In this study, we assessed the effects of ice types, test parameters, and surface properties on measurement data of the ice adhesion centrifuge test. This method is often used for the evaluation of low ice adhesion surfaces, although no test standard has been defined yet. The aim of this paper is to improve the understanding of the relevant test parameter and identify crucial criteria to be considered in harmonization and standardization efforts. Results clearly indicate that the ice type (static vs. impact ice) has the greatest impact on the test results, with static ice delivering higher values in a broader data span. This is beneficial for material developers as it eases the evaluation process, but it contradicts the technical efforts to design tests that are as close as possible to realistic technical environments. Additionally, the selected ice type has a significant impact on the relevance of the surface properties (roughness, wettability). Despite the complexity of interactions, a trend was observed that the roughness is the determining surface parameter for high impact velocity ice (95 m/s). In contrast, for tests with static ice, the wettability of the test surface is of higher relevance, leading to the risk of overestimating the icephobic performance of structured surfaces. The results of this paper contribute to the demanding future tasks of defining well-founded test standards and support the development of icephobic surfaces.

Significant progress in the field of icephobic coatings has raised a demand for evaluation criteria to assess and monitor the related icephobic effects and their durability. The initial coating performance in preventing ice formation and reducing ice adhesion needs to be proven over a given period by withstanding technically relevant stressors. In this study, silanized polyurethane (PUR) coatings are assessed in conjunction with a standardized accelerated ultraviolet (UV)-ageing procedure in order to identify potential monitoring tools that are also applicable during in-service inspections. Wettability and roughness parameters are recorded after pre-defined ageing intervals, compared with the ice adhesion strength, and tested using a modified centrifuge. Correlation assessments indicate that the chosen parameters cannot generally be used for the monitoring of icephobic effects for the selected material class. It is more likely that specific coating parameter sets need to be defined for in-service monitoring, as an important step towards the integration of icephobic coatings into technical applications.