In order to study the drag characteristics of grooved cylinder at subcritical Reynolds number,the drag reduction performance of grooved cylinder is studied by combining numerical simulation with flume test. Three-dimensional numerical simulation of flow field is carried out to determine the optimal simulation parameters. The influence of groove parameters,Reynolds number and angle of attack on the drag reduction are studied. A flume test is designed to reduce the interference of flow around the end face,which verifies the simulation results. The results show that when the Reynolds number is 40 000,the optimal groove parameters are as follows:groove depth 0.0075D,groove width 0.065D,groove number 36. When the angle of attack of V-shaped groove cylinder is 60°~90°,the maximum drag reduction rate can reach 24%,which has a good drag reduction effect. It provides certain reference value for the design and use of the groove cable.