The purpose of this AIR is to compile in one definitive source, commonly accepted calibration, acceptance criteria and procedures for simulation of Supercooled Large Droplet (SLD) conditions within icing wind tunnels. Facilities that meet the criteria for either some or all of the recognized conditions will have known SLD icing simulation capability.
Rationale: ARP5905 was developed to provide recommended practices for the calibration and acceptance of icing wind tunnels to be used in testing of aircraft components and systems and for the development of simulated ice shapes. Considering the requirement to simulate SLD conditions calls for droplet diameters that are in excess of 100 micrometers, this presents particular challenges for icing wind tunnels and there is a need to begin the process of identifying the issues related to calibration and acceptance testing for this environment. At this time the industry consensus is that inclusion of SLD criteria into ARP5905 might be too difficult, so the intention is create an AIR first to identify the methods and equipment currently used.
