Mechanisms of trace water vapor desublimation over airfoil in transonic cryogenic wind tunnels

Cryogenic wind tunnels can provide a larger operating Reynolds number compared to conventional ones. However, the internationally known "moisture contamination problem " resulting from the residual trace water vapor desublimation in the cryogenic wind tunnel may affect the accuracy of the aerodynamic data. Due to extreme difficulties in experiments, the detailed trace water desublimation characteristics remain unrevealed. An Euler-Euler two-phase flow model based on classical nucleation theory and a droplet growth model were established to predict the trace water vapor spontaneous desublimation in the nitrogen flow over airfoil in a transonic cryogenic wind tunnel. The proposed model was validated by experimental data obtained from the literature and showed good agreements. The verified model was applied to 0.152-m National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 0012 airfoil in a Langley 0.3-m transonic cryogenic wind tunnel under a series of operating conditions. The simulated results reveal that the water vapor desublimation process in a transonic cryogenic wind tunnel can be divided into two patterns by a critical region. In pattern I, over the upper critical total temperature, the water vapor desublimates quickly during the rapid expansion of gas flow over the airfoil surface. In pattern II, below the lower critical total temperature, the water vapor is sufficiently supercooled and desublimates completely into small ice particles in the free-stream flow. For pattern I, the desublimation characteristics were analyzed in detail, and the influences of the desublimation process on the aerodynamic data were quantitatively evaluated, which can provide theoretical guidance for the practical operation of transonic cryogenic wind tunnels. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.