UV grafting process for synthetic drag reduction of biomimetic riblet surfaces

Skin–friction drag accounts for a large portion of resistance encountered by water‐based vehicles, such as ships and submarines. Developing drag reduction methods to improve drag reduction performance has drawn worldwide attention recently. UV‐induced polymerization has been investigated as a way to graft the drag reduction agent PAM on to a PVC substrate with a biomimetic riblet surface. The effects of AM concentration and irradiation time on the grafting rate were explored to determine optimal grafting parameters. UV grafting polymerization was clarified by comparing the peak absorption variation of the infrared spectrum before and after grafting. The PAM thin film grafted on riblet surface was measured approximately 10 µm in thickness. A rotating disk apparatus was built to measure the synthetic drag reduction performance. The drag reduction rate of the grafted PAM riblet surface was tested at approximately 14%, higher than the 6% of the traditional riblet surface. Moreover, the excellent drag reduction performance of grafted PDMS riblet surface lasted for 12 days. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42303.