Design and implementation of the device for liquid water content measurement in icing wind tunnel

One important difference between icing wind tunnel and conventional one is that icing wind tunnel can simulate the real atmospheric cloud icing environment, and aircraft icing features can be studied in icing wind tunnel. As a result, the simulation of icing cloud parameters is the key function of icing wind tunnel. Liquid water content is one of the important parameters. Accurate measurement for the liquid water content is an essential prerequisite for freezing tests to be carried out. Icing blade is widely recognized at home and abroad as an important method measuring liquid water content. Moreover, icing blade is used as a basic tool for calibrating specification of icing wind tunnel. In this paper, the principle has been introduced for the utilization of icing blade to measure liquid water content in icing wind tunnel, and test plans have been formulated; technical targets have been proposed for the design of a complete set of device, and technical difficulties within the design have also been pointed out; the overall structure of device has been designed, and the stiffness and strength of key mechanical parts has been analyzed; the key technique of the device design has been introduced in detail, including the calculation of collection coefficient for liquid water content and the design of driving control system; the designed icing blade is tested in the icing wind tunnel. The application results show that the icing blade has a good collection effect of liquid water. The protection cover has a high opened and closed speed, which can be realized as accurate control of freezing time. The designed icing blade can fulfill technical target and successfully measure the liquid water content.