| A recent series of high altitude turbofan engine malfunctions, characterized by flameout and sudden power losses have been reported in recent years. The source of these incidents has been hypothesized to be due to the presence of ice crystals at high altitudes. Ice crystals have been shown to have ballistic trajectories and consequently enter the core engine flow, without getting centrifuged out towards the engine bypass as droplets do. The crystals may melt as they move downstream to higher temperatures in successive stages, or hit a heated surface. The wetted surface may then act as an interface for further crystal impingement, which locally reduces the temperature and could lead to an ice accretion on the components. Ice can accrete to dangerously high levels, causing compressor surge due to blockage of the primary flowpath, vibrational instabilities due to load imbalances of ice on rotating components, mechanical damage of components downstream due to large shed ice fragments, or performance losses if ice enters the combustor, causing a decreased burner efficiency and an eventual flame-out.;The extended ice crystal impingement and ice accretion model has been validated against test data from Cox and Co. and National Research Council icing tests conducted on a NACA0012 airfoil and unheated non-rotating cylinder respectively. The tests show a consistent agreement with respect to experimental profiles in terms of capturing the overall shape, although some of the ice profiles were conservative since they over-predicted the amount of ice accreted. The experimental observations suggest that ice crystals cause splashing of an existing film, and erosion effects when they impact an iced surface, and cause an overall loss in the amount of ice, as well as a general streamlining of the ice profile. This has not been taken into account in the present numerical model. The overall predictions in comparison with other numerical models, however, have improved and are a promising step towards simulating ice-shedding characteristics in a turbomachine.;In order to provide a numerical tool to analyze such situations, FENSAP-ICE has been extended to model mixed-phase flows that combine air, water and ice crystals, and the related ice accretion. DROP3D has been generalized to calculate particle impingement, concentration, and field velocities in an uncoupled approach that neglects any phase change by assuming both ice crystals and supercooled droplets are in thermodynamic equilibrium. ICE3D then accounts for the contribution of ice crystals that stick and melt on an existing water-film and promote ice accretion. |
