UNSTRUCTURED TRIANGULAR MESH/NAVIER-STOKES METHOD FOR AERODYNAMICS OF AIRCRAFT WITH ICE ACCRETION

ICE ACCRETION ON COMPONENTS OF BOTH FIXED WING AIRCRAFT AND ROTORCRAFT CAN CAUSE AERODYNAMIC PENALTIES SUCH AS INCREASEDDRAG, DECREASED LIFT, REDUCED STALL ANGLE, INCREASED STALL SPEED AND INCREASED ENGINE HORSEPOWER REQUIREMENTS. THERE IS CURRENTLY A STRONG NEED FOR DEVELOPING ACCURATE AND EFFICIENT ICING SIMULATION METHODS WHICH CAN BE USED IN THE DESIGN OF ICE PROTECTION SYSTEMS, FOR QUALIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF AIRCRAFT UNDER ICING CONDITIONS AND ALSO FOR FURTHER RESEARCH OF ICING PHENOMENA. CURRENT ICING ANALYSIS METHODOLOGIES CONSIST OF THREE BASIC COMPONENTS: WATER DROPLET TRAJECTORY CALCULATIONS, DETERMINATION OF ICE DEPOSITION AND GROWTH, AND A FLOWFIELD ANALYSIS WHICH IS USED BOTH FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE DROPLET TRAJECTORIES AND OF THE AERODYNAMIC PENALTIES. THIS PROPOSAL CONCERNS THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE FLOWFIELD PREDICTION METHOD IN WHICH THE NAVIER-STOKES EQUATIONS ARE SOLVED ON AN UNSTRUCTURED, TRIANGULAR (TETRAHEDRAL IN 3D) MESH SYSTEM. THIS METHOD IS INTENDED TO BE USED IN AN OVERALL ICING SIMULATION SCHEME SIMILAR TO THAT DESCRIBED ABOVE.