Supercooled Large Droplet Conditions Research Articles

Icing wind tunnel measurements of supercooled large droplets using the 12 mm total water content cone of the Nevzorov probe

Abstract. Supercooled large droplet (SLD) icing can occur behind the protected surfaces of an aircraft and create severe aerodynamic disturbances, which represent a safety hazard for aviation. Liquid water content (LWC) measurements in icing conditions that contain SLDs require instruments that are able to sample unimodal and bimodal droplet size distributions with droplet diameters from 2 to 2000 µm. No standardized detection method exists for this task. A candidate instrument, which is currently used in icing wind tunnel (IWT) research, is the Nevzorov probe. In addition to the standard 8 mm total water content (TWC) collector cone, a novel instrument version also features a 12 mm diameter cone, which might be advantageous for collecting the large droplets characteristic of SLD conditions. In the scope of the two EU projects, SENSors and certifiable hybrid architectures for safer aviation in ICing Environment (SENS4ICE) and ICE GENESIS, we performed measurement campaigns in SLD icing conditions in IWTs in Germany, Austria and the USA. We obtained a comprehensive data set of measurements from the LWC sensor, the 8 mm cone sensor and the 12 mm cone sensor of the Nevzorov probe, and from the tunnel reference instrumentation. In combination with measurements of the particle size distribution, we experimentally derive a collision efficiency curve that is based on a suitable functional form for the new 12 mm cone for median volume diameters (MVDs) between 12 and 58 µm and wind tunnel speeds from 40 to 85 m s−1. Knowledge of this curve allows us to correct the LWC measurements of the 12 mm cone (LWC12) in particular for the inevitably high decrease in collision efficiency for small droplet diameters. In unimodal SLD conditions, with MVDs between 128 and 720 µm, LWC12 generally agrees within ±20 % with the tunnel LWC reference values from a WCM-2000 and an isokinetic probe. An increase in the difference between LWC12 and the WCM-2000 measurements at larger MVDs indicates better droplet collection properties of the 12 mm cone. Similarly, the favorable detector dimensions of the 12 mm cone explain a 7 % enhanced detection efficiency compared to the 8 mm cone; however this difference falls within the instrumental uncertainties. Data collected in various bimodal SLD conditions with MVDs between 16 and 534 µm and LWCs between 0.22 and 0.72 g m−3 also show an agreement within ±20 % between LWC12 and the tunnel LWC, which demonstrates the suitability of the Nevzorov sensor head with the 12 mm cone for measurements of LWC in Appendix O icing conditions.

Contrast Icing Wind Tunnel Tests between Normal Droplets and Supercooled Large Droplets

In order to compare and analyze the similarities and differences between normal droplet icing shapes and supercooled large droplet icing shapes, SADRI carried out normal droplet and supercooled large droplet icing wind tunnel tests in the NRC−AIWT icing wind tunnel. Taking the typical glaze ice in normal droplet icing conditions as the reference, the freezing drizzle and freezing rain icing tests under the supercooled large droplet conditions were carried out. The test results show that compared with normal droplets, the ice horn height of supercooled large droplets decreases with the increase in droplet particle size, and even the ice horn characteristics are not obvious when the icing condition is freezing rain. At the same time, the range and height of rough element ice shape after the main ice horn of supercooled large droplets are significantly larger and higher than those of the normal droplets, while the difference in the rough element in different supercooled large droplet icing conditions is small.

Internal mixing air-assisted spray nozzle for large droplets: Experimental measurements and numerical simulations

In the present study, detailed experimental measurements of a large-droplet spray nozzle under a wide range of operating conditions have been conducted at China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center (CARDC) low-speed vertical wind tunnel facility. The droplet size distributions obtained from these measurements have been modeled using the Rosin-Rammler distribution. A multi-physics multi-phase numerical model for the simulation of the complex spray dynamics associated with the large-droplet spray nozzle has been developed in order to support the performance characterization of this device. More specifically, the primary breakup of liquid (water) in the atomizer-produced spray is modeled using a volume of fluid (VOF) to discrete phase model (DPM) transition representation. The numerical model is validated using the experimental measurements. The small relative error between the numerical predictions and experimental measurements for the droplet size distribution and for a number of characteristic droplet diameters suggest that the numerical model provides accurate high-fidelity predictions of the spray dynamics of the large-droplet spray nozzle. Moreover, it is shown that a simple modification of the spray nozzle (increasing the length of the mixing chamber by 50%) has a significant effect on the performance of the nozzle. In particular, the droplet median volumetric diameter and the spray angle are increased as the air pressure is decreased. Furthermore, an increase in the nozzle mixing chamber length results in a much broader droplet size distribution. The validated VOF-to-DPM transition model developed in this study can be used for a future redesign (involving modifications of some key geometric parameters) of the original large-droplet spray nozzle to generate reliably and robustly larger droplets required to simulate various supercooled large droplet conditions of practical relevance.

