Development of a vibration-based deicing system for aircraft wings

The build up of ice on an aircraft wings in flight is a safety-critical event within aviation, which in the worst case can lead to an aircraft crash. The majority of aircraft today, usually use heat from the engines to keep the wings above the freezing temperature and prevent the formation of ice on the most sensitive areas of the wing, this is known as bleed air ice protection. As part of the development of new, energy-efficient, emission-free aircraft engines, the exhaust heat from the engines will no longer be available for bleed air systems to be viable, so alternatives are being sought to prevent the icing of aircraft wings. Of particular interest are electromechanical de-icing systems in which vibrations are used to protect the wing surface from icing. While work in recent years has mainly focused on ultrasound-based systems, the EU Clean Aviation project aims to develop a concept for a closed-loop de-icing system that specifically stimulates resonance vibrations at relevant points on the wings in order to remove the ice. This innovative concept is intended to resolve the conflicting goals of flight safety and increasing energy efficiency requirements. To maximise efficiency, the system must adapt to constantly changing environmental and surface conditions and be operated at the optimum excitation frequency. This requires a sensor system for recording structural dynamic parameters of the wing surface during operation, from which a suitable excitation signal for a wing-integrated actuator system can be derived. This article describes the functionality of such a structurally dynamic de-icing system based on piezoceramic stack actuators, a comparison to alternatives in particular ultrasound-based systems and provides an overview of the current state of development within the framework of the EU Clean Aviation project.