Engineering topics

Struk, Peter M.

Publications and source records attributed to Struk, Peter M..

At least 19 records

NASA NTRS2019

Analysis of Experimental Ice Accretion Data and Assessment of a Thermodynamic Model During Ice Crystal Icing

This paper evaluates a thermodynamic ice crystal icing model that has been previously presented to describe the possible mechanisms of icing within the core of a turbofan jet engine. The model functions between two distinct ice accretions based on a surface energy balance: freeze-dominated icing and melt-dominated icing. Freeze-dominated icing occurs when liquid water (from melted ice crystals) freezes and accretes on a surface along with the existing ice of the impinging water and ice mass. This freeze-dominated icing is characterized as having strong adhesion to the surface. The amount of ice accretion is partially dictated by a freeze fraction, which is the fraction of impinging liquid water that freezes. Melt-dominated icing occurs as unmelted ice on a surface accumulates. This melt-dominated icing is characterized by weakly bonded surface adhesion. The amount of ice accumulation is partially dictated by a melt fraction, which is the fraction of impinging ice crystals that melts. Experimentally observed ice growth rates suggest that only a small fraction of the impinging ice remains on the surface, implying a mass loss mechanism such as splash, runback, bounce, or erosion. The fraction of mass loss must be determined in conjunction with the fraction of freezing liquid water or fraction of melting ice on an icing surface for a given ice growth rate. This mass loss parameter, however, along with the freeze fraction and melt fraction, are the only experimental parameters that are currently not measured directly. Using icing growth rates from ice crystal icing experiments, a methodology that has been previously proposed is used to determine these unknown parameters. This work takes ice accretion data from tests conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Glenn Research Center in 2018 that examined the fundamental physics of ice crystal icing. This paper continues evaluation of the thermodynamic model from a previous effort, with additions to the model that account for sub-freezing temperatures that have been observed at the leading edge of the airfoil during icing. The predicted temperatures were generally in good agreement with measured temperatures. Other key findings include the total wet-bulb temperature being a good first order indicator of whether icing is freeze-dominated (sub-freezing values) or melt-dominated (above freezing). Maximum sticking efficiency values, the fraction of impinging mass that adheres to a surface, was calculated to be about 0.2, and retained this maximum value for a range of melt ratios (0.3 to 0.65 and possibly higher), which is defined as the ratio of liquid water content to total water content. Higher air velocities reduced the maximum sticking efficiency and shifted the icing regime to higher melt ratio values. Finally, the leading edge ice accretion angle was found to be related to ice growth (lower growth rates for smaller angles) and melt ratio (smaller melt ratios resulted in smaller angles, likely due to erosion effects).

Ice-Crystal Icing↗

NASA NTRS2019

Total Temperature Measurements in Icing Cloud Flows Using a Rearward Facing Probe

This paper reports on temperature and humidity measurements from a series of ice-crystal icing tunnel experiments conducted in June 2018 at the Propulsion Systems Laboratory at the NASA Glenn Research Center. The tests were fundamental in nature and were aimed at investigating the icing processes on a two-dimensional NACA0012 airfoil subjected to artificially generated icing clouds. Prior to the tests on the airfoil, a suite of instruments, including total temperature and humidity probes, were used to characterize the thermodynamic flow and icing cloud conditions of the facility. Two different total temperature probes were used in these tests which included a custom designed rearward facing probe and a commercial self-heating total temperature probe. The rearward facing probe, the main total temperature probe, was designed to reduce and mitigate the contaminating effects of icing and ingestion of ice crystals and water droplets at the probe's inlet. The probe also serves as an air-sample inlet for a light absorption based humidity measurement. The paper includes a section which discusses total temperature and humidity measurement considerations, and another section which provides an analysis of the main probe's performance characteristics. A computational fluid dynamic model of the flow around the probe was also conducted to gain insight into the trajectory of the flow entering the probe inlet. The experiments included a series of tests in which the relative humidity of the facility flow was swept through with increasingly larger values. The data showed that the rearward facing probe can reasonably capture the flow's total temperature and humidity under mild to moderate icing conditions but produces anomalous results under more intense icing conditions. The experimental data was also compared to an in-house developed thermodynamic model which takes into account the interaction of the main flow with the icing cloud. Comparison to the thermodynamic model showed that the rearward facing probe measured the predicted trends.

