Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2015: Turbine Technical Conference and Exposition

GT2015
June 15 – 19, 2015, Montréal, Canada

GT2015-42265

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF ICE SHEDDING FROM A FAN BLADE

Yong Chen Wei Dong

School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao
Tong University Tong University
Shanghai, China Shanghai, China
Zhonglin Wang Liang Fu
School of Mechanical School of Mechanical
Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Engineering, Shanghai Jiao
Tong University Tong University
Shanghai, China Shanghai, China

ABSTRACT max Maximum value

In turbofan engine, ice accretion on the fan blade may block the
flow path and disturbs the inlet flow, which will cause the
decrease of the thrust and the increase of the vibration
amplitude of the engine. More seriously, ice shedding can
damage the compressor components, which may cause serious
aircraft accidents. An understanding of the mechanisms
responsible for ice shedding process is necessary in order to
optimize the fan blade design to avoid hazardous ice shedding.
In this paper, a numerical ice shedding model is developed by
taking the coupling of the failure of the interface between ice
and fan blade surface and the failure of ice itself into account.
The ice shedding process is predicted and analyzed. Some
factors that affect the break-up and shedding of the ice are
discussed, which include the mechanical properties of the ice,
centrifugal loading and vibration loading. This model could be
used to further study on the ice debris trajectory prediction and
ice impact analysis.
Keywords: Ice shedding, fan blade, finite element, interface
strength, cohesive zone method
NOMENCLATURE
𝑃 Contact stress
𝐾 Contact stiffness
𝑢 Contact gap or slip distance
𝑑 Debonding parameter
𝐺 Fracture energy
𝜎 Stress
Subscripts
𝑛 Normal direction
𝑡 Tangential direction
c Critical value
ten Tension
com Compression
Superscripts
̅̅̅
() Under the condition of maximum contact stress
c Completion of debonding
INTRODUCTION
When an turbofan engine encounters a typical flight icing
conditions, the supercooled water droplets or ice crystals will
be ingested by the engine intake and impinge upon the engine
components, and subsequently freeze to form ice deposition. In
turbofan engine, many components will encounter icing
problem, which including inlets, fan blades, spinners, cooler
section static surfaces, sensors and bleed systems, etc.(see
Fig.1). There exist four types of icing effect: vibration,
operability, temporary thrust/power loss and components
damage. When the ice accretes on the rotating components,
such as fan blades and spinner cone, it will cause unbalance
weight and the vibration amplitude of the engine will increase.
Icing will leads to a degradation of engine operability. Ice
accretions will cause aerodynamic losses, rotating stall, which
will leads to the changes of the engine cycle performance and
temporary thrust/power loss. The ice debris shedding from the
rotating components can cause mechanical damage to nacelle,
fan and compressor components.
In order to ensure the flying safety, FAA has proposed
several regulations to address icing threat to engine [1].
According to the requirements of FAA regulation, engine
manufacturers must therefore comply with certifications and
regulations regarding flight safety in icing conditions. Fan
blade is the most import component in turbofan engine. It is in
the front of the engine and easy to icing and easy to damage by
the shedding ice. An understanding of the mechanisms
responsible for ice shedding process is necessary in order to
optimize the fan blade design to avoid hazardous ice shedding.

