Abstract:
Experimental and analytical evidence is presented to illustrate droplet
distortion and potential break-up in the flow conditions similar those of a
drizzle droplet in the vicinity of an aerofoil. The droplet size range
considered is 100u m to 500u m. The current research is at ambient temperature
but with equivalent parametric conditions to SLD icing. While the results
support the contention that smaller droplets, <100u m, remain essentially
spherical, the larger droplets become sufficiently distorted to affect their
drag characteristics and can break up due to the transient aerodynamic forces.