Agui, Juan H.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Particle Size Calibration Testing in the NASA Propulsion Systems Laboratory

The particle size characterization portion of the 2017 Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL) Cloud Calibration is described. The work focuses on characterizing the particle size distribution of the icing cloud as a function of simulated atmospheric conditions.These results will aid in upcoming ice crystal and supercooled liquid icing tests in PSL. Measurements acquired with the Phase Doppler Interferometer and High Speed Imaging instruments are presented. Experimental results indicate that the particle size distribution is primarily a function nozzle air and water pressures, and that air speed is not a significant effect for ice crystal clouds in PSL and both thermodynamic conditions and air speed are not significant effects for supercooled liquid water clouds in PSL.

Engine Icing↗

NASA NTRS2018

Portable Unit for Metabolic Analysis

The Portable Unit for Metabolic Analysis measures human metabolic function. The compact invention attaches to the face of a subject and it is able to record highly time-resolved measurements of air temperature and pressure, flow rates during inhalation and exhalation, and oxygen and carbon dioxide partial pressure. The device is capable of `breath-by-breath` analysis and `within-breath` analysis at high temporal resolution.

Dietrich, Daniel L.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Particle Size Calibration Testing in the NASA Propulsion Systems Laboratory

Engine icing↗

NASA NTRS2018

Evaluation of a Thermodynamic Ice Crystal Icing Model Using Experimental Ice Accretion Data

This paper presents the evaluation of a thermodynamic ice crystal icing model, previously presented to describe the possible mechanisms of icing within the core of a turbofan jet engine. It has been proposed that there are two types of distinct ice accretions based on a surface energy balance: freeze-dominated icing and melt-dominated icing. In the former, ice accretion occurs where a freeze fraction (0 to 1) of melted ice crystals freezes on a surface, along with the existing ice of the impinging water and ice mass. This freeze-dominated icing is characterized by having strong adhesion to the surface. In the latter, icing occurs from accumulated unmelted ice on a surface, where a melt fraction (0 to 1) dictates the amount of unmelted impinged ice. This melt-dominated icing is characterized by weakly bonded surface adhesion. The experimentally observed ice growth rates suggest that only a small fraction of the impinging ice remains on the surface, implying a mass loss mechanism such as splash, runback, bounce, or erosion. This mass loss parameter must be determined in conjunction with the fraction of freezing liquid water or fraction of melting ice on an icing surface. This loss parameter, however, along with the freeze and melt fraction, are the only experimental parameters that are currently not measured directly. Using reported icing growth rates from published ice crystal icing experiments, a methodology is proposed to determine these unknown parameters. This work takes reported ice accretion data from tests conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2016 and tests NASA collaborated on with the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada in 2012 that examined the fundamental physics of ice crystal icing. Those research efforts sought to generate icing conditions representative of those that occur inside a jet engine when ingesting ice crystals. This paper presents the fundamental equations of the thermodynamic model, the methodology used to determine the aforementioned unknown icing parameters, and results from model evaluation using experimental data. In addition, this paper builds on the previously proposed model by adding a transient conduction term to explain ice growth behavior at the onset of experimental tests that was observed to be different from steady-state ice growth that occurred later in the test run.With the addition of this energy term, this becomes a quasi-steady model. A key finding from this work suggests that mass loss fractions can exceed 0.90 for steady ice growth periods. In addition, due to conductive heat fluxes when using a warmer-than-freezing airfoil, lower mass loss fraction values were calculated during the initial transient period.

