Impact of Supercooled Drops onto Cold Surfaces

Abstract

AbstractIce accretion resulting from the impact of supercooled water drops is a hazard for structures exposed to low temperatures, for instance aircraft wings and wind turbine blades. Despite a multitude of studies devoted to the involved phenomena, the underlying physical processes are not yet entirely understood. Hence, modelling of the conditions for ice accretion and prediction of the ice accretion rate are presently not reliable. The research conducted in this study addresses these deficiencies in order to lend insight into the physical processes involved. While presenting an overview of results obtained during the first funding periods of this project, new results are also presented, relating to the impact of supercooled drops onto a cold surface in a cold air flow. The experiments are conducted in a dedicated icing wind tunnel and involve measuring the residual mass after impact of a liquid supercooled drop exhibiting corona splash as well as the impact of dendritic frozen drops onto a solid surface.