Performance degradation of a simulated ice contaminated airfoil by super-cooled droplets

Patek, Z., Smrcek, L. and Galbraith, R. (2008) Performance degradation of a simulated ice contaminated airfoil by super-cooled droplets. In: International Congress of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS), Anchorage, USA, 14-19 Sep 2008,

Abstract

An investigation was performed, by means of low speed wind tunnel testing, to study the aerodynamic effect of super-cooled large-droplet ice accretion on an advanced low-speed airfoil section. The ice accretion was simulated by placing strips of different shapes and different dimensions in the regions of expected accretion. This entailed that every strip was positioned at several locations on the upper surface of the airfoil. The influence on the basic aerodynamic characteristics was evaluated for each case. It was concluded, as for conventional sections, that the accretion, caused by large super-cooled droplets, severely degraded the aerodynamic performance. So the consequences of the phenomenon to flight safety are of extraordinary importance and also, for the advanced lowspeed wings.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Smrcek, Dr Ladislav and Galbraith, Professor Roderick
• Authors: Patek, Z., Smrcek, L., and Galbraith, R.
• Subjects: T Technology > TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Autonomous Systems and Connectivity
• Research Group: Low Speed Aerodynamics