Freestream Turbulence
Measurements in Icing Conditions
Chad M. Henze, Michael B. Bragg, and Han S. Kim
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
ABSTRACT
Current understanding of the ice accretion process is based largely
on icing wind tunnel tests. Turbulent fluctuations in the freestream, which
are different in the wind tunnel than in flight, have been identified as having
potentially important effects on the results of tests performed in icing
tunnels. The turbulence intensity level in icing tunnels with the spray
cloud turned off had been previously measured and found to be quite high
due to the lack of turbulence reducing screens, and to the presence of the
spray system. However, the turbulence intensity level in the presence of
the spray cloud had not been measured. In this study, a method for making
such measurements was developed and used to study the effects of the spray
cloud on the turbulence level in the NASA Lewis Icing Research Tunnel (IRT).
Turbulent velocity fluctuations were measured using hot-wire sensors. Droplets
striking the wire resulted in distinct spikes in the hot-wire voltage which
were removed using a digital acceleration threshold filter. The remaining
data were used to calculate the turbulence intensity. Using this method,
the turbulence intensity level in the IRT was found to be highly dependent
on nozzle air pressure, while other factors such as nozzle water pressure,
droplet size, and cloud liquid water content had little effect.