Study on Drag Reduction of Ti6Al4V with Different Shaped Microstructures via Femtosecond Laser Processing

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Aerodynamics
• Surface Engineering

Background:

• Aerodynamic drag reduction is crucial for enhancing the performance of Ti6Al4V components.
• Surface microstructures can manipulate boundary layer flow to reduce drag.
• Femtosecond laser processing offers high precision for fabricating microstructures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate femtosecond laser processing for creating drag-reducing microstructures on Ti6Al4V.
• To design and simulate V-shaped, U-shaped, and rectangular micro-grooves.
• To optimize processing parameters for high-performance microstructures.

Main Methods:

• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to elucidate drag-reduction mechanisms.
• Single-factor experiments to study the effects of laser process parameters.
• Response Surface Methodology (RSM) for optimizing groove dimensions and processing parameters.

Main Results:

• V-shaped grooves achieved a peak drag reduction of 13.1% at h+=15 and aspect ratio 1.
• Optimized processing yielded consistent V-shaped groove arrays (width 55.9 μm, depth 55.5 μm) with minimal heat-affected zones.
• CFD simulations confirmed drag reduction via low-velocity zones and secondary vortices.

Conclusions:

• Femtosecond laser processing is effective for fabricating high-performance drag-reduction microstructures on Ti6Al4V.
• V-shaped grooves demonstrate significant potential for aerodynamic drag reduction.
• Optimized parameters ensure precise manufacturing of consistent microgroove arrays.