Two-dimensional modelling of the ice accretion process on transmission line wires and conductors

The main objective of this paper is to introduce a new 2-D icing model, of which the primary purpose is the simulation of the ice accretion process on overhead power line cables. The parameters of the model, such as the Local Collision Efficiency (LCE) and the local Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC), were evaluated on the basis of time-dependent airflow computations and water droplet trajectory calculations. For wet accumulations, the movement of a surface water film was monitored at each time step so as to obtain the film's thickness and direction. In order to validate the present model, a number of experimental tests were carried out at the CIGELE Atmospheric Icing Research Wind Tunnel (CATRWT). The results show that, on the whole, the proposed ice model performed well in simulating and predicting ice-grown shapes under dry and wet icing conditions. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.