EFFECTS OF TARGET CURVATURE ON THE IMPACT CHARACTERISTICS OF SIMULATED HAILSTONES

As hail ingestion tests are introduced into aero-engine certification procedures, there is an increasing need for an understanding of ice pa rticle behaviour within an engine. In this paper, the possible effects that ingested ice may have on a turbofan engine are briefly discussed . The objective of this paper is to study the effect of target curvatu re on ice-ball (simulated hailstone) impact characteristics. The targe t curvature effect was studied on the concave side of two curved plate s using the experimental techniques of patternator and still photograp hy. The results are compared with those from a flat plate. The compari son shows that the curvature has a small effect on post-impact particl e sizes, and significantly decelerates the movement of the particles a fter an impact.