1 Copyright © 2015 by ASME

In this paper, we focus our research on the ice shedding
phenomenon on a fan blade.
Figure.1 Potential ice accretion areas in turbofan
engine
In the last several decades, many researchers have
contributed in the understanding of the mechanism responsible
for the ice accretion on aircraft wings and its effects on aircraft
performance. But in the area of icing in aircraft engine, the
understanding of dynamical processes involved in engine icing
still needs to be improved. The dynamical processes in aircraft
engine icing is more complicated than that in icing on aircraft
wings, which involves ice accretion, shedding, ingestion and
finally engine response to the ingested ice [2]. Many
computational models of the icing accretion problems have
been developed and ice accretion codes have been written to
predict ice accretion for various conditions on aircraft wings
and engines to reduce the time and costs for icing tunnel
experiments and flight tests [3-8].
Different researchers presented different models for the ice
shedding calculation. Scavuzzo et al [9] studied the stresses in
accreted ice on a typical airfoil impact ice caused by
aerodynamic forces and the significance of these stresses
relative to values needed to cause ice shedding. The results
show that airspeed is a critical parameter that affects the stress
value. Bain et al [10] developed a methodology that couples
computational fluid dynamics, computational structural
dynamics, ice accretion models and ice shedding models and
applied this method to simulate ice shedding in isolated airfoils
and rotors. The computation results were compared to the
experimental results and reasonable correlation with test data is
carried out. Bennani et al [11-12] proposed an ice shedding
mechanism based on pressure redistribution in the water film
formed at the ice/airfoil interface. This pressure distribution
induces a stress concentration that leads to crack propagation in
the ice. Zhang et al [13-14] presents a finite element method to
simulate the break-up of ice accreted on the wings of aircraft
and helicopter rotor wings. The ice break-up module is
integrated in FENSAP–ICE. Hayashi et al [15] developed an
ice shedding model that takes ice growth and ice shedding into
account. The simulation results for the time at which ice
shedding occurred were in good agreement with the
experimental results. Beaugendre et al [16] propose an ice
shedding model by using an innovative paradigm that is based
on cartesian grids, penalization and level sets. The method is
able to calculate ice shedding trajectory around aerodynamic
shape and bluff body.
2 Copyright © 2015 by ASME
The interface strength is a key factor that affects the ice
shedding process. Chen et al [17] studied the interface strength
between ice and aluminum by using a bilinear cohesive zone
model. The adhesion strength between ice and aluminum are
predicted and analyzed. Fortin et al [18] developed a model to
explain the mechanisms of ice adhesion. The ice adhesion
model at the ice-substrate interface is based on water behavior
before and after freezing, substrate roughness and ice type. This
paper shows the development of a phenomenological model to
predict the cohesive failure of ice. The model assumes that ice
near its freezing point is subject to internal and external strains,
and that its cohesive strength corresponds to the failure stress.
The failure stress is dependent on grain size and creep
involving grain boundary sliding in a polycrystalline material at
elevated temperatures.
In order to validate the shedding models, many
experimental studies have been carried out. Mason et al [19]
presented one of the first efforts to simulate the warm air/cold
ice conditions occurring inside the engine core using a test rig.
The test section contains geometry simulating the transition
duct between the low and high compressors in a typical jet
engine and an airfoil simulating the engine strut connecting the
inner and outer surfaces. Test results showed ice formed on the
airfoil and other surfaces in the test section at air temperatures
warmer than freezing. However, when both the air and surface
temperatures were held below freezing, the injected ice did not
melt and no ice accretion was observed. Ice only formed on the
airfoil when mixed-phase conditions (liquid and ice) were
produced, by introducing the ice into a warm airflow.
Venkataramani [20] carried out an experimental study of ice
adhesion to airfoils typical of aircraft engine booster vanes in
an icing wind tunnel over a range of temperatures. In most of
the tests, the force required to pull the ice away from the
leading edge in a direction normal to the leading edge in a
plane containing the leading edge and the chord was measured.
These test results were utilized to predict the ice shedding
characteristics of the GE90-115B engine during an icing test
with good agreement with engine test results.
In this paper, a new ice shedding criteria is presented.
Fortin and Itagaki [18, 21] established the ice shedding criteria
by comparing the centrifugal force and the adhesion force. If
the centrifugal force exceeds the adhesion force, ice shedding
will occur. But in most cases, only part of the ice will shed and
the shear stress in the interface between the ice and the
substrate is not uniform, especially on the complex twisted and
curved fan blade surface. Thus, the ice shedding criteria needs
to be improved. In present paper, the ice shedding model is
extended by incorporating two types of failure in the new
model, one is the failure of the interface between the ice and the
blade surface, the other is the failure of the ice itself. For the
first type of failure, a bilinear cohesive zone model is used to
simulate the debonding process. For the second type of failure,
a brittle cracking model is used for applications where the ice
behavior is dominated by tensile cracking and compressive
failure is unimportant. Both of these failure models are taken
into accounted by using ANSYS software.
BILINEAR COHESIVE INTERFACE MODEL (
𝐺𝑛
)+(
𝐺𝑡
)=1 (7)
In this paper, a bilinear cohesive interface model which is 𝐺𝑐𝑛 𝐺𝑐𝑡

