Mesh Impact Analysis of Eulerian Method for Droplet Shadow Zone of Aircraft Icing

The investigation of the droplet shadow zone serves as the foundation for the research of aircraft ice detector installation position. Because the Eulerian method is one of the main methods for calculating the water droplet motion and droplet shadow zone, it is critical to examine the accuracy of the Eulerian method for the droplet shadow zone. The Eulerian approach was utilized with different meshes to obtain the droplet shadow zone and generalized shadow zone for a NACA 0012 airfoil, an icing wind tunnel, and a multi-element airfoil as research objects. The results show that when the water droplet is deflected or blocked by frontal components, the Eulerian method produces mesh-dependent results, and the droplet shadow zone and generalized shadow zone calculated with different meshes are inconsistent. The mesh impact on the numerical simulation of the Eulerian method with upstream effects must be taken into account. The outcomes of this study offer guidance on the design of ice detector installation position.