Icing Dynamics on the Rotating Spinners of Aero–engines

• Developed a high-fidelity VOF-based icing prediction model on rotational surface. • The error of ice thickness on the entire operational envelope is less than 10%. • Proposed anti-icing strategies based on rotational forces and icing driving energy. When an aircraft flies through clouds, supercooled water droplets impinge on the aero–engine surfaces and result in ice accretion. Icing on rotating components poses a significant threat to aero–engine safety under various atmospheric conditions. A high–precision numerical framework based on the Volume of Fluid (VOF) method is developed to simulate the icing process on a rotating spinner across the entire aero–engine operational envelope. The methodology proposes phase interface data exchange model and rotational force model, and couples them with the VOF equations. Wind tunnel experiments are conducted on a rotating spinner to validate the numerical results. The comparison shows that the deviation in the maximum leading–edge ice thickness remains within 10%, demonstrating strong agreement between simulation and experiment. Parametric studies under varying engine operating conditions reveal that the liquid water collection coefficient (referring to the mass fraction of droplets that impact and are collected on the surface) increases with operational severity, while the impingement limit position remains unchanged. During the action of rotational forces on water film, centrifugal force and Coriolis force constitute the primary components, with rotational air shear force being significantly weaker than the former. Flow transition is found to cause a sharp redistribution of icing energy (referring to the thermal energy used for phase change) at the leading edge, followed by a gradual increase in internal energy utilization (referring to the proportion of icing energy used to increase the internal energy of the ice layer). Based on these findings, anti–icing strategies are proposed, including the prevention of liquid water accumulation in pre–transition regions and the reduction of surface roughness in post–transition regions.