Ice Accretion Research Articles

Numerical simulation of ice accretion on helicopter rotor blades with trailing edge flap

PurposeThis paper aims to describe a numerical simulation method of ice accretion on BO105 helicopter blades for predicting the effects of trailing edge flap deflection on ice accretion.Design/methodology/approachA numerical simulation method of ice accretion is established based on Myers model. Next, the shape and location of ice accretion of NACA0012 airfoil are calculated, and a comparison between calculated results and experimental data is made to validate the method. This method is used to investigate the effect of trailing edge flap deflection on ice accretion of a rotor blade.FindingsThe numerical method is feasible and effective to study the ice accretion on helicopter rotor blades. The downward deflection of the trailing edge flap affects the shape of the ice.Practical implicationsThis method can be further used to predict the ice accretion in actual flights of the helicopters with multielement airfoils.Originality/valueThe numerical simulation method here can lay a foundation of the research about helicopter flight performance in icing condition through predicting the shape and location of ice accretion on rotor blades.

Chemical Mapping of Temperate Sub-Neptune Atmospheres: Constraining the Deep Interior H2O/H2 Ratio from the Atmospheric CO2/CH4 Ratio

Understanding the planetary envelope composition of sub-Neptune-type exoplanets is challenging due to the inherent degeneracy in their interior composition scenarios. Particularly, the planetary envelope’s H2O/H2 ratio, which can also be expressed as the O/H ratio, provides crucial insights into its original location relative to the ice line during planetary formation. Using self-consistent radiative transfer modeling and a rate-based automatic chemical network generator combined with 1D photochemical kinetic-transport atmospheric modeling, we investigate various atmospheric scenarios of temperate sub-Neptunes, ranging from H2-dominated to H2O-dominated atmospheres with equilibrium temperatures (T eq) of 250—400 K. This study includes examples such as K2-18 b (T eq = 255 K), LP 791-18 c (T eq = 324 K), and TOI-270 d (T eq = 354 K). Our models indicate that the atmospheric CO2/CH4 ratio can be used to infer the deep interior H2O/H2 ratio. Applying this method to recent JWST observations, our findings suggest that K2-18 b likely has an interior that is 50% highly enriched in water, exceeding the water content in a 100 × Z ⊙ scenario and suggesting a planetary formation mechanism involving substantial accretion of ices. In contrast, our model suggests that approximately 25% of TOI-270 d’s interior is composed of H2O, which aligns with the conventional metallicity framework with a metallicity higher than 100 × Z ⊙. Furthermore, our models identify carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) as strong indicators for temperate sub-Neptunes with at least 10% of their interior composed of water. These results provide a method to delineate the internal composition and formation mechanisms of temperate sub-Neptunes (T eq < ∼ 500 K) via atmospheric characterization through transmission spectroscopy.

Elucidation of aerodynamic characteristics due to ice accretion on multi-mw wind turbine blade

Elucidation of aerodynamic characteristics due to ice accretion on multi-mw wind turbine blade

Dynamic response of a transmission conductor following delayed ice shedding by reduced-scale model test

Ice shedding on conductors of transmission lines can induce severe vertical vibrations and abrupt tension changes, potentially causing structural damage and power outages. Prior experiments and numerical simulations assumed that ice sheds instantaneously from transmission lines, neglecting the practical delays in the ice shedding process, which resulted in unrealistic conductor dynamic responses. This study introduces a reduced-scale modeling system designed to simulate delayed ice shedding on conductors. The jump height and dynamic tension of an isolated-span transmission line following delayed ice shedding are analyzed, and various factors such as the two-dimensional delay duration, shedding sequence, and weight of ice accretion are examined through reduced-scale model tests. Based on the experimental data, simplified formulas are proposed to calculate the conductor's jump height and maximum tension after ice shedding by taking the time delay of the shedding process into account.