Large-eddy simulations of complex aerodynamic flows over multi-element iced airfoils

Large-eddy simulations (LESs) of flows over two types of iced airfoils with three multi-elements are performed to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics and complex interactions between flows generated from slat, main, and flap elements. The two iced airfoils are considered under supercooled large droplet (SLD) and non-SLD conditions. A good agreement of the mean properties between our numerical and previous experimental data demonstrates that our LES method provides an accurate solution of the complex flows around iced airfoils., whereas it is not for unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) data that is simulated independently. For the iced airfoils under the SLD and non-SLD conditions, the aerodynamic degradation is found compared to that of a clean airfoil because the separation bubbles (SBs) induced by ice accretion change shear layer (SL) trajectory shed from the slat cusp, leading to a severe reduction in mass flow. Furthermore, we show that the flow interactions near the slat gap play a crucial role in determining the flow characteristics on main and flap elements (e.g., flow separation). Although strong flow interactions are observed for the non-SLD case because of the presence of upwind horn-shaped ice, the smaller gap distance of the SLD case leads to a larger lift loss. The unsteady features of SBs on the upper surfaces of the slat and main elements under the non-SLD condition are characterized by the power spectral density (PSD) of the pressure fluctuations with multiple peaks at low and high frequencies.

Numerical simulation of ice accretion in supercooled large droplet conditions

The simulated methods for ice accretion on two-dimensional airfoil surface are established completely under the Eulerian framework in supercooled large droplet (SLD) conditions. The two-dimensional code to solve the partial differential equations (PDEs) of droplet phase is derived to simulate the impingement characteristic of SLD. Also, several semi-empirical models which explain the droplet-wall interaction are compared and discussed to show respective features when simulating the splashing phenomenon. In particular, a new boundary condition for wall called penetrable wall for splashing droplet (PWSD) is proposed to deal with the impingement of SLD on solid surface, which efficiently improves the accuracy of simulation. Then the improved impingement characteristic of SLD is input into the extended mass and heat transfer model to simulate the ice growth on airfoil surface. The multistep advanced method is carried out to better match the physical phenomenon of ice growth. At last, the simulated results of critical parameters: local droplet collection efficiency and the height of ice growth are compared with the experimental data which verify the applicability of proposed models.

Eulerian Modeling of Supercooled Large Droplet Splashing and Bouncing

A conservative Eulerian numerical approach for modeling postimpact Supercooled Large Droplets undergoing splashing and bouncing on aircraft surfaces is presented. The approach introduces the effect of the postimpact droplets by successive solutions of the conservation equations. Two models have been selected to identify the droplet splashing and bouncing conditions, and to provide initial conditions for the reinjected water. The method has been applied to droplet impingement in Supercooled Large Droplet conditions on clean and iced NACA 23012 geometries, as well as the MS(1)-0317 airfoil, and the results have been compared to experimental data. Good agreement is observed for both impingement limits and collection efficiency. Additionally, the method has been applied to a three-element high-lift configuration operating in one of the proposed Appendix O Supercooled Large Droplet environments to demonstrate the danger posed by the re-impingement of splashing and bouncing droplets on complex interacting aerodynamic components.

과냉각대형액적 충돌예측을 위한 오일러리안 기반 수치 모델링

Supercooled large droplet issues in aircraft icing have been continually reported due to the important safety considerations. In order to simulate the impingement behavior of large droplets, a two-dimensional and compressible Navier-Stokes code was developed to determine the flow field around the test model. Also, the Eulerian-based droplet impingement model including a semi-empirical approach for the droplet-wall interaction process and droplet break-up was developed. In particular, the droplet-wall interactions were considered as numerical boundary conditions for the droplet impingement simulation in the supercooled large droplet conditions. Finally, the present results were compared with the experimental test data and the LEWICE results. The droplet impingement area and maximum collection efficiency values between present results and wind tunnel data were in good agreements. Otherwise, the inclination of collection efficiency of the present result is over-predicted than the wind tunnel data around a lower surface of the NACA 23012 airfoil.

Numerical analysis of ice accretion effects at super-cooled large droplet conditions on airfoil aerodynamics

Changes in flow field around NACA23012 airfoil from a clean condition to a super-cooled large droplet (SLD) condition were simulated, and variations in aerodynamic parameters were calculated using FLUENT. In the case of numerical simulation for a clean airfoil, flow field characteristics simulated agreed well with theory analysis, indicating that turbulence models and parameters setting are feasible. Aerodynamic parameters for iced airfoil were calculated using the same method and agreed with those measured test data under the same environment in icing wind tunnels by S. Lee. Conclusion is made that the numerical simulation is valid, and it can be an alternative to study ice accretion effects at the SLD condition on airfoil aerodynamics, leading to reduction in research cycle time and cost.