1. Atmospheric Icing in Transportation Industry: From Prediction/Prevention of Snow Accumulation to Snow Shedding to Delay in Frost Growth
- Author
-
Mohammadian, Behrouz
- Subjects
- Atmospheric Sciences, Engineering
- Abstract
Formation and accumulation of various atmospheric icing such as wet snow, ice, and frost pose major safety concerns in transportation industries. In this dissertation, three - active, passive, and administrative techniques - were introduced to mitigate atmospheric icing issues encountered in transportation industries. First, nanoporous microstructured surfaces were used to delay frost growth by self-propelled jumping and self-propelled sweeping phenomena. The frost surface-coverage area and the frost growth rates observed through droplet-sweeping phenomenon were found to be much lower than those that were experienced using the droplet-jumping phenomenon alone. It was also found that adding non-uniform roughness on top of the microstructures can lead to jumping-associated droplet-sweeping on supercooled surfaces leading to delay in frost growth. This method can be utilized to minimize frost growth on vehicles during humid winter weather. Next, two different navigator designs were utilized to actively prevent snow accumulation on autonomous vehicle (AV) visual sensor/navigator via airflow across the lens surface. The airflow changed the air streamlines around the lens and caused the snowflakes to experience higher drag forces in directions that were diverging from the lens, resulted in lower collision efficiency (α1) values. In addition, the airflow across the lens entrapped a thin air pocket between the snowflakes and lens, resulted in lower sticking efficiency (α2) values. The proposed designs significantly reduced the snow accumulation on the camera lenses and were promising for future AV applications.A numerical model was developed utilizing weather data to predict the shape and thickness of snow accumulation on bridge cables as well as their shedding behavior. Snow shedding from surfaces was studied. It was found that water movement inside a snow layer plays an important role in liquid water content (LWC) and adhesiveness of snow to surfaces. A heat and force balance model was used to predict LWC of snow and its shedding time from surfaces. Various snow shedding mechanisms of - detachment, melting followed by sliding, and complete melting - were recognized and an algorithm for prediction of snow shedding from surfaces was suggested. Prediction of snow accumulation and shedding can assist bridge operators in optimally utilizing their active systems for mitigation of snow issues on bridges with minimal interruption to transportation.
- Published
- 2021