| An aircraft may experience in-flight ice accretion and corresponding reductions in performance and control when the vehicle encounters clouds of super-cooled water droplets. The EADS-IW Surface Engineering Group is investigating passive anti-icing possibilities, such as functional and ice phobic coatings. Ice-resistant coatings require investigating droplet impact on dry surfaces and wet films, including microscopic effects such as droplet splashing. To investigate droplet impacts, a volume of fluid (VOF) flow solver was used for droplets impacting dry and wetted hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces, focusing on meso-scale simulations. The effects of structured, micro-scale surface roughness and the effects of a thin wet film on the surface, corresponding to a saturated surface under high humidity conditions, were investigated. Axisymmetric domains produced acceptable results for smooth, dry surfaces. It was determined that in order to properly predict behavior of droplets impacting surfaces with structured micro-scale roughness, three-dimensional simulations are recommended. |