Ice-Crystal Ice Accretion↗

NASA NTRS2018

Ice Crystal Icing Physics Study using a NACA 0012 Airfoil at the National Research Council of Canada's Research Altitude Test Facility

This paper presents results from a study of the fundamental physics of ice-crystal ice accretion using a NACA 0012 airfoil at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Research Altitude Test Facility in August 2017. These tests were a continuation of work which began in 2010 as part of a joint collaboration between NASA and NRC. The research seeks to generate icing conditions representative of those that occur inside a jet engine when ingesting ice crystals. In this test, an airfoil was exposed to mixed-phase icing conditions and the resulting ice accretions were recorded and analyzed. This paper details the specific objectives, procedures, and measurements which included the aero-thermal and cloud measurements. The objectives were built upon observations and hypothesis generated from several previous test campaigns regarding mixed-phase ice-crystal icing. The specific objectives included (A) ice accretions under different wet-bulb temperatures, (B) investigations of steady-state ice shapes previously reported in the literature, (C) total water content variations in search of a threshold for accretion, and (D) probe characterization related to measuring melt fraction which is important to characterize the mixed-phase condition. The resulting ice accretions and conditions leading to such accretions are intended to help extend NASA’s predictive ice-accretion codes to include conditions occurring in engine ice-crystal icing.

Icing↗

NASA NTRS2018

Total Temperature Measurements Using a Rearward Facing Probe in Supercooled Liquid Droplet and Ice Crystal Clouds

Engine Icing Performance loss: rollback, surge, flameout, and even internal engine damagePartial melting and refreeze of ice inside engine core (Mason et al., 2006). Ingestion of ice crystals and aggregates, mixed-phase droplets, or supercooled liquid dropletsNeed to better understand the conditions and properties that lead to engine icing.Simulation and analysis (physical and computational, and modeling)Test facilities (PSL, NRC, ...). Thermal and computational models and analysisProbesMultiple probes (aerothermal probes and ice cloud characterization probes and techniques). Total temperatureTraditional total temperature probes (vented forward facing)Heated total temperature probes (Goodyear). Rearward facing (developmental). Total temperature relevance. Thermal interaction between the icing cloud and air flow impinging particles contribute to kinetic heating effect (Gent et al., 2000). Measurement considerations Temperature sensor accuracy. Incomplete recovery of total temperature. Thermal surfaces (sources and sinks). Flow effects (viscous losses). Debris contamination, including icing and ice ingestion.

Agui, Juan H.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Total Temperature Measurements using a Rearward Facing Probe in Supercooled Liquid Droplet and Ice Crystal Clouds

This paper presents an analysis of local total temperature and humidity experimental measurement taken in atmospheric ice cloud flows. The measurements were obtained in a series of tests in NASA's Propulsion Systems Laboratory. The probe used in the tests is referred to as the Rearward Facing Probe which was designed to mitigate the contamination effects of ice accretion and ingestion into the probe. The data provided important insights in the interaction of the ice cloud and the atmospheric flow. For the majority of the test runs, small temperature drops in the range of 0.6 to 2.8 C and up to 1.5 g/kg of water vapor rise were found as a result of the interaction. Under certain very low temperature or high TWC conditions, the interaction with the cloud produced a warming of the airflow. A thermal model based on evaporative and convective heat transfer mechanisms between the spray droplets and the airflow showed good agreement with the experimental data. Detailed analyses of the response of the probe under various flow, thermodynamic, and cloud conditions, are provided in the paper.

ice crystal↗

NASA NTRS2017

Numerical Analysis of Mixed-Phase Icing Cloud Simulations in the NASA Propulsion Systems Laboratory

This paper describes the development of a numerical model that couples the thermal interaction between ice particles, water droplets, and the flowing gas of an icing wind tunnel for simulation of NASA Glenn Research Centers Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL). The ultimate goal of the model is to better understand the complex interactions between the test parameters and have greater confidence in the conditions at the test section of the PSL tunnel. The model attempts to explain the observed changes in test conditions by coupling the conservation of mass and energy equations for both the cloud particles and flowing gas mass. Model predictions were compared to measurements taken during May 2015 testing at PSL, where test conditions varied gas temperature, pressure, velocity and humidity levels, as well as the cloud total water content, particle initial temperature, and particle size distribution.

