Aircraft icing model considering both rime ice property variability and runback water effect

An improved one-dimensional model has been developed to describe the aircraft icing process, which can be divided into the dry and wet mode icing stages. Rime ice forms on aircraft skin at the dry mode icing stage while glaze ice grows on the rime ice and water film develops on the glaze ice at the wet mode icing stage. The model differs from the traditional icing models in its assumption that the rime ice is a kind of porous medium and its physical properties are initially affected by airflow parameters and then vary linearly with the rime ice thickness. Further, it differs from our previous icing model in its inclusion of runback water effect. Calculations are performed to analyze the ice accretion characteristics, and the results are presented and discussed in comparison with those given by the traditional model and our previous model. The results show that the rime ice property variability and runback water influence the heat conductions in the ice layer and water film and consequently the ice accretion characteristics. The model proposed in this research provides an alternative approach for modeling the ice accretion process. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.