Development of a de-icing system for aerodynamic surfaces based on ultrasonic waves

摘要

The paper presents a preliminary study about a de-icing system using ultrasonic waves. The activity has been developed within the project "SMart On-Board Systems" (SMOS), which is part of Italian Aerospace National Research Program, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education and Research and coordinated by CIRA. Conceived for an aircraft wing leading edge, the system shall be extended to other aircraft components, once its efficiency and reliability will be demonstrated. Herein, the results of a preliminary numerical work on a NACA 0012 profile are presented. Guided waves are generated by a piezoelectric transducer bonded on the structure and they cause shear stresses that induce ice delamination and fracture. The investigation is focused on the selection of most suitable excitation frequency for the actuator. Finite element analyses are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.