Use of NBD Nano to prevent Ice buildup on Aircraft wings / Rotors

grabcad

By making the hydrophilic areas into narrow strips surrounded by hydrophobic material, water will preferentially condense in the hydrophilic areas, causing the formation of tombstone like ice crystals. By arranging the strips such that the dominant air flow blows on the flat face of the tombstone, it should cause the crystals to bend and snap off the surface - before bridging occurs between the crystals. Formation of ice on the leading edge of aerofoils is inevitable under some weather conditions. Aircraft manufacturers go to considerable lengths to limit the formation of ice through a number of heating technologies or by doping the leading edge (through holes in the surface) with chemicals. Ice formation is a significant hazard to aviation as it reduces the lift generated by the aerofoil and can cause an aircraft to stall. Heating the wings (either electrically or with engine exhaust) is inefficient and chemical doping is expensive. A passive solution where ice is allowed to build up, but breaks away from the surface in granules before it becomes a hazard would extend the envelope of weather conditions in which it is safe to fly. Small aircraft, on the whole have no de-icing built in. Their only option is to avoid it in the first place - and if it does form, pray! A low cost solution that could be applied to small aircraft wings has significant commercial application. Similarly, rotor blades on Helicopters suffer from the same problem, but due to the complexities, weight constraints and power consumption, blade heating is difficult. Helicopters are used in many hazardous environments, in particular rescue missions where the pilot may not have the luxury of avoiding ice forming weather conditions. The CAD Drawings are an exaggerated representation of the layout of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. Research would be required to determine the optimum dimensions, but I would imagine the length / width of the strips would be on the sub-mm scale. The renders show an overview of a wing profile with the leading edge covered in the NBD Nano coating (exaggerated). There is a close up to show the orientation of the strips. Finally, there is a render showing the dominant air-flow in relation to the strips causing the ice crystals to bend - and ultimately break free of the surface.