SAE ARP5905A

This SAE Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) provides recommended practices for the calibration and acceptance of icing wind tunnels to be used in testing of aircraft components and systems and for the development of simulated ice shapes. This document is not directly applicable to air-breathing propulsion test facilities configured for the purposes of engine icing tests, which are covered in AIR6189. This document also does not provide recommended practices for creating Supercooled Large Drop (SLD) or ice crystal conditions, since information on these conditions is not sufficiently mature for a recommended practice document at the time of publication of ARP5905A. Use of facilities as part of an aircraft’s ice protection Certification Plan should be reviewed and accepted by the applicable regulatory agency prior to testing. Following acceptance of a test plan, data generated in these facilities may be submitted to regulatory agencies for use in the certification of aircraft ice protection systems and components. Certain types of tests may be appropriate in facilities with capabilities that are not as rigorously characterized by the practices defined herein, and the acceptability of these tests should be coordinated with the applicable regulatory agency. This document has been revised to address areas where the committee determined it needed improvement. The original document did not specify the necessity of a test section centerline temperature calibration, and this has been added. Also, the document now contains recommendations with regard to icing wind tunnels that have altitude capability. The spray durations and recommended test matrix in 7.2.1 (previously 8.2.2) have been reworded to more accurately reflect common ice accretion test practices. Performance targets and accompanying text have been added with regard to test section calibrations (not just measurement targets). Recommendations have been added regarding the possible effects of humidity on LWC and MVD, including recommendations for facility humidity instrumentation. The original document’s Appendix A (LWC instrumentation) was removed in favor of AIR6977, and its Appendix C (Guideline to Determining Derived Aerodynamic Parameters) was removed in favor of other publications that better describe wind tunnel aero-thermal calibration. A new Appendix D was added with information regarding particle size distributions.