Experimental Determination
of the Droplet Impingement Characteristics of a Propeller
Reichhold, J.D., Bragg, M.B. and Sweet, D.
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
ABSTRACT
One of the most powerful tools in an analysis of aircraft icing
is the knowledge of where the water in a given cloud will impinge on a surface.
The determination of where a structure will accrete ice is expressed by the
impingement efficiency, b. An improvement to the
dye-tracer method for the experimental determination of impingement efficiency
is presented. The improved method, which saves both time and expense, was
then used to determine the impingement efficiency on a four-bladed, constant
chord propeller with a nacelle. The propeller impingement tests showed the
limitations of the current droplet impingement test techniques and found impingement
efficiencies greater than one for a large portion of the propeller blade.
Using blade-element theory it is shown how impingement efficiencies greater
than one can occur for the case of a propeller. Suggestions are also made
as to how the dye-tracer test method can be improved.