Effect of SLD ice on the aerodynamic characteristics of supercritical airfoils

This paper characterizes the shape of supercooled large droplet (SLD) ice as a combination of horn ice and plume ice, leveraging its typical features. A numerical simulation approach is employed to investigate how SLD ice with varying heights and ranges impacts aerodynamics on supercritical airfoils. For cruise airfoils, the height change of plume ice has a significant threshold effect on lift-drag characteristics. When the plume ice height nears or surpasses that of the horn ice, lift and drag characteristics deteriorate sharply. In the case of high-lift airfoils, the range change of plume ice shows a notable threshold effect. Once the plume ice range extends to the main wing's upper surface, lift and drag characteristics decline abruptly. In contrast to the single ridge ice, this study fills the knowledge gap regarding the influence of SLD ice on lift and drag characteristics. It also offers crucial references for establishing the criticality criteria of SLD ice.