Icing of Ducted Tail Rotor Based on Design of ILX-27 Unmanned Helicopter

The main objective of this paper is to describe the work done in the Polish unmanned helicopter ILX-27 project. The paper presents the effects of icing on the characteristics of helicopter's tail rotor. Simulation of ice accretion process on areas particularly prone to icing and ice formations' influence on operation safety are demonstrated. The influence of ice cover on whole ducted fan device thrust, a force and moment components on the blade are presented. The ice accretion causes mainly an increase of rotor drag.