Experimental investigation on the alternate coating method for aircraft anti-icing applications

Abstract

Atmospheric icing problem is considered as one of the major hazards to the aviation industry and the existing anti-icing system has numerous disadvantages within it. The recent studies on the super hydrophobic surfaces inspired from lotus leaf are found to be an emerging trend in the ice protection system because of its resistance to the ice formation. But the experimental procedure for creating those surfaces is expensive and it requires specialised equipments. The work of Erbil et al. is identified to be a cost-effective and simple method for creating those surfaces based on the process called phase separation. The experimental investigation of this alternate coating method is scheduled and conducted by creating the polypropylene coating on the aluminium sheet metal. The coated aluminium surface is then tested for its ice repelling property by spraying the super-cooled liquid droplets similar to Rime ice formation. It has shown few excellent results by repelling the water and the ice formation under various atmospheric conditions. Further, the wing model and the coated layer are designed using computer software to analyse the influence of anti-icing coating on the basic stress–strain and flow properties. This novel approach provides significant cost and weight savings through a roadmap for replacing the existing ice protection systems.