De-icing behavior and efficiency of electrothermal film surfaces with different non-wettability in low-temperature flow field

The electrothermal anti-/de-icing technology with excellent de-icing efficiency has been widely applied to eliminate the icing threat on airfoil, whose essence is heat transfer process between heating surface and ice. However, the heat transfer behavior and interfacial transformation form of ice accretion are indistinct on traditional non-superhydrophobic surfaces and rapidly-developed superhydrophobic surfaces in the low-temperature flow field. Therefore, the heat transfer and solid-ice interface transform behavior on film heater surface were explored in this work by analyzing the temperature-rising performance and de-icing characteristics of hydrophobic films (HPoF) and superhydrophobic films (SHPoF) in the icing wind tunnel. The results indicated that the faster wind speed enhanced the convection and radiant heat loss of the film heater, and the peak temperature of film heater was directly affected by the environment temperature. Moreover, the SHPoF had lower de-icing consumption than HPoF in an environment without wind field, which was less related to the ice accretion. However, the de-icing form transformed from shearing to shedding mode with the growth of ice accretion under wind field conditions. In the shearing de-icing mode, the lower environment temperature and faster wind speed caused longer de-icing time, whereas the deicing time shortened with the decrease of environment temperature in the shedding mode. When the icing time was 1 min, the de-icing time of SHPoF increased by 12.25%–25.73 % due to the slower heat transfer at the solid-gas-ice interface compared to the solid-liquid-ice interface of HPoF. With the further increase of icing time, the ice accretion was removed after the melt of interfacial ice. The less solid-ice contact points were present at the solid-gas-ice interface on SHPoF surfaces, resulting in energy saving of 20.16%–40.46 % compared to HPoF surfaces. Therefore, the electrothermal superhydrophobic de-icing technology exhibited energy-efficient characteristics when the self-weight of ice is the primary driving force for de-icing process.

Investigating the effect of deicing parameters using high-pressure water jet

Maritime operations are impacted by ice accretion on decks, bulkheads, and offshore structures during the winter or in extremely frigid climates. In most cases, the traditional method of deicing maritime vessels is human labor, which requires enormous effort and lengthy hours for unsatisfactory results, particularly when the ice adhesion strength is high. This study experimentally examined combined effects of operational parameters, including operating pump pressure, nozzle geometry, water jet temperature, standoff distance, and time of cut, on the depth and width of a cut through an ice block. In comparison to other parameters, the influence of nozzle geometry on both the width and depth of cut was found to be more significant, with R-squared values of 85% and 62% respectively. Increasing the depth and width of the cut facilitated the delamination and disintegration of ice from an aluminum mold. This indicates that water jet deicing on maritime vessels could be effective, therefore achieving the objective of this study. The optimization of operational parameters is used to develop a cuttability chart for various thicknesses of accumulated ice on marine vessels.

Effects of Wind Speed and Heat Flux on De-Icing Characteristics of Wind Turbine Blade Airfoil Surface

The icing on wind turbines reduces their aerodynamic performance and can cause other safety issues. Accordingly, in this paper, the de-icing characteristics of a wind turbine blade airfoil under different conditions are investigated using numerical simulation. The findings indicate that when the de-icing time is 10 s, the peak ice thickness on the leading edge of the airfoil surface decreases from 0.28 mm to 0.068 mm and from 0.77 mm to 0.45 mm at low (5 m/s) and high (15 m/s) wind speeds, respectively. This is due to the fact that the ice melting rate is much greater than the icing rate at low wind speeds, while the icing rate increases at high wind speeds. When the de-icing time is 20 s, ice accretion on the leading edge of the airfoil is completely melted. At a low heat flux (8000 W/m2) and high heat flux (12,000 W/m2), the peak ice thickness decreases by 31.2% and 64.9%, respectively. With an increase in de-icing time and heat flux, the peak thickness of runback ice increases. This is due to an increase in runback ice as a result of more ice melting on the leading edge of the airfoil. The surface temperature in the ice-free area is significantly higher than that in the ice-melting area, due to high thermal resistance in the ice-free area. This study will provide guidance for the thermal distribution and coating layout of a wind turbine blade airfoil to make the anti-/de-icing technology more efficient and energy-saving.

An analytical model for ice accretion on the engine strut surface

To predict flight icing more widely and practically, an ice accretion numerical framework that incorporates both the water droplet splash and the ice crystal sticking is developed. By proposing a deformation hypothesis, we deduce the modified energy conservation expression and the force balance relation for water droplet impingement. Subsequently, a new threshold determination and the probabilities for the droplet splash and ice crystal sticking are obtained, which are applicative across a wide range of Weber number after the validation. Through the interface tracking for a single droplet with the volume of fluid method, the droplet impingement dynamics are further explored, and the results of interaction with the wall serve the boundary treatments of droplet impingement in the discrete phase model. Additionally, the probability statistics method is employed to determine the parameters of the secondary droplets. Through the dynamic mesh technique, the retentive water droplets and the collected ice crystals are transformed into the accumulated ice in real time to update the ice accretion on the strut surface. Results demonstrate that the diameter, velocity, and content of droplets or crystals play significant roles in the impingement and the icing phenomena. Based on our numerical model, the predictions show that the ice accretion on the engine strut is influenced by flight parameters and environmental conditions, providing crucial guidance for the icing protection processes.

