Numerical and experimental verification of a theoretical model of ripple formation in ice growth under supercooled water film flow

TL;DR

This paper investigates the formation of ripples on icicles by numerically analyzing two competing theoretical models and comparing their predictions with experimental data to understand the instability mechanisms during ice growth.

Contribution

It provides a numerical validation and comparison of two different theoretical models for ripple formation on ice, supported by experimental verification.

Findings

Numerical analysis shows differences in model predictions due to boundary condition assumptions.

Experimental data supports certain aspects of the theoretical models.

The study clarifies the conditions under which each model accurately describes ripple formation.

Abstract

Little is known about morphological instability of a solidification front during the crystal growth of a thin film of flowing supercooled liquid with a free surface: for example, the ring-like ripples on the surface of icicles. The length scale of the ripples is nearly 1 cm. Two theoretical models for the ripple formation mechanism have been proposed. However, these models lead to quite different results because of differences in the boundary conditions at the solid-liquid interface and liquid-air surface. The validity of the assumption used in the two models is numerically investigated and some of the theoretical predictions are compared with experiments.