RANS Simulations of Airfoils with Ice Shapes
Jianping Pan, Eric Loth, and Michael B. Bragg
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801
ABSTRACT
Numerical simulations were
conducted to investigate the effect of simulated ridge ice shapes and leading-edge
ice shapes on the aerodynamic performance of airfoils and wings. A range
of Reynolds numbers and Mach numbers, as well as ice-shape sizes and ice-shape
locations were examined for the NACA 23012 airfoil, the NLF 0414 airfoil
and the NACA 3415 airfoil. The results were compared to experiments completed
recently at the NASA Langley Low Turbulence Pressure Tunnel (LTPT) and the
University of Illinois Low-Speed Wind Tunnel. Additionally, the LTHS (Large
Transport Horizontal Stabilizer) airfoil, the BJMW (Business Jet Main Wing)
airfoil, and a tapered NACA 23012 wing were also studied to investigate
ice-shape location effect with various airfoils and wing geometries. The
RANS investigation included steady-state simulations with the Spalart-Allmaras
turbulence model and a structured grid. Comparisons with experimental force
data showed favorable comparison up to (but not including) the stall conditions,
with improved fidelity for forward and smaller ice shapes. At and past stall
condition, strong separation occurs and the aerodynamic forces are not predicted
accurately for large upper-surface ice shapes due to the limitation of RANS
method. A lift-break (pseudo-stall) condition was defined based on the lift
curve slope change. The lift-break data compared well with experimental stall
results, and indicated that the upper surface critical ice-shape location
tended to be near (and often in between) the location of minimum pressure
and the location of the most adverse pressure gradient.