Research on experiment and numerical simulation of ultrasonic de-icing for wind turbine blades

Recently, wind energy as a kind of renewable energy for replacing fuel energy has been explored by more and more people. However, icing on the blade surfaces of wind turbines is a serious problem in cold regions, which greatly affects the performance of wind turbines. In this paper, numerical simulation and experiment testing of ultrasonic de-icing using sandwich transducers is investigated. Results show that 2 mm thick ice layer on an aluminum alloy plate (approximately of dimensions 200mm×140mm×2mm) can be debonded quickly using two smaller sandwich transducers in less than a minute. In addition, numerical simulation of ultrasonic de-icing technique and ultrasonic de-icing experiment for composite plate are also investigated and carried out respectively. Two experiments all prove that ultrasonic de-icing technique is feasible for the purpose of wind turbine blade de-icing. The authors hope this paper can provide theoretical and experimental support for the further development of an ultrasonic de-icing technique in the field of wind turbine blade de-icing.