Abstract:
The distortion, drag and break-up of supercooled drizzle droplets in aircraft
icing was investigated in ambient conditions. An effective efficient computer
procedure was developed for the distortion and drag of small droplets, < 1mm, at
low Reynolds numbers, < 1000, and high Weber numbers, > 10. High-speed videos
and photographs were obtained with an improved high-intensity LED strobe.
Experimental measurements validated the drag model for droplets distorted by a
rapidly accelerating airflow in a convergent wind tunnel. To prevent droplet
coalescence, due to wake interactions, droplets were generated with a steady jet
impinging of a rotating slotted disk.
