Freezing rain simulations for fixed, unheated conductor samples

The present paper reports on extensive experiments performed on short, fixe d, unheated conductor samples in an outdoor freezing rain simulator. Their purpose is to relate the weight of ice (or, alternatively, the equivalent r adial ice thickness) accreted on the samples with the associated weather co nditions. Over 50 specimens have been obtained under environmental conditio ns that encompass both wet and dry ice growths as well as several wind cond itions. A nondimensionalization technique is devised to accommodate variati ons in the imperfectly controlled test conditions. Consistent experimental results could be discerned more clearly when the horizontal as well as the vertical precipitation rate were measured. A strong linear correlation is f ound between a dimensionless ice thickness and a dimensionless time. A simp le model, Goodwin's model, is found to fit the experimental data surprising ly well for both dry and wet ice growths.