Aircraft/Aero-engine Icing Physics & Novel Strategies for Inflight Icing Protection

Abstract

Aircraft/Aero-engine icing is widely recognized as a significant hazard to aircraft operations in cold climates. Dr Hu will introduce his recent research progress in aircraft/aero-engine icing physics and anti-/de-icing. By leveraging the unique Icing Research Tunnel available at Iowa State University (i.e., ISU-IRT), comprehensive investigations are conducted to characterize the important micro-physical processes pertinent to aircraft icing phenomena. A suite of advanced flow diagnostic techniques, including molecular tagging velocimetry and thermometry (MTV&T), particle image velocimetry (PIV), digital image projection (DIP), and high-speed infrared (IR) imaging thermometry techniques, are developed and applied to quantify water droplet impinging dynamics, transient behaviours of wind-driven water runback flows, unsteady heat transfer and dynamic solidification processes over air foil/wing surfaces. Anti-/de-icing performances of various “state-of-the-art” hydro-/ice-phobic coatings/surfaces, including a lotus-inspired super hydrophobic surface (SHS) and a pitcher-plant-inspired Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces (SLIPS), are evaluated quantitatively under different icing conditions (i.e., ranged from dry rime icing to wet glaze icing conditions). The recent efforts on unmanned-aerial-system (UAS) icing and aero-engine anti-/de-icing will also be introduced briefly. The findings derived from the icing physics studies are extremely helpful in improving current icing accretion models and developing effective anti-/de-icing strategies to ensure the safer and more efficient operation of aircraft/aero-engine in cold weather.

Speaker

Dr Hui Hu is the Martin C. Jischke Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University. His research interests include advanced optical/laser-based diagnostics, aircraft/aero-engine icing physics and anti-/de-icing technology; Unmanned-Aerial-Systems (UAS); wind energy and wind turbine aeromechanics; Fluid-Structure Interactions (FSI) of built structures with violent windstorms (e.g., tornadoes, downbursts, and snowstorms). Dr Hu is an ASME Fellow and AIAA Associate Fellow. He is serving as an editor of “Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science-Elsevier” and an associate editor of “The ASME Journal of Fluid Engineering” and “ASME Open Journal of Engineering”. He received several prestigious awards in recent years, including the 2006 NSF-CAREER Award, the 2007 Best Paper in Fluid Mechanics Award (Measurement Science and Technology, IOP Publishing), the 2009 AIAA Best Paper Award in Applied Aerodynamics, the 2012 Mid-Career Achievement in Research Award of Iowa State University, 2013 AIAA Best Paper Award in Ground Testing Technology, 2014 Renewable Energy Impact Award of Iowa Energy Center, 2022 AIAA Best Paper Award on Atmospheric and Space Environments, and 2023 D.R. Boylan Eminent Faculty in Research Award of Iowa State University. Further information about Dr Hu’s technical background and research activities is available at: http://www.aere.iastate.edu/~huhui/