based on the model proposed by Alfano and Crisfield [22] is where,

used to simulate the debonding of ice and fan blade surface. In 𝐺𝑛 = ∫ 𝑃𝑛 𝑑𝑢𝑛
2009, this model was introduced for use with contact elements
in the well-known finite element code ANSYS [23]. Debonding 𝐺𝑡 = ∫ 𝑃𝑡 𝑑𝑢𝑡
is modeled with contact elements which are bonded and have a
cohesive zone material model defined. are, respectively, the normal and tangential fracture energies.
The bilinear cohesive law during debonding is plotted in
Fig.2. There are three debonding modes. In mode I, the
separation normal to the interface dominates, while in mode II,
tangential slip dominates the separation normal to the interface.
In the mixed mode debonding, the interface separation depends
on both normal and tangential components. It shows linear
elastic loading (OA) followed by linear softening (AC). The
maximum normal/tangential contact stress is achieved at point
A. Debonding begins at point A and is completed at point C
when the normal/tangential contact stress reaches zero value;
any further separation/sliding occurs without any
normal/tangential contact stress. The area under the curve OAC Figure 2. Contact stress and contact gap/sliding
is the energy released due to debonding and is called the critical distance curve for bilinear cohesive interface model
fracture energy. The slope of the line OA determines the contact
gap/sliding distance at the maximum normal/tangential contact ICE MATERIAL PROPERTIES
stress and, hence, characterizes how the normal/tangential The ice accumulated on the surface of the fan blade has a
contact stress decreases with the contact gap/sliding distance, poly-crystal microstructure and its mechanical behavior is
i.e., whether the fracture is brittle or ductile. After debonding anisotropic. Thus the elastic properties of this kind of ice are
has been initiated it is assumed to be cumulative and any highly dependent on the orientations, sizes and shapes of the
unloading and subsequent reloading occurs in a linear elastic grains. In this paper, the orientations of the ice grain is
manner along line OB at a more gradual slope. Thus, the assumed to be randomly oriented and homogeneous elastic
cohesive zone material model with bilinear behavior is defined properties, which are completely described by only two
as [23]: independent constants, Young’s modulus E and Poisson’s ratio
𝑃𝑖 = 𝐾𝑖 𝑢𝑖 (1 − 𝑑𝑖 ) (1) υ are used. Values measured at −16 °C are listed in Table1
where, [24].
𝑖 = 𝑛, 𝑡, 𝑚 for mode I, mode II and mixed mode debonding,
Table1. Ice mechanical properties used in the FE model.
respectively.
The debonding parameter is defined as, Ice properties Values
1 Density 897 (kg/m3)
𝑑𝑖 = (1 − ) 𝜒 (2)
∆𝑖 Young’s modulus 9000 (MPa)
with 𝑑𝑖 = 0 for Δ𝑖 ≤ 1 and 0 < 𝑑𝑖 ≤ 1 for Δ𝑖 ≥ 1.where, Poisson’s ratio 0.325
𝑢 𝑢
Δ𝑛 = ̅𝑛 , Δ𝑡 = ̅𝑡 , Δ𝑚 = √Δ2𝑛 + Δ2𝑡 (3) In the process of ice accretion, many micro air bubbles
𝑢𝑛 𝑢𝑡
𝑐
𝑢𝑛 𝑢𝑡𝑐 will appear in the ice and will affect the density of the ice and
𝜒=( )=( ) (4)
𝑐 −𝑢
𝑢𝑛 ̅𝑛 𝑢𝑡𝑐 −𝑢
̅𝑡 the interface strength. The effect of porosity and interface
In ANSYS program, the contact stiffness values is strength on the ice shedding will be discussed in this paper.
automatically scaled to constrain the ratio of the contact gap The maximum stress criterion, also known as the normal
distances be same as that of tangential slip distances. stress, Coulomb, or Rankine criterion, is often used to predict
The normal/tangential critical fracture energy is computed the failure of brittle materials. The maximum stress criterion
as, states that failure occurs when the maximum (normal)
1
𝐺𝑐𝑛 = 𝑃𝑛𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑢𝑛𝑐 (5) principal stress reaches either the uniaxial tension strength
2
1 𝜎𝑡𝑒𝑛 , or the uniaxial compression strength 𝜎𝑐𝑜𝑚 ,
𝐺𝑐𝑡 = 𝑃𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑢𝑡𝑐 (6)
2
For mixed mode debonding, both normal and tangential -𝜎𝑐𝑜𝑚 < {𝜎1 , 𝜎2 } < 𝜎𝑡𝑒𝑛 (8)
contact stresses contribute to the total fracture energy and where σ1 and σ2 are the principal stresses for 2D stress.
debonding is completed before the critical fracture energy In this paper, maximum stress criterion is used to describe
values are reached for the components. Therefore, a power law the failure in the ice. 𝜎𝑡en and 𝜎𝑐𝑜𝑚 are set to be 1.6MPa.
based energy criterion is used to define the completion of Due to the lack of experimental data of the interfacial
debonding, properties between ice and titanium, some materials constants

