Performance and mechanism analysis of nanosecond pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge based plasma deicer

Abstract

Ice accretion on aircraft surfaces, especially on wings, may do harm to the aerodynamic performance and safety of an aircraft. In this work, de-icing experiments on an NACA0012 airfoil model were conducted in an icing wind tunnel using nanosecond pulsed surface dielectric barrier discharge (nSDBD) actuator under typical glaze icing conditions. The spatial-temporal distribution of the temperature and the dynamic process of de-icing on the surface of the airfoil were obtained and analyzed. Accreted ice with an average thickness of 3 mm can be removed within 4 s by nSDBD, and then the ice never appeared again on the plasma-protected zone. In the whole de-icing process, the ice on the plasma-protected zone was “cut” and the adhesion force between the ice layer and airfoil surface was reduced by the heat generated by the plasma actuator. The “cut” ice layer was blown downstream by aerodynamic force of the incoming flow. It can be concluded that both the thermal effects of the nSDBD actuator and the aerodynamic force of the incoming flow contribute to the de-icing performance.