The Effect of Ridge-Ice Location and the Role of Airfoil Geometry

Sam Lee and Michael B. Bragg
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801


ABSTRACT
The findings from a recent University of Illinois investigation on the effect of ridge ice location on airfoil aerodynamics using additional airfoils are presented. Previous studies involving two airfoils (NACA 23012m and NLF 0414) showed that the most severe performance penalties were observed when the simulated ridge ice was located near the adverse pressure recovery region of the clean model. Two more airfoils (a commuter aircraft wing and tail sections) were tested and original findings were confirmed. The results from the commuter airfoils showed that an airfoil's sensitivity to SLD ice accretion (ridge ice that typically form between 10-20% chord) was dependent largely on its load distribution. If the airfoil was more front-loaded, then its performance degradation due to SLD ice accretion tended to be more severe.





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