Ice adhesion to pristine and eroded polymer matrix composites reinforced with carbon nanotubes for potential usage on future aircraft

•The candidate aerospace materials are subjected to impact ice in an icing tunnel.•Ice adhesion testing on pristine/eroded composites is reinforced with carbon nanotubes.•Static/dynamic wettability and dispersion level of carbon nanotubes are explored•Ice shear strength is examined based on presence and absence of carbon nanotubes.•Erosion effects on CNT reinforced composites need to be considered in aircraft icing.

In aircraft icing conditions, the accretion of super-cooled liquid droplets on to the surface of an aircraft is dependent on numerous factors. In particular the temperature, liquid water concentration and material properties are of crucial importance in this context. This article features results obtained upon accretion of impact ice on pristine and eroded polymeric matrix composites with and without carbon nanotube reinforcement, for potential use in aeronautical applications. Results are shown for ice shear strength of a selection of advanced materials at T = − 5 °C and T = − 10 °C for a liquid water concentration LWC ≅ 0.3 g·m− 3, actualized in an icing tunnel. The effect of surface roughness is further examined on the considered specimens in relation to their ice shear strength characteristics.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide