Software code developed in the UK to model ice accretion at the design stage of new aircraft is being evaluated by the project's industrial partners, who hope that it will ease the certification of new products.
Ice Accretion Modelling ("Icecremo") is a UK Department of Trade and Industry-funded programme to develop the software for manufacturers of aircraft and any equipment prone to icing.
Icecremo partner British Aerospace claims that current codes "reflect the limitations of our knowledge when they were developed". The new approach "-could contribute to flight safety and help realise huge savings in development and flight testing".
Researchers at the Universities of Cranfield and Portsmouth and the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency are undertaking experiments to calibrate and refine the new code before it is passed to BAe, GKN Westland Helicopters and Rolls-Royce for industrial validation.
The £1million ($1.6 million), four-year project is due to be completed at the end of 1999, when the influence of factors which include droplet size and centrifugal forces will be accounted for.
Source: Flight International