Focus on Bioinspired Textured Surfaces toward Fluid Drag Reduction: Recent Progresses and Challenges

After a long period of biological evolution, natural creatures will inevitably evolve body surfaces suitable for the living environment. The functions of natural biological surfaces are abundant and powerful, including antiadhesion, self‐cleaning, drag reduction, anti‐icing, wear resistance, and other characteristics. In the context of coping with the energy crisis, inspired by natural biological surface microstructures, researchers explore biomimetic surface microstructures that reduce fluid drag and investigate the mechanisms of drag reduction. Herein, mainly the current state of research on biomimetic textured surfaces that can be applied to fluid drag reduction is reviewed and the microstructures’ morphology, drag reduction mechanisms, and the fabrication techniques of textured surfaces are discussed in detail. In particular, the experimental methods for measuring the drag reduction effect of textured surfaces are introduced, which is extremely rare. The article concludes with a summary of existing problems and future directions in the research of biomimetic surface drag reduction technology. This Review can provide a reference for practical application and laboratory research of drag reduction in marine transportation, military weapons, aviation, and pipeline systems.