Preflight deicing of helicopters is critical to military readiness. Helicopters unsheltered by hangars are subject to frost, snow, freezing drizzle, and freezing rain that can cause icing of rotor blades and fuselages, rendering them unflyable until cleaned. Conventional glycol-based deicing fluids used for commercial fixed-wing aircraft are harmful to the environment, expensive, and potentially damaging to helicopter rotor head components. Composite blades and fuselage components are susceptible to damage from deicing operations because physical impact, scraping, high temperatures, and rapid thermal cycling may cause delamination. Manual deicing methods requiring up to four hours to prepare a single aircraft for flight, and the inefficiency of these methods, justify the need for improved helicopter preflight deicing methods. |
Description of Research