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Certifying a transport airplane for the flights under icing conditions requires calculations aimed at definition of the dimensions and shapes of the ice bodies formed on the airplane surfaces. Up to date, software developed in Russia for simulation of ice accretion, which would be authorized by Russian certifying supervisory authority, is absent. This paper describes methodology IceVision recently developed in Russia on the basis of software FlowVision for calculations of ice accretion on airplane surfaces.

The main difference of methodology IceVision from the other approaches, known from literature, consists in using technology Volume Of Fluid (VOF — volume of fluid in cell) for tracking the surface of growing ice body. The methodology assumes solving a time-depended problem of continuous grows of ice body in the Euler formulation. The ice is explicitly present in the computational domain. The energy equation is integrated inside the ice body. In the other approaches, changing the ice shape is taken into account by means of modifying the aerodynamic surface and using Lagrangian mesh. In doing so, the heat transfer into ice is allowed for by an empirical model.

The implemented mathematical model provides capability to simulate formation of rime (dry) and glaze (wet) ice. It automatically identifies zones of rime and glaze ice. In a rime (dry) ice zone, the temperature of the contact surface between air and ice is calculated with account of ice sublimation and heat conduction inside the ice. In a glaze (wet) ice zone, the flow of the water film over the ice surface is allowed for. The film freezes due to evaporation and heat transfer inside the air and the ice. Methodology IceVision allows for separation of the film. For simulation of the two-phase flow of the air and droplets, a multi-speed model is used within the Euler approach. Methodology IceVision allows for size distribution of droplets. The computational algorithm takes account of essentially different time scales for the physical processes proceeding in the course of ice accretion, viz., air-droplets flow, water flow, and ice growth. Numerical solutions of validation test problems demonstrate efficiency of methodology IceVision and reliability of FlowVision results.

Certifying a transport airplane for the flights under icing conditions in Russia was carried out within the framework of the requirements of Annex С to the AP-25 Aviation Rules. In force since 2023 to replace AP-25 the new Russian certification document “Airworthiness Standards” (NLG-25) proposes the introduction of Appendix O. A feature of Appendix O is the need to carry out calculations in conditions of high liquid water content and with large water drops (500 microns or more). With such parameters of the dispersed flow, such physical processes as the disruption and splashing of a water film when large drops enter it become decisive. The flow of a dispersed medium under such conditions is essentially polydisperse. This paper describes the modifications of the IceVision technique implemented on the basis of the FlowVision software package for the ice accretion calculations within the framework of Appendix O.

The main difference between the IceVision method and the known approaches is the use of the Volume of fluid (VOF) technology to the shape of ice changes tracking. The external flow around the aircraft is calculated simultaneously with the growth of ice and its heating. Ice is explicitly incorporated in the computational domain; the heat transfer equation is solved in it. Unlike the Lagrangian approaches, the Euler computational grid is not completely rebuilt in the IceVision technique: only the cells containing the contact surface are changed.

The IceVision 2.0 version accounts for stripping the film, as well as bouncing and splashing of falling drops at the surfaces of the aircraft and ice. The diameter of secondary droplets is calculated using known empirical correlations. The speed of the water film flow over the surface is determined taking into account the action of aerodynamic forces, gravity, hydrostatic pressure gradient and surface tension force. The result of taking into account surface tension is the effect of contraction of the film, which leads to the formation of water flows in the form of rivulets and ice deposits in the form of comb-like growths. An energy balance relation is fulfilled on the ice surface that takes into account the energy of falling drops, heat exchange between ice and air, the heat of crystallization, evaporation, sublimation and condensation. The paper presents the results of solving benchmark and model problems, demonstrating the effectiveness of the IceVision technique and the reliability of the obtained results.