3 Copyright © 2015 by ASME

 are assumed here. The shear strength of the interface between
ice and titanium is assumed to be 0.8MPa. The value of
tangential fracture energy 𝐺𝑐𝑡 for ice/titanium interface is
assumed to be same as that of ice/aluminum interface, which
is 2×10-3 (N/mm). The normal mode fracture energy 𝐺𝑐𝑛 is
set to be 1×10-3 (N/mm). The normal and shear cohesive
stiffness 𝐾𝑛 and 𝐾𝑡 are set to be 0.3×106 (N/mm3). The
relevant cohesive material data are summarized in Table 2.
Table 2. Cohesive material properties used in the FE
model for Ice/Al interfaces.
Interface properties Values
𝐾𝑛 0.3×106 (N/mm3)
𝐾𝑡 0.3×106 (N/mm3)
𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑇𝑛 0.8 (MPa)
𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 0.8 (MPa)
𝐺𝑐𝑛 1×10-3 (N/mm)
𝐺𝑐𝑡 2×10-3 (N/mm)
VALIDATION OF THE PROPOSED MODELS
In order to validate the calculation model presented in this
paper, two validation cases are provided. Case 1 is a
simulation of ice and interface failure of a thin aluminum plate
partially covered with ice under quasi-steady traction. This
experiment has been carried out by Riahi et al [25]. Case 2 is a
simulation of ice shedding from a rotating rotor and Itagaki et
al conducted this experiment in 1983.
In Case 1, the dimension of the aluminum plate is
168mm×18.87 mm×0.43 mm, the length of the ice mass is
108.42 mm and the ice free section at each end of the plate is
29.79 mm, the thickness of ice is 2 mm, 5 mm and 10 mm,
respectively. The geometry and FE mesh of the aluminum
plate and ice could be seen in Fig.3.
P Al
ice
P Crack surface
(a) Geometry of the model
(b) FE mesh
Figure 3. Geometry and FE mesh of a partially ice-
coated aluminum plate
For 2 mm of ice, failure occurs in the ice and the interface
between ice and aluminum plate keeps undamaged, because
4 Copyright © 2015 by ASME
the crack initiated in the ice can decrease the shear stress in
the interface. The calculation results indicated that the
resulting forces at the interface are less than the interface
strength. For 5 mm of ice, both ice fracture and interface
failures occur. For 10mm of ice, the stiffness of the ice layer is
high enough to endure the resulting forces acting on the ice
layer, so failure just occurs in the interface not in the ice. Fig.
4 shows the shear stress and debonding parameter in the
interface of 10mm ice under the traction load of 297.63N,
which is equal to the experiment critical loading. A crack
could be seen in Fig.4 (a) and the crack almost impenetrate the
whole interface. Table 3 shows the comparison of the
experiment and simulation critical loading for different
thicknesses of ice. The simulation results presented in this
paper agree very well with the experiments, which indicated
that the ice shedding model in this paper is reasonable and
effective in simulating ice/Al interface failure problems.
In Case 2, a metal tube of 25cm is rotating under icing
conditions. The ice accreted on the surface of the tube and the
thickness of the ice increases with time. Self ice shedding is
subsequently observed. We could validate the present shedding
model by comparing the shedding radius. Fig.5 (a) shows the
FE mesh of the tube and ice, the thickness of the ice is 5.96mm
and the rotating speed ω is 3600 rpm. Fig.5 (b) and (c) show the
interface shear stress and debonding parameter. From Fig.5 (b)
and (c), it can be seen that there exists a high interface shear
stress area from the tip of the tube to 60% max radius and the
interface crack will initiate in this area. After interface
debonding, this part of ice could not sustain the centrifugal
loading and self-shedding will occur. In present paper, the ice
shedding radius is 15.0cm, which is very close to the
experiment result of 15.5cm.
The result of validation cases confirm that the ice shedding
model proposed in this paper is reasonable and could be used to
simulate ice shedding phenomenon in turbo-machinery.
Front view Isometric view
(a) interface shear stress
Crack surface
(b) debonding parameter
Figure 4. FE results of (a) interface shear stress and
(b) debonding parameter of 10mm ice
Table 3. Comparison of the experiment and simulation
critical loading
Ice thickness Critical loading (N)
