Investigation of runback ice during aircraft anti-icing process

The calculation was performed on runback ice and its effects on the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil. A multi-step ice accretion code was developed based on the classical Messinger icing model and it was used to predict the ice shapes in different conditions. Good agreement between the calculation results and the experimental data indicates the heat-mass coupled arithmetic is correct. Base on the arithmetic, the growth of the runback ice and the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil were calculated. The results indicate that the runback ice is likely to form outside the thermal protection area and begins to grow near the position of the thermal protection limit in non-rime ice conditions. However, in rime ice conditions, the runback ice is more likely to form at the lower surface of the airfoil and there is significant ice accretion in the thermal protection area and because of this the aerodynamic characteristics of the airfoil is destroyed greatly.