Experimental Study on Hot Lubricating Oil Anti-Icing System of Aero-Engine Strut

This paper presents an experimental study on the performance of hot oil anti-icing system of aero-engine strut in icing wind tunnel. The experiments are performed in YBF-02 icing wind tunnel. The YBF-02 icing wind tunnel has a test section of 0.28m width and 0.18m height. With the limitation of model blocking, airspeed up to 200m/s can be achieved. A refrigeration system can provide the test-section with temperature from −25°C to 0°C. The experimental model is a full-scale inlet strut of a turboshaft engine. The hot lubricating oil flows through the internal passage of the strut and heats the strut to prevent the strut from ice accretion on its surface. In experiments, the hot oil was heated by an electric heater. The temperature and mass flow of the oil are controlled by Programmable logic controller (PLC) system. The temperature distributions on the strut surface are measured by T type thermocouples. The icing environment parameters in icing wind tunnel for engine strut are: the air total temperature is −10°C,-5°C; the airspeed is 40m/s; the liquid water content ranges from 0.5g/m³ to 2.0g/ m³; the median volume diameter (MVD) of the super-cooled droplet is 20μ m. The surface temperatures of the strut and the ice shape accreted on the strut are measured and photographed. The transient temperature variation of the strut surface is recorded in hot oil anti-icing tests. The characteristics of ice shape and temperature variation on the strut surface with a hot oil anti-icing system are analyzed. The effects of temperature and mass flow of hot oil on the performance of the anti-icing system under different icing conditions are studied.