Improved Taylor analogy breakup and Clark models for droplet deformation prediction

Abstract

The deformation of rain droplet at the leading edge of a wing is critical to the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft under heavy rainfall and icing conditions. This study introduces the improvement of the Taylor analogy breakup and Clark models for prediction of droplet deformation near the leading edge of an airfoil. The slip velocity is considered as time-variant in the improved Taylor analogy breakup model. The viscous force is optimized in the improved Clark model. The prediction results suggest that the Clark models predict better results than the Taylor analogy breakup models. Besides, the improved Clark model has the highest prediction accuracy. However, considering the Clark model is derived based on a two-dimensional model, even the improved model still has some unavoidable deviations from the real situation. In addition, the simplified surface area in the surface tension force and the approximation of the pressure force in the original Clark model are very effective, thus are kept the same in the improved Clark model.