NASA PSL↗

NASA NTRS2017

Comparisons of Mixed-Phase Icing Cloud Simulations with Experiments Conducted at the NASA Propulsion Systems Laboratory

This paper builds on previous work that compares numerical simulations of mixed-phase icing clouds with experimental data. The model couples the thermal interaction between ice particles and water droplets of the icing cloud with the flowing air of an icing wind tunnel for simulation of NASA Glenn Research Centers (GRC) Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL). Measurements were taken during the Fundamentals of Ice Crystal Icing Physics Tests at the PSL tunnel in March 2016. The tests simulated ice-crystal and mixed-phase icing that relate to ice accretions within turbofan engines. Experimentally measured air temperature, humidity, total water content, liquid and ice water content, as well as cloud particle size, are compared with model predictions. The model showed good trend agreement with experimentally measured values, but often over-predicted aero-thermodynamic changes. This discrepancy is likely attributed to radial variations that this one-dimensional model does not address. One of the key findings of this work is that greater aero-thermodynamic changes occur when humidity conditions are low. In addition a range of mixed-phase clouds can be achieved by varying only the tunnel humidity conditions, but the range of humidities to generate a mixed-phase cloud becomes smaller when clouds are composed of smaller particles. In general, the model predicted melt fraction well, in particular with clouds composed of larger particle sizes.

Thermal model↗

NASA NTRS2016

Update on the NASA Glenn PSL Ice Crystal Cloud Characterization (2016)

NASA Glenn's Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL) is an altitude engine research test facility capable of producing ice-crystal and supercooled liquid clouds. The cloud characterization parameter space is fairly large and complex, but the phase of the cloud seems primarily governed by wet bulb temperature. The presentation will discuss some of the issues uncovered through four cloud characterization efforts to date, as well as some of instrumentation that has been used to characterize cloud parameters including cloud uniformity, bulk total water content, median volumetric diameter and max-diameter, percent freeze-out, relative humidity, and an update on the NASA Glenn PSL Ice Crystal Cloud Characterization (2016).

Calibration↗

NASA NTRS2016

Possible Mechanisms for Turbofan Engine Ice Crystal Icing at High Altitude

A thermodynamic model is presented to describe possible mechanisms of ice formation on unheated surfaces inside a turbofan engine compression system from fully glaciated ice crystal clouds often formed at high altitude near deep convective weather systems. It is shown from the analysis that generally there could be two distinct types of ice formation: (1) when the "surface freezing fraction" is in the range of 0 to 1, dominated by the freezing of water melt from fully or partially melted ice crystals, the ice structure is formed from accretion with strong adhesion to the surface, and (2) when the "surface melting fraction" is the range of 0 to 1, dominated by the further melting of ice crystals, the ice structure is formed from accumulation of un-melted ice crystals with relatively weak bonding to the surface. The model captures important qualitative trends of the fundamental ice-crystal icing phenomenon reported earlier (Refs. 1 and 2) from the research collaboration work by NASA and the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada. Further, preliminary analysis of test data from the 2013 full scale turbofan engine ice crystal icing test (Ref. 3) conducted in the NASA Glenn Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL) has also suggested that (1) both types of ice formation occurred during the test, and (2) the model has captured some important qualitative trend of turning on (or off) the ice crystal ice formation process in the tested engine low pressure compressor (LPC) targeted area under different icing conditions that ultimately would lead to (or suppress) an engine core roll back (RB) event.

Crystal Icing↗

NASA NTRS2015

Ice Particle Impacts on a Flat Plate

An experimental study was conducted at the Ballistic Laboratory of NASA Glenn Research Center to study the impact of ice particles on a stationary flat surface target set at 45 degrees with respect to the direction of motion of the impinging particle (Figure 1). The experiment is part of NASA efforts to study the physics involved in engine power-loss events due to ice-crystal ingestion and ice accretion formation inside engines. These events can occur when aircraft encounter high-altitude convective weather.

ice particle↗

NASA NTRS2014

Simulation of Fluid Flow and Collection Efficiency for an SEA Multi-element Probe

