Unsettled Topics in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Icing

Abstract

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Experimental Heat Loads for Electrothermal Anti-Icing and De-Icing on UAVs

“…For unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), icing research has a much shorter history and can be considered an emerging research field. Although the first analysis and reports of at mospheric icing on UAVs date back to the 1990s [2], the research in this area has only recently gained momentum [3]. The reason UAV icing is becoming a trending topic is partly linked to the rise of commercial applications of UAV technologies [4].…”

“…Many UAV missions require operations of unmanned aircraft in adverse weather conditions [6]. One of the main barriers to achieving an all-weather capability of UAVs is to mitigate the risk of atmospheric in-flight icing [3].…”

“…There are several key differences between icing on manned and unmanned aircraft. An overview of the special technical and operational challenges of UAVs in icing conditions is given in [3]. Differences are for example related to airframe size, velocity, meteorological environments, mission objectives, propulsion type, and more.…”

“…Ice protection systems (IPSs) mitigate the adverse effects of ice on aircraft and are a relatively new technology on UAVs [3]. Electrothermal IPSs are one type of system that can actively mitigate the hazards of icing and allow aircraft to operate in all-weather conditions.…”

Experimental and Numerical Icing Penalties of an S826 Airfoil at Low Reynolds Numbers

“…Studies on UAVs have shown that the Reynolds number has a significant influence on the physics of ice accretion and also on the subsequent aerodynamic performance penalties [16][17][18]. Icing on UAVs is similar to icing on manned aircraft with some key differences related to airframe size, mission profiles, and icing sensitivity [19]. Most UAVs (except for the largest) operate at Reynolds numbers in between large and small wind turbines, typically in the order of Re = 10 5 -10 6 .…”