Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Ice”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,189 records · Page 66

Surface areas and porosities of ices used to simulate stratospheric clouds

Surface areas, bulk densities, and porosities of ices formed at 85 or 200 K are measured to study the morphology of the vapor-deposited ices that have been used to simulate ice clouds in the laboratory. Surface areas are measured from the Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) analysis of absorption isotherms obtained at 72.2 K. Bulk densities and porosities are determined photogrammetrically. Results show that water ice and HNO3-H2O ice films deposited from the vapor at temperatures below 200 K exhibit large BET surface areas and are highly porous. For the ices annealed at temperatures above 200 K, external surface areas calculated from the observed particle sizes agree reasonably well with the BET areas, which indicates that the annealed ices are composed of nonporous particles and that the porosity of these ices is due to interstices among the particles.

Keyser, Leon F.↗

Polarimetric remote sensing of sea ice in the Beaufort Sea

Data were collected in March 1988 with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) polarimetric airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Full covariance matrices were obtained from the scattering data with proper consideration of the polarimetric calibration. Images were processed to form the sea ice scenes in the Beaufort sea. These scenes contain various ice types including thin ice, thick first-year ice, and multiyear ice. Sea ice was modeled as a layer random medium and the polarimetric backscattering coefficients were calculated under the distorted Born approximation with effective permittivities obtained from the strong fluctuation theory. Sea ice signatures remotely observed by the JPL SAR over the Beaufort sea ice scenes were interpreted by comparing their behavior at different incident angles with results obtained from the theoretical model.

Nghiem, S. V.↗

Morphology of nitric acid and water ice films

Ice films have been used to simulate stratospheric cloud surfaces in order to obtain laboratory data on solubilities and heterogeneous reaction rates. In the present study, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) is used to study thin films of both water ice and nitric acid ice near the composition of the trihydrate. The ices are formed by vapor deposition onto aluminum or borosilicate-glass substrates cooled to about 200 K. Micrographs are recorded during the deposition process and during subsequent annealing at higher temperatures. The results show that the ice films are composed of loosely consolidated granules, which range from about 1 to 20 microns in size at temperatures between 197 and 235 K. Cubic water ice is sometimes observed at 200 K, which converts to the hexagonal form at slightly higher temperatures. The loose packing of the granules confirms the high porosities of these films obtained from separate bulk porosity measurements. Average surface areas calculated from the observed granule sizes range from about 0.2 to 1 sq m/g and agree with surface areas obtained by gas-adsorption (BET) analysis of annealed ice films. For unannealed films, the BET areas are about an order of magnitude higher than the ESEM results, implying that the unannealed ices contain microporosity which is lost during the annealing process.

Keyser, Leon F.↗

Meteorological conditions during the formation of ice on aircraft

These are the results of a number of records recently secured from autographic meteorological instruments mounted on airplanes at times when ice formed. Ice is found to collect on an airplane only when the airplane is in some form of visible moisture, such as cloud, fog, mist, rain. etc., and the air temperature is within certain critical limits. Described here are the characteristics of clear ice and rime ice and the specific types of hazards they present to airplanes and lighter than air vehicles. The weather records are classified according to the two general types of formation (clear ice and rime) together with the respective temperatures, relative humidities, clouds, and elevations above ground at which formations occurred. This classification includes 108 cases where rime formed, 43 cases in which clear ice formed, and 4 cases when both rime and clear ice formed during the same flight. It is evident from the above figures that there was a preponderance of rime by the ratio of 2.5 to 1, while in only a few cases both types of ice formation occurred during the same flight.

Samuels, L T↗

Icing-Protection Requirements for Reciprocating-Engine Induction System

Despite the development of relatively ice-free fuel-metering systems, the widespread use of alternate and heated-air intakes, and the use of alcohol for emergency de-icing, icing of aircraft-engine induction systems is a serious problem. Investigations have been made to study and to combat all phases of this icing problem. From these investigations, criterions for safe operation and for design of new induction systems have been established. The results were obtained from laboratory investigations of carburetor-supercharger combinations, wind-tunnel investigations of air scoops, multicylinder-engine studies, and flight investigations. Characteristics of three forms of ice, impact, throttling, and fuel evaporation were studied. The effects of several factors on the icing characteristics were also studied and included: (1) atmospheric conditions, (2) engine and air-scoop configurations, including light-airplane system, (3) type fuel used, and (4) operating variables, such as power condition, use of a manifold pressure regulator, mixture setting, carburetor heat, and water-alcohol injection. In addition, ice-detection methods were investigated and methods of preventing and removing induction-system ice were studied. Recommendations are given for design and operation with regard to induction-system design.

