Experimental Investigation of Generic Ice Block Trajectories under Freestream Conditions

Abstract

An experimental database of trajectories featuring idealized, simplified artificial ice blocks under freestream conditions has been created. It includes a variation of key parameters like the ice block geometry, density, freestream velocity and release angle of attack. The ice block's position and attitude were optically tracked using a system of two high-speed cameras and a dedicated post-processing routine. The work performed in the scope of the EU co-funded research project STORM aims at the validation and further development of current simulation tools for ice release and ice block trajectories in terms of their ability to cope with the high complexity and randomness of this phenomenon. These tools of different level of fidelity are currently used during the aircraft certification process to estimate the thread of large ice pieces released from the aircraft's surface impacting into downstream components. The major experimental findings are discussed in this article alongside first promising results from numerical trajectory simulations.