STEADY-STATE ICE LAYER PROFILE ON A CONSTANT TEMPERATURE PLATE IN A FORCED-CONVECTION FLOW .2. TRANSITION AND TURBULENT REGIMES

The process of transition from laminar to turbulent flow on an ice surface was found to be very significantly different from that on a flat plate. The influence of the ice surface occurs because the shape of ice layer responds to the changes in heat-transfer coefficient that occur in the transition regime. As a result of this interaction two modes of transition were observed. Each mode was associated with a distinctive ice profile shape and Reynolds number for the onset of turbulent heat transfer. For both modes the onset Reynolds number was substantially lower than that for a flat plate. For some experimental parameters an interesting hysteresis phenomenon occurred in which the steady state ice layer could take either one of the two characteristic shapes depending on how equilibrium was approached. The decrease in the ice layer thickness that occurs in the transition region was also observed to have a major effect on the heat-transfer rates in the turbulent regime for some distance downstream of transition. © 1979.