Numerical study of the effects of discontinuous ice on three-dimensional wings

Ice accretion has adverse effects on aircraft, so it is very important to study the flow field of iced wings. Unlike previous studies that typically focused on continuous ice, this paper conducts a numerical study of the flow field around discontinuous ice. A modified laminar-turbulent transition model that incorporates large separation correction is employed for the study of discontinuous ice. An iced swept wing was chosen to validate the modified model's capability in predicting aerodynamic performance. The impact of discontinuous ice on both straight and swept wings was studied. For the straight wing, the effect of discontinuous ice with different gap widths on aerodynamic characteristics was investigated. The results show that the reduction in lift caused by discontinuous ice is typically lower than that caused by continuous ice. However, at angles of attack less than 7°, small-gap discontinuous ice causes more substantial reductions in lift compared to continuous ice. This is because small-gap ice causes greater separation at the leading edge, significantly reducing the suction peak of pressure. For the swept wing, the effect of sweep on discontinuous ice was studied. It was found that the swept effect causes asymmetric separation behind the ice shape. At higher angles of attack (greater than 4°), the impact of different ice configurations on lift shows an opposite trend on swept wings compared to straight wings.

Parametric investigation of aerodynamic performance degradation due to icing on a symmetrical airfoil

Ice accretion on lifting surfaces induces an aerodynamic penalty in lift and drag on an aircraft. This performance degradation depends on the geometric features, type, and surface characteristics of the accreted ice on the airfoil. In the present work, we propose a set of two-parameter, low-order models to represent some of the typical ice topologies: glaze, rime, and horn. The parametric space is swept for all types of ice to isolate the aerodynamic changes causing performance degradation on a canonical symmetrical airfoil, which is the representative airfoil used by the National Research Council of Canada's platform for ice accretion and coatings tests with ultrasonic readings platform for in-flight icing tests. The three ice topologies show a self-similar trend between the stall angle of attack and the ice thickness, with the horn-type of ice imparting the greatest drag and lift penalty due to strong boundary layer separation. The relative effect of ice roughness plays a secondary role in performance degradation, and in some cases, the roughness causes a thicker and more resilient boundary layer, which can, under very specific icing conditions, enhance the aerodynamic performance.

Modeling two-dimensional ice shape based on fractal interpolation

The ice accretion data obtained from ice wind tunnel tests reveal a multiscale structure and rough surface. In the follow-up aerodynamic evaluation of icing airfoils, simplified two-dimensional ice shapes are generally used as substitutes, but this simplification changes the aerodynamic effects of the original ice shape. Therefore, finding a simple and effective two-dimensional ice shape simulation method is urgent. Due to the self-similarity characteristics of ice shape surfaces, fractal interpolation is proposed for ice shape simulation. First, the geometric characteristics of the ice shapes are analyzed to determine interpolation points, and an iterative function system is constructed for interpolation simulation. Considering the influence of various characteristics of ice shapes on aerodynamics, interpolation parameters are limited to simulating more realistic ice shapes. High-order numerical simulation methods were utilized to numerically simulate and analyze the aerodynamic characteristics of icing airfoil while also verifying the feasibility of fractal interpolation for simulating ice shapes. The analysis revealed that this method could effectively simulate ice profiles of various feature scales with minimal ice shape data. These simulated shapes closely resemble real ice formations and maintain the original aerodynamic characteristics of the icing airfoil. This method can be used to improve the computational accuracy of ice accretion codes and provide improvement strategies for complex ice shape prediction; thus, this method has great application prospects in engineering.