Experiment Simulation Difference
2mm 343.34 355.01 3.4%
5mm 329.20 340.70 3.5%
10mm 297.63 309.54 4.0%
ω two-stage fan. At the design point, the rotational speed of the
ice
25cm
(a) FE mesh
15cm
(b) interface shear stress (c) debonding parameter
Figure 5. FE model and results of a rotating tube
covered with ice
FAN BLADE ICE SHEDDING ANALYSIS
Fig. 6 shows the block diagram of this process and each
step is described in detail thereafter. Ice shedding from a fan
blade is simulated by using the well-known finite element
code ANSYS. The whole process is fully automatic executed
and controlled by a program written by the ANSYS
Parametric Design Language (APDL). First, the ice shape is
imported from a software platform developed by the co-
researcher Dong et al [26]. Because the cohesive interface
failure is modeled with contact elements which are initially
bonded with a cohesive zone material model defined, the
mesh of the fan blade does not need to re-mesh and the APDL
program will generate meshes in the ice. Then, the ice
mechanical property and external loading, such as centrifugal
and vibration loading, are input. The boundary condition is
imposed on the fan blade and the ice is bonded with the fan
blade by defining initially bonding conditions between the ice
and the fan blade. So, it does not need to apply boundary
condition on the ice. Stress analysis is performed and the
program will predict if there exists local or whole failure in
the ice or in the interface and if ice shedding will occur. If the
ice shedding does not occur, the program will import a new
ice shape at the next time step and repeat above calculation
until the ice shedding occurs.
When using this cohesive zone model in calculating of ice
shedding problems in this paper, some assumptions are as
follows: (i) between the ice and blade surface, only adhesive
failure may occur. The cohesive failure is ignored; (ii)
between the ice and blade surface, only mode II debonding
may occur, which means that the ice slip tangent to the
5 Copyright © 2015 by ASME
interface. Because in this simulation, the shear stress caused
by the blade deformation is much larger than the normal stress
caused by the blade vibration. (iii) the ice and the fan blade
surface is initially perfectly bonded; (iv) the ice is perfect
similar to glaze ice, no porosity or air bubble, and the ice is
homogeny.
The fan blade used in this paper is NASA R-67, the first
stage rotor of the NASA Lewis (now NASA Glenn) designed
rotor is 16,043 RPM. This fan blade has been recognized as a
popular test case for three dimensional viscous flow prediction
procedures because of the available detailed experimental data
obtained using a laser anemometer.
As shown in Fig.7, the fan blade and ice FE meshes
consist of 17600 and 46784 3-D 8-Node structural solid
elements, respectively. Typically, the average size of the fan
blade element is 1.5mm and the average size of the ice
element is 0.5mm. On the leading edge and trailing edge of
the blade, the FE mesh is refined to capture the possible stress
concentration. A mesh sensitivity study (not reported here) has
demonstrated that this element size is indeed sufficiently small
for ice shedding analysis. At the bottom of the blade, the
displacements of the nodes are constrained from motion in x,
y and z directions. The material of the blade is assumed to be
Ti-6Al-4V, and the material properties used in the FE model
are given in Table 4.
Experience with engine icing tests indicates that
maximum ice accretion occurs during the idling speed. So it is
important to gain an understanding of ice shedding procedure
under this speed. Generally, for gas turbine engines, idle speed
is between 40% and 50% of full design speed, but it is very
hard to carry out CFD and ice accretion analysis under this
low speed, low flow conditions. And the ice shedding may not
occur under low speed. So, in this paper, the idling speed of R-
67 is defined as 60% design speed, which is 9625.8rpm.
Figure 6. Block diagram of ice shedding analysis
Table 4. Material properties of the fan blade used in the
FE model.
Properties Values
Density 4300 (kg/m3)
Young’s modulus 115 (GPa)
Poisson ratio 0.30

