Aircraft Icing

Figure 1. Engine nacelle icing test at the NASA Lewis                                         Figure 2. Comparison of calculated (solid line) and measured 
Icing Research Tunnel (IRT)                                                                                      (dashed line) ice shape on MS-317 swept wing

The Department of Aerospace Engineering is involved in the research work of the prediction of ice accretion on airfoils, multielement airfoils, and wings and its effects on aerodynamic performance. The ice shapes on airfoils and wings are predicted using the modified LEWICE code that was previously developed at NASA Lewis. The code consists of three modules: flow field calculation, particle trajectory calculation, and ice accretion calculation. In the modified LEWICE code, the flow field calculation and the particle trajectory calculation was extended to three-dimensional flows and the viscous effects was included in the flow field calculation. The modified LEWICE code was applied to predict the ice shapes on a NACA 0012 airfoil for a wide range of icing conditions and on a MS-317 swept wing. Results are in good agreement with measurements.

For more information, contact hhchen@csulb.edu

Related publications:

  1. H. H. Chen and N. Alemdaroglu, “A Computer Program for Calculating Ice Shapes on Airfoils and Predicting Their Effects on Lift and Drag Coefficients,” Report AE-90-4, Aerospace Engineering Department, California State University, Long Beach, CA, July 1990.
  2. H. H. Chen, “A Computer Program for Calculating Ice Shapes on Multielement Airfoils,” Report AE-91-1, Aerospace Engineering Department, California State University, Long Beach, CA, Jan.  1991.
  3. T. Cebeci, H. H. Chen and N. Alemadaroglu, “Fortified LEWICE with Viscous Effects,” Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 28, No. 9, pp. 564-571, 1991.
  4. T. Cebeci, H. H. Chen, K. Kaups, S. Schimke and J. Shin, “Analysis of Iced Wings,” AIAA Paper 92-0416, 1992.
  5. J. Shin, H. H. Chen, and T. Cebeci, “A Turbulence Model for Iced Airfoils and Its Validation,” AIAA Paper 92-0417, 1992.
  6. T. Cebeci, H. H. Chen, K. Kaups and S. Schimke, “Recent Progress in the Analysis of Iced Wings,” Numerical and Physical Aspects of Aerodynamic Flows V (ed. T. Cebeci), Springer-Verlag, N. Y., 1992.
  7. H.H. Chen and T. Cebeci, “Predictions of Ice Shapes on Wings and Multi-Element Airfoils,” AIAA Paper 94-0608, 1994.
  8. J. Shin, B. Berkowitz, H. H. Chen and T. Cebeci,  “Prediction of Ice Shapes and Their Effect on Airfoil Drag” J. of Aircraft, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 263-270, 1994.
  9. T. Cebeci and E. Besnard, "Prediction of the Performance Degradation of an Aircraft in Natural Icing Conditions," AIAA Paper 94-0487 Jan. 1994.