Multifunctional polyurethane-based coating with corrosion resistance and anti-icing performance for AA2024-T3 alloy protection

In this study, we present the development of advanced anticorrosive icephobic coatings tailored for AA2024-T3 surfaces. These coatings were engineered using polyurethane, incorporating fluoropolyol and isocyanate modified with hydroxyl-terminated silicone oil and fluoroalkyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (F-POSS) particles. Surface characterization involved contact angle and sliding angle measurements, as well as atomic force microscopy. The icephobic efficacy was evaluated through a battery of tests including differential scanning calorimetry, delay of freezing time measurement, impact and non-impact ice adhesion measurement (push-off and centrifuge), and the ice accretion method. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy served to evaluate the anticorrosion performance of the coatings. The integration of silicone oil and F-POSS led to notable improvements in contact angles, increasing from 92° to 127°. The lowest sliding angle (6°) was obtained for the coating containing both silicone oil and F-POSS. Topographical images showed the essential role of F-POSS in providing a rough surface structure. The optimal coating formulation consisted of 10 wt% F-POSS particles and 5 wt% silicone oil, resulting in a water contact angle of 127°, a sliding angle of 9°, approximately 42 days of surface protection, and an impedance value of 4.8 × 108 Ω·cm2. Remarkably, this coating demonstrated exceptional durability in terms of icephobic properties, maintaining a push-off ice adhesion strength of 9.3 kPa even after 15 icing/de-icing cycles, confirming its desirable icephobic performance.

Flight tests results of a Fiber Bragg Gratings based ice sensor

Icing has been an aeronautical industry problem for safety and for energy consumption save from the beginning of aviation. It affects the safety reducing the lift, decreasing the stall angle of attack, affecting the aircraft stability and reducing the control efficiency. The European project SENS4ICE (2019–2023) introduces a new technology based on hybridization of different detection techniques, combining indirect ice sensing with direct, using atmospheric and ice accretion sensors. In the present work a study about a Fiber Optic Detector based on latent heat that uses a Fiber Bragg Grating for measuring the surface temperature. The Fiber Optic Detector (FOD) was tested in a SAFIRE Flight Testing Platform ATR42 during 40 h of Flight testing, having Liquid Water encounters in all flights. The sensor performance and its ability for measuring the icing severity is evaluated in the paper, showing results in a representative Flight test.During Flight Test, different icing conditions were seen, adapting the detection and severity evaluations to the data seen with other reference atmospheric sensors. For ice detection Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) was used using different levels in order to detect all the possible events during the Flight test. The DWT ice severity assessment results were compared with a Messinger Model and with the DLR Nevzorov data in order to evaluate the precision and the sensor performance.

Influence of air flow field computation on an ice accretion simulation of airfoils

Ice accretion simulation is an important research technology for aircraft icing problems. Air flow field prediction of an iced aircraft is an essential step of ice accretion simulation. However, commonly used turbulence models have difficulty predicting the large flow separation of the iced aircraft, which makes air flow field calculation insufficiently accurate and further affects the ice accretion simulation. In this paper, the influence of air flow field computation on ice accretion simulation of airfoils is numerically studied. Several different turbulence models are applied to predict air flow fields of iced airfoils. Then, the Eulerian method of water droplets, integral boundary layer method and Myers model are used to simulate ice accretion. Different airfoils with several icing conditions, including glaze ice and rime ice cases, are numerically tested and compared with experimental data. The results show that the separating shear layer fixed k−ω model is more accurate than other turbulence models in predicting the pressure distribution of the iced airfoil, especially the leading-edge suction peak. Thus, a more reasonable droplet collection efficiency distribution and convective heat transfer distribution can be obtained, yielding a more consistent ice height compared with the experimental data.

A metaheuristic-optimization-based neural network for icing prediction on transmission lines

Ice accretion on overhead transmission line systems is a leading cause of power outages and can lead to substantial economic losses in northern regions. Therefore, accurately and rapidly predicting ice accretion on power lines is crucial for ensuring the safe operation of the power grid. This study introduces a machine learning method for predicting the ice-to-liquid ratio (ILR), an important parameter for assessing ice accretion efficiency. While estimating ILR is vital for operational forecasting, many existing ice accretion models do not include this capability. A feedforward neural network (FFNN) trained with stochastic gradient descent and various metaheuristic optimizers - specifically particle swarm optimization, grey wolf optimizer, whale optimizer, and slime mold optimizer - is employed to forecast hourly ILR. Environmental data required for training and testing the FFNN model were obtained from the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS). A global sensitivity analysis using the Sobol index, evaluated via the coefficients of a polynomial chaos expansion, was conducted to identify the most influential input parameters. The results indicate that only four input parameters significantly contribute to the variance in the response: precipitation, temperature, dew point temperature, and wind speed. Furthermore, the FFNN model trained with metaheuristic optimizers outperformed the stochastic gradient descent approach. With the predicted ILR, ice accumulation can be easily calculated as the product of ILR and the amount of liquid precipitation depth.

