Study on the Anti-Icing of Conical Rotating Spinners with Different Cone Angles

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study on the anti-icing performance of full-scale rotating spinners with different cone angles. The experiments were conducted in a 3 m×2 m ice wind tunnel (IWT), and the spinners were equipped with hot-air anti-icing systems. Three different cone angles (80°, 70°, and 60°) were examined. The surface temperature of the spinners was measured using an infrared (IR) camera, and ice accretion and water film flow were recorded using high-speed cameras. Numerical simulations were also performed to analyze the water collection coefficients and anti-icing heat energy. The results showed that a larger cone-angle spinner has a larger water collection coefficient but a smaller heat-transfer coefficient and total surface area, resulting in better anti-icing performance for the same conditions. Additionally, the results showed that the residual ice on the spinner exhibited small, white, discretely distributed icicles. Furthermore, the surface temperature in the icing region of the 60° spinner was found to be almost equal to the total temperature of the incoming flow, indicating rime-ice accretion even under glaze-ice conditions. This observation can be attributed to the low water collection coefficient in this region.