Abstract
Enhanced soiling due to particle deposition is often observed around multi-slot cabin supply air nozzles in commercial airplanes. This study aimed to investigate the influence of surface roughness on the particle deposition distribution around multi-slot cabin supply air nozzles of commercial airplanes. This investigation constructed a half-row cabin mockup installed with three 3D-printed supply air nozzles of a twin-aisle commercial airplane. A cutting method was proposed to measure the detailed particle deposition velocity distribution on the target surface of the nozzles covered by different grades of sandpaper with different roughness heights. This study also conducted numerical calculations for the particle deposition velocity distribution using an Eulerian particle deposition model. Both the experimental and modeling results show that strong particle deposition occurred on the cut samples near the slot dividers. When the surface roughness height was greater than or equal to 6 μm, the particle deposition velocity increased significantly with the surface roughness height. However, when the surface roughness height was less than or equal to 3 μm, the particle deposition velocity was relatively insensitive to the surface roughness. The analysis indicated that polishing the surfaces of cabin supply air nozzles may not effectively solve the problem of enhanced soiling in the aircraft cabin.
•Influence of surface roughness on particle deposition around cabin supply air nozzles was investigated.•Strong particle deposition occurred on the surface areas near the slot dividers.•When roughness height was small, particle deposition velocity was insensitive to surface roughness.
