The Effect of Crosswinds on Icing at Turbofan Engine Inlet 2019-01-2024

Ice accretion at engine inlet has a dangerous effect on the inlet airflow and shed ice would be ingested into the engine and cause compressor blades damage, and even combustors flame out. In order to analyze the effect of crosswinds on icing at turbofan engine inlet, a complete icing analysis method, which is based on the Messinger model and takes the influence of runback water into consideration, is constructed. The runback water is considered laminar flow and the flow direction is dominated by the bottom flow of air. The supercooled water droplets impingement, ice accretion and runback water characteristics and inlet distortion with and without ice were investigated at crosswinds speed of 15, 20, 25, 30 kt. The variation of local water collection coefficient β is unchanged at crosswind conditions, but the location of the maximum value and non-dimensional impact limits change with the crosswind, which move backward along the outer edge on the windward, and move along the inner edge on the leeward. The ice thickness on windward surface increases slightly near the stagnation point, and the outer icing limit occurs at more rear position with crosswinds. On leeward surface, the variation is opposite to the windward and the ice shapes present a more symmetrical distribution at stagnation point. On the smooth inlet surface, the inlet airflow at the fan is relatively uniform, and the total pressure ratio variation at the inlet lip also is regular as crosswind increases. Greatly losses of airflow occur after ice accretion at crosswind conditions, which cause uneven inlet airflow. The effect of the crosswind on ice accretion at the inlet should be considered when designing and optimizing anti-icing system. Otherwise, the ice formation under crosswind will deteriorate the inlet airflow quality and pose a hazard to aircraft safety.