Method for Designing Three-Dimensional Swept Hybrid Wings for Icing Wind-Tunnel Tests

What is it about?

The formation of ice on aircraft wings during flight is an important and necessary subject of study for aviation safety and aircraft certification. Icing wind tunnel tests are key to providing a controlled and repeatable environment to mitigate risks and reduce costs of development of aircraft icing protection systems. Due to challenges and limitations involving icing scaling, it is desirable to perform full-scale ice accretion tests. However, large wings such as those found in commercial transport aircraft cannot fit inside existing icing tunnels. Hybrid models maintain the full-scale leading edge and replace the aft section with redesigned trailing edge of reduced chord to allow models to fit inside icing tunnels. We present a method for designing hybrid models for the generation of full-scale ice accretions on large swept wings. Additionally, the effects of several design parameters are investigated an put in context with trade-offs from the perspective of the model designer.

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