Evaluation of Functionalized Coatings for the Prevention of Ice Accretion by Using Icing Wind Tunnel Tests

Abstract

<jats:p>Ice accretion presents serious safety issues, as airplanes are exposed to supercooled water droplets both on the ground and while flying through clouds in the troposphere. Prevention of icing is a main concern for both developers and users of aircraft. The successful solution of this problem implies the combination of active and passive methods and the use of advanced sensors for early detection of icing and monitoring of ice accretion and de-icing processes. This paper focuses on the development of passive solutions. These include advanced anti-icing coatings deposited by a variety of chemical methods including sol-gel, advanced paints based on polyester combined with fluorinated derivatives and applied by electrostatic spray deposition and conventional silicone-based paints modified by adding alumina nanoparticles. Water contact angle has been measured in all cases, demonstrating the hydrophobic character of the coatings. An ice accretion test has been carried out in a laboratory scale icing wind tunnel (IWT) located in a cold climate chamber. Three different studies have been undertaken: ice accretion measurement, durability of the anti-icing behavior after several icing/de-icing cycles and ice adhesion testing by means of the double lap shear test (DLST) methodology. All the studied coatings have shown significant anti-icing behavior which has been maintained, in some cases, beyond 25 cycles. Although these results are still far from any possible application for aeronautic components, they provide interesting insights for new developments and validate the laboratory scale tests.</jats:p>

Icephobic and Anticorrosion Coatings Deposited by Electrospinning on Aluminum Alloys for Aerospace Applications

“…This facility is located in the National Institute of Aerospace technology of Spain (INTA), and both the icing wind tunnel (IWT) and the CAT are inside a 54 m 3 cold climate chamber, offering temperature stability during the ice accretion, the transport to the ice adhesion rig, and the ice adhesion test. Details of this facility and the methods to control the conditions have been previously reported [ 47 , 48 ]. The procedure has two main parts: Ice accretion on samples: an important advantage of impact icing in IWTs, comparing with the in-mold icing, is the capability to replicate in-flight icing conditions in terms of air speed and temperature, and the generation of clouds of supercooled water where the liquid water content (LWC) and droplet size (MVD: median volume diameter) are controlled (see Figure 2 and Figure 3 ).…”

Influence of chain length of organic modifiers in hydrophobization process on epoxy resin properties

“…Moreover, they are characterized by low efficiency and high emission of CO 2 or toxic substances to the environment. 3 Therefore, new energy-saving solutions are sought. Passive solutions include treatments that can be applied to a surface prior to its use that would prevent the ice from adhering (antiicing systems).…”

Special Issue “Anti-Icing Coatings and Surfaces”

“…The problems related to ice adhesion on structures is a global annoyance which has caused and is still causing threat to industry and public safety in many parts of the world, including North American (USA, Canada), Asian (Japan, China) European and Scandinavian countries, as reflected by the research contributions in this Special Issue by authors from these countries who constantly strive to minimize its impacts [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. World renowned experts have been addressing the ice adhesion issues with their advanced research and development and in the finding of advanced technologies to evaluate the adhesion phenomena, both theoretically and experimentally.…”

“…The ten contributions constituting this Special Issue are composed of the latest developments and the state of the art regarding ice adhesion, which are well elaborated for a wide range of readers, including research scientists, students and industrials, as well as the curious audience. These ten contributions originate from countries worldwide, namely, Canada (Quebec), Italy, Spain, China, Norway, Germany, Bulgaria and USA [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”

“…The paper titled "Evaluation of Functionalized Coatings for the Prevention of Ice Accretion by Using Icing Wind Tunnel Tests" by Pedro J. Rivero et al presents an interesting approach to fabricating anti-icing coatings using chemical methods including sol-gel, advanced paints based on polyester combined with fluorinated derivatives applied onto metal surfaces by electrostatic spray deposition [3]. Their coatings' evaluation upon ice accretion using the double lap shear test (DLST) proved to be durable even after 25 icing/deicing cycles, again showing promise for large-scale manufacturing.…”