ice
x interesting that the extra vibration loading may help to
y z suction side
pressure side
Figure 7. FE mesh of NASA R-67 fan blade and ice
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this paper, the process of ice shedding from a R-67 fan
blade is carried out. The FE model of a R-67 fan blade partially
covered with ice is built and the failure of the interface between
ice and fan blade and the failure of ice itself are taken into
account. The effects of the interface adhesion strength, density
of the ice, the deformation of the blade and different loadings
on the shedding process are discussed. The calculation results
may provide useful information in understanding the
mechanisms responsible for ice shedding process. The model
developed in this paper could be a potential tool in predicting
ice shedding process in real aero engines.
The centrifugal loading is the most import factor that
affect the mass and volume of the shedding ice debris. In
present paper, stress in the accreted ice and the crack growth in
the interface between ice and fan blade surface is analyzed.
Fig.8 shows the interface debonding parameter at different
rotating speed. Ice accreted at the fan blade tip region is thinner
than that accreted at the fan blade hub region. Although the
rotating radius in the blade tip region is larger than that in the
fan blade hub zone, the centrifugal loading in the latter is much
higher than that in the former, the interface at the lower part is
expected to failure earlier. Below 40% design speed, no crack
initiate in the interface. At 40% design speed, stresses in some
interface elements reach the max stress level and the interface
begins to debond, which means the crack begin to initiate and
will grow with the increasing of the rotating speed. On the
other hand, the stress level in the ice itself will also increase
and finally reach the failure criteria and a crack will appear in
the ice. Because the crack simulation is very complicated and
time consuming, in this paper, the crack growth path in the ice
is simplified by assuming that it is vertical to the centrifugal
loading. The crack growth is also simplified by using element
death techniques. As shown in Fig.9, the elements lay in the
crack path are “killed”. To achieve the "element death" effect,
they are deactivated by multiplying their stiffness by a severe
reduction factor. This factor is usually set to 10 -6. As the
rotating speed increases, there exists a high 𝜎x zone in the ice
at the leading edge, about 25% height of the blade from the
hub. Under the impact of the centrifugal force, a crack alone the
blade chord may appear. The crack path is assumed in Fig.9. At
73.6% design speed, most of the interface element between the
lower part of the ice and the blade surface are debonded, which
means this part of ice will shed from the fan blade. The
simulation results in this paper will provide useful information
for further ice impact analysis. The simulation results also
6 Copyright © 2015 by ASME
indicate that it will be helpful to deicing by increasing the
rotating speed.
In turbofan engine, ice accretion on the fan blade may
cause the increase of the vibration amplitude of the engine. It is
accelerate ice shedding process. In this paper, the fan blade
covered with ice is assumed to resonate at its 1st bending mode
and the max tip displacement is 1.19mm. Fig.10 shows the
interface shear stress and debonding parameter at the maximum
displacement value in the first vibration cycle. It has to be point
out that, in this case, the interface shear strength 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 is set to
be 0.6MPa to show the effectiveness of the model and reduce
the calculation time. Otherwise, thousands of cycles of
vibration simulation need to carry out, which is time consuming
and low efficiency. Two adjacent red zones with high shear
stress values could be seen from Fig.10 (a), which indicates that
the interface cracks initiate at two areas. It is different from the
interface crack initiating pattern under centrifugal loads. It has
to be noted that debonding parameter in Fig.10 (b) is the results
in the first vibration cycle and this value will increase fast in
the following vibration cycle. The 1st bending nature frequency
of R-67 blade is about 450Hz at 60% design speed. After
several seconds, the interface will completely fail. So, vibration
may become a more efficient way to deicing in turbo machinery
than centrifugal force.
As stated before, the mechanical properties of ice, such as
elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio, tensile strength and
compressive strength, have a wide range of values. In this
paper, the effect of density and interface shear strength on the
ice shedding is discussed. The density of ice ranges from
600kg/m3 to 900kg/m3, because under different climate
conditions the porosity of ice is varied. Also, the strength of the
interface between ice and blade surface will be different
depending on the type of ice shape, water content and diameter
of ice droplet.
40% design speed 50% design speed
60% design speed 73.6% design speed
Figure 8. Interface debonding parameter at different
rotating speed
 discussed. The interface shear strength ranges from 0.2MPa to
1.6MPa. Fig.12 shows the interface debonding contours for
different shear strength at 60% design speed. For the 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥
lower than 0.8MPa, most of the interface element between the
lower part of the ice and the blade surface are debonded and ice
shedding occurs. The shedding speed is 32.5%, 54.6% and
58.8% design speed, respectively. The results indicate that
reducing the interface strength is a very import method to
reduce the harm extent of ice accretion and shedding. Possible
(a) 𝜎𝑥 (b) crack path means to reduce the interface strength include improving
Figure 9. Stresses 𝝈𝒙 in the ice and the assumed surface temperature of the fan blade, spraying ice phobic
crack path in ice coatings on the blade surface and other fan blade surface
treatments.