Aircraft Icing↗

NASA NTRS2014

A Thermal Analysis of a Hot-Wire Probe for Icing Applications

This paper presents a steady-state thermal model of a hot-wire instrument applicable to atmospheric measurement of water content in clouds. In this application, the power required to maintain the wire at a given temperature is used to deduce the water content of the cloud. The model considers electrical resistive heating, axial conduction, convection to the flow, radiation to the surroundings, as well as energy loss due to the heating, melting, and evaporation of impinging liquid and or ice. All of these parameters can be varied axially along the wire. The model further introduces a parameter called the evaporation potential which locally gauges the maximum fraction of incoming water that evaporates. The primary outputs of the model are the steady-state power required to maintain a spatially-average constant temperature as well as the variation of that temperature and other parameters along the wire. The model is used to understand the sensitivity of the hot-wire performance to various flow and boundary conditions including a detailed comparison of dry air and wet (i.e. cloud-on) conditions. The steady-state power values are compared to experimental results from a Science Engineering Associates (SEA) Multi-Element probe, a commonly used water-content measurement instrument. The model results show good agreement with experiment for both dry and cloud-on conditions with liquid water content. For ice, the experimental measurements under read the actual water content due to incomplete evaporation and splashing. Model results, which account for incomplete evaporation, are still higher than experimental results where the discrepancy is attributed to splashing mass-loss which is not accounted in the model.

Thermal Analysis↗

NASA NTRS2014

Simulation of Fluid Flow and Collection Efficiency for an SEA Multi-element Probe

Numerical simulations of fluid flow and collection efficiency for a Science Engineering Associates (SEA) multi-element probe are presented. Simulation of the flow field was produced using the Glenn-HT Navier-Stokes solver. Three-dimensional unsteady results were produced and then time averaged for the heat transfer and collection efficiency results. Three grid densities were investigated to enable an assessment of grid dependence. Simulations were completed for free stream velocities ranging from 85-135 meters per second, and free stream total pressure of 44.8 and 93.1 kilopascals (6.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch absolute). In addition, the effect of angle of attack and yaw were investigated by including 5 degree deviations from straight for one of the flow conditions. All but one of the cases simulated a probe in isolation (i.e. in a very large domain without any support strut). One case is included which represents a probe mounted on a support strut within a finite sized wind tunnel. Collection efficiencies were generated, using the LEWICE3D code, for four spherical particle sizes, 100, 50, 20, and 5 micron in diameter. It was observed that a reduction in velocity of about 20% occurred, for all cases, as the flow entered the shroud of the probe. The reduction in velocity within the shroud is not indicative of any error in the probe measurement accuracy. Heat transfer results are presented which agree quite well with a correlation for the circular cross section heated elements. Collection efficiency results indicate a reduction in collection efficiency as particle size is reduced. The reduction with particle size is expected, however, the results tended to be lower than the previous results generated for isolated two-dimensional elements. The deviation from the two-dimensional results is more pronounced for the smaller particles and is likely due to the reduced flow within the protective shroud. As particle size increases differences between the two-dimensional and three dimensional results become negligible. Taken as a group, the total collection efficiency of the elements including the effects of the shroud has been shown to be in the range of 0.93 to 0.99 for particles above 20 microns. The 3D model has improved the estimated collection efficiency for smaller particles where errors in previous estimates were more significant.

Water Content↗

NASA NTRS2014

Ice Particle Impacts on a Moving Wedge

This work presents the results of an experimental study of ice particle impacts on a moving wedge. The experiment was conducted in the Adverse Environment Rotor Test Stand (AERTS) facility located at Penn State University. The wedge was placed at the tip of a rotating blade. Ice particles shot from a pressure gun intercepted the moving wedge and impacted it at a location along its circular path. The upward velocity of the ice particles varied from 7 to 12 meters per second. Wedge velocities were varied from 0 to 120 meters per second. Wedge angles tested were 0, 30, 45, and 60. High speed imaging combined with backlighting captured the impact allowing observation of the effect of velocity and wedge angle on the impact and the post-impact fragment behavior. It was found that the pressure gun and the rotating wedge could be synchronized to consistently obtain ice particle impacts on the target wedge. It was observed that the number of fragments increase with the normal component of the impact velocity. Particle fragments ejected immediately after impact showed velocities higher than the impact velocity. The results followed the major qualitative features observed by other researchers for hailstone impacts, even though the reduced scale size of the particles used in the present experiment as compared to hailstones was 4:1.

Impacts↗