The Relationship Between Frictional Resistance and Roughness for Surfaces Smoothed by Sanding

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Abstract
An experimental investigation has been carried out to document and relate the frictional resistance and roughness texture of painted surfaces smoothed by sanding. Hydrodynamic tests were carried out in a towing tank using a flat plate test fixture towed at a Reynolds number ReL range of 2.8×106−5.5×106 based on the plate length and freestream velocity. Results indicate an increase in frictional resistance coefficient CF of up to 7.3% for an unsanded, as-sprayed paint surface compared to a sanded, polished surface. Significant increases in CF were also noted on surfaces sanded with sandpaper as fine as 600-grit as compared to the polished surface. The results show that, for the present surfaces, the centerline average height Ra is sufficient to explain a large majority of the variance in the roughness function ΔU+ in this Reynolds number range.

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