Experimental study of ice formation on an aeronautical Pitot probe Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • In this work, the cool-down and ice accumulation on an aeronautic Pitot probe (PP) in case of a heating element failure was studied experimentally in a climatic wind tunnel (CWT). Through injector nozzles located in front of the test section, atomized water was introduced into the tunnel in order to simulate the presence of humidity found in different cloud types. Using high-resolution cameras, the subsequent ice accumulation along the PP was recorded. The experiment runs were taken out under three different conditions, controlling the air temperature, flow velocity and liquid water content (LWC) in the test section. The flow conditions in the CWT have dynamic similarity with those encountered at cruise speeds of common single-engined propeller aircraft. Analyzing the indicated pressure measured through the PP%27s pressure ports, it was possible to correlate the (cone-shaped) ice accumulation on the stagnation pressure port to the measurement error for one test condition. For the other two test conditions, it was observed that the ice cone%27s lateral section grew so fast, that it did not allow the blockage of the stagnation port, keeping it in contact with the atmosphere and thus performing correctly. © 2018 Begell House Inc.. All rights reserved.
  • In this work, the cool-down and ice accumulation on an aeronautic Pitot probe (PP) in case of a heating element failure was studied experimentally in a climatic wind tunnel (CWT). Through injector nozzles located in front of the test section, atomized water was introduced into the tunnel in order to simulate the presence of humidity found in different cloud types. Using high-resolution cameras, the subsequent ice accumulation along the PP was recorded. The experiment runs were taken out under three different conditions, controlling the air temperature, flow velocity and liquid water content (LWC) in the test section. The flow conditions in the CWT have dynamic similarity with those encountered at cruise speeds of common single-engined propeller aircraft. Analyzing the indicated pressure measured through the PP's pressure ports, it was possible to correlate the (cone-shaped) ice accumulation on the stagnation pressure port to the measurement error for one test condition. For the other two test conditions, it was observed that the ice cone's lateral section grew so fast, that it did not allow the blockage of the stagnation port, keeping it in contact with the atmosphere and thus performing correctly. © 2018 Begell House Inc.. All rights reserved.

publication date

  • 2018-01-01