Hybrid wing design to match full-scale wing ice accretion

The size of aircraft models that can be tested in icing wind tunnels is limited by the dimensions of the facilities in present; it is an effective method to replace the large model with a hybrid airfoil to carry out the experiment. A design method of multiple control points for hybrid airfoil based on the similarity of flow field in the leading edge of airfoil is proposed. Aiming at generating the full-scale flow field and ice accretion on the leading edge, multiobjective genetic optimization algorithm is used to design the hybrid airfoil under different conditions by combining the airfoil parameterization and solution of spatial constraint. Pressure tests of hybrid airfoils are carried out and compared with the leading edge pressure of the corresponding full-scale airfoils. The design and experimental results show that the pressure coefficient deviation between the hybrid airfoils designed and the corresponding full-scale airfoil in the 15% chord length range of the leading edge is within 4%. Finally, the vortex distribution and ice accretion process of the two airfoils were simulated by the unsteady Reynolds-averaged-Navier–Stokes (URANS) equations and multistep ice numerical method; it is shown that the hybrid airfoil can provide the same vortex distribution and ice accretion with the full-scale airfoil.

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Scaling Method of the Rotating Blade of a Wind Turbine for a Rime Ice Wind Tunnel Test

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12040627 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 627 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yan Li ◽

Ce Sun ◽

Yu Jiang ◽

Fang Feng

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Wind Tunnel ◽

Large Scale ◽

Wind Tunnel Test ◽

Full Scale ◽

Similar Degree ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Ice Accretion ◽

Water Droplets ◽

Scaling Method

In order to research the law of rime ice accretion on different scaling blades surface, a new rime ice scaling method was proposed in this research. According to previous research, there are three kinds of ice types on blade surfaces: rime ice, glaze ice and mixed ice. Under the condition of rime ice, both the freezing fraction and the coefficient of heat transfer between super-cold water droplets and blade are 100%. The heat transfer model of rime ice is simpler than that of glaze ice and mixed ice. In this research, the scaling parameters including flow field, water droplets, temperature, pressure and rotating parameters were defined. The Weber number (We) based on water film thickness as an important parameter was applied in this study. The rotating parameters including rotating speed and radius had been added into the icing scaling method. To verify the effectiveness of the new rime ice scaling method, icing wind tunnel tests were carried out. The NACA0018 airfoil was used for the test blade. Two kinds of scale chord blades were selected, the chord of full-scale blade was 200 mm and of subscale blade was 100 mm. The test temperature was −15 °C. The ice accretion on different scale blades surface were captured by high-speed camera and the icing shapes of different scaling blades were obtained. To quantitatively analyze the similar degree of icing shapes on different scale blades, an evaluation method which included similar degree (Sim) was established based on the typical characteristic parameters proposed by previous research. The results show that the icing shapes of subscale blades are similar to that of full-scale blades. The similar degree is between 75.22% and 93.01%. The icing wind tunnel test indicates that the new rime ice scaling method is an effective method to study the rime ice of large scale rotating blades. This study can be used as a reference for research on anti-icing and de-icing technologies for large-scale HAWTs (Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines).

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