Experimental and Computer Model Results for a Carbon Nanotubes Electrothermal De-Icing System

Results from a three-dimensional computer model of a Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) based de-icing system are compared to experimental data obtained at COLLINS-Ohio Icing Wind Tunnel (IWT). The experiments were performed using a prototype of a CNT based de-icing system installed in a section of a business jet horizontal tail. The 3D numerical analysis tools used in the comparisons are AIPAC [1] and CFD++. The former was derived from HASPAC, an anti-icing computer model developed at Wichita State University in 2010 [3, 9, 10]. AIPAC uses the finite volumes method for the solution of the icing problem on an airfoil leading edge (or other 3D surfaces) and relies on any CFD solver to obtain the external flow properties used as boundary conditions. AIPAC is capable of predicting 3D multi-step ice shapes under rime, glaze and mixed regimes, and can also deal with the complex dynamics of cyclic ice accretion, melting, and shedding present in the realm of aircraft electrothermal de-icing systems. The latter is the CFD solver selected to provide the external flow properties for the icing analysis presented in this paper. Comparisons of predicted vs. experimental leading edge temperatures along time as well as intercycle and runback ice accretions are provided. The numerical tools used have shown good agreement with the experiments, fairly capturing the locations of the ice accretions, which are important for aerodynamic degradation analysis, and keeping the airfoil skin temperatures predictions satisfactorily close to the experimental results.