotsonis, M. (2024). Swept Transition Experimental Platform (STEP). In AIAA Scitech 2024 Forum (p. 0942).
Barahona, M., A. F., Rius-Vidales, A. F., and Kotsonis, M. (2023). Stability and transition of swept boundary layers in cooled wall conditions: commissioning of experiments and initial results. In 15th ERCOFTAC SIG 33 Workshop, Progress in Flow Instability, Transition and Control June 28-30, 2023, Alghero, Sardinia, Italy.
Barahona, M., Rius-Vidales, A. F., Tocci, F., Ziegler, P., Hein, S., & Kotsonis, M. (2022, July). Tollmien-schlichting waves over forward-facing steps: an experimental and numerical study. In 12th International Symposium on Turbulence and Shear Flow Phenomena (TSFP12) (pp. 1-6).
Barahona Lopez, M. (2022). Experimental Study on Tollmien-Schlichting Waves over Forward-Facing Steps: Comparison with Direct Numerical Simulations in Collaboration with DLR.