Towards blade-resolved ice accretion simulations of flexible blades using mixed-fidelity models

We present a modular framework for blade-resolved fluid-structure interaction simulations of rotors. The framework is based on the coupling of the multi-body solver MBDyn with the fluid solver SU2 using the library preCICE. A preliminary validation is carried out against other open-source codes analysing the UAE Phase VI experiment. In the future, the framework will be used to study ice accretion on flexible blades. Indeed, blade flexibility has not been considered yet in the numerical modelling of ice accretion due to lacking computational tools and high computational costs. A first application on ice accretion is shown by analyzing the temporal evolution of the modal frequencies of an isolated blade during an icing event simulated numerically with a quasi-3D approach. The results provide insight into the nature of ice throw from wind turbines.

Design and optimization of a modular Electro-Thermal Ice Protection System for a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine

In this work, an Electro-Thermal Ice Protection System (IPS) design was refined and optimized on the NREL 5 MW reference wind turbine. These improvements involved optimization of the distribution of heat flux in both the stream-wise and span-wise directions to minimize power consumption and avoid run-back ice formation. The design conditions focus on a 3-hour rime ice accretion event. The chosen optimization algorithm is a derivative-free method called Mesh Adaptive Direct Search. his optimization effort results in a 55% reduction in power consumption necessary to maintain a completely clean blade surface. The power and energy losses associated with this new optimized design are compared with those from various ice shapes and with the clean blade conditions established in the initial design phase from previous work. The new optimized design allows to keep the blade clean from ice with much larger energy saving. Indeed, only initially, during the first two hours of ice accretion, the energy losses due to this IPS design are higher than without IPS. Beyond this short initial period, substantial energy savings are achieved, especially considering that after the accretion event, the blade remains ice-free, and there are no more power losses.

On the role of surface morphology in impacting-freezing dynamics of supercooled droplets

A thorough understanding of droplet impact and freezing is vital in preventing ice accretion on many outdoor devices. This simulation-based study investigated the effect of surface morphology on the impacting-freezing process of a supercooled droplet. Also, the variations of Weber number and supercooling temperature were studied numerically. The droplet impact and freezing process were simulated with the volume of fluid method and freezing model. A more accurate simulation was achieved by modeling the supercooled droplet and the dynamic contact angle. At the given ranges of the input parameters, the main factors that guaranteed droplet rebounding after collision were determined. The supercooling temperature and the groove width should be above 266 K and less than 0.21 mm, respectively. The droplet should also maintain its cohesion and integrity during impact. Creating grooves on a surface is novel and paves a new way to understand the impact and solidification of water droplets in supercooled conditions.

A time-dependent ice accretion model for trap-setting fishing vessels with filigree structures

This paper describes a time-dependent methodology for calculating the rate of ice accretion on vessels with filigree structures. It combines Newton’s Second Law for spray droplet trajectories with time varying flow velocities determined using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The mass flux of ice is determined by solving a set of partial differential equations describing the conservation of mass, heat, and salt in the boundary layer of brine near the ice surface. Icing predictions numerically generated by this approach areevaluated against current stability regulations for fishing vessels.

Simulation of freezing a sea water droplet moving in a cold air

A rapid freezing of a sea water droplet moving in a cold air is modeled. A droplet freezing model is a key component needed for computational forecasting of ice accretion on surfaces of ships and other equipment operating in low-temperature regions. The freezing process consists of the three stages: 1) water cooling to the incipient solidification temperature; 2) liquid solidification; 3) further freezing of the primarily solidified droplet. An icy region, being formed during the 2nd stage, initially represents a slurry, composed of ice crystals suspended in water. Further cooling is associated with an increase in the crystal concentration that at a certain threshold causes slurry transformation into a spongy (porous) ice. The solidification stage model is composed of the three coupled differential equations formulated in the moving coordinate system. All the physical and thermophysical water properties, required for modeling droplet freezing, are calculated by using the empirical correlations. The set of the equations is solved numerically. The solidification process is illustrated by computational examples for different droplet sizes and water salinities. The computed icy region thickness vs. time, as well as temperature distributions and porosities along droplet radius at different time moments are shown.