The top-level objective of 3D-ICESIM is to significantly strengthen the simulation capabilities of the consortium through: 

  1. Merging the existing simulation tools (FHJ, ATX and SNU) and bundle the code development capacities to generate advanced 3D ice accretion tools. 
  2. Development of new and enhanced experimental documentation methods to enable the generation of high-quality validation data. 
  3. Generation of high-quality 3D validation data. 

Development of 3D simulation tools is a huge task and hence it is very difficult for any but the largest organizations to undertake it alone. FHJ, ATX and SNU are currently operating individual in-flight icing codes. None of these is currently a fully fledged 3D code, and it would take many resources for each partner to develop their individual codes to maturity. All 3 partners would therefore benefit hugely from combining their codes into a joint large project “3D in-flight icing code development”, as this would bundle their resources in a targeted manner. One of the main objectives of 3D-ICESIM is to pave the way to merging the 3 codes into a single one by selecting the best modelling approaches and algorithms from each of them. The project aims to both combine the existing capabilities and also extend them using a common framework to produce a 3D icing simulation tool which is available to all 3 organisations.  

Ice accretion is a complex process which involves aerodynamics, thermodynamics and physics. Under 3D-ICESIM the key issues will be dealt with in order to provide solution modules which can be used inter-dependently in order to simulate the overall process. State of the art methods will be developed and implemented to provide a large step forward in computational functionality. Simulation tools require validation for them to be used in an industrial setting. Very little open-source 3D validation data of sufficient quality is available for this purpose (globally). This was a recognized outcome from the 1st AIAA Ice Prediction Workshop held in 2021. To support the developments made in simulation capability, this project therefore also aims to provide the required data to validate the significant improvements. Generation of validation quality data is a substantial task in itself, since it is necessary to be able to measure a number of parameters to provide the validation data, not only the final ice shape.

One of the biggest obstacles in the numeric simulation of in-flight icing is the calculation of convective heat transfer between the ice/air interface. The main reason is that conventional models – in particular turbulence models – cannot handle ice roughness in an adequate way. However, SNU has developed a model in the past which is able to predict convective heat transfer much more realistically than conventional turbulence models implemented in commercial software such as ANSYS Fluent or CFX. Unfortunately, the SNU model is still poorly validated due to the lack of high-quality experimental data. The goal of the project is to develop adequate experimental methods enabling the generation of high-quality experimental validation data (water impingement, HTC and ice density).