Technical Paper
Could Superhydrophobic Surfaces be a Realistic Solution for Running-Wet Areas?
2023-06-15
2023-01-1446
Thermal ice protection systems (IPS) are used extensively in aeronautics. They are tailored according to the aircraft characteristics or flight envelope and can be used in different modes, anti-icing to avoid ice accretion or de-icing to remove the ice once accreted. A relevant issue by this application is the runback icing, caused by the downstream flow of melted or running water to unprotected areas, where activation is not possible in terms of energy consumption. Passive systems are being explored to complement or replace active systems, although, up to now, solutions have not been reported with the required performance for real-life applications. One of the most commonly reported anti-icing strategy relays on superhydrophobicity, i.e., it is based on the water roll-off capacity of Cassie-Baxter superhydrophobic surfaces (CB-SHP). Precisely, running wet phenomena, where liquid water is flowing on the surface, could be an appropiate application field for this type of materials.