In-flight icing simulations on airfoils

Abstract

It is crucial to predict the ice mass, shape and regions of the airframe which are prone to icing in order to design and develop de/anti-icing systems for aircraft and airworthiness certification. In the current study, droplet collection efficiency and ice shape predictions are performed using an originally developed computational tool for a wing tip for which experimental and numerical data are available. Ice accretion modeling consists of four steps in the developed computational tool: flow field solution, droplet trajectory and collection efficiency calculations, thermodynamic analyses and ice growth calculations using the Extended Messinger Model. The models used for these steps are implemented in a FORTRAN code, which is used to analyze ice accretion on 2D geometries including airfoils and axisymmetric inlets. The results are compared with numerical and experimental data available in the literature.