Coles, Willard D↗

The formation of ice on airplanes

The present report examines the problem of ice formation from the point of view of the pilot and the meteorologist. Their experiences prove the ice deposit to be first and foremost a navigational problem and only secondarily a question of de-icing devices. With correct utilization of the meteorological information by the flyer, ice hazard can in many cases be minimized or avoided. Ice formation and the different types of ice deposits are listed and discussed. Weather formation during these ice deposits are also discussed as well as the effect of ice formation on aircraft.

Noth, H↗

Sea ice radar signatures from ERS-1 SAR during late Summer and Fall in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas

A study which examines ERS-1 C band SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) imagery of sea ice obtained in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas from mid Summer through Fall freeze up and early Winter in 1991 is presented. Radar backscatter statistics of sea ice were obtained from the imagery, using common floes tracked through consecutive repeat images whenever possible. During the Summer months, strong fluctuations in ice signatures of several dB are observed over 2 to 3 day periods, which are found to be closely related to air temperature excursions above and below freezing that alters the phase of the ice surface. As air temperatures drop steadily below freezing in the Fall, the signatures of the pack ice increase in brightness and become more stable with time. Multiyear ice is distinguished from rough and smooth first year ice. There are also variations in the multiyear signatures with latitude. Large variations are seen in new ice and open water contained within leads which results in ambiguous classification.

Holt, Benjamin↗

Catalytic crystallization of ices by small silicate smokes at temperatures less than 20K

Samples of methanol and water ices condensed from the vapor onto aluminum substrates at low temperatures (below approximately 80 K) form amorphous ices; annealing at temperatures in excess of 140-155 K is usually required to convert such amorphous samples to crystalline ices. However, we have found that when either methanol or water vapor is deposited on to aluminum substrates that have been coated with a thin (0.1-0.5 mm) layer of amorphous silicate smoke, the ices condense in crystalline form. We believe that crystalline ice forms as the result of energy liberated at the ice/silicate interface perhaps due to weak bonding of the ice at defect sites on the grains and the very high surface to volume ratio and defect density of these smokes. Annealing of amorphous water ice mixed with more volatile components such as methane, carbon monoxide, etc., has been suggested as an efficient way to produce clatherates in the outer solar nebula and thus explain the volatile content of comets and icy satellites of the outer planets. This hypothesis may need to be re-examined if amorphous ice does not form on cold silicate grains.

Moore, M.↗

An Arctic source for the Great Salinity Anomaly - A simulation of the Arctic ice-ocean system for 1955-1975

The paper employs a fully prognostic Arctic ice-ocean model to study the interannual variability of sea ice during the period 1955-1975 and to explain the large variability of the ice extent in the Greenland and Iceland seas during the late 1960s. The model is used to test the contention of Aagaard and Carmack (1989) that the Great Salinity Anomaly (GSA) was a consequence of the anomalously large ice export in 1968. The high-latitude ice-ocean circulation changes due to wind field changes are explored. The ice export event of 1968 was the largest in the simulation, being about twice as large as the average and corresponding to 1600 cu km of excess fresh water. The simulations suggest that, besides the above average ice export to the Greenland Sea, there was also fresh water export to support the larger than average ice cover. The model results show the origin of the GSA to be in the Arctic, and support the view that the Arctic may play an active role in climate change.

Hakkinen, Sirpa↗

User's manual for the NASA Lewis ice accretion/heat transfer prediction code with electrothermal deicer input

A version of LEWICE has been developed that incorporates a recently developed electrothermal deicer code, developed at the University of Toledo by William B. Wright. This was accomplished, in essence, by replacing a subroutine in LEWICE, called EBAL, which balanced the energies at the ice surface, with a subroutine called UTICE. UTICE performs this same energy balance, as well as handles all the time-timperature transients below the ice surface, for all of the layers of a composite blade as well as the ice layer itself. This new addition is set up in such a fashion that a user may specify any number of heaters, any heater chordwise length, and any heater gap desired. The heaters may be fired in unison, or they may be cycled with periods independent of each other. The heater intensity may also be varied. In addition, the user may specify any number of layers and thicknesses depthwise into the blade. Thus, the new addition has maximum flexibility in modeling virtually any electrothermal deicer installed into any airfoil. It should be noted that the model simulates both shedding and runback. With the runback capability, it can simulate the anti-icing mode of heater performance, as well as detect icing downstream of the heaters due to runback in unprotected portions of the airfoil. This version of LEWICE can be run in three modes. In mode 1, no conduction heat transfer is modeled (which would be equivalent to the original version of LEWICE). In mode 2, all heat transfer is considered due to conduction but no heaters are firing. In mode 3, conduction heat transfer where the heaters are engaged is modeled, with subsequent ice shedding. When run in the first mode, there is virtually identical agreement with the original version of LEWICE in the prediction of accreted ice shapes. The code may be run in the second mode to determine the effects of conduction on the ice accretion process.

Masiulaniec, Konstanty C.↗

Collection Efficiency and Ice Accretion Calculations for a Sphere, a Swept MS(1)-317 Wing, a Swept NACA-0012 Wing Tip, an Axisymmetric Inlet, and a Boeing 737-300

Collection efficiency and ice accretion calculations have been made for a sphere, a swept MS(1)-317 wing, a swept NACA-0012 wing tip, an axisymmetric inlet, and a Boeing 737-300 inlet using the NPARC flow solver and the NASA Lewis LEWICE3D grid based ice accretion code. Euler flow solutions for the geometries were generated using the NPARC flow solver. The LEWICE3D grid based ice accretion program was used to calculate the impingement efficiencies and ice shapes. Ice shapes specifying rime and mixed icing conditions were generated for a 30 minute hold condition. All calculations were performed on an SGI Model Power Challenge Computer. The results have been compared to experimental flow and impingement data. In general, the calculated flow and collection efficiencies compared well with experiment, and the ice shapes looked reasonable and appeared representative of the rime and mixed icing conditions for which they were calculated.

Bidwell, Colin S.↗

Ice Accretion with Varying Surface Tension

During an icing encounter of an aircraft in flight, super-cooled water droplets impinging on an airfoil may splash before freezing. This paper reports tests performed to determine if this effect is significant and uses the results to develop an improved scaling method for use in icing test facilities. Simple laboratory tests showed that drops splash on impact at the Reynolds and Weber numbers typical of icing encounters. Further confirmation of droplet splash came from icing tests performed in the NaSA Lewis Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) with a surfactant added to the spray water to reduce the surface tension. The resulting ice shapes were significantly different from those formed when no surfactant was added to the water. These results suggested that the droplet Weber number must be kept constant to properly scale icing test conditions. Finally, the paper presents a Weber-number-based scaling method and reports results from scaling tests in the IRT in which model size was reduced up to a factor of 3. Scale and reference ice shapes are shown which confirm the effectiveness of this new scaling method.

Bilanin, Alan J.↗

On treatments of fetch and stability sensitivity in large-area estimates of sensible heat flux over sea ice

Bulk transfer coefficients estimated as a function of atmospheric stability and sea-ice lead width are combined with Arctic meteorological observations and ice thickness data to calculate the sensitivity of turbulent flux estimates to changes in lead width, wind speed, air temperature, and ice thickness for a high-concentration ice pack. These results are considered in terms of bulk transfer parameterizations that use a fixed transfer coefficient r that address atmospheric stability only. On the basis of the fetch-sensitive parameterizations considered here, differences in lead width for widths up to about 200 m can exert a substantial influence on sensible heat transfer coefficients and heat flux from leads under typical Arctic conditions. Fluxes from an open water lead decrease by 34% if fetch increases from 10 m to 100 m. This effect is greatest for open water leads, decreases considerably as leads refreeze, and is negligible for ice thicker than about 0.3 m. If open or newly refrozen leads make up 2% of the ice cover, than an increase in mean fetch from 10 m to 100 m yields a decrease of about 2 W/sq m in areally averaged flux from the ice pack. Calculations using observed and theoretical lead width distributions suggest that parameterizing lead widths in a sea ice model can be done effectively using a single, representative lead width rather than requiring a full distribution of widths. When coupled to the lowest atmospheric boundary layer using a bulk similarity theory model, this sensitivity of heat transfer to fetch results in substantially higher near-surface air temperatures over narrow leads, with equilibrium air temperatures decreasing by about 50% as fetch increases from 10 to 100 m.

Maslanik, J. A.↗

Modeling of topographic effects on Antarctic sea ice using multivariate adaptive regression splines

The role of seafloor topography in the spatial variations of the southern ocean sea ice cover as observed (every other day) by the Nimbus 7 scanning multichannel microwave radiometer satellite in the years 1980, 1983, and 1984 is studied. Bottom bathymetry can affect sea ice surface characteristics because of the basically barotropic circulation of the ocean south of the Antarctic Circumpolar current. The main statistical tool used to quantify this effect is a local nonparametric regression model of sea ice concentration as a function of the depth and its first two derivatives in both meridional and zonal directions. First, we model the relationship of bathymetry to sea ice concentration in two sudy areas, one over the Maud Rise and the other over the Ross Sea shelf region. The multiple correlation coefficient is found to average 44% in the Maud Rise study area and 62% in the Ross Sea study area over the years 1980, 1983, and 1984. Second, a strategy of dividing the entire Antarctic region into an overlapping mosaic of small areas, or windows is considered. Keeping the windows small reduces the correlation of bathymetry with other factors such as wind, sea temperature, and distance to the continent. We find that although the form of the model varies from window to window due to the changing role of other relevant environmental variables, we are left with a spatially consistent ordering of the relative importance of the topographic predictors. For a set of three representative days in the Austral winter of 1980, the analysis shows that an average of 54% of the spatial variation in sea ice concentration over the entire ice cover can be attributed to topographic variables. The results thus support the hypothesis that there is a sea ice to bottom bathymetry link. However this should not undermine the considerable influence of wind, current, and temperature which affect the ice distribution directly and are partly responsible for the observed bathymetric effects.

De Veaux, Richard D.↗

ERS-1 SAR backscatter changes associated with ice growing on shallow lakes in Arctic Alaska

Spatial and temporal backscatter intensity (sigma(sup o)) variations from ice growing on shallow lakes during winter 1991-92 near Barrow, NW Alaska, have been quantified for the first time using ERS-I C-band SAR data acquired at the Alaska SAR Facility. A field and laboratory validation program, including measurements of the thickness and structure-stratigraphy of the ice, indicates that sigma(sup o) values are strongly dependent on whether the ice freezes to the lake bottom, or remains afloat. Backscatter intensity decreases significantly when the ice grounds on the bottom. Strong backscatter from floating ice is attributed to a specular ice-water interface and vertically oriented tubular bubbles. During the spring thaw, backscatter undergoes a reversal; sigma(sup o) values from ice that was grounded increase, while sigma(sup o) values from ice that was afloat decrease. This phenomenon has not previously been reported.

Jeffries, M. O.↗

Coupled ice-ocean variability in the Greenland Sea

A major surface feature of the Greenland Sea during winter is the frequent eastward extension of sea ice south of 75 deg N and an associated embayment to the north. These features are nominally connected with the East Greenland Current, and both the promontory) and the embayment are readily apparent on climatic ice charts. However, there are significant changes in these features on time-scales as short as a few days. Using a combination of satellite microwave images (SSM/I) of ice cover, meteorological data and in situ velocity, temperature and salinity records, we relate the ice distribution and its changes to the developing structure and circulation of the upper ocean during winter 1988-1989. Our measurements illustrate the preconditioning that leads to convective overturn, which in turn brings warmer water to the surface and results in the rapid disappearance of ice. In particular, the surface was cooled to the freezing point by early December and the salinity then increased through ice formation (about 0.016 m/d) and brine rejection. Once the vertical density gradient was sufficiently eroded, a period of high heat flux (greater than 300 W/sq m) in late January provided enough buoyancy loss to convectively mix the upper water column to at least 200 m. We estimate vertical velocities at about 3 cm/s downward during the initial sinking. The deepening of the thermocline raised surface temperatures by over 1 C resulting in nearly 1.5 x 105 km of ice-melt within two days. Average rates of ice retreat are about 2 km/d southwestward, generally consistent with a wind-driven flow. Comparison of hydrographic surveys from before and after the overturning indicate the fresh water was advected out of the area, possibly to the south and east of our moorings.

Roach, A. T.↗

Scaling Methods for Simulating Aircraft In-Flight Icing Encounters

This paper discusses scaling methods which permit the use of subscale models in icing wind tunnels to simulate natural flight in icing. Natural icing conditions exist when air temperatures are below freezing but cloud water droplets are super-cooled liquid. Aircraft flying through such clouds are susceptible to the accretion of ice on the leading edges of unprotected components such as wings, tailplane and engine inlets. To establish the aerodynamic penalties of such ice accretion and to determine what parts need to be protected from ice accretion (by heating, for example), extensive flight and wind-tunnel testing is necessary for new aircraft and components. Testing in icing tunnels is less expensive than flight testing, is safer, and permits better control of the test conditions. However, because of limitations on both model size and operating conditions in wind tunnels, it is often necessary to perform tests with either size or test conditions scaled. This paper describes the theoretical background to the development of icing scaling methods, discusses four methods, and presents results of tests to validate them.

Anderson, David N.↗

Spatial Distribution of Trends and Seasonality in the Hemispheric Sea Ice Covers

We extend earlier analyses of a 9-year sea ice data set that described the local seasonal and trend variations in each of the hemispheric sea ice covers to the recently merged 18.2-year sea ice record from four satellite instruments. The seasonal cycle characteristics remain essentially the same as for the shorter time series, but the local trends are markedly different, in some cases reversing sign. The sign reversal reflects the lack of a consistent long-term trend and could be the result of localized long-term oscillations in the hemispheric sea ice covers. By combining the separate hemispheric sea ice records into a global one, we have shown that there are statistically significant net decreases in the sea ice coverage on a global scale. The change in the global sea ice extent, is -0.01 +/- 0.003 x 10(exp 6) sq km per decade. The decrease in the areal coverage of the sea ice is only slightly smaller, so that the difference in the two, the open water within the packs, has no statistically significant change.

Gloersen, P.↗