The optimization of simulated icing environment by adjusting the arrangement of nozzles in an atomization equipment for the anti-icing and deicing of aircrafts

To investigate the aircraft icing problem, simulation of the high-altitude clouds as the icing environment becomes necessary. Clouds always contain many micro-scale subcooled droplets. The accurate control of the icing environment simulation is challenging. In this study, to optimize the icing environment simulation, the arrangement of 10 nozzles in the atomizer was adjusted. A model of the atomization equipment in an icing cloud simulation system was independently developed and fully experimentally validated with two parameters, the ice shape and the maximum ice thickness on the test rod. The error of maximum ice thickness, the maximum and mean deviations are 2.6%, 1.13 mm and 0.68 mm, respectively. Then, the performance of the icing environment at 6 different nozzle arrangements were simulated and analyzed. The spreading area of water droplets and the uniformity of liquid water content distribution were proposed to evaluate the simulated icing environment performance. For the best nozzle arrangement, the spreading area and the area-weighted average of liquid water content are 0.24009 m² and 0.168 g/m³, respectively. For the worst case, the spreading area and the area-weighted average of liquid water content are 0.22511 m² and 0.17056 g/m³, respectively. Additionally, increasing the horizontal distance between two nozzles in the middle spray bar adversely affects the performance of the simulated icing environment. Contributions of this study could effectively guide the realization of a better simulated icing environment.