Study of Shape Memory Alloy De-icing Device for Nonrotating Components of Aircrafts

Abstract

Shape memory alloy (SMA) is a promising material which has widely been applied in aerospace industry. Its unique nature of the high stress output rate and low power requirement agrees the need of energy saving in aircraft de-icing. Among the few designs of the SMA de-icer, Gerardi's project for rotating blade is more fit to the requirement of the de-icer for aircrafts. However, it is not clear that if the de-icer is capable to de-icing for non-rotating components or not. In this study, design of the SMA de-icer for non-rotating components were presented. Characteristics of the SMA de-icer and factors influence on it were confirmed by numerical methods. The major results show that the SMA de-icer can achieve de-icing objective well. De-icing rate of 100% can be obtained. For the designed SMA de-icer, pre-strain of 4% of the SMA sheet is recommended. Thinner SMA sheet helps greatly improve de-icing performance of the SMA de-icer.