Development Of A Novel Methodology In Predicting Transient Deicing Simulation Of An Automotive Windshield

Design and developments are part and parcels in any organization, mostly in the automotive sectors. Development in any field is of utmost importance aiming in reduction of time and cost. Computational Fluid Dynamics is one such field where methodology development is a prime requisite. CFD is one such time and cost saving platform where it aids the designer in product development focusing in reduction of various prototypes. The field of CFD has its presence for the past thirty years. During recent years many CFD softwares upgradation have taken place, thus many new methodologies for problem-solving also came out, in-turn leading to a reduction of computational time. One such development took place is in the multiphase models in CFD. The present study focuses in introducing a new methodology for predicting the transient deicing pattern in an automotive windshield. Simcenter STAR-CCM+ version 2021.2.1 is used for the analysis. The new method integrates two multiphase models ‘Fluid Film’ and ‘Volume of Fluid(VOF) Melting and Solidification’. The ice-water region on the windshield, taken as 3D shell, is modeled as a Fluid Film model whereas the ambient air region outside the vehicle in-contact with the ice-water layer is modeled as Volume of Fluid. A multiphase interaction is created between them. The primary application of this phase interaction model is in simulations when a fluid film can accumulate in particular areas of the geometry to form pools. In those areas, the accumulated fluid is modeled as a VOF phase rather than as a fluid film. The new methodology is correlated with the conventional methodology where the ice-water layer is modeled as 3D solid under the multiphase model of ‘Volume of Fluid’. The new methodology is found to cause a reduction of mesh count by 45% of the original, leading to a reduction of computational time to a near 50%. The simulation results also found to be a near exact with transient ice pattern observed from wind-tunnel test result.