(a) Shear stress (b) Debonding parameter

Figure 10. Shear stresses in the interface (a) and the 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.2𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.4𝑀𝑃𝑎
debonding parameter (b) in the interface under
vibration loading
Fig.11 shows the interface debonding contours for 4
different ice densities, which ranges from 600kg/m3 to
900kg/m3. Because the centrifugal force is proportion to the
density of the ice, the debonding area increase with the
increasing of density, which implies that it is more difficult to
remove the “lighter” ice. In another word, if the strength of
different ices are same, “lighter” ice is more dangerous to the
aero engine. 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.6𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.8𝑀𝑃𝑎

ρ = 600kg/𝑚3 ρ = 700kg/𝑚3 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 1.0𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 1.2𝑀𝑃𝑎

ρ=
800kg/𝑚3 ρ = 900kg/𝑚3 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 1.4𝑀𝑃𝑎 𝑇𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 1.6𝑀𝑃𝑎
Figure 11. The interface debonding parameter Figure 12. The interface debonding parameter
contours for different ice density contours for different interface shear strength
Finally, the effects of the strength of the interface between
ice and blade surface on the debonding parameter are

7 Copyright © 2015 by ASME

CONCLUSIONS
A numerical ice shedding model is developed by taking
the coupling of the failure of the interface between ice and fan
blade surface and the failure of ice itself into account. The ice
shedding process from a fan blade is predicted and analyzed.
Based on the results of validation cases and ice shedding from a
fan blade, the following conclusions are drawn:
(1) It can be concluded that the ice shedding model coupled
with the failure of the interface between ice and fan blade
surface and the failure of ice itself can be an effective tool in
predicting ice shedding.
(2) Under present conditions, the ice shedding will occur at
73.6% design speed.
(3) Under present conditions, vibration loading is an efficient
way in deicing.
(4) Reducing the interface strength is a very import method to
reduce the harm extent of ice accretion and shedding.
In future, several important issues need further study: (i)
the cohesive material properties of ice/Titanium interface need
to be measured and validated; (ii) the FE model should be
improved and extended. The crack initiate and growth model in
the ice need to be improved. The mixture debonding effect
should be taken into accounted.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was funded by National Natural Science Foundation
of China under Grant No. 51376122 and 11272212.
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