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Spray on Passive Deice Boots


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I keep my eye out for interesting and applicable scientific breakthroughs.  Here's a candidate:  Some researchers at the University of Houston have developed a polymer coating that ice doesn't adhere to.   That isn't unusual, ice doesn't stick well to a lot of organic materials.   Here's the big deal- you spray it on, and according to the demo in the online article, the effect persists for years.   If it does that, isn't toxic, and doesn't damage paint, I want some!  If it does damage paint, I want my a/c painted with it.  B)

Spray on passive deice boots!  See online article here  https://phys.org/news/2019-01-breakthrough-ice-repelling-materials.html

 

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9 minutes ago, Fred_2O said:

I keep my eye out for interesting and applicable scientific breakthroughs.  Here's a candidate:  Some researchers at the University of Houston have developed a polymer coating that ice doesn't adhere to.   That isn't unusual, ice doesn't stick well to a lot of organic materials.   Here's the big deal- you spray it on, and according to the demo in the online article, the effect persists for years.   If it does that, isn't toxic, and doesn't damage paint, I want some!  If it does damage paint, I want my a/c painted with it.  B)

Spray on passive deice boots!  See online article here  https://phys.org/news/2019-01-breakthrough-ice-repelling-materials.html

 

I read the article yesterday and was thinking the exact same thing.

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Didn’t the Star Trek’s Enterprise just use force fields for de-ice?  

And that keeps bugs off the plane, too. You never saw Mr. Chekov peering ahead through a bug-spattered windshield, right?  

I’m going to get me some diLithium crystals off eBay. 

 

Pick up a couple of photon torpedoes while you’re at it. Never know when they will come in handy.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

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On 1/18/2019 at 7:27 AM, Jerry 5TJ said:

Perhaps best to try taxi tests first before tackling SLDs.  Zip along a runway at below freezing temperatures while spraying water mist from a vehicle in front of the plane.   

 

That's a crazy idea that conjures up some vivid mental imagery.   I could see Bill Murray involvement.  There are better and less dangerous ways that don't involve somebody with a hose in the back of a pickup truck spraying large drops of water into sub-freezing air while being chased by a spinning meat grinder.

There are several icing wind tunnels in the US- that would be a great place to do some controlled testing.   Demonstrating durability for products with environmental exposure is a very challenging task because of the huge variety of conditions our aircraft operate in other than icing conditions.   What about bug splats, sand hits, super hot hangars, UV exposure, humidity, condensation, frost, dust, raindrop impact at high speed, washing, detergents,...   I guess I would want to know a lot more about the environmental durability of this stuff before trusting my life to it.  Often with claims of durability are true with regard to one or two environmental factors, combinations of more of them usually result in steep declines in product durability.    It's a fascinating problem.

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1 hour ago, Fred_2O said:

That's a crazy idea that conjures up some vivid mental imagery.   I could see Bill Murray involvement.  There are better and less dangerous ways that don't involve somebody with a hose in the back of a pickup truck spraying large drops of water into sub-freezing air while being chased by a spinning meat grinder.

Agree fully as I was suggesting it only as an alternative to flight testing in actual icing.   

A Bill Murray type standing in the back of a speeding pickup truck closely pursued by a Mooney while pumping a garden sprayer — a fine video that’ll make.  And the NTSB write-up will be interesting.  

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2 hours ago, Fred_2O said:

That's a crazy idea that conjures up some vivid mental imagery.   I could see Bill Murray involvement.  There are better and less dangerous ways that don't involve somebody with a hose in the back of a pickup truck spraying large drops of water into sub-freezing air while being chased by a spinning meat grinder.

There are several icing wind tunnels in the US- that would be a great place to do some controlled testing.   Demonstrating durability for products with environmental exposure is a very challenging task because of the huge variety of conditions our aircraft operate in other than icing conditions.   What about bug splats, sand hits, super hot hangars, UV exposure, humidity, condensation, frost, dust, raindrop impact at high speed, washing, detergents,...   I guess I would want to know a lot more about the environmental durability of this stuff before trusting my life to it.  Often with claims of durability are true with regard to one or two environmental factors, combinations of more of them usually result in steep declines in product durability.    It's a fascinating problem.

Could start with a leave blower and spray bottles. 

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1 minute ago, N201MKTurbo said:

This is what you need:

 

arctic-cove-misting-mbf0181-64_1000.jpg

Cool.  That could be good for simulating clouds.   I recently read / watched some info about how icing severity is, to some extent, a function of airspeed.   Most leaf blowers can come up with 200mph wind I think.  Any rate, looking forward to peevee’s update. 

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