Icing Simulation in Multistage Jet Engines

The present paper develops the particular methodology required to simulate icing not only on the front of a jet engine, but inside multistage ones, to respond to recent safety and performance concerns. When flying in certain weather conditions, engines have been found to ingest a mix of iced and liquid particles that can result in a dangerous buildup on the internal components of the compressor. The ice can then shed and may cause mechanical damage and performance losses to downstream components. To cost-effectively replicate such an environment, a three-dimensional quasi-steady numerical approach is developed to model both rotating and static components and their interaction. An intercomponent mixing-plane approach, along with stagnation and radial equilibrium boundary conditions, has been implemented, allowing the treatment of multistage unequal-pitch blade rows via a finite element interpolation method and proper circumferential averaging. The approach is first validated for the well-documented Aachen turbine, and then used on a NASA compressor stage to highlight impingement locations of supercooled droplets and the corresponding ice shapes.