Experimental Investigation on the Aerodynamic Performance of NLF-0414 Iced-Airfoil

Icing phenomenon on a natural laminar flow airfoil (NLF-0414) has been experimentally investigated. Double horn glaze ice geometry which was acquired during a 15 minutes spray time at−2.23℃ with liquid water content and a median volumetric diameter of 1.0 g/m^3 and 20 μm, has been extracted from database of NASA Lewis Research Center. Pressure distribution over airfoil surfacewas evaluated at angles of attack between -2 to 6 degreesfor both iced and clean airfoils. Aerodynamics performance degradation of the iced airfoil has been studied and it is shown that double horn ice accretion, due to its unique geometry, severely affects aerodynamic characteristics of natural laminar flow airfoils. Reattachment locations have been evaluated for upper and lower separation bubbles. The upper surface separation bubble was seen to increase in size in contrary to the lower surface separation bubble.