Journal of Civil Aviation University of China ›› 2025, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (6): 9-14.

• Safety and airworthiness of civil aircraft • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of the effect of ice ridges on the aerodynamic and control characteristics
of ruddered airfoils

  

  1. 1. College of Safety Science and Engineering, CAUC, Tianjin 300300, China;
    2. Shanghai Volant Aerotech Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200240, China
  • Received:2024-03-02 Revised:2024-04-06 Online:2025-12-20 Published:2026-01-10

Abstract:

The formation of ice ridges above the wing by icing of supercooled large droplet (SLD) can seriously affect the
aircraft flight safety. In order to investigate the effects of ice ridges on the aerodynamic and control characteristics
of ruddered airfoils, numerical simulations were carried out using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for ruddered airfoils under different ice ridge heights. Simulation results show that ice ridges cause a reduction in the lift
coefficient, an increase in the drag coefficient and a significant reduction in the rudder control efficiency of the
airfoil; in this example, the airflow over the upper surface of the airfoil is completely separated at an ice ridge
height of k/c = 0.013 9 at angle of attack α = 4°, resulting in a rudder control efficiency loss of over 40% and a significant degradation of the airfoil′s aerodynamic and control characteristics.

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