Prediction of the performance degradation of an aircraft in natural icing conditions

摘要

A calculation method is described and used to predict the aerodynamic performance degradation of a NASA icing research aircraft in natural icing conditions. For specified flow conditions, the ice shapes on the leading edge of the lifting surfaces are computed by the LEWICE computer program, and the results are compared with measured shapes. The performance characteristics of the aircraft are obtained for flow conditions corresponding to lifting surfaces without and with ice. The calculations are performed using an interactive boundary-layer approach in which the inviscid flowfield solutions are coupled to the viscous flow solutions. The calculated lift and drag coefficients are compared with experimental data. The results show that the goal of cost-effective prediction of the aerodynamic performance degradtion of an aircraft due to natural icing conditions is within our reach.