Pumping or drag reduction?

Two types of wall actuation in channel flow are considered: travelling waves of wall deformation (peristalsis) and travelling waves of blowing and suction. The flow response and its mechanisms are analysed using nonlinear and weakly nonlinear computations. We show that both actuations induce a flux in the channel in the absence of an imposed pressure gradient and can thus be characterized as pumping. In the context of flow control, pumping and drag reduction are strongly connected, and we seek to define them properly based on these two actuation examples. Movies showing the flow motion for the two types of actuation are available with the online version of this paper (journals.cambridge.org/FLM).