Numerical simulations of turbulent channel flows, with or without additives, are limited in the extent of the Reynolds number Re and Deborah number De. The comparison of such simulations to theories of drag reduction, which are usually derived for asymptotically high Re and De, calls for some care. In this paper we present a study of drag reduction by rodlike polymers in a turbulent channel flow using direct numerical simulation and illustrate how these numerical results should be related to the recently developed theory.
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