Quote:
Originally posted by Since87
In looking at the info on boat hulls I saw it mentioned repeatedly that surface tension doesn't play any significant role in drag.
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Mhh what i've seen on submarines torpedoes etc. is that they use a special surface treatment, to actually *create* that boundary layer, so that surrounding water will "slip" over a layer of water instead of hitting the hard surface. That surface is like shark skin... rough and hard. There are different approaches though, with "soft skins", dolphin-like, but their surface is really soft and elastic so it's not relevant here.
For me, a hydrophilic material (alu & copper both apply) with a rough surface will trap water molecules and keep em due to viscosity / surface tension. Oh and additives such as WW and others modify those parameters indeed...