An experimental study was performed to investigate large droplet dynamics in the vicinity of an airfoil. The investigation was conducted using the NASA Glenn Droplet Imaging Flow Tunnel (DrIFT). Mono-dispersed large droplets were released at the tunnel inlet and accelerated toward an airfoil that was mounted in the test section. The dynamic behavior of a droplet's encounter with the airfoil, which may involve droplet distortion, break-up, impingement and splashing, was recorded using a high-speed imaging system. The effects of the droplet size, tunnel velocity and airfoil configuration on the droplet dynamics were investigated in a parametric study. The droplet sizes used in the experimental study were 96 and 375 μm whereas tunnel velocities were varied from 80 to 130 mph. Three different airfoil geometries were used in the experimental study; a ‘clean’ and ‘iced’ airfoil, and a ‘clean’ three-element high-lift airfoil. The incidence angle of these airfoils was set to zero degrees. The experimental results showed that the aerodynamic forces near an airfoil, tunnel speed and droplet size have a significant effect on the dynamics of droplets.
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