An Experimental Investigation of Simulated
Large-Droplet Ice shapes on Airfoil Aerodynamics
James W. Melody, Devesh Pokhariyal, Jason Merret,
Tamer Basar, William R. Perkins, Michael B. Bragg
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
ABSTRACT
An experimental investigation was conducted to study the
aerodynamic effect of simulated super-cooled large-droplet ice accretion
on a modified NACA 23012 airfoil. Forward-facing quarter-round
simulations with height to chord ratio of 0.0083 and 0.0139 were used at a
Reynolds number of 1.8 million. When placed at critical chordwise
locations, a long separation bubble formed downstream of the simulated ice
shape and effectively eliminated the formation of a large leading-edge
suction peak that was observed on the clean NACA 23012 airfoil. This
resulted in a dramatic reduction in the maximum lift coefficient, as low
as 0.27, when the larger simulated ice shape was located at 12% chord.
Because the airfoil loading distribution was severely altered, large
changes in airfoil pitching moments and flap hinge moments were also
observed.