Progress Toward the Development of an Airfoil Icing Analysis Capability

The NASA-Lewis aircraft icing analysis program is composed of three major sub-programs. These sub-programs are ice accretion simulation, performance degradation evaluation, and ice protection system evaluation. These topics cover all areas of concern related to the simulation of aircraft icing and its consequences. The motivation for these activities is twofold, reduction of time and effort required in experimental programs and the ability to provide reliable information for aircraft certification in icing, over the complete range of environmental conditions. In addition to the analytical activities associated with development of these codes, several experimental programs are underway to provide verification information for existing codes. These experimental programs are also used to investigate the physical processes associated with ice accretion and removal for improvement of present analytical models. The NASA-Lewis icing analysis program is thus striving to provide a full range of analytical tools necessary for evaluation of the consequences of icing and of ice protection systems.