Ultrasonic Ice Protection Systems: Analytical and Numerical Models for Architecture Tradeoff

Protection systems against ice conventionally use thermal, pneumatic, or electrothermal solutions. However, they are characterized by high-energy consumption. This paper focuses on low-consumption electromechanical de-icing solutions based on piezoelectric transducers. After a review of the state of the art to identify the main features of electromechanical de-icing devices, piezoelectric transducer-based architectures are studied. Analytical models validated by numerical simulations allow trend studies to be performed, which highlight the resonance modes and the ultrasonic frequency ranges that lead to low-consumption, compact ultrasonic de-icing devices. Finally, de-icing systems widely studied with bonded ceramics and de-icing systems less usual with Langevin prestressed piezoelectric transducers are compared, and a Langevin piezoelectric transducer-based device leading to an interesting compromise is tested.