Experimental Study of Full-Scale Iced-Airfoil Aerodynamic Performance
using Sub-scale Simulations
Greg T. Busch and Michael B. Bragg
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801
ABSTRACT
Recent research in sub-scale ice accretion aerodynamic simulation and the current state of
understanding in this area are reviewed. The flowfields and defining aerodynamic
characteristics of the main types of ice accretion are discussed: ice roughness, streamwise
ice, horn ice, and spanwise-ridge ice. Reynolds number effects are found to be small in many
cases, but additional data are needed for certain types of accretion from Re = 2.0 x 106 – 5.0 x
106. Uncertainties in representing ice accretion geometry are substantial and in many cases
may cause differences in aerodynamic performance on the order of the differences observed
between a sub-scale simulation and the corresponding accretion. It is found that directly
scaling roughness height on ice roughness, streamwise ice, and short-ridge ice simulations
tends to produce conservative estimates of aerodynamic performance. Surface roughness is
not usually necessary to accurately represent horn-ice simulations but improves the fidelity
of tall-ridge simulations.