PhD student Nicole Stokowski with Advisor A. Stillwell

Ice formation and accumulation on aircraft is a major problem for the aviation industry. Icing is directly responsible for fatal aircraft incidents, negatively impacting the safety of air travel and requiring expensive, inefficient, and sometimes ineffective de-icing strategies to be employed both pre-flight and during flight. Current research at the university is being conducted to develop a method of electro-thermal pulse deicing capable of efficiently and rapidly removing ice from the exterior of an aircraft during on-ground, takeoff, and in-flight operation. This research focuses on the design and implementation of a high-power dc dc converter stage on-board the aircraft that is responsible for directing power from the on-board batteries to sections of the aircraft wings for deicing.  Special design considerations are made regarding converter power density and weight, in addition to efficiency. The converter design adheres to the operating range limits of the on-board battery and clearance and creepage constraints for aerospace, as well as heater-material power requirements (based on heater material properties, geometry, and layout).

The pulse deicing converter shown has been thoroughly bench tested, to prove baseline operation (startup, pulsing, and shutdown), as well as fault operation (ability to shutdown safely in the event of a fault). Further testing of the prototype in elevated ambient temperatures, and in the presence of mechanical shocks and vibrations, was performed to ensure operability under stressful environmental conditions. Finally, startup, pulsed operation, and shutdown were executed in a successful ground test (Figure 17). In this test, the pulse deicing converter was attached between the on-board battery system of an airframe (for input power) and the heater material load.

Ground test setup inside of the airframe. The dc dc pulse deicing converter mediates power between the on-board battery and heater load.