Comparison of iced aerodynamic measurements on a swept wing from two wind tunnels

Artificial ice shapes of various geometric fidelity were tested on a wing model based on the Common Research Model. Low Reynolds number tests were conducted at Wichita State University’s Beech Memorial Wind Tunnel, and high Reynolds number tests were conducted at ONERA’s F1 wind tunnel. The aerodynamic performance data from the two facilities were compared at matched or similar Reynolds and Mach number to ensure that the results and trends observed at low Reynolds number could be applied and continued to high Reynolds number. For both clean and iced configurations, the data from Wichita State University and F1 agreed well at matched or similar Reynolds and Mach numbers. The lift and pitching moment curves agreed very well for most configurations. There appeared to be 0.2-0.3° offset in the angle of attack between the Wichita State University and F1 data, possibly due to different flow angularities in the test sections of the two facilities. There was also an offset in the drag values between the two facilities from an unknown cause. Overall, the data compared very well between the low Reynolds number test at Wichita State University tunnel and the high Reynolds number test at F1. This indicated that data from the low Reynolds number tests could be used to understand iced-swept-wing aerodynamics at high Reynolds number.