Numerical Investigation of Ice Accretion Effects on Aircraft Wing Aerodynamics| Chapter 7 | Engineering Research: Perspectives on Recent Advances Vol. 9

 

A significant weather-related hazard to safe flight operations since the dawn of civil aviation has been aircraft icing. The term "aircraft icing" refers to the formation of ice on exposed wing surfaces when an aircraft travels through clouds of supercooled liquid droplets. This phenomenon mainly impacts flight safety as ice accumulation adversely affects the aerodynamic performance and controllability of aircraft. In particular, ice buildup on aerofoils reduces lift and the wing's stall angle, which may result in longitudinal instability of the aircraft.

 

This study numerically simulates ice formation on the NACA0012 airfoil to evaluate its impact on aerodynamic performance, focusing on lift, stall angle, and aircraft stability.

 

Three sophisticated mathematical tools—FENSAP-ICE, DROP3D, and ICE3D—were used to model the formation of ice over an airfoil. A Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) model was used to solve for the aerodynamic airflow field. an Eulerian approach was used to represent the ingestion of droplets and ice crystals, and the Boundary conditions used for the current ice accumulation simulations. 

 

Simulation results, validated against experimental data, demonstrated that the mass of ice generated on the airfoil surface is greatly influenced by the period of ice accretion. It was shown that the pattern and magnitude of ice accretion were significantly influenced by the angle of attack (AOA). Length was found to be a major component in ice formation, as seen by the strong linear link between accretion time and ice mass.

 

The FENSAP-ICE system's three combined modules were successfully used to simulate ice accretion over an NACA 0012 airfoil. These results suggest that AOA and deposition time are important variables to be studied further, particularly in the context of blade cascades and cambered airfoils, where icing can have pronounced aerodynamic consequences.

 

Author(s) Details

Swetha S
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Acharya Institute of Technology, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

 

Kumaran T
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Acharya Institute of Technology, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Manu B V
Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Acharya Institute of Technology, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/erpra/v9/5834