77th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (November 24, 2024 — November 26, 2024)

P2694476: Flow transition on iced airfoils

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Authors

• Brett Bornhoft, Air Force Research Laboratory
• Suhas S. Jain, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology; Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University
• Federico Zabaleta, Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University
• Sanjeeb T. Bose, Cadence Design Systems, Inc and Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University
• Parviz Moin, Center for Turbulence Research, Stanford University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2024.GFM.P2694476

In cold environments, aircraft and wind turbines can accumulate ice on their surfaces, creating roughness at the leading edge of airfoils. This roughness accelerates the transition to turbulence, increases the thickness of the boundary layer (δ), increases drag, and reduces lift.We conduct wall resolved large eddy simulations on the impact of ice on airfoil performance at a Reynolds number of 1.8×10^6, where the upstream transition to turbulence results in increased boundary layer growth, leading to early flow separation. This study helps in understanding boundary layer transition on complex geometries with ice roughness and aids in the development of improved wall models.