The Structural Dynamics of Electro-Impulse De-Icing on the Lear Fan Kevlar Composite Leading Edge

This paper describes a segment of research activities involving composite materials under a joint University-Industry project sponsored by NASA-Lewis for more general investigation on an Electro-Impulse De-icing method for aircraft. The program has consisted of basic analyses, laboratory testing, icing tunnel tests and flight tests. During the past two years, the EIDI system has been tested and refined, and has been shown to be a low energy, highly reliable de-icing system for a wide range of conditions. The application of EIDI system to the Lear Fan Kevlar Composite leading edge has been successfully tried in the icing tunnel.