Application of Eulerian Approach to Simulate Hard Rime Accretion

Abstract We attempt to apply the Eulerian approach to simulation of ice adhesion on structures and to investigate macroscopic models for ice accretion processes. The methodology of the Eulerian approach in icing simulation is summarized and two technical difficulties are pointed out: the accuracy deterioration in representing the shape of accreted ice, and the stiffness of unsteady simulations. A method of adequately generating grid points overcomes the former difficulty while the latter remains an unsolved problem. Some computational examples obtained with the Eulerian simulation are presented. In the present simulations, we consider the hard rime accretion, i.e., an ice deposit formed from the impingement of super-cooled water droplets, and thus it can clarify the meanings of the macroscopic models for the local impingement efficiency and the growing direction of ice. The shapes of accreted hard rime on a stationary airfoil and the accretion rates are simulated, and they are compared with experimental results. The computational results show the importance of the velocity component of uniform flow direction in the incoming droplet velocity. Also, the local impingement efficiency along a cylinder oscillating perpendicular to a uniform air flow is obtained. The present simulations demonstrate the potential of the Eulerian approach in the prediction of ice adhesion phenomena.