Dynamic passive control of turbulent drag via subsurface resonant phononic metamaterial

Abstract: This work presents a novel passive control strategy for wall-bounded turbulence using a resonant phononic material (RPM) embedded beneath the surface of a turbulent channel flow. The RPM is modeled as a mass–spring–damper chain tuned to interact with near-wall turbulence. Using a weakly coupled fluid–metamaterial interaction (FMI) framework, we demonstrate that the RPM response passively synchronizes across panels and redistributes spectral energy in the wall pressure, from the prescribed structural resonance frequency, \(\omega^*\), to the corresponding second harmonic component, \(2\omega^*\). This nonlinear coupling leads to transient drag reduction, followed by a decay in surface motion as the system shifts out of resonance. The study highlights key physical mechanisms in RPM–flow coupling and informs future design of passive, energy-efficient flow control surfaces for aerodynamic applications.

Citation: C. T. Lin, V. Ramakrishnan , A. J. Goza, K. H. Matlack, H. J. Bae, "Dynamic passive control of turbulent drag via subsurface resonant phononic metamaterial", AIAA SciTech Forum 2026, p. 4354559 , Orlando, FL